Now that a single football quarter has passed, we can look back and see how everything for Texas football changed at that point. Or at any rate, that’s when the shift was noticeable.
Later, Sarkisian would explain that his two miserable seasons as Texas’ head coach had been a part of a program that had fallen out of contention for the championship that was being rebuilt. Texas has gone through four head coaches since the Longhorns’ 2009 trip to the national championship game and has received very little in return. The Longhorns have only once finished a season ranked higher than nineteenth in the Associated Press Top 25.
For a university that prides itself on being one of college football’s blue-blood programs—an organization that flaunts its largest bankroll, most luxurious facilities, and best recruits—this had been a startling decline. After Mack Brown was fired in 2013, Sarkisian became the next coach in charge of reigniting the Longhorn flame, arriving in 2021. Prior to being fired in 2015 for drinking at work, Sarkisian spent five seasons as the head coach of Washington and two at Southern California, taking an unusual route to one of the most prestigious coaching positions in the nation. When Nick Saban of Alabama brought him into the Crimson Tide coaching staff and offered Sarkisian an opportunity to rebuild his career, it was in ruins.
Sarkisian was hired by UT athletic director Chris Del Conte in 2021, a widely questioned choice that may prove to be the most significant of his career. Sarkisian recently told reporters, “I took this job with the mindset we’re going to go here and win championships.” “During the first press conference, I stated that. I mentioned it to these [players] during our initial meeting. I’ve expressed it to them more politely. I’ve expressed it to them in different ways.