AUSTIN (KXAN) — After coming up short in the College Football Playoff semifinals against Washington last season, the Texas Longhorns are more hungry than ever during head coach Steve Sarkisian’s tenure.
Speaking at SEC Football Media Days in Dallas on Wednesday, Sarkisian said there’s “an idea of obsession going on in our locker room right now,” now that his players tasted what being nationally relevant is like. He said moving to the Southeastern Conference increases that appetite because they know every week is their toughest matchup.
“They got a taste of what it can taste like, of being a Big 12 champion, playing in a College Football Playoff, and we fell short,” he said. “This idea of obsession, the obsession that our players have is one that really came from them. They couldn’t wait to get back to work. They couldn’t wait to get back in the weight room.”
When Sarkisian arrived four years ago, the program wasn’t where it was accustomed to being. The roster needed an overhaul and the culture deteriorated to the point where a stretch of nine consecutive seasons with 10 or more wins was followed by one 10-win season in 11 years. Sarkisian always says “the standard is the standard,” and before he showed up on the Forty Acres, the standard was mediocrity.
But now that the players have bought in, the recruits are flowing and there’s been continuity in the coaching staff, Sarkisian is seeing the changes from his first year.
MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newsletters
“It was almost like kind of prodding cattle to make sure that what they were doing day in and day out to get them to that point,” he said. “Now we’ve got a team full of hungry players. When I took the job, I don’t know if I could have said that.”
Depth, especially in the SEC, is critical to success. Programs in the conference put out two-deep depth charts where the backup would be a starter in any other conference, and that’s what Texas is aiming to become. A position where they didn’t need a ton of depth last year was at receiver given all the weapons they had with Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell and dependable possession pass catcher Jordan Whittington. Now, Sarkisian said, it might be the deepest position on the entire roster.
With high-level transfers Isaiah Bond (Alabama), Matthew Golden (Houston) and Silas Bolden (Oregon State) joining a young but talented core group of Johntay Cook, DeAndre Moore, Ryan Niblett and true freshman Ryan Wingo, Sarkisian said he’s going to make sure plenty of pass catchers are going to get on the field this season.
“I’ve got seven quality players there. Now, is it going to be a seven-man rotation? That will bear itself out,” Sarkisian said, “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. This group is very talented and by far and away our deepest receiver corps that we’ve had in four years.”
Defensively, Sarkisian said an emphasis is guarding against the pass. The margin of error is slim in a defense’s ability to keep an aerial assault to a minimum, and in the SEC, it’s even slimmer. Last season, Texas was tremendous against stopping the run, so Sarkisian said naturally the evolution moves to the secondary.
“We have to be better in pass defense,” he said. “There’s two ways of getting better in pass defense. One, you 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.”
Texas was No. 3 in the country against the run last year (82.4 yards allowed per game), but at times was torched through the air. The Longhorns allowed 254.4 passing yards per game, No. 113 in the country. Senior Jahdae Barron will be one of the veterans on defense that Sarkisian said will be tapped to help shore that up.
“He’s kind of the glue on the defense for us. He’s heady. He’s savvy,” Sarkisian said. “He can play multiple positions. He’s tough. I love what he brings to our team. I love the leadership that he brings to the team.”
Barron said that adding former LBJ Jaguars standout Andrew Mukuba from Clemson should also help.
“I tried to get Drew to come to Texas from day one, I didn’t want him to go to Clemson,” Barron said. “But it was his decision and I’m proud that he’s here now and he’s family now.”
In closing his opening remarks, Sarkisian said renewing long-standing rivalries with Texas A&M and with Arkansas from the Southwest Conference days already make this season special. What would make it even more special would be a championship or two.
“We’re one of the few schools with realignment that has benefitted from realignment that we’ve gotten some rivalries back, and so we’re looking forward to those things, as well,” he said. “It’s going to be a great year.”