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Is Sean Miller getting his message across?

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook01/06/26josephcook89

There’s a good amount of crossover between what Sean Miller said Saturday following Texas’ overtime loss to Mississippi State after squandering a seven-point lead with two minutes and what Steve Sarkisian said after Texas’ 57-56 loss to Kansas in 2021. And it’s worth repeating considering the Longhorns are heading to Tennessee to take on a Volunteers squad made in Rick Barnes’ defensive image.

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Here’s what Miller said Saturday.

“If I tell you not to cross the street, and I keep telling you and I say I swear whatever you do, do not cross the street,” Miller said. “And you do it, and the bus hits you? I’m going to take responsibility as your parent. But damn it, how many times do I have to tell you not to cross the street? We’ve got some of that going on.”

Back in 2021, here’s what Sarkisian had to say after losing to the Jayhawks. The quote was given in Texas’ team meeting room, where postgame availabilities take place.

“It says it up on the wall right here in our team room: the team that has discipline, commitment, toughness and accountability all of the time, that’s what wins games,” Sarkisian said. “And that’s what ultimately wins championships. And we didn’t play that way in the first half.

“Until we figure that out, that it takes discipline, commitment, toughness, and accountability all the time, we’re going to be swimming upstream. That’s the message to the guys. At some point, they’ve got to recognize that and they’ve got to do the things necessary day in and day out, game in and game out, first half, second half out, start of ball games, end of games, it doesn’t matter if it’s losing a fourth-quarter lead or coming out flat, that’s what it’s about.”

That Kansas game was the nadir of the 5-7 2021 football season for Texas, knocking the Horns to 4-6. That team was made up of players who had signed up to play for Tom Herman or who were brought in by Sarkisian as part of patchwork efforts to put together a roster.

To compare an 85-man football roster and a 15-man men’s basketball roster is difficult, but there’s an element common to what Sarkisian said in 2021 and what Miller said Saturday. It’s common in the transfer portal era. It’s common for first-year head coaches.

You don’t get through to everyone.

Miller of course brought in a considerable amount of players for this 2025-26 season, including Saturday’s star in Dailyn Swain. But he also inherited a handful of players like Tramon Mark and Chendall Weaver.

Mentioning those players here isn’t meant to assign them blame. Miller himself chose not to name names when it came to who isn’t listening to what he says, something that can probably be seen as related to his team’s defense. The Longhorns are No. 24 in points per game with 88.6 per contest. On defense? They are No. 186 and allow 73.4 ppg. Texas is No. 27 in offensive rating on KenPom but is No. 122 in defensive rating.

Miller’s defense is what’s hampering his team. And for some reason, his weeks of mentioning defense publicly and assumedly privately hasn’t gotten through. That doesn’t just mean the retentions. That doesn’t just mean the portal additions. It means everyone.

Miller will have an opportunity, like Sarkisian did, to remake his team in the offseason. Texas did bring in Quinn Ewers and a host of top prospects that became the foundation for his program after 2021. Is there another one of those types of players in the portal for Miller?

It remains to be seen not only what the rest of the SEC campaign entails for Texas, but also what the roster will do in response to Miller lamenting his team’s defensive woes. While he may end up with a similar result to Texas football’s 5-7 2021 season, Miller has to make sure that type of result features a cultural overhaul and defensive improvement. If not, then Miller won’t be able to compare himself to Sarkisian in how their programs improved from a struggle-filled year one.

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