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Texas players' comments hint at the strength of the Longhorn culture

by: Justin Nash10/20/25
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Michael Taaffe (Jordan Prather-Imagn Images)

It can be easy for one side of the ball to grow frustrated when they are playing well and the other side isn’t. In a world where culture is often elusive and just a coaching buzzword, the Longhorns clearly are a tightly bound group that refuses to crack. After multiple media members had some critical questions pointed at the offense, here are some post game quotes that should give you confidence in Texas’ culture.

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Colin Simmons was asked a question about Steve Sarkisian explaining that Texas was a defensive and special teams oriented football team at the moment.

Simmons made sure to note the Texas team included the offense, asserting the mentality that they are one single team, not separate teams making up one whole.

The opening still frame to this video says a lot. Arch Manning is clearly dejected after a lackluster performance on the road in the SEC. He was taking questions about his play, ones that were rather negative. While that is understandable, Michael Taaffe was having none of it. Sticking up for the other No. 16 on the team, Taaffe spoke out and made sure to commend the next positive question towards Manning.

Anthony Hill Jr. took to the mic with DeAndre Moore Jr., Hill was asked the same question as Simmons above. He took a very senior approach to the question.

“I’ll say we we take the the defensive side of the ball very seriously,” Hill said. “We have a lot of leaders, so of course we want to help out the offense. We know we’re very young on that side, and we got a lot of older guys on the defense. So we kind of want to help them out and kind of just keep lifting them up, keep pushing them because we know that time’s coming.”

Moore was also asked about his confidence in Manning, and his answer gave no hint at a lack of confidence in the lead signal caller for the Longhorns offense.

“I have the utmost confidence in 16,” Moore said. “I see the way that Arch works. I see the way that he handles criticism and I see the way that he handles his business. So, I have the utmost respect for him and the utmost confidence that he’s going to come out here next week and do what he needs to do.”

Texas players aren’t naive. They know there are issues to work out and problems to take head on. You can hear that in a later answer from Hill Jr. when asked about the culture and the youth of the team in SEC matchups.

“I’ll say that we have a lot of leaders on this football team that can help the younger guys in in these moments, because I’ve been in some tough games,” Hill said. “So, of course, I’m going go to the offense and go look at Nick (Brooks), go look at some of these younger guys and be like, ‘hey, it’s time, man. It’s time to go execute. It’s not time to get down on yourself. It’s time to up your up your standard, up to your level.'”

This team is about lifting each other up when they struggle, and when the other side of the ball is struggling, the other feels a need to step up and carry the load without keeping tally.

There’s no division on the Texas football team as it works to improve its 5-2 record, a byproduct of a strong culture.

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