***

ATLANTA — Texas has left the building, but OTF is still at the College Football Hall of Fame, ready for day No. 3 of SEC Media Days.

On the heels of a memorable Tuesday for Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns, Wednesday’s activity begins with Alabama and Mississippi State this morning, followed by Florida and Oklahoma in the afternoon. Kalen DeBoer kicks things off when he takes the podium at 8:05 a.m., with Jeff Lebby (9:50 a.m.), Billy Napier (noon) and Brent Venables (1:45 p.m.) rounding out the coaches' press conferences on the main stage.

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ATLANTA — With Texas scheduled to make the rounds at SEC Media Days, Tuesday was going to be a big day. It became memorable when OTF 5-star linebacker Tyler Atkinson committed to the Longhorns a few hours before OTF 4-star++ defensive lineman James Johnson switched his commitment from Georgia to Texas.

OTF tracked the Texas contingent at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta and reacted to a massive afternoon on the recruiting trail. If you missed anything, we’ve got you covered with links to the OTF’s content produced throughout the day.

SEC Media Days live thread for Tuesday: https://ontexasfootball.com/news/articles/scoop/sec-media-days-live-thread-tuesday-r2144/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-163607

Michael Taaffe’s touching tribute to Texas flood victims: https://ontexasfootball.com/news/articles/scoop/watch-michael-taaffe-with-a-touching-tribute-at-sec-media-days-r2146/?do=getNewComment&d=1&id=2146

Which new Longhorns have stood out during the summer?:

Tuesday’s edition of Coffee & Football:

Watch With Us! Tyler Atkinson makes his decision:

BOOM! Tyler Atkinson commits to Texas:

BOOM! James Johnson commits to Texas:

DOUBLE BOOM! Analyzing a 5-star Tuesday for the Longhorns:

Sark’s media scrum:

Sark’s formal press conference:

Arch Manning’s media scrum:

Arch Manning’s press conference with electronic media outlets:

Media scrum with Anthony Hill Jr. and Michael Taaffe:

Anthony Hill Jr.’s press conference with electronic media outlets:

Michael Taaffe’s press conference with electronic media outlets:

Recapping the day’s events on Tuesday’s Longhorn Livestream:

***

ATLANTA — When SEC Media Days wraps up on Thursday, 48 players representing the conference’s 16 programs will have met the media at the College Football Hall of Fame.

The league’s coaches are bringing quarterbacks, wide receivers, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs with them. Unfortunately, the running back position won’t be represented over the four-day event, however, including Tuesday when Steve Sarkisian, quarterback Arch Manning, linebacker Anthony Hill and safety Michael Taaffe make up the Texas contingent in Atlanta.

Sarkisian’s 2025 roster is chock-full of blue chippers. The three media days representatives, along with Colin Simmons and Malik Muhammad, account for an FBS-leading five members of Pro Football Focus’ College 50.

Quintrevion Wisner didn’t travel with the Longhorns to Atlanta and he’s not getting a lot of love from national publications heading into the 2025 season. Still, the returning leading rusher in the SEC (1,064 rushing yards and 4.7 yards per attempt last season) has the respect of the defenders who’ve faced him.

“He’s a competitor and a great running back,” Vanderbilt’s Randon Fontenette said of Wisner, who rushed for 79 yards on 17 carries in a 27-24 road win over the Commodores last season. One of seven FBS running backs to finish the 2024 season with at least 200 rushing attempts (226) and 50 targets (57) according to PFF, Wisner caught five passes for 39 yards in the first five consecutive games Texas won en route to a berth in the SEC championship game.

Wisner was at his best once the Longhorns reached the SEC portion of the 2024 schedule. In the last 12 games of the season, Wisner rushed for 992 yards (4.8 yards per attempt) and four touchdowns, including two in a College Football Playoff first-round win over Clemson.

Whether that resonates with the media members in Atlanta enough to translate into preseason All-SEC votes will play out later in the week. Regardless, Wisner produced at a high level after carrying the football only 12 times as a true freshman in 2023, which commands respect.

Especially considering what Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said Monday regarding inexperienced running backs.

“It’s hard to grind out yards in the SEC,” he said.

