OTF Premium How changing AJ Milwee's assignment on game day helped the Texas offense get untracked

[Jeff Howe]

The Texas offense was bad through the first seven games of the 2025 season.

After plodding their way to season-low marks for total yards (179), yards per play (3.3) and first downs (eight) in a 16-13 overtime road win over Kentucky, the Longhorns fielded one of the least productive offenses in the SEC.

The following is what Texas was averaging in a few key statistical categories and where the offense ranked nationally and in the conference (FBS ranking/SEC ranking):

Points Per Game — 26.7 (79th/11th)

Total Yards Per Game — 368.1 (82nd/11th)

Yards Per Play — 5.64 (74th/11th)

Rushing Yards Per Game — 149.4 (74th/11th)

Yards Per Rushing Attempt — 4.1 (84th/9th)

Passing Yards Per Game — 218.7 (78th/13th)

Third Down Conversions — 38.1% (89th/13th)

The Longhorns righted the ship in a 45-38 overtime road win over Mississippi State the week after escaping Lexington. Behind Arch Manning’s then-career-high 346 passing yards, Texas rallied from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter, with Matthew Caldwell’s touchdown pass to Emmett Mosley V in overtime aiding the program’s biggest comeback win in 18 years.

The victory in Starkville helped Manning start anew. His rise coincided with Cole Hutson’s return from injury and subsequent move to left guard for the Vanderbilt game, which helped the Longhorns find an offensive line combination that worked.

Those two factors played a significant role in the offense turning things around. A third factor that doesn’t get talked about as much, however, but was just as important in sorting things out was Steve Sarkisian’s decision to move AJ Milwee from the sideline to the press box on game day.

Milwee, who came to Texas with Sarkisian from Alabama, started his time on the Forty Acres working from the press box. At some point, Sarkisian felt Quinn Ewers needed someone with him on the sideline, which required Milwee to move downstairs.

Milwee told On Texas Football during the program’s spring media availability for the offensive coaching staff that the 2023 season is when he and Sarkisian felt coaching from the sideline would best benefit Ewers and, in turn, the offense. The offense struggling, combined with the NCAA lifting restrictions on countable coaches allowing Mike Bimonte to be involved on game day, made the conditions ripe to move Milwee back to the booth.

Sarkisian didn’t give up calling plays. He hasn't indicated that he plans to relinquish that role any time soon.

So, if he’s not going to turn offensive play-calling over to someone else, then Sarkisian having a pair of eyes in the press box operating as an extension of himself might be the next best thing.

“When you add Mike — and we’re all in the same room — I think, from Coach Sark’s perspective, it’s like, ‘OK, AJ has been with me now — we’re going on Year 8 together,’” Milwee said. “It allowed me — different from the first time I was up there — I knew what I was looking for and I knew what he was asking for, and I think that made it easy. It made it easy for me to communicate to him what he was looking for and whether it was plays we need to get back to or a certain grouping of plays we need to get to next, it was more or less to help him, when he came back over from the defensive side of the ball, ‘Hey, what do you want here?’ Whether it was Mike and I talking or Coach (Kyle) Flood and I talking — ‘Hey, we’d like these runs and this grouping of plays coming up,’ we can go to that. It gave (Sarkisian) confidence to get into the flow of, ‘Hey, let’s go with these plays. They’re good. Everything looks good on the iPad from what we’re getting.’ I think it was an easy transition, understanding what he’s looking for.”

Except for the running game, which mustered only 23 yards on 17 official rushing attempts against Georgia (even though the Longhorns ran for a combined 453 yards and averaged 6.7 yards per carry in wins over Texas A&M and Michigan), the Texas offense showed marked improvement over the last six games of the season with Milwee in the press box.

Points Per Game — 34.8

Total Yards Per Game — 412.2

Yards Per Play — 6.32

Rushing Yards Per Game — 124.2

Yards Per Rushing Attempt — 4.33

Passing Yards Per Game — 288

Third Down Conversions — 40.5%

Whether it’s evaluating his coaching staff or deciding which players on offense need the ball in critical situations, trust is hugely important to Sarkisian. It’s clear he trusts Milwee, not just for what he’s telling him, but the way he’s relaying information, which is critical for a play-calling head coach who wants to limit distractions in his ear and digest important information as quickly as possible.

It’s a role and responsibility Milwee doesn’t take lightly.

“There’s a guy I worked with before and he used to always say that it’s the economy of words,” Milwee said. “I don’t need to give a dissertation. Get to the point. Give him what he needs to know and then he’s going to go from there. He’s the best play-caller in the country. Give him the few things he needs to know and he’s going to make the adjustments and the calls the way he knows how to. Just give him the information he needs and he’ll go apply it.”

