AUSTIN (KXAN) — Nobody does it quite like the Texas Longhorns.
An all-day celebration Sunday brought thousands upon thousands of fans to campus to mark the Longhorns’ official entrance to the Southeastern Conference, and now the work begins.
Newly hired Texas baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle called the SEC “the major leagues of college athletics” during his introductory press conference June 24, and since coming over from Texas A&M, he said Sunday was the first time he’s actually seen campus.
“This has been my first time out of the office to be honest with you, so it’s nice to get some fresh air,” he said. “When you come to Austin and play at Disch-Falk, you just see the city. To be here on such a historic day is beautiful.”
Schlossnagle knows a thing or two about the SEC having coached Texas A&M for three seasons and taking the Aggies to the Men’s College World Series twice. Another current Longhorns coach who was formerly with Texas A&M is women’s tennis head coach Howard Joffe. Joffe was at Texas A&M when the Aggies stepped into the conference in 2012, and he said Texas made this a much bigger spectacle.
“I don’t remember anything quite so fantastical as what I’m seeing here,” he said. “Texas has gone out of its way to throw a big party.”
Another former SEC coach is the head football coach, Steve Sarkisian. He said the fan support here is what really made the celebration special.
“It speaks volumes to Longhorn Nation. The support we have from everybody is incredible,” he said. “It’s not just that they’re here, it’s the energy they’re providing.”
If there’s one thing Longhorn Nation has in common with all of the other fanbases in the SEC, it’s passion. Every Saturday in the fall in SEC country is, as Sarkisian likes to say, all gas and no brakes.
“The fanfare is the SEC is something our fans are going to enjoy,” Sarkisian said. “They’re very passionate, they’ll travel well when they play us here. They might be hospitable, they might not be when we go there, but it’s all in the fun and pageantry of college football.”