How Texas football resurrection has been built on shoulders of big humans
Jenni CarlsonThe Oklahoman
During his early days at Texas, Steve Sarkisian liked to spout a showy slogan.
All gas, no brakes.
The Longhorn head coach said it initially to let the burnt-orange faithful know there was lots of work to be done and he was ready to get after it. But as time went on, the catchphrase began to signal something different. A style. A swagger.
And with guys like Xavier Worthy and Bijan Robinson on the roster, it seemed to fit. There was lots of speed and flash and star power down in Austin.
But now as Texas prepares to face Ohio State in the College Football Playoff national semifinal, we can see that the outside world fixated on the wrong thing four years ago. The Longhorn rebuild wasn’t about glitz and glam but rather bulk and mass.
Big humans, as Sarkisian calls them.
Make no mistake, the Longhorns have seen huge benefits from Sark’s upgrades at the skill positions, particularly at quarterback. But speedy receivers, elusive tailbacks and even talented quarterbacks are always available to the Horns; all Sark has to do is shake the Texas high school football trees, and a few dozen will fall at his feet.
But it’s clear where Sark upgraded most, the foundation for how he got the Horns ready to compete not only in the SEC but also on the national stage.
Getting bigger players, specifically bigger linemen, was Sark’s top priority before even being offered the head coaching job at Texas.
“We need bigger humans in our program,” he told Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte in his interview. “And we need more of them.”
Sarkisian recounted that story during Big 12 football media days back in 2022, and by then, only 18 months into his time in Austin, the change was becoming evident. Texas had signed seven offensive linemen earlier that spring, and even though they were freshmen, they were making older guys sit up and take notice.
“One of them dudes came in, and I was like, ‘First of all, y’all are very big dudes,’” Robinson said at Big 12 media days.
That group included five-star recruits Kelvin Banks (6-foot-4, 320 pounds) and DJ Campbell (6-3, 300) as well as four-star prospects Cameron Williams (6-5, 335) and Cole Hutson (6-5, 310).
The first three are expected to start for Texas on Friday in the national semifinal while Hutson is the Longhorns’ most-used reserve offensive lineman.
Texas’ next recruiting class in 2023, the Longhorns went even bigger on the offensive line: 6-6 ½, 345; 6-6, 345; 6-6, 280; 6-5, 360; 6-4, 300.
Now, listen, size alone does not make for a great offensive line.
Ditto for the defensive line.
Compare the average size of the starting linemen for Texas and OU this season, for example, and they aren’t that much different.
Average of Texas’ starting offensive line: 6-4, 324.
Average of OU’s: 6-5, 321.
Average of Texas’ starting defensive line: 6-4, 283.
Average of OU’s: 6-3, 276.
And yet, Nick Saban, a college football expert of some repute, made this observation a week after the Longhorns turned the Red River Rivalry into a mauling of the Sooners.
“Sark built this Texas team as an SEC team,” Saban said during ESPN’s College GameDay broadcast before the Texas-Georgia showdown. “Oklahoma’s not built that way. But Texas is, and that’s why they can compete in this league.”
A couple of things.
First, Sark worked for Saban, so there’s a chance the legendary Alabama coach takes a bit of a shine to Texas. Still, it was easy to see during that game inside the Cotton Bowl that Texas and OU were on different levels.
Second, it’s possible Saban was talking about more than linemen. But significant size up front is the foundation for pretty much all great teams in the SEC nowadays.
On the line of scrimmage, the building blocks for Texas and OU were similar in size, but head to head, the Horns were clearly superior. So, size is crucial, but it has to be talented, motivated and ferocious, too.
Sarkisian has made no secret about how important that kind of size is.
Soon after his first season at Texas, a disappointing 5-7 campaign, name, image and likeness came online, and as the NCAA scrambled to regulate it, Texas took a bold step. Longhorn football fans (no doubt encouraged by Sark and Co. or their proxies) started a tax-exempt charity called Horns With Heart.
One of its early initiatives: Pay every Longhorn offensive lineman a salary of $50,000 a year.
Cam Williams, one of those talented recruits that Texas snared in 2021, had initially committed to Oregon. A week after Horns With Heart called with its offer, he switched his commitment.
The $50,000 salary may have pushed the limits of NIL, but it worked. Texas got better bigs. Got better results, too. A Big 12 title and a spot in the four-team playoff a year ago. An appearance in the SEC title game and a couple of wins in the expanded playoff this year.
Win on Friday night, and the Horns will play for the national title.
The get-bigger-humans trend seems to be catching on in Norman, too. Defensive linemen were a priority a year ago, headlined by the likes of Jayden Jackson and David Stone, and in this recruiting cycle, offensive linemen have come to the forefront. Two transfers are both 6-6 and over 300 pounds while our freshmen signees average a little over 6-4, 307.
The highest-ranked recruit of this class is an offensive lineman, too, the mountainous Michael Fasusi, who stands 6-5 and weighs 295 pounds. He recently dominated the Under Armour Next All-American Game, earning MVP honors.
How good is he?
Texas invited him for a last-minute visit in an attempt to sway him. Since the Horns are in the business of stockpiling big humans, you know Fasusi must be the real deal.
OU needs more guys like him.
It’s fun to talk about quarterbacks and tailbacks, receivers and linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties — and don’t misunderstand, every great team needs talent at all of those positions — but competing at the highest level is about controlling the lines of scrimmage. It ain’t sexy to talk about, but it’s necessary to have.
Sark understood that.
Back during Big 12 media days in 2022, he recalled a conversation with former Longhorn legends Vince Young and Kasey Studdard. They were part of Texas’ 2005 national championship team, and Sark said Studdard revealed that he and many of the other offensive linemen had chosen Texas because they wanted to play in front of Young.
“And they said, ‘We’re going to be the team that wins the championship, and here’s how we do it,’” Sark recalled Studdard saying. “They shouldered that, and that takes the pressure off the skill players to perform.
“When you can start mauling people, the game’s a lot easier.”
Big humans?
Big advantage.