At the very least, Wisner has earned the respect of Lea’s players because of what he did against them. Wisner helped Texas rebound from a loss to Georgia with a productive outing against the Commodores, a game in a string of them that went a long way toward cushioning the blow of losing Jonathon Brooks to the NFL and CJ Baxter to a preseason knee injury.

“Nothing but respect for him as a player,” Fontenette said. “He has that twitch. He has that change of direction. He’s really agile and that makes him dangerous.”

***

ATLANTA — No matter where his career as a college football coach has taken him, Brian Kelly’s track record of evaluating, recruiting and developing offensive linemen is second to none.

After overseeing Jason Kelce’s development from a walk-on linebacker to a likely Pro Football Hall of Fame center during his Cincinnati tenure, Kelly’s time as Notre Dame’s coach (2010-21) was a trench boon for the Fighting Irish. Kelly recruited and coached 11 Notre Dame offensive linemen who were eventually drafted, including five in the first round (Zack Martin in 2014, Ronnie Stanley in 2016, Mike McGlinchey and Quenton Nelson in 2018 and Joe Alt in 2024).

The trend has continued at LSU, which had four offensive linemen selected in the 2025 draft, including Will Campbell, the No. 4 overall pick. Knowing what the Tigers would be facing, Kelly and offensive line coach Brad Davis did their best to address the exodus before it happened.

“If you're trying to address graduation in a knee-jerk reaction and not having that planned in advance, you're probably going to take a hit on the offensive line this year,” Kelly said from inside the College Football Hall of Fame during SEC Media Days on Monday. “We have been grooming some players for their chance and their opportunity.”

Still, even though Kelly and Davis have done their best to develop LSU’s incoming talent, they went into the transfer portal to bolster a group tasked with protecting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier.

Texas is in the same boat in its second season in the SEC. Outland Trophy winner Kelvin Banks, the Longhorn offensive lineman to go in the first round of the draft (No. 9 overall) since 2002, headlines the four starters who departed Kyle Flood’s room after a 13-win run to the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Nevertheless, while Kelly talked openly about the importance of player development while the Bayou Bengals go through a trench reboot, the offensive line under Flood and Steve Sarkisian is buoyed by it, with the Longhorns exclusively counting on homegrown talent to win line of scrimmage battles in the SEC. The five members of the projected starting offensive line (left tackle Trevor Goosby, left guard Neto Umeozulu, center Cole Hutson, right guard DJ Campbell and right tackle Brandon Baker) heading into the season were recruited by the current regime, the first time that’s been the case in Sarkisian’s tenure.

Texas kicked the tires on USC transfer Emmanuel Pregnon, who ultimately committed to Oregon. The decision to stick with in-house personnel for spring practice allowed Baker and Andre Cojoe to battle it out at right tackle, Nate Kibble to ascend the depth chart and Nick Brooks to emerge as a young tackle with a boatload of potential.

Although Sarkisian and Flood started building the Longhorn offensive line through high school recruiting a year before Kelly got to Baton Rouge, it speaks volumes of the staff successfully building the roster from the inside out that Texas is one of the favorites to win the SEC amid significant departures among the program's big humans. The Longhorns didn’t cut corners, and while Flood developed a pair of former Herb Hand recruits into draft picks (Christian Jones in 2024 and Hayden Conner in 2025), Banks and Cameron Williams (a 2025 sixth-round pick) emerged from the Sarkisian organization’s first full recruiting cycle (2022) as NFL players.

Considering how excited Kelly sounded when talking up the revamped LSU offensive line, Sarkisian should be equally as giddy about the outlook for Flood’s new-look group when Texas meets with the media on Tuesday.

“I'm bullish on our offensive line,” Kelly said. “I think we're going to be able to produce the kind of things necessary to be a championship team.”

#10: James Johnson, DL (Georgia)

#22: Davon Benjamin, CB (Uncommitted

#24: Richard Wesley, Edge (Texas)

#30: Tyler Atkinson, LB (uncommitted)

#36: Trenton Henderson, Edge (LSU)

#63: John Turntine, OT (Texas)

#75: Jalen Lott, S (Oregon)

#93: Malakai Lee, OT (Michigan)

The need for a running back was a high priority before Ezavier Crowell (Jackson, Ala.) made the call for Alabama in late June on the heels of Carthage’s KJ Edwards committing to Texas A&M. While the cupboard is stocked for the 2025 season, the Longhorns could be without Quintrevion Wisner and CJ Baxter in 2026 if things break the right way for the program’s running back tandem from the 2023 signing class.

