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Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian did everything he could to assemble an All-Star crew of assistant coaches when he was hired. The majority of Sarkisian’s hires were successful additions to his staff. More importantly, when an assistant coach left Texas, Sarkisian replaced that staff member with someone who was an upgrade at that position.
We witnessed Texas lose three assistant coaches after last season. Safeties coach Blake Gideon left Texas to become Georgia Tech’s defensive coordinator. Nobody in the building knew when Gideon interviewed for the position that he was Georgia Tech’s No. 1 choice. However, I was told Sarkisian was happy to see Gideon receive a promotion and congratulated him on the accomplishment. Sarkisian eventually replaced Gideon with Rutgers defensive backs coach Mark Orphey.
Tashard Choice interviewed with the Dallas Cowboys and received a raise to remain on the Longhorns' staff. Choice was a key recruiter and talent developer on Sarkisian’s staff. However, the Detroit Lions paid Choice’s $850,000 buyout to obtain Texas’ running backs coach. Once again, Sarkisian was forced to congratulate a key assistant coach for landing a great job. Sarkisian replaced Choice with West Virginia's Chad Scott.
Terry Joseph was poached from Sarkisian’s staff, too. The New Orleans native seized the opportunity to go home and coach the Saints. He is currently the team’s defensive pass game coordinator. Upon learning about Joseph’s departure, Sarkisian did not waste any time and added legendary Longhorn assistant coach Duane Akina to his staff.
Sarkisian understood why those coaches wanted to leave, but he protected one assistant better than the Papal Swiss Guard.
Torre Becton’s importance cannot be denied.
I have been reminded of Becton’s importance to the program throughout the offseason. The latest reminder occurred this past week when I was compiling notes for the War Room.
In case you missed it, here’s what I wrote:
*"I asked one source if any players have stood out since winter conditioning and immediately was told freshman offensive lineman Nick Brooks has been fantastic.
Brooks was listed at 385 pounds in high school. It was hard to know if Brooks would struggle with his weight in college.
However, the staff is thrilled to see Brooks currently at 350 pounds.
I was told the staff loves Brooks’ ability to move at that size and weight.
In addition, I was told Brooks has less than 20 percent body fat."*
Becton had a huge role in that transformation.
After the War Room, another person inside the building told me Brooks was running below 18 miles per hour. One person said he has the upside of Kelvin Banks.
Becton is getting better results than the previous strength and conditioning coaches Longhorn Nation once celebrated—but it turned out to be much ado about nothing.
Remember Pat Moorer and “The Pit”?
Here’s a reminder from this Austin American-Statesman article in 2014:
"Stories of his workouts have become legendary, but none carry as much weight as the Pit, which is basically a chamber of horrors for injured football players thinly disguised as a workout regimen. It’s designed to work the uninjured parts of an injured player’s body while not-so-gently sending the message that the training room isn’t a place of rest and relaxation.
"Case in point: Former Louisville cornerback Jordan Paschal, who was out with a leg injury. One minute, Paschal was standing on the sideline with crutches. The next, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal, he was in a ditch shoveling dirt, something he would do for an hour in the heat of the day.
"In the Courier-Journal, Moorer described the Pit as 'the place nobody wants to go' and as 'a place our injured players go.’”*
"Texas finished 6-7, 5-7, and 5-7 during those years and was barely producing NFL talent."
Longhorn fans were excited about Yancy McKnight.
However, many former players believe the emphasis on heavy lifting led to preventable injuries.
Becton is the best strength and conditioning trainer in college football—2024 FootballScoop Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year—and arguably one of the best additions to this staff in program history.
I asked my source to explain what makes Becton great at his job.
One source told me Becton is direct, honest, and has an ability to connect with people, staff, and players. In addition, he is an effective communicator.
"He’s very consistent," I was told. "Players love him. The staff loves him.”
Becton is the father of four daughters. If you know anything about “Girl Dads,” they leave toughness and bravado at the door. Becton is an active father who adores his children.
Becton views the players on this football team as his sons. It is not just about coaching and setting goals—he tries to develop them into men. Becton is known for talking to players about school, girlfriends, family concerns, and life. For some players, he is their coach. For others, he is their father figure.
More importantly, the players trust Becton.
That is why he can get the most from each player.
"Torre and his staff are super important for the development of a team,” Texas offensive line coach Kyle Flood said during the postseason. “Your strength coaches really have more access to your players over the course of the year than you do as a football coach, in terms of training and development. The reason it works is because of the communication—the communication between him and the head coach, the communication between him and us, and assistant coaches in terms of what we need at each position for each player.
"It is not a one-size-fits-all program he has down there. They do an excellent job of training the players individually for the specific needs that they have."
One of Becton’s strengths is his track background.
Becton’s wife, Chinela, is a former All-American sprinter and jumper at Miami. That gives Becton one hell of an advantage.
According to my sources, Becton focuses on acceleration with every player. He makes sure offensive linemen have a burst of speed within 10 yards.
Becton’s focus on speed is the reason why Longhorn receivers are killing it at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Remember Arch Manning’s 67-yard touchdown run against UTSA?
"Well, when he bit on the back, I had a pretty good idea," Manning said. "I just had to make one move on the safety. When adrenaline kicks in, it helps you run a little bit faster. But I credit that to Torre Becton, our head weight coach. He runs our tails off in the summer, so I think I've gotten a little bit faster since I've got on campus.”
