Sarkisian aiming for consistency in first season with Longhorns

Photo Credit: Liz Parke/Big 12 Conference

What’s happened over the last few seasons at Texas is truly in the past for first-year head coach Steve Sarkisian.

“Winning is hard,” he said at Big 12 Media Days last week.

While that sentiment is undeniably true, it’s one that the Texas fanbase had heard before. Tom Herman said the same thing after beginning the 2018 season with a loss to Maryland and a seven-point win over Tulsa.

The difference is Sarkisian himself, who comes to Austin after guiding Alabama to a National Championship last season as offensive coordinator. Before that, he turned a winless Washington program into a national contender in his first head coaching job.

Sarkisian has coached in four national championship games and won two of them.

That three of Texas’ losses last season came by a combined 13 points helps the case that the Longhorns are primed to contend for a Big 12 title immediately.

“Ultimately, success is our style of play and who we are as a program, and the consistency we do it with,” Sarkisian said. “It’s easy to (say) winning a championship is successful. That’s the easy part. For me as a coach, I’m looking at it on a daily basis. When we start to answer the why it starts to resonate how we do on the field.”

Running back Bijan Robinson is a legit Heisman candidate. He had 704 yards and four touchdowns last season, highlighted by a 172-yard, three-touchdown performance in the lopsided win against Kansas State.

Defensive lineman Keondre Coburn anchors the defense and is a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, given annually to the best player in college football.

Sarkisian said the quarterback battle is still up in the air. Casey Thompson threw for four touchdowns in Texas’ win over Colorado in the Alamo Bowl, while Hudson Card’s dual-threat ability mirrors Sam Ehlinger.

Those players are embracing his ‘All Gas, No Brakes’ mantra.

“A lot of great things have been happening this offseason,” Robinson said. “As a personality and a brand coming in and changing the culture of this team that we might not have had last year is pretty cool to see. I think it’ll have a huge effect on the season.”

Sarkisian is the third Texas football coach in eight seasons. The pressure from the fans and alumni is on to deliver a team that can compete for a Big 12 and National Championship.

That fact is not lost on Sarkisian.

“When you accept a job, you accept all of the job,” he said. “This is my third go-around at this head coaching thing. At the University of Texas, the expectations are very high. You have to embrace it and understand what they are.”

Even if recent results haven’t been the best, Texas is still one of the best programs in the country. The Longhorns are regularly in the Top 10 in recruiting rankings, while the facilities are top-notch.

Sarkisian said with six transfers and 26 new faces, there are a lot of new faces that need to help with the shifting mentality of a squad loaded with talent and potential.

“(We want) our team to be the more mentally, physically tough football team that’s committed, disciplined and has a real level of accountability to the program first, to the team first,” Sarkisian said. “Not getting up for one game or getting up for two games, but that’s who we are on a weekly basis.”