Steve Sarkisian: Texas job comes with plenty of responsibility, scrutiny

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian knew exactly what he was signing up for when he became the head coach of the Longhorns. With Texas struggling right now, Sarkisian has received a lot of heat for his team’s lack of success. But the responsibilities and heavy scrutiny is something Sarkisian knew would come when he agreed to take the job in Austin.

“I think first of all, when you take this job, and I’ve said this before but I think now is a pertinent time to say it, you have to know what you sign up for,” Sarkisian said. “You don’t take the job at the University of Texas without some expectation of scrutiny. There’s a reason I got hired, there’s a reason there was a coaching change. So clearly you have to understand there’s some things that are in there that I have to figure out and get that done.

“Two, it might not just be smooth sailing all the way. There’s gonna be bumps in the road. There’s gonna be rocky waters that we’re going to have to navigate our way through. And three, you’ve got to recognize through those times there’s going to be scrutiny. And that starts with me, our staff, and then ultimately our players. Whether it’s deserving or not, that’s the arena that I put myself in and you have to recognize that. So I’m very comfortable understanding kind of where I stand and what the responsibilities are of what I have to do.”

Sarkisian: ‘I signed up for’ the responsibility as Texas’ head coach

Sarkisian’s tenure as the head coach at Texas began on a positive note, as the Longhorns began the year 4-1. But since then, Texas has lost five consecutive games. After last week’s loss to Kansas, the struggles are very apparent right now.

As his team struggles, Sarkisian is focused on working through the issues the team is having.

“With all that being said, sometimes through the struggle, which clearly we’re in the midst of, you start to get a little bit more clarity on maybe some of the issues that if we had found a way to win some of these fourth quarter games, if we had found a way to win this game in overtime, sometimes those issues kind of get masked over with winning,” Sarkisian continued. “Sometimes winning can kind of cure it all. One of my mentors always told me playing bad and winning is sometimes the worst thing that can happen to you because you don’t address the issues that you have on your team.

“We unfortunately have lost a lot of close games, so it continues to present issues to us that we have to address. We’re trying to make sure we’re doing what’s in the best interest of the University of Texas and the football program. So I’ll say it again, I’m honored, I’m humbled to be the head coach at the University of Texas. With that is a lot of responsibility. That’s okay, I signed up for it. I know what it is.”

A few of the losses for Texas have been close games, as Sarkisian noted. Texas lost by seven to Oklahoma, eight to Oklahoma State, seven to Baylor, and one to Kansas.

Sarkisian and Texas will look to turn things around and salvage bowl eligibility over the final two weeks. Texas heads to West Virginia on Saturday before hosting Kansas State in the regular season finale.