At the beginning of the season, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said the team wouldn’t be perfect off the jump and would need some time to gel.
That comment hasn’t aged so well. It’s week eight, and Texas has yet to find its rhythm.
I’ve been watching Texas football for as long as I can remember, and it’s been a while since the program has been at a crossroads like this.
The Oklahoma loss was frustrating but explainable, because anything can happen at Red River. The Florida loss, however, was downright inexcusable and rage-inducing for Texas fans.
Now, Texas sits at 4–2 with College Football Playoff hopes on the brink of collapse, set to face a highly efficient Ole Miss team led by a Heisman Trophy candidate and one of the best running backs in the country. Texas will likely be without junior edge rusher Colin Simmons, and still has a shaky offense that hasn’t found its footing.
It’s pretty much now or never for Sarkisian and company this weekend, and it’ll be one hell of an uphill battle. It’ll be hard to make a case for a 9–3 Texas being in the playoffs, and if that’s not in the cards, this season will be remembered as a massive underperformance.
But would it put Sarkisian in the hot seat?
That depends on how much of the blame he shares, and that isn’t as much of a straightforward conclusion as once thought.
With Texas, the last thing you want is an angry fan base. The only thing worse is a flabbergasted one, because no one really thought Texas would be in this position. The athletic program’s leadership isn’t afraid to make a change. The standard is a national championship, and everyone, and I mean everyone, is on a timeline.
Even former head coach Mack Brown, who led Texas to its last national title and came close to another, “resigned” when the administration felt like it could hire better.
The Charlie Strong era was bleak, to say the least.
Tom Herman was a bit better, with a single New Year’s Six bowl win, but it wasn’t good enough.
Sarkisian has lasted longer than his past two predecessors and has done more in less time, returning the program to national relevance. He was sold as an offensive savant from the Nick Saban coaching tree who could take Texas to the promised land. Now it’s year six, and people are getting impatient.
There is growing sentiment that if Sarkisian can’t do it with this roster, he never will.
It’s hard for me to say that Sarkisian isn’t the guy, because Texas has been literally one catch away from playing in a national championship with, I’d say, a comparable roster to this year’s.
But it’s clear he needs to make systemic changes. That could mean hiring an actual offensive coordinator and giving up playcalling, making difficult roster decisions or firing position coaches. After Saturday’s loss, Sarkisian said he was evaluating everything, but evaluating isn’t the same as acting.
I’d argue Sarkisian hasn’t faced this type of adversity and pressure in his tenure at Texas.
The future of the program may hinge on how the Longhorns respond with their backs against the wall. I know that may sound dramatic, but Sarkisian has been preaching for weeks that this team believes it can reach its potential — at this point, actions need to speak louder than words.
Against Ole Miss, we’ll find out what kind of head coach Sarkisian really is. Coaches are on the sidelines and players make the plays, but at the end of the day, he is the leader of this team.
I always go back to the famous line from the sports drama movie “Remember the Titans”:
“Attitude reflects leadership.”