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[Jeff Howe]

I know we covered this last fall and again in the spring, but it's worth getting into because it's so important to Sark continuing to call plays. If he's going to do it, he's got to have a pair of eyes upstairs that he trusts and that will give him the information he needs to make the right calls.

Milwee going back to the press box wasn't solely responsible for the offense turning things around late last season. Still, it helped a ton and will hopefully help the offense avoid a slow start this season.

[HookedOnTF]

A little related discourse here seems to conclude that it depends!

 

 

 

[Toriel Pearl]

I think Mike bimonte is a guy that has the brightest future among the offensive assistants. With an explosive offensive year I could see him and AJ moving on to run sarks offense at another school. 

[Rick]

1 hour ago, HookedOnTF said:

A little related discourse here seems to conclude that it depends!

 

 

 

I think Sark on the sideline and Milwee in the booth gives the best of both approaches. Sark has the feel he gets from being close to the action and speaking directly to Arch and other players, and Milwee has the overhead view to see how everything develops. 

[Jeff Howe]

3 hours ago, HookedOnTF said:

A little related discourse here seems to conclude that it depends!

 

 

 

Most play-callers prefer one or the other. I've heard some guys say they have to be in the booth to separate themselves from the emotion of the game and/or to get the full-field view. I've heard other coaches say they need to be on the sideline because feeling everything that close to the action helps them get into a better flow.

Different strokes for different folks, at the end of the day.

[HonkEm]

Milwee upstairs was a legit turning point. Sark gets the sideline feel, Milwee gives him the clean overhead picture, and suddenly the offense stopped tripping over itself. For this staff and this QB, that setup just works.....thanks for posting Jeff.

[CoachScott619]

How many playcallers call plays from the sideline vs the booth? Feels like it's gotta be 90% do it from up high. I know Sark isn't giving it up so glad he figured out what he needs so he can be successful calling from the sideline.

[SarkFiction]

Where did the Longhorns rank, in the country and in the conference, in those key statistical areas during the stretch Milwee went to the press box?

[PaulieD]

Moving Milwee to the Box seemed to be a real game changer.  No matter what other play calling coaches prefer, that is the set up that gives us the extra vision that Sark needs.

[Jester101]

Another factor not discussed much is the hire of Muschamp. Sark calling him the head coach of the defense is not just hyperbole in my opinion. Sark is now free to focus primarily on the offense and game preparation without having to be concerned with the D. I believe this can be a gamechangwr in addition to Milwee in the press box.

[Jeff Howe]

7 hours ago, Jester101 said:

Another factor not discussed much is the hire of Muschamp. Sark calling him the head coach of the defense is not just hyperbole in my opinion. Sark is now free to focus primarily on the offense and game preparation without having to be concerned with the D. I believe this can be a gamechangwr in addition to Milwee in the press box.

A lot of that goes back to trust. Ultimately, whether he was right or wrong for it, I don’t think Sark trusted PK to play the style of defense he wants.

I think he trusts Muschamp.

[AusMOJO]

22 hours ago, Jester101 said:

Another factor not discussed much is the hire of Muschamp. Sark calling him the head coach of the defense is not just hyperbole in my opinion. Sark is now free to focus primarily on the offense and game preparation without having to be concerned with the D. I believe this can be a gamechangwr in addition to Milwee in the press box.

I feel like this is such a cop out and disrespectful towards PK. We're acting like he did a terrible job defensively and Sark had to hold his hand all the time. I'm not saying he was perfect but even if he has Muschamp, it's still your job as the HC of the entire program to keep everything in line.

Basically what you're saying is PK was holding Sark back from his O being great? Lol. 

[AusMOJO]

15 hours ago, Jeff Howe said:

A lot of that goes back to trust. Ultimately, whether he was right or wrong for it, I don’t think Sark trusted PK to play the style of defense he wants.

I think he trusts Muschamp.

Which is fair but also really disrespectful to PK. Who did a great job at Texas. If Sark didn't Trust him, then why hire him or keep him around as long as he did?

[Jester101]

1 hour ago, AusMOJO said:

I feel like this is such a cop out and disrespectful towards PK. We're acting like he did a terrible job defensively and Sark had to hold his hand all the time. I'm not saying he was perfect but even if he has Muschamp, it's still your job as the HC of the entire program to keep everything in line.

Basically what you're saying is PK was holding Sark back from his O being great? Lol. 

Surely you are not this dense. 
PK was a good coordinator. No one, including myself is saying he wasn’t. Sark obviously felt he wasn’t the best option against a nine game SEC schedule so he made the change to Muschamp.

Please share where I said PK had any impact on our offensive struggles. Let me help you out champ. Our O struggled due to a subpar offensive line, average skill players and a new starting QB. You don’t have to be a mental giant to understand that two truths can happen at the same time.