The 2026 class could be a one-back haul for Texas, which would make it a recruiting coup of sizeable proportions if Sarkisian and Chad Scott can land arguably the nation’s best runner in the 6-foot-1-inch, 205-pound Cooper. Florida State, Georgia, Miami and Ohio State are the competition the Longhorns face for Cooper, who’s scheduled to announce his college choice on July 20.

While 247Sports has Cooper ranked as an athlete (the second-best in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite), the On3 Industry from On3/Rivals has Cooper ranked as the country’s No. 3 running back. He’s an elite prospect who could play on either side of the ball in college, but Texas and the other schools pursuing Cooper would rather hand him the football or throw it to him rather than ask him to tackle opposing ball carriers.

According to Chaminade-Madonna coach Dameon Jones, that’s the right call when it comes to Cooper’s future.

Jones told The Athletic last summer that teams had stopped recruiting Cooper to play defense ahead of his junior season. He recorded 46 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, four sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception while helping his team claim Florida’s Class 1A state championship, but he can change the game even more on offense.

“When you see him run the ball, you’ll see why,” Jones said of Cooper, who ran for 905 yards (7.3 yards per carry) and 13 touchdowns in 15 games. “He killed it in the spring. He’s not an easy tackle. He’s big, fast and strong.”

How Sarkisian showcases running backs in his offense is arguably the biggest reason why the Longhorns are a tremendous fit for Cooper.

According to Pro Football Focus, Wisner was one of seven FBS running backs to finish the 2024 season with at least 200 rushing attempts (226) and 50 targets (57, the eighth-most among running backs nationally). Wisner’s 283 intended touches (combined rushing attempts and targets) are the second-most in the Sarkisian era, slightly behind the 286 intended touches for Bijan Robinson in 2022 (257 carries and 29 targets).

Wisner was used a lot once he emerged as the bell-cow in the backfield. Still, his intended touches paled in comparison to how often usage was funneled to Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty (408 intended touches, including 375 rushing attempts), Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo (346), North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton (324) and Texas Tech’s Tahj Brooks (321).

Even in a 16-game season, one football was enough for Wisner to rack up almost 1,400 yards from scrimmage (1,064 rushing and 311 receiving) and for Jaydon Blue to record 193 intended touches (135 carries and 58 targets, which ranked seventh among FBS running backs, according to PFF). Gunnar Helm also caught more passes (60) than any tight end in any season in school history, and Matthew Golden’s 58-catch season further exemplified how Sarkisian’s offense can feature a running back without running them into the ground.

Although one Longhorn running back has recorded 200 or more intended touches in each of Sarkisian’s four seasons, a second Texas running back has had 100 or more intended touches in those campaigns. Jonathon Brooks (216 intended touches) and Baxter (164) crossed those thresholds in 2023, while Robinson and Roschon Johnson did it in 2022 (286 intended touches for Robinson and 115 for Johnson) and 2021 (226 for Robinson and 108 for Johnson).

With the Longhorns on the hunt for a game-changing running back and Cooper searching for a program that can help him maximize his football future, one of the finest football prospects in America choosing to play in an offense from which five running backs have been picked over the last three NFL drafts could be a match made in heaven.

Add five more stars to the 2026 class for the Texas Longhorns!

2026 North Crowley OT John Turntine III has committed to Steve Sarkisian and Kyle Flood over Michigan, Stanford and Texas A&M.

Turntine has been atop of the Longhorns' big board essentially from the start of the 2026 class. The Longhorns also hosted Turntine and his family on more visits than any other school in the recruitment. 

There are some questions about where Turntine may play at the next level, largely due to an unconventional frame at the moment, but the plan has been and will be to use Turntinee as a tackle.
Speaking of Turntine's abilities, his punch and quickness laterally are tremendous.

This is a big win for the Horns as Turntine becomes the 18th member of the class and the third offensive linemen in the 2026 cycle. 

There are three Texas targets expected to make verbal commitments today.

