Steve Sarkisian referenced physicality or toughness 13 times in the opening statement of his post-practice media availability on Monday. For a coach who likes to point out that you get what you emphasize, Sarkisian knows the kind of team Texas has to be to get where it wants to be in 2026.
“There's a mindset to it that this team, maybe, better than some other teams, have really embraced that mindset,” Sarkisian said. “I think that's a credit to the coaches, as we touched on that first practice, that they've got these guys buying into the physicality of which we need to play the game. Our players aren't naive to the schedule that we have and the teams that we're going to play and that physicality is going to be required to have the type of team in the season that we want to have.”
— If physicality hasn’t been the main theme of the first week of camp, it might be that Sarkisian and the Longhorns are getting back to basics.
Whether it’s something as significant as starting the program’s Culture Wednesday meetings in the spring instead of the summer, or moving players into the dorms on campus for camp, Sarkisian is taking the steps he feels are necessary for Texas to consistently play the fast, physical, smart and tough brand of football he sought to bring to the Forty Acres when he was hired in 2021. While describing the process the Longhorns are going through to put that kind of product on the field, Sarkisian delivered one of his most profound statements of the offseason.
“When I think about the style of play in which we want to play the game and that we have to recreate it every year,” Sarkisian said. “It just doesn't happen.”
Although it hurt everyone in the program to miss out on a third consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff, in hindsight, it might’ve been the best thing to happen to Sarkisian and the program. Along with using the transfer portal window to turn the roster and put together a championship-caliber squad, the time between the team’s triumph over Texas A&M in the regular-season finale and its Citrus Bowl win over Michigan forced Sarkisian to take a long look at what changes had to be made to get Texas back on the path toward a championship.
So far, Sarkisian’s changes to the coaching staff, the program’s offseason structure and what he, as the leader of the organization, had to fix to be better in 2026 have benefitted the organization.
— Leadership doesn’t form during camp so much as it crystallizes. The best news in that regard is that Arch Manning continues to let his authentic voice and leadership style evolve, which is a big part of him taking the next step in the hierarchy of college football quarterbacks.
“Arch loves football. He loves to practice. He loves to work. It's funny because Arch probably talks a little more shit than people give him credit for outside of our building, so in practice there's a good amount of banter that goes on,” Sarkisian said. “Now, Arch has more confidence.”
It’s hard to be the kind of leader a quarterback needs to be when he isn’t confident. It’s also hard for said quarterback to be confident when he isn’t playing well.
Manning has done a 180 in that regard, fighting through some forgettable performances in the first half of last season to end his 2025 campaign playing as well as any quarterback in the country.
It’s fun to think about the jawing back and forth between Manning and Colin Simmons that Sarkisian described on Monday. What Sarkisian’s words said about where Manning’s confidence and comfort levels are ahead of the season, however, shouldn’t be lost while taking delight in the head coach dropping an unexpected expletive during a press conference.
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