AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas football has made clear strides under head coach Steve Sarkisian. From five wins in his first year to a Big 12 Conference championship in his third, the program appears to have a lot of momentum.
Records don’t always tell the entire story, however. Sarkisian said over time he believes that teams increasingly take on the personality of their head coach.
“I just want to make sure I’m at my best for them because they deserve that because I know how hard they’ve worked,” said Sarkisian. “If they can see me, exuding the time, effort, energy, expertise of what I’m good at for them, I think that’s where the reciprocal … you start the get that.”
His players agree that they have started to adapt to his style, especially those who have been in the program for a while.
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
“As a coach, you have to earn the team’s trust,” said junior defensive back Michael Taaffe. “That’s really hard as a first-year coach. I think Coach [Sarkisian] did it better than anyone else could have done.”
The most veteran of players have been part of the program since before Sarkisian took over. That includes fifth-year lineman Jake Majors who has seen how Sarkisian changed everything.
“I feel like every great program, it has to start from the top and trickle its way down,” said Majors. “[Sarkisian] does a great job implementing his messages into us [and] working those messages in a way that we embody it.”
The Longhorns open the season at 2:30 p.m. Saturday as they host Colorado State. KBVO is your home for the official pregame show of the Longhorns, “Texas Gameday,” that will start at 1:30 p.m. Saturday ahead of the game.