Texas Longhorns football coach Steve Sarkisian is no longer the golden goose who’s seen as the headman who could bring Mack Brown-type success to the Lone Star State’s capital city. Instead, Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde sees Sark as a potential flight risk, given how poorly the 2025 season has gone.
Forde predicted a chain reaction that starts with the UCLA Bruins hiring away Kalani Sitake from the BYU Cougars and ends with Sarkisian at his alma mater, Brigham Young University, and Lane Kiffin leaving the Ole Miss Rebels for Texas.
The primary purpose for Kiffin in Austin? Coaching up quarterback Arch Manning in a way Sarkisian has not been able to during a brutally tough season for the 2023 class’s former No. 1 overall recruit.
“Sark is an alum who may be feeling the weight of the Texas job weighing on him if this season continues trending negatively for the Longhorns. Wealthy BYU alums have shown real vigor in the NIL market, in both football and basketball, which could be an additional attraction for a coach looking to get away and into something different,” Forde wrote.
“In response, Texas does what comes naturally: hires Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss. Replacing one offensive savant with perhaps a better one, Kiffin is viewed as the quarterback whisperer who can unlock Arch Manning. (This also saves Kiffin the trouble of trying to talk Manning into entering the transfer portal and following familial footsteps to Ole Miss.)”
Steve Sarkisian shares shocking statement on Florida loss
Sarkisian really might not be suited for the pressures of representing the University of Texas at Austin. It was clear in discussing his team’s 29-21 loss to the Florida Gators that Sarkisian doesn’t understand the standard the Longhorns have in the NIL era, when buying high-priced players is supposed to mean beating 1-3 teams on the road.
“I don’t know if I’m stunned. I mean, take the other – how many teams are there in college football, 136? Take the other 135 and have them go play at Ohio State and at The Swamp. See how they do,” Sarkisian said on Monday to reporters.
BYU is spending big in the NIL era, but Cougar fans won’t turn on their coach the same way. Especially not on one of their own. Plus, the exposure in the state of Utah in the Big 12 pales in comparison to the SEC spotlight in Texas.
Sarkisian will have plenty of options if he sours on the Longhorns job. Or if AD Chris Del Conte and Texas’s brain trust sours on him.
None offers the immediate personal upside BYU does.