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2025 Texas shares a lot in common with past Sarkisian-coached championship teams

by: Evan Vieth08/28/25
Steve Sarkisian
Steve Sarkisian (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

Steve Sarkisian has coached on the staff of two national title teams. Firstly, in 2003, Sark was vital in the development of USC quarterback Matt Leinart as the Trojans rattled off a 12-1, national-title-winning season with Sark as their QB coach.

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Then, 17 years later, Sarkisian did it again, this time as the offensive coordinator at Alabama. Sarkisian has gotten to observe some of the best programs ever coached by Pete Carroll and Nick Saban, filled with legends of the game like Leinart, Reggie Bush, and DeVonta Smith.

He’s no stranger to winning cultures and teams. That’s part of the reason he’s the only coach to have taken his teams to back-to-back CFP semifinals. But 2025 has brought Sarkisian and his team into a different echelon.

No. 1 ranked in the preseason for the first time in school history, the 2025 Longhorns are the national title favorites. That’s not something you thought you would hear back in 2020. When asked about the common denominators between this team and his past national champions, Sarkisian had this to say:

“The best teams I’ve been around all had great defenses,” Sarkisian said. “And I do think we have a pretty good defense. And we’ll find out, obviously, as the season unfolds.”

For being an offensive-minded coach, Sarkisian has always put a strong emphasis on the importance of defense. Even more so than in the NFL, defense is the key to winning a championship. Look at the units that have won it since Sarkisian did back in 2020. Three of the four best defenses in that span won a national championship.

“I think that we have depth like those teams had. It always felt like, on those teams, it was hard to distinguish between the two-deep, who was a one and who was a two, that the backup sometimes almost looked as good or better than the starter,” Sarkisian said. “And I think we’ve got really good depth on this team. And then I think there’s great leadership. There’s leadership, and there’s a personality about the team. And I’ve been fortunate with these guys that we’ve got great leadership. We’ve got guys that are highly competitive, that are driven, that are focused, but in the same token, they know the value of everybody in the room and why everybody’s important.”

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Texas’ depth and defense are the two things that stand out about the roster heading into the regular season. As Sarkisian ended his statement, Texas has all the right ingredients to make a run this year. All that’s left to do is play the football game. Two days away.

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