Steve Sarkisian reveals his process of how he decides to hire assistant coaches

A key role for head coaches that often goes overlooked is the hiring of assistant coaches for their staff. Finding the right group of assistants can be difficult, but it remains vital to building a roster. Now, Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian shared what goes into his hiring process.

Sarkisian appeared on Josh Pate’s College Football Show. There, he emphasized that he’s looking for the right person to fit his program. That starts with asking others about them.

“I like to talk to people that you’ve worked with,” Steve Sarkisian said. “And how do they talk about you? You know, what are some of the first things that come out of your mouth? Do they pause? Why do they pause? That means they’re trying to decipher through some information, right? What do they reference? Do they reference how great of a coach you are, do they reference how great of a guy you are, do they reference that the players like you? Do they reference that he has friction with his players, but they perform good? None of it’s bad, good, indifferent, but I’m taking in information of who you are, of how people perceive you. How people perceive you does not always define us, but it does at least give me a little bit of a snapshot.”

In the actual interview process, Steve Sarkisian wants to get to know the coaches he interviews on a personal level. That’s because he knows that they can coach and is looking for the right personalities for his program’s culture.

“Then, when I get to talking to you, a lot of what I do is getting to know you. You wouldn’t have gotten to this level to where you’re getting recommended for a job at the University of Texas if you didn’t know some level of football,” Sarkisian said. “But what kind of person are you? Are you going to enhance this building? Because we’ve got a great thing going. We’ve got a great building here. The last thing I want is to infect this building with something that could really hinder us on the journey that we’re on. So, the person matters for the coaches that we hire here. That’s on offense, defense, special teams. That’s in our scouting and recruiting department. That’s in every aspect of our organization.”

When it comes to competing for recruits and eventually wins at a major program like Texas, Steve Sarkisian knows he needs his program to stand out. Plenty of those programs have similar stadiums and facilities. What stands out and makes a school unique is the people in the program.

“I think if you talk to anybody around here, what we’ve got going is the people,” Sarkisian said. “Because let me tell you something, everybody’s got great facilities nowadays, and if they don’t have them, they’re building new ones. Okay? Everybody’s got a great stadium. Everybody’s got 19 uniforms that they put on week in and week out. So, what’s going to make us different? The people. So, if all I’m worried about is how smart you are as a coach and neglect maybe who you are as a person, sooner or later I’m going to fail in that hiring process. So, I try to learn you as a person to make sure you can align with where we’re headed as a program from the mentality standpoint.”

Steve Sarkisian began coaching at Texas in 2021, and he took time to build up the program. That patient approach to program building seems to have worked, going 25-5 in the last two seasons, going to the College Football Playoff twice. So, clearly, something Sarkisian is doing at Texas is working well.