Texas coach Steve Sarkisian talks SEC move ahead of Big 12 debut

New Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian has not made his Big 12 debut, yet he opens his first press conference of the season with questions about his departure to the SEC. The former Alabama offensive coordinator wanted to address the issue of his former conference, now his future conference ahead of the season.

“You’ve got to recognize the elephant in the room,” Sarkisian told reporters, referencing Texas’ move to the SEC. “We can’t be naive to that. But we also can’t put so much emphasis into it that we don’t focus on ourselves and do what’s necessary for us to have success. Whether it’s loud crowd noise, yelling at us on the bench, a ‘horns down’ signal, all those things are really irrelevant to our ability to execute and succeed at a really high level.”

Sarkisian echoes the sentiment of Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley, who told reporters his team focuses on the “task at hand.”

Changes on the field

The most pressing task on Sarkisian’s to-do list is finding the next starter at quarterback. After four years of Sam Ehlinger, it is time for Casey Thompson and Hudson Card to compete for the job.

“At some point I’m gonna have to do what I think is best for the team,” said Sarkisian. “But I do believe we’re going to need both these guys this fall.”

The uncertainty at quarterback is offset, in part, by the return of star running back Bijan Robinson.

“There’s going to be games when he touches the ball upwards to 30,” said Sarkisian. “And there’s gonna games when maybe it’s closer to 13 to 15. Every game takes on a life of its own. We can put a ballpark in that 18 to 22 range. That puts us in a good position, I think, as a team, as an offense.”

Changes on the sideline

Texas and Oklahoma are set to join the SEC by 2025, ushering in a new era of college football. The move has been widely criticized by Big 12 leaders and has rival fans more passionate than ever.

Texas is already entering a new era in 2021, ahead of the anticipated move. Athletic Director Chris Del Conte hired Sarkisian to lead Texas football and made a move to bring former Texas Tech basketball coach Chris Beard to Austin.

“I really haven’t spent a minute thinking about it,” said Beard. “We talked about it one time with our team. And it was really an example I made with our team about how we’re going to live where our feet are, and we’re going to control what we can control.”

Image courtesy of Tim Warner/Getty Images