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'Good luck, I hope you get it': Agents present a wrinkle that Steve Sarkisian says college football is still figuring out

by: Evan Vieth12/30/25

As we’ve continued along the treacherous path of the current college football landscape, where universities and investors can directly pay players to play for schools, the emergence of agents in college football has become more and more prevalent.

Coaches and staff members have always had agents. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian’s own agent, Jimmy Sexton, represents a large number of the best coaches in the nation, but we’re now in a brand-new setting where athletes as young as 16 are being represented by professionals in the space. And sometimes, their representation could be anything but professional.

It’s now rare to find a player within the sport who isn’t represented—at least not in the upper echelon of Power Four football and among blue-chip recruits.

This has greatly impacted three different processes: recruiting, retention, and the transfer portal.

Recruits now have a much more dynamic system than before. In the past, a strong connection between a coach and parents, along with pitches like distance from home, past success, and campus environment, made the difference for even the most elite recruits. Nowadays, agents dictate a market, and just to get into the conversation with a five-star, universities have to meet the monetary and contractual needs that the agent puts forward

Retention and the portal tie this all together. Every year, agents and players are looking to elevate their valuation, earn more money, or find somewhere that will pay them.

When asked about the running back portal process—one Texas will be active in over the portal window—Sarkisian had the chance to discuss the struggles of the current environment and the impact modern-day agents have on the sport.

“It’s, one, about need. It’s, two, about money. Where’s the market? Which agent are you dealing with? There’s some agents that are rational, and there’s some that this is their first time ever being an agent. I don’t even know if they’re licensed to be agents, but all of a sudden they get to be agents because we have no certification process in college football.”

Sarkisian continued on the idea of certification for agents, something that is required in the NFL with a series of background tests, schooling, fees, and exams to be able to represent players.

“For the NFL, you have to be certified. In college football, it might be their college roommate their freshman year who’s their agent right now,” Sarkisian joked. “And this guy’s throwing numbers at you, and it’s like, ‘we can’t even deal with this.’ You just move on. And so it’s unfortunate, and we’ll get there in college football, but right now it’s a tough situation.”

Sarkisian understands the balance at play here. Texas, as much as fans don’t want to hear this, doesn’t have infinite funds. The team has needs and luxuries. Running back is a position of need, but the priority is landing two players who can provide depth and starter-level carries. If the No. 1 target at the position is far more expensive than what he’s worth, as Sark said, they may have to move on or search the 40 Acres couch cushions.

That’s exactly how he finished this long-winded statement, never really answering the original question about the running back portal and whether he would search it. In some ways, today was Sarkisian’s soapbox to discuss what he believes is wrong with the sport in its current form.

Whether this was said about former Longhorns or prospective Longhorns isn’t evident. What is clear is that Sarkisian sees a game that looks vastly different off the field from the one he played in during the 1990s, and a game he’ll have to successfully navigate if he’s to be a winning head coach in the 2020s.

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