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Ketch and I have been partners in crime for a decade, a duo so consistent that even our lunches at Lakeline Pluckers became a weekly ritual. Nearly two years of wings and deep conversation later, I found my second home at Maggiore’s in Cedar Park, plotting our next big move. Our kids even went to the same elementary school, so we saw each other nearly every morning - like it or not. Between Facebook videos, The Yakk, and YouTube, we've had more screen time than a Netflix binge marathon. Ketch knows me better than my favorite hoodie, and I know him like the back of my hand. So every July, like a rerun of The Office, I know exactly what to expect.
Right on cue, Ketch reaches out before media days with his annual mission: get the head coach to define what makes a successful season. If the coach is gunning for a championship, we’ll know to pack our judging hats. If it’s a rebuilding year, we’ll look for baby steps. Most coaches avoid this question like it's a dodgeball thrown by Ben Stiller, not wanting to be pinned down.
But then there’s Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian, who last season answered the question before we even had a chance to ask—like that friend who can’t wait to share their big news and spills the beans over text instead of lunch. And guess what? Sarkisian just did it again this past week.
It’s time to renew your Longhorn football expectations.
SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, here we come.
Let’s hope so.
“For us to sit here and say this is the deepest team we've had, probably the most talented team we've had in my four years here, I can unequivocally say that,” Sarkisian said during SEC Media Days this past week. “And we lost some really good players a year ago, but we've got a very deep football team, one that we're excited about, and looking forward to watching them compete this fall.”
Deepest team in four years?
Ketch, that is on the record.
“When you have depth on your team like we have right now, that's when your special teams can really start to rise up because we try to play our best players on special teams, and when you've got multiple good players, now that depth can permeate to special teams, so we think we're going to be even better on teams than we've been in the past, and we've been pretty good,” Sarkisian said.
There you go.
What about the receivers?
“To think I've got seven quality players there,” Sarkisian said. “Now, is it going to be a seven-man rotation? That will bear itself out, but I do think we'll play more players than we have in the past, we'll rotate more guys than we probably have in the past, and then as we work ourselves through the season -- when you start playing this many games, I'd love to tell you we're not going to get injuries. Injuries are going to occur, so we're going to play more players probably early in the season than we have just because you don't have some of that experience that we lost from a year ago.
“But this isn't a lack of talent. This group is very talented and by far and away our deepest receiver corps that we've had in four years.”
Deepest receiver corps?
Sarkisian is saying it with his chest.
Is this team better defensively?
“Defensively I think one thing that we've really tried to evolve into, we've really tried to commit ourselves to stopping the run, and I think that showed a year ago,” Sarkisian said. “We have to be better in pass defense. There's two ways of getting better in pass defense.
“One, got to cover people better. You've got to guard people better. You have to have people that can guard them. You also have to have the schemes to guard those people. But you have to have a better way to affect the quarterback. So we've really tried to invoke that into our team of how do we create more of a pass rush to affect the quarterback, which I think we've improved upon this year, and we'll see the benefits of that.”
Keep going, Sarkisian.
“We've got Quinn Ewers going into year three as our quarterback, a guy who has gotten better from year one to year two," Sarkisian said. "He's really improved from year two to year three. He's changed his body, he looks great, he understands the system,” Sarkisian said. “But the thing I'm probably most proud of him about is his leadership. This guy is exuding confidence right now, and there's nothing better for anybody in your organization, for anybody in your building to walk in and to say, there's our guy, and our guy is exuding confidence. He's carrying himself the right way. He's doing things the right way, not only on the field but off the field.
“He's our leader, and we can unequivocally say that about Quinn Ewers, and I'm proud to have him with us today.”
What about your coaching staff?
“As far as our coaching staff goes, one thing that we have going for us is coordinator continuity,” Sarkisian said. “I've had the same coordinators in four years now here at Texas with Kyle Flood on the offensive line, offensive coordinator, Pete Kwiatkowski is our defensive coordinator, and Jeff Banks is our special teams coordinator.”
Deepest team in four years.
Deepest receiving corps in four years.
Better on special teams.
Better defensively.
Ewers is the leader.
The Longhorns have coaching continuity.
Atlanta in December sounds lovely.
Here is a portion of what I wrote nearly one year ago after Big 12 Media Days.
Throughout the offseason, Sarkisian has told fans and media members that he finally has “his” team. He loves the depth on this year’s team. Sarkisian has praised the talent. The culture has been established.
During the Texas Fight Tour in San Antonio, this is what Sarkisian said in May:
1. “I think it goes without saying, I really like our football team. This feels like our team. It looks like our team. They walk like our team. They talk like our team and that's from a multitude of areas.”
2. “Expectations are very high. I didn't come here just to win games and be good. I came here to win a championship and that's why you've come to Texas. You have to build a roster that gives you a chance to go do that, and I think we're doing that. If we’re fortunate enough, we get to be in Houston in January. That's the goal.”
“I think it'd be great for everybody,” Sarkisian said when asked about winning a Big 12 championship during media days in July 2023. “It'd be great for Longhorn Nation. I know it'd be great for our players that they would love that. At the end of the day, it's going to be competitive. It's going to be hard. It's got to be tough. But I think that we have a team that's capable of doing that. Now we have to make it happen.”
Sarkisian was excited about last year's team and the result was a 12-2 season.
