Soon to be leading a SEC program, Steve Sarkisian has different recruiting challenges
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian used to have unique challenges recruiting as a Big 12 problem. The Longhorns joining the SEC has helped overcome most of those challenges but new ones have since arisen.
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Speaking to Stephen A. Smith as part of a South by Southwest event this week, Sarkisian explained how his recruiting efforts with a SEC patch on his sleeve have reaped benefits previously unavailable to coaches at Texas.
“I think it’s going to be big,” Sarkisian told Smith. “Inevitably, when you take over a program, you’re trying to look at where the holes in the program — what are your issues. And one of the things that was happening to us in recruiting is the SEC schools were using it against us. ‘You want to play in the SEC, right? We have more players drafted year in and year out than any other conference in the country.’ Now we get that back, we get to take that back.”
That’s one recruiting issue that does not pose a threat to the Longhorns any longer. However, membership in a new conference presents a brand new test. Speaking about what’s different between the Big 12 and the SEC, Sarkisian pointed to the trenches.
“I think the biggest thing when you look at the SEC is the line of scrimmage, when you look at the amount of defensive linemen,” Sarkisian said. “There’s a lot of games in the Big 12 we’ll go into and we’ll say ‘hey, we’ve got to block No. 90. He’s a premier guy. He’s a NFL player.’ That might be one week, might be the next week, might take three weeks for there to be another first-round type draft pick. You go in the SEC, it’s every Saturday. They might not have one, they might have two. You might play Georgia, they’ve got five. That’s the challenge week in and week out.”
Those positions feature some of the most knock-down-drag-out recruiting battles in the nation, whether the prospect is from California or Corsicana.
In the 2024 class alone, 28 of the top 50 defensive linemen in the On3 Industry Ranking signed with a school that will be a part of the SEC in 2024. At EDGE, 11 of the top 20 signed with a SEC school.
Similar held true when discussing offensive linemen. Nineteen of the top 50 offensive tackles and 19 of the top 50 interior linemen signed with SEC schools.
Upcoming conference contests will feature not only great players, but great players on great teams in fantastic locations. Those were some of the reasons why Sarkisian is looking forward to Texas being in the SEC.
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“Great games,” Sarkisian said. “We’re playing the Red River Rivalry one weekend, the very next weekend we’re playing Georgia here. Those opportunities for our players, they want to play in those marquee games. Now, the opportunity’s there. Renewing the rivalry with A&M, all that stuff is going to be fantastic.”
