Skip to main content
Texas
Join Now

Sean Miller's postgame comments proved beneficial in motivating his Longhorn basketball team

by: Evan Vieth01/13/26

10 days ago, Texas basketball suffered its most disappointing loss of the very young Sean Miller era in Austin. In the 15th game under him as head coach, the Longhorns blew a late lead at home to one of the SEC’s worst teams, Mississippi State, losing what felt like a must-have game in Austin.

After the game, head coach Sean Miller’s comments went viral. He associated his players with kids who need to be aided to cross the street. He directly called out his power forward position and was overall dissatisfied with the way his team played against Mississippi State.

To make matters worse, Texas was blown out four days later in Knoxville at the hands of Rick Barnes and Tennessee. Barnes had now won five straight against the team he used to coach, and Miller continued to rant about the team’s woes.

The team was making “no progress in finding an identity,” and he was benching multiple starters deep into games.

And yet, Texas came into Tuscaloosa last weekend to play the No. 11 Crimson Tide and… won? It was a close game from start to finish, but Texas was the superior shooting team, out-rebounding Alabama, and led for 86% of the game. It was a good win, one you’d expect in Year two or three of even the most aspirational of hopes for Miller as a coach.

So how did they do it?

When we spoke with Dailyn Swain today, he said those comments from games prior were motivating factors for the whole team.

“I mean, it was definitely motivating. We all respect coach, and we all listen to what he says, because he’s done what we’re trying to do. You know, he’s made it far in a tournament. He’s coached a lot of great players with long careers, but, I mean, even amongst ourselves, we knew we weren’t playing to the standard, even if coach didn’t say anything to us. You know, we kind of sat down as a team without any coaches and just challenged each other, like, ‘Let’s go as hard as we can. You know what I mean, for this next couple days, and let’s just see what happens.’”

Every sports fan knows a “players only” meeting can spell disaster. Oftentimes, it’s associated with a coach on the way out who has lost his locker room.

But this one did the exact opposite. The team was noticeably more energized and motivated in that game against Alabama. They hustled well, stayed mostly out of foul trouble, and won hard on the offensive glass—the exact way the Bulldogs took down the Longhorns just a week before.

A lot of Texas fans were over this team after the Tennessee game. It was understandable. In some ways, it sounded like the coach was as well. Onto 2026–27.

But a team of mismatched fits and players not quite fit for SEC play gelled well together, with great games from Swain, returning veteran Jordan Pope, and even Lassina Traore, a player Miller had called out that week prior.

“Coach Miller is a really competitive coach. He played the game for a long time, so he understands the game,” Swain said. “He’s not just expecting you to do something that’s impossible. But, like I said, there’s a standard that he has, and if you’re not playing up to par, or buying in completely to what he wants, then obviously he’s going to challenge you, and that’s what great coaches do.”

This team is behind coach Miller, and though it would be aggressive to expect this group to be anything more than a bottom-quadrant SEC team, it’s a good sign for what’s to come. Texas has a head coach who isn’t afraid to point out what’s going wrong, whether that’s from his own players, staff, or himself.

You may also like