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Everything Steve Sarkisian said Thursday ahead of the Arkansas game

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook6 hours agojosephcook89
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Steve Sarkisian (Petre Thomas-Imagn Images)

Here’s everything Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said on his Thursday pre-Arkansas Zoom.

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Steve Sarkisian: “What a great opportunity for our team. Any time you lose a ballgame, especially on the road in the caliber of game that we were in, I think it can really test your character and test your culture. One thing that this team has shown me throughout the season is the resiliency that they possess. This week has been no different. I give our players and our staff a ton of credit for the way that they’ve come right back to work understanding there’s a lot of football left to be played. We’ve got a great opportunity to be back in DKR. We’ve played here once since September. To be back in DKR, it should be a great environment. I know our team, our coaches, everybody involved in our organization is looking forward to the opportunity of playing a longstanding rival in Arkansas. Somebody who hasn’t been here in nearly 20 years, but I know how much this game means to Longhorn Nation so we’re excited about the opportunity. I’ll tell you what, our guys have been working really hard. They’ve got great energy. They’re detailed in what they’re trying to get done. Looking forward to it.”

Steve Sarkisian on the rivalry with Arkansas: “I don’t know if they completely understand it all. We have a visitor in practice every day in Ted Koy, and he gives them a reminder of what this game meant in that era. Some of those fantastic matchups like No. 1 vs. No. 2, things of that nature. When you have the break and the lull in the action, I think for so many of our players what they know of a rivalry is what they’ve seen on TV or the games they went to in recruiting. I know for some of our current players and our current staff members, we went to Arkansas in 2021 and that was not a very friendly welcome we received that first time going there. We understand the magnitude of the rivalry that way. Going back last year was helpful for us. At the end of the day, a lot of our younger players are going to get introduced to that rivalry quickly when this ball gets kicked off Saturday. It’s a great game. I’m so glad that we get to play this game.” — Sarkisian then goes into a familiar statement where he talks about how the move to the SEC allowed for Texas to gain rivalry games with Arkansas and Texas A&M again.

Steve Sarkisian on Liona Lefau and Ty’Anthony Smith: “Those guys, Lion has played a ton of football for us and he’s played multiple positions for us. Ty’Anthony has really come on. I’m really proud of him and how far he’s come in our program and the impact he’s had at linebacker. We feel really comfortable with those two guys and we feel very comfortable with Trey Moore as well. Trey Moore provides a little bit more stature if you want to call it that at linebacker. Lion gives us so much versatility playing multiple spots. Ty’Anthony gives us that speed factor you have to have at the dime position for us. I think between all three of those guys, we’re in a pretty good shape at that position if Anthony can’t go.”

Steve Sarkisian on CFP rankings and if he told the team about them: “I did not. We addressed where we were on Monday morning and what it was going to take. The message is control what we can control. What we can control is right in front of us, and that’s Arkansas this week at 2:30. Let’s stay focused on the task at hand, quiet the noise, and make sure we’re doing the work necessary on a daily basis to put ourselves in the best position to have some success on Saturday. As always, those things take care of themselves. We’ve got to take care of our business and control what we can control.”

Steve Sarkisian on if he’s been surprised at all by how loud the outside noise has been this season: “I don’t know. That’s probably a better question for you guys. You’re the ones writing about it and talking about it. Not really for me.”

Steve Sarkisian on if he’s seen this group mature this year: “I would say yes. We are one of the younger teams in the country. We were pretty dramatically young on the offensive side of the ball. When you’re growing through adversity and you get on the other side of one piece of adversity and another and another, I think you do mature naturally as we go. The story of the season at this juncture could be very different than it is today. But this is our story. This is our journey. This is where we are and so how we respond to the adversity not only serves to who we are today and the resiliency that we show today and the maturity that we show today, but it’s also going to serve well for our future. A lot of these same guys are going to be back in that locker room again next year and the year after that and possibly the year after that. They’ve got a great foundation of how to deal with adversity, how to grow collectively. I think that’s a key component. Like I said, I’m really proud of our team because not for a moment have they become divisive, not for a moment has there been bickering. It’s been picking each other up, supporting one another. That’s the sign of a great team. Sure, we want to win every game. Don’t get me wrong. We want to win every game and we want to win convincingly and all that stuff. Sometimes, adversity can bring us closer together if you can do it the right way. I think that’s probably the story of the season for this team. We’ve grown closer together through some of the adversity that they’ve faced. I’ve been very proud of them for that. They’ve hung together. They continue to pick each other up, and they’ve shown a great deal of resiliency.”

