Story by
Steve Sarkisian wins headlines. How about winning more games at Texas?
- Story by
- Steve Sarkisian wins headlines. How about winning more games at Texas?
Steve Sarkisian spent the offseason mouthing off.
Why? Because he spent last season losing too much.
Sarkisian emerged from May appearing awfully sensitive to the fact his Texas Longhorns missed the College Football Playoff last year — while Ole Miss and Texas Tech got in.
Advertisement
Do I detect a few beads of sweat on Sarkisian's forehead, as pressure builds to make the playoff in 2026 with a mega-bucks roster, in what could be Arch Manning 's final college season?
Toppmeyer: Nick Saban's quotes to Congress in NIL testimony will make you LOL
Hayes: Big Ten, SEC didn't lose control — they're setting the trap
First up, Sarkisian took a swipe at Ole Miss' academics with a now-infamous "basket weaving" comment to my USA TODAY colleague, Matt Hayes .
"All you have to do is take basket weaving, and you can get an Ole Miss degree," Sarkisian said.
Advertisement
Oh, c'mon, Sark.
Nobody sane believes Texas missed the playoff, and Ole Miss made it, because of different academic standards.
Texas missed the playoff because it lost to a bad Florida team in The Swamp, and because the rules structuring the 12-team playoff resulted in the committee selecting two Group of Five teams, clogging the bracket.
Also, because Texas scheduled Ohio State in Week 1. If the Longhorns had blasted some Power Four also-ran in their opener and reached 10-2 , they might've qualified.
Lots of blame to go around for Texas missing the playoff. Save some blame for Sarkisian.
[ This column first published in our SEC Unfiltered newsletter , emailed free to your inbox. Sign up here for more commentary like this. ]
Advertisement
Texas' war chest is the envy of most of college football. Sark amassed a roster good enough to earn a preseason No. 1 ranking. He squandered it, and he took too long to learn how to properly use Manning.
Don't blame that on basket weaving.
Anyway, a 10-3 final record and missing the playoff on the heels of Sarkisian's back-to-back CFP semifinal appearances shouldn't amount to a five-alarm fire for Texas. Nobody sane is calling for Sarkisian's job.
So, chill out, stop being sensitive about Ole Miss' success, and work on making that war chest pay off this season.
But, no, Sarkisian wanted to get a jab in at Texas Tech first . Apparently, he's also feeling sensitive to the Red Raiders' success in the Big 12.
Advertisement
He implied during an interview with On3 that Texas could play its second- and third-string players and go undefeated if it played Texas Tech's schedule.
Couple of thoughts on that: Texas could've played a Big 12 schedule if it wanted to. It opted for the SEC. Anyway, I'm not so sure Texas' backups could bully their way through Texas Tech's schedule. I watched the Longhorns lose to Florida — the same Gators who lost at home to South Florida.
Also, if your Texas starters need overtime to survive Mississippi State and Kentucky, I'm highly skeptical your third string could go 13-0 in the Big 12.
Texas Tech, by the way, played this situation beautifully . It responded to Sarkisian's dig by challenging Texas to a Week 1 game.
Advertisement
Texas won't accept this challenge, because the Longhorns will face Ohio State in Week 2. With the Buckeyes in the on-deck circle, there's no way Sarkisian would add Texas Tech to the schedule in the season opener, in place of Texas State.
Texas Tech knows full well Texas won't take up the gauntlet, and the Red Raiders smartly claimed a PR win by daring Sarkisian to back up his comments on the field.
We scribes benefit (especially during the offseason slog) from coaches who fill up a notebook, so I can't hate that Sarkisian added some spice to the offseason headlines. But, Sarkisian isn't uncorking zingers just for the media's amusement, and the point remains: Why is Sarkisian belittling Ole Miss and Texas Tech?
Coaches who win the big prize don't need to belittle the achievements of others. That's left for coaches who miss the playoffs, then spend the offseason reacting to the pressure.
Advertisement
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer .
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Steve Sarkisian spent offseason mouthing off. Texas must back it up
