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Joel Klatt addresses Steve Sarkisian NFL rumors, reveals if he believes them

On3 imageby: Dan Morrison3 hours agodan_morrison96
Steve Sarkisian, Texas
© Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The Texas Longhorns are battling for a spot in the College Football Playoff this season. So, a major distraction, like head coach Steve Sarkisian looking at NFL opportunities, wasn’t what they needed going into Saturday. They got it, though, following a report from The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.

There was a quick effort to snuff out the rumor from both Sarkisian himself, following the Mississippi State game and his agency, CAA, in a statement beforehand. That’s ultimately created a situation where one side says one thing and the other denies it. For the time being, as he explained on The Joel Klatt Show, analyst Joel Klatt has no reason not to believe Sarkisian.

“Okay, he’s got to say that for his locker room,” Joel Klatt said. “And I personally believe him until that’s false. I think he’s at Texas. He loves it at Texas. That’s a great job. That’s a top two job in college football. Top two job, maybe the best job in college football, and he’s got it and he’s battling through a tough year right now, primarily because the offense has not been great.”

Steve Sarkisian is best known for his time as a college coach, which includes stops as a head coach at Washington and USC before Texas. It also includes offensive coordinator tenures at USC and Alabama. Notably, however, he has also been an offensive coordinator in the NFL, finding a lot of success with the Atlanta Falcons.

In Russini’s initial report, she noted that he would be interested in the Tennessee Titans job as well. There, a coach known as a quarterback guru could have the opportunity to work with a first overall pick in Cam Ward. Still, it was an adamant denial from Sarkisian following the Mississippi State game that it was a false report.

“It really pisses me off that one person can make a report that in turn,” Sarkisian said. “The entire media sports world runs with as factual to the point of my agency and my agents have to put a statement out that they never have done. I had to do that to protect my locker room and my team.”

For the time being, at 6-2, Texas is still in the hunt for the College Football Playoff. Getting there and avoiding distractions should be his main focus. However, if reports like this continue to surface, that’s only going to be harder to do in the coming weeks.