Steve Sarkisian on recruiting and portal needs: “We really have to maximize this weekend. This weekend is really important for us from a recruiting standpoint. I’m not trying to complain, but we didn’t have a home game since September 20. Our first game back at DKR was an 11 a.m. kickoff the day after Halloween. It’s very difficult for high school kids, especially if they’re not within about a three hour radius, to drive down. A lot of those kids, they play Friday night, they’ve got practice and walkthrough and meetings on Saturday mornings. We didn’t get a great hand dealt to us with our schedule from a recruiting standpoint. We’ve really got to maximize Saturday with a 2:30 kick of bringing in visitors and unofficial visitors and really spending time from a recruiting standpoint because in reality next Friday night, that’s not an ideal time to have a bunch of visitors in because a lot of the kids we’re recruiting are still in the playoffs. They don’t get to come to games on Friday night. We’ve got to do a great job of maximizing this weekend and then do the best we can next Friday night. Then, try to close really well in recruiting, which historically we’ve done pretty well. When the regular season is done, then we’ll assess the roster, the portal, the direction we’re trying to go in the future from a standpoint of we just signed this high school class, here’s our current roster, what do we think our needs are? Then try to figure out what do we need position specific? What style of player? We really don’t know who’s in the portal so it’s hard to start to evaluate players because we really don’t know yet. Like anything, some players are going to get thrown up throughout December as guys you’re hearing might go in. Then, you’re trying to figure out do they fit what we’re looking for.”

Steve Sarkisian on what he’s learned about the coaching staff: “The biggest thing about our coaches, I love that they support the message. I’ve got really key points to messages I like to have every week. I’m a big believer in positive energy. I’m a big believer in being very intentional. I’m a big believer in picking people up. I’m a big believer in details. You come off of losses along the way and you got to improve. You come off of a win and a lot of times, it’s ‘well we won, so we don’t have things to fix.’ That’s not true. We’ve got to fix issues, and so the biggest thing about our coaches to me is that they’ve supported my message, and it’s been a very consistent message. I think that helps the players respond the way that our players have responded this season, and that’s the sign of a really good staff. In all three phases, we have things we’re not perfect at. We need to try to get better at. The season is not over and we’ve got to try to improve. We’ve got areas this offseason that we’re going to have to address as a staff. In the moment, these guys have worked their tail off to try to be the best that we can be as a team. That’s staying as a team and not becoming divisive, one side of the ball or the other side of the ball or different position groups. It’s hanging together. I think that shows the players how to do it in the locker room. We can be models for them of our approach, our mentality, the way we stick together. I think it serves as a great model for the players and how to deal with each other in that locker room.”

Steve Sarkisian on Bobby Petrino‘s evolution: ” I would say probably his best coaching job he’s ever done — and it’s easy to look at the player — but he pivoted when he got Lamar (Jackson) because he’s a unicorn. Lamar Jackson, people hadn’t been doing that type of stuff with a true dual threat, what he did, and why I appreciate Bobby and the way that he did it is Bobby’s got a pro style approach with multiple personnel groupings, run schemes, pass schemes. Then, he incorporated the running (quarterback) into all that. That was very new for football because a lot of people when they thought dual threat at that time, it was spread. It was zone-read. It was your typical incorporating the quarterback into a dual threat system. He took a pro style offense and incorporated maybe the best athlete we’ve ever seen at quarterback. You saw the numbers, it’s the most gaudy numbers anyone’s probably ever had at the quarterback position. Now he’s doing the same thing with (Taylen) Green. I think that’s where you talk about a coach’s versatility who is willing to evolve. I give him a ton of credit on that because he was not stuck in his ways in ‘we’re going to line up under center, turn around, and hand off the G-lead play.’ No, I’ve got Lamar Jackson. I’m going to find a way to run quarterback power, quarterback counter, quarterback sweeps. I’m still going to call the pro style pass game. I’m still going to call the pro style run games. He forces you to defend a lot of different things.”

Steve Sarkisian: “I think we would obviously like to play more man. I think playing man-to-man comes with a lot of confidence. You earn confidence through positive play. Sometimes, we haven’t been as confident as we’d like to be. So we’ve got to continue to help those guys grow into that mold of believing in their ability to play tighter coverage. We’ve had some unfortunate plays for some younger players that have gotten beat in tight coverage. That causes you maybe to not be as confident to do that. I think for us to be at our best, we’re going to have to do that as we continue to grow as a program because I think denying the easy passes is one of the traits of a really good defense, that people really earn the yards that they get. We’ve got to continue to work down that path. I think we’ve got some young players that are going to allow us to do that in the future.”

Steve Sarkisian on the tampering issue: “I think it’s a major problem. We live in a world right now of instant gratification. We’ve got players on our roster who were highly recruited, very good football players who are in the developmental stage of their career. The family back home, the agent representing him, or the high school coach doesn’t know that, he’s just saying ‘Billy’s not playing. I need to find him a home where they’re going to play him.’ So it’s not necessarily the kid that’s out there trying to find somewhere to go. Sometimes it’s the people that are in his circle that are looking, and conversations begin. Next thing you know, people are throwing numbers out there at families and at agents that are unrealistic. You kind of have to reel it all back in. Like today, I had Michael Huff talk to the team at practice. Michael Huff is getting honored Saturday at DKR and he’s getting inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame. I had him tell his story. He goes through the Thorpe Award, national championship, seventh overall pick, eight years in the NFL, All-Pro in the NFL, and then he tells them ‘I redshirted my freshman year,’ and they were startled. You can still do all that and you redshirted? So I think it’s a friendly reminder that we’re not finished products. These guys have to develop over time and I think that’s our first part. What can we do to manage that? We’ve got to manage our own locker room and not get so consumed with what’s going on outside and focus on our current players. We’ve got a lot of really good players in our program. They aren’t there yet, but they’re going to be if we continue to pour into them and continue to develop them.”

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