After securing a commitment from OTF 4-star+ linebacker Kosi Okpala on Thursday, the Longhorns’ 2026 recruiting class stands at 16 members. Coming into Friday, Steve Sarkisian’s fifth full-cycle class on the Forty Acres was ranked No. 14 nationally by 247Sports and No. 16 by Rivals.

We know when each of the three recruits is expected to make the call. The OTF staff will keep you updated on any changes throughout the day.

***

Felix Ojo, OT, Mansfield Lake Ridge

OTF 4-Star+

Time: 1 p.m.

Finalists: Florida, Michigan, Ohio State, TEXAS, Texas Tech

Note: Ojo is expected to announce his decision on X (formerly Twitter).

***

John Turntine III, OT, North Crowley

OTF 5-Star

Time: 2:15 p.m.

Finalists: Michigan, Stanford, TEXAS, Texas A&M

Note: Turntine's ceremony is scheduled to start at noon. He's expected to announce his decision on X (formerly Twitter).

***

Kaydon Finley, WR, Aledo

OTF 4-Star+

Time: 6:30-7 p.m.

Finalists: Arizona State, Notre Dame, TEXAS, Texas A&M

Nevertheless, the countdown to the 2025 football season reached 60 days on Tuesday, making it the perfect time to reflect on Nobis’ gridiron legacy.

It’s hard to argue against Nobis being the best defensive player to come through the Texas program. The only sophomore starter for Darrell Royal’s 1963 national champions, Nobis remains the standard for what a Longhorn defender should be, even though his last snap on the Forty Acres was almost 65 years ago.

One of the most decorated defensive players in college football history, Nobis won the Maxwell Award in 1965, meeting the criteria for the University of Texas to retire his No. 60 (a Longhorn must be named a consensus All-American and win a recognized national player of the year award to get their number retired). Before the Texas defensive charge that led to LenDale White coming up short on fourth-and-2 late in the fourth quarter of the 2006 Rose Bowl, Nobis thwarting Joe Namath’s attempt to convert a fourth down in the 1965 Orange Bowl (a 21-17 win for the Longhorns over the Crimson Tide in college football’s first-ever live prime-time telecast) was arguably the top defensive play in school history (the top competitor might be the fumble Pat Culpepper and Johnny Treadwell combined to force on the goal line in a 7-3 win over Arkansas, helping Texas secure the 1962 Southwest Conference title).

***

Tributes for Nobis poured in when he died in 2017.

Mike Perrin, who oversaw the Texas athletic department between the end of Steve Patterson’s forgettable tenure and the powers that be hiring Chris Del Conte, was a freshman during Nobis’ final season on the Forty Acres.

“Tommy Nobis was an icon not just at The University of Texas,” Perrin said, “but in all of college football.”

Bill Little, who was the sports editor of The Daily Texan as a UT student when Nobis played for the Longhorns and, later, the football program’s sports information director, said of Nobis, “There are few players that strike fear in opponents the way Nobis did in his time.”

There’s no shortage of scribes, observers, coaches or players willing to back up Little’s opinion. Hall of Fame running back Larry Csonka is one of them, going on the record that he’d "rather play against Dick Butkus than Nobis."

***

Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981, the one tribute Nobis should’ve received while he was alive was enshrinement alongside Butkus, Csonka and other gridiron legends in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Rich McKay, the CEO of the Atlanta Falcons, wrote an open letter regarding Nobis’ Hall of Fame candidacy in 2020.

“It is time to rightfully acknowledge, appreciate, and celebrate one of the greatest to ever play the game: the late Tommy Nobis,” McKay wrote. We can — we should — do that by immortalizing Nobis with a bronze bust at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.”

It’s long been acknowledged that Nobis, who was the Falcons’ first-ever draft pick (No. 1 overall in the 1965 NFL Draft) and wore his “Mr. Falcon” moniker like a badge of honor, played on some dreadful squads. In 11 seasons with the Falcons, Nobis never played in a playoff game, enjoying just two winning seasons in his NFL career.

Nobis is one of only four defensive players on the NFL’s 1960s All-Decade Team not currently in the Hall of Fame. Nobis, the 1966 NFL Rookie of the Year, was a two-time All-Pro who was named to the Pro Bowl five times.

