Steve Sarkisian on why he won't give up play-calling duties: 'I was a really good offensive coordinator'

Some have wondered whether Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian could give up play-calling duties. During a press conference on Monday, he made it known that a change won’t be coming in that area for the Longhorns.

“No, because that’s why I got hired,” Sarkisian stated. “I was a really good offensive coordinator. I believe in what we’re able to do. Every year, we have to continually evolve. There’s going to be years where we’re better on offense than we our on defense. There’s going to be years where we’re better on defense than we our on offense.

“It’s like, if I was the best outside sales guy and I had a start-up company, surely I’m going to go to the sales meetings if I’m trying to sell something. If that’s one of your strengths — I’m always going to tap in to the strengths that I have. Being a play-caller on offense is one of my strengths. Some may disagree, and that’s okay.”

As you can see, Sarkisian is confident in his abilities. Texas improved to 5-2 on the season, despite some offensive shortcomings, after defeating Kentucky 16-13 on the road on Saturday night. The Longhorns have now won five of their last six games and can become bowl eligible with a win next weekend at Mississippi State.

They certainly haven’t been overly impressive, but Paul Finebaum believes Sarkisian’s squad has done just enough in 2025. He joined SportsCenter on Sunday to hand out midseason grades to several teams, and Finebaum revealed that he’s giving out a passing grade to the Longhorns after eight weeks.

“Yes, Texas gets a passing grade, not a great passing grade, but a passing grade,” Finebaum said. “Nevertheless, I will give them a C. It could be worse. It could be better. That young man, Arch (Manning) has had a very difficult season, in case you haven’t been watching.”

Manning was a preseason favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. That hype has since tapered off and while he’s shown flashes many times throughout the season, Manning is still a first-year starting quarterback at the college level. He appears well on his way to living up to that hype in the future, and the Longhorns have largely continued to win under his signal calling.

Still, Texas’ offense was expected to be one of the high-powered units in the country during the preseason. That hasn’t been the case, either as the Longhorns haven’t put up more than 30 points against a Power Four opponent yet this season.

Perhaps most importantly, Texas’ College Football Playoff hopes are still alive heading into the second half of the 2025 regular season. After their road trip to Mississippi State on Saturday, the Longhorns will have their work cut out for them during November, taking on Vanderbilt (home), Georgia (away), Arkansas (home) and Texas A&M (home) to round out their regular season schedule.

— On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this article.