That same confidence before this season is a great sign for Longhorn fans.
"When I took the job at the University of Texas, and I walked into DKR and one of the first signs I saw was a quote that I've put up now in my office that I'll always and forever hold onto,” Sarkisian said during SEC Media Days. “The pride in winning tradition at the University of Texas shall not be entrusted to the weak, nor the timid.
"That's not going to change now that we've changed conferences. We're going to go attack this thing. We've got a ton of respect for this conference and the teams in this conference, but we're going to go attack it and try to win a conference championship because that's why we're at the University of Texas."
It’s time to renew your Longhorn football expectations.
SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, here we come.
Let’s hope so.
Photo via SEC
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
You miss every shot you don't take (adult humor/NSFW)
Ty, you are in trouble
You don’t need to know the language to understand he needs better friends
She must be referring to Target
Real estate agents, take notes
Sports On A Dime
1. Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers on Trey Owens and Cole Lourd: “They ended up winning that spring game, didn't they? I think they did. I mean, y'all saw how capable all those guys are in that room. That's why I'm so grateful that I'm able to play the position, and Coach Sark trusts me with his baby, which is the offense, and gave me the keys. Cole Lourd, the way he comes to work every day and grinds, it's cool to see and inspiring. And Trey, he's a young guy, goofy, funny to be around. So it's been cool to see both of them grow for sure”
2. Ewers on using helmet communication: “We've used the in-helmet stuff. It took me about a week to get used to. After that first week, I really enjoyed it. I really think Coach Sark in my ear, that's just going to make things a whole lot easier on my end. It’s going to be good for him to be able to communicate things like what he's seeing on the back end. What protections he likes mid-drive instead of having to call a timeout or whatever it looks like to you know, communicate those things with me.”
3. Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron’s response when asked what the secondary learned after allowing Oklahoma to score on its final drive last year: “That drive right there alone taught us to -- something so small can change the trajectory of the game, and it was communication. Not having communication is what led up to that play and us losing that game. With that being said, knowing how important communication is on the back end and being well connected and everybody being on the same page with each other, it means a lot, it means everything with the defense.
4. Barron on switching jersey numbers: “Starting off, to wear 23 is to honor a friend that passed away, Tardrick Fowler. We called him Trollie. He passed away. From Austin, Texas. But that was something to do for him and I felt like me coming back and things like that, it felt like a point where I did a lot to honor him, to honor 23, and stuff like that. And 7 is something I always wanted to do. I had to ask Huff and Coach Sark for their permission and they granted that permission and let me wear 7. But being able to wear 7, it means a lot to me watching Michael Huff's highlights and things like that. I was so young, but being able to watch the highlights and look at him and wanting to do better than him in that number. When he gave me the number I told him I wanted to do better and I told him I am always striving for greatness and it's so hard to do better in a number that somebody was so great in, but I know it's going to push me to be my best self on and off the field.”
5. Texas A&M football coach Mike Elko’s response when asked if his program no longer has a recruiting advantage against Texas since the Longhorns are in the SEC: “ I don't know. I think each kid's gotta go through their process and kind of figure out what the right fit for them is. I don't know that a league gives you necessarily that leg up. I think we've got to build a program that people want to be part of. And I think it's no secret that recruiting in the state of Texas is extremely competitive. I think it's not only us and Texas. I think it's also a lot of other programs now coming in here. You see that in this cycle that we've got to fend off. And I think our focus isn't just on one school. I think our focus is on going out and identifying the kids that we think can help us win a national championship and trying to get them to Kyle Field and Texas A&M.
“I don't think that is a one-on-one situation anymore. I think this has changed a lot. I think there's a lot more schools involved in that now.”
6. ICYMI (trust me, most Aggies are fully aware of what I said)
Check out the full interview:
7. After nearly a week of listening to coaches at SEC Media Days, I compiled my top three “He Won’t Be Here Next Year” list:
1. Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea
2. Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman
3. Florida football coach Billy Napier
It is too soon to add Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby. However, unless Lebby strikes gold in the transfer portal, it will be hard for him to have much success.
8. Georgia football coach Kirby Smart’s reaction when asked if he believes Texas is one of the SEC’s best team and what stands out about the Longhorns: “Every team we play is the best that week. Please understand that. In the SEC humility is a week away. I have a ton of respect for Sark and the job he does. Got to watch them play last year against several common opponents, got to watch them play in the playoffs. They have a tremendous recruiting base. They do a tremendous job in recruiting, that includes NIL and everything included in that.
“They're a big, physical team. They are built like an SEC football team, so looking forward to an opportunity to come play them. What a tremendous matchup it will be.
9. Missouri football coach Eliah Drinkwitz on building a roster to potentially play in 17 games and NIL: “I think the whole balance now with recruiting is each individual coach has to decide how he wants to build his roster and where do you want to invest your NIL dollars and how much are you willing to invest in players who may play early and may not play early, versus what do you want to invest your NIL dollars in from a standpoint of contributions right now. And that's a battle that each coach is going to have to pick and decide on, and for us we have a formula about how we do those things. But in order to play 17 games at a winning level, you're going to have to have competitive depth unlike anybody has really faced before, which I think is more challenging now than ever because of the transfer portal and players who leave to go play at another opportunity earlier.”
10. I wanted the win but will take the points