Becton made the Longhorns into a tougher team.
Many people inside the building credited Becton’s offseason work for Texas defeating Alabama by 10 points on the road in 2025. Longhorn players were bullying the Crimson Tide in the fourth quarter. Since that moment, Texas has stood toe-to-toe with every opponent, regardless of the outcome.
It explains why three NFL teams tried to hire Becton after this season.
According to my sources, the New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, and New Orleans Saints wanted Becton.
The Papal Swiss Guard would be proud.
Becton’s importance cannot be denied.
Photo via Austin American Statesman
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
That must hurt the ego
They did not see that coming
Who is kicking this Uncle out of the funeral?
Sports On A Dime
1. Texas men’s basketball coach Rodney Terry’s response when asked if his team has done enough to get into the tournament: “When you look at body of work, we have seven quad one wins. I think last year we got in with five quad one wins. We play in the best conference in the history of college basketball this season. Seven of those quad wins are against the field that's going into the tournament.
“Never say we had bad losses. I think we've done a pretty good job in terms of when we have lost, I think they've been pretty good. Ohio State, they're a quad one loss, you know? South Carolina, they're tough at home. That's probably our one tough game.
“Outside of that, we really didn't have any losses that I think that were bad losses. No one wants to hear a bad loss. A loss is a loss, right? When you look at the profile, I think it's pretty good in that regard.”
2. Terry on his team’s ceiling if the Longhorns make the tournament: “We'd be a dangerous matchup in the NCAA tournament because we're finally healthy. We have our full allotment of guys. We're playing pretty good at the right time of year. We have a guy that can go into the tournament and he can score 30 points in a game. You have a guy that can come into a tournament setting, score 30 points in a game, you're nervous dealing with that. Tennessee had that last year. At any time they could have a guy that could explode for 30.
“When you have scoring and star power like that, you're always a dangerous team. Tramon played well down the stretch for us. I thought everybody was playing at the kind of level they would play for us all season, to be honest.”
3. Tennessee coach Rick Barnes on whether Texas is a tournament team: “Well, I'll answer the second part first. There's no doubt Texas is an NCAA team. There's so many teams in our league that would win conferences. There's no doubt in my mind that they did enough coming in. They have. Being on the bubble, whatever people want to talk about. I think they've done more than enough. I think we should have 14 teams in the NCAA tournament is what I think.”
4. Here’s PFF.com’s explanation as to why Texas can return to playoffs and potentially exceed last year’s accomplishment:
“The Arch Manning era is officially underway in Austin. He’ll be one of the most hyped quarterbacks in history, partly because of his last name but also because of how good he looked in relief of Quinn Ewers. His 88.1 PFF grade was 13th among FBS quarterbacks with at least 200 snaps. Manning will have a retooled offensive line in front of him but has some exciting playmakers to lean on in running back CJ Baxter and wide receiver Ryan Wingo.
“After placing second in the nation in defensive EPA per play last year, the Longhorns are loaded on that side of the ball once again. True sophomore Colin Simmons might already be the best edge defender in the nation while safety Michael Taaffe, cornerback Malik Muhammad and linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. are among the best at their positions as well.
“After making the semifinals in back-to-back years, Texas has the opportunity to win it all next season.”
5. Not every reporter can present a question as eloquently as Terry Middleton (Horns Illustrated)
6. Here is a great stat for you
7. Fellas, if you are looking for a second-favorite women’s basketball team, introducing Grand Canyon head coach Molly Miller
8. According to Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger, LSU finally has boosters ready to spend serious NIL money to obtain players.
“LSU’s collective spent roughly $12 million on its football roster over the last three seasons — combined. For comparison’s sake, the Ole Miss collective spent about $13 million on its roster — last season.
“Even athletic director Scott Woodward acknowledges that the program wasn’t “at the top of the heap early on.”
“But this winter, a sea change happened here on the bayou.
“A program whose coach only last May announced at a news conference that he wasn’t “in the market of buying players” mobilized like never before. The fundraising blitzkrieg, starting with that phone call out West, featured presentations to donors of the program’s new, NFL-like roster valuation system. Kelly, himself, made visits to Baton Rouge offices of business owners and pledged to match up to $1 million in LSU NIL contributions with a donation to the school’s athletics fund.
“The result? Multiple seven-figure gifts arrived. It was a last gasp to cap off the industry’s four-year NIL era of boosters funding rosters before the arrival in July of a revenue-sharing concept that permits schools to directly pay players.
“The cash flow — a majority of it from three to five donors — helped deliver a 16-man, top-ranked transfer portal class in the country, retain stars like edge rusher Harold Perkins, land a top-10 ranked group of high school signees and, perhaps, avoid a cataclysmic and historic happening: LSU, of all programs, being left behind.
“We’ve contributed donations because I have felt, to be honest with you, that there will be change,” said Pepper Rutland, who gave a seven-figure gift for the portal push. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see major college football leave the NCAA, and I’m afraid if you don’t do this and stay in the mix, you may be irrelevant when that change happens. You may be a school that doesn’t come back from it.
“It’s a money game now.”
9. Enjoy this trip down memory lane
10. Three points in LA? I’ll take it.