Longtime Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Furman Bisher once wrote the following regarding Nobis' exclusion from the Hall of Fame: “There isn't much more one can say about Tommy Nobis. In the glow of a winning team, where he would have been a star on the isolated camera, he would already have been residing in Canton. It's not a Falcons thing, it's a Nobis thing, and here is a man who lives up to all the ideals I would establish for admission to the Pro Football Hall of Fame."

***

The finest two-way player I have ever seen," is a quote often attributed to Royal regarding Nobis' ability on the field. Royal maximized Nobis’ unique skill set by playing him at guard on offense.

So, when Kelvin Banks became the first Longhorn offensive lineman to win the Outland Trophy last season, that’s not entirely true. Nobis, lining up as a ferocious lead blocker for Royal’s Wing-T offense, won the Outland Trophy two years after Scott Appleton became the first of the program’s five Outland Trophy winners in 1963 (Appleton, Nobis, Banks, Brad Shearer in 1977 and T’Vondre Sweat in 2023 put Texas behind only Nebraska’s nine and Alabama’s six Outland Trophy winners for the most produced by one school).

***

I’m happy that during his Tuesday appearance on “Coffee & Football,” Ramonce Taylor mentioned how Mack Brown’s staff initially recruited him to Texas to be a part of Duane Akina’s secondary.

I remember going to watch Taylor’s last high school game (Belton’s bi-district playoff loss to Leander at Killeen’s Leo Buckley Stadium in 2003), believing I was watching a prospect who had a chance to become the next great Longhorn defensive back.

Then, I watched Taylor cut through the defense like a hot knife through butter.

I left the stadium knowing Texas had to find a way to let Taylor touch the football. Thankfuly, that’s something Taylor said was in the works before his epic senior year started; Taylor rushed for 2,370 yards and 29 touchdowns as an all-state running back, he was an all-district basketball player while sharing the court with current Stephen F. Austin men’s basketball coach Matt Braeuer and won his second consecutive state championship in the long jump.

***

Whether it was Taylor, Curtis Brown, Earl Thomas, Quandre Diggs or Ja’Tavion Sanders, the true two-way players who’ve come through the Texas program over the last two decades have, for the most part, ended up on the side of the ball where they were meant to play. Jermaine Bishop Jr. is the one 2026 recruit, currently committed to the Longhorns, who should be the source of a healthy internal debate regarding whether he’ll help Steve Sarkisian’s offense or Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense.

Bishop caught 83 passes for 1,565 yards and 18 touchdowns as a junior, ending the season with 2,009 all-purpose yards. Even though Bishop posed for photos with the Jim Thorpe Award during his June official visit and has a bright future as a defensive back, I agree with Gerry Hamilton’s take on this week’s episode of the “Recruiting Breakdown" regarding Bishop's future.

Sarkisian could see enough of Xavier Worthy in Bishop’s game to at least experiment with ways to get the ball into the hands of such an electric, game-changing talent.

Of the 10 who lasted at least four seasons, none have more wins through their first four than Steve Sarkisian. With a 38-17 record, Sarkisian’s win total matches that of Mack Brown (1998-2001), who had a 38-13 mark heading into the 2002 season.

Sarkisian is part of a group of Longhorn coaches in the AP Poll era — with Blair Cherry, Ed Price, Darrell Royal, Fred Akers, David McWilliams and John Mackovic — who won an outright conference championship within their first four seasons. Sarkisian and Cherry are the only coaches from that group to coach Texas to multiple AP top-five finishes by the end of their fourth season, with Sarkisian’s 2023 (No. 3) and 2024 (No. 4) final rankings counting toward the program’s 22 all-time top-five finishes.

Although Sarkisian has accomplished a lot while improving the program’s win total from five (2021) to eight (2022) to 12 (2023) to 13 (2024), history suggests the best is yet to come.

For the most accomplished coaches in school history (Royal, Akers and Brown), their fifth season is when business started to pick up.

Brown achieved the first back-to-back 11-win seasons in school history, going 11-2 in 2002, a season the Longhorns punctuated by thumping LSU in the Cotton Bowl, 35-20 (the Tigers returned most of the 2002 roster for the 2003 season, which ended with Nick Saban’s first national championship). The program enjoyed nine consecutive seasons of 10 or wins under Brown, whose 2005 national championship-winning season came in his eighth as Texas coach; Brown coached Texas through a memorable six-season stretch (2004-09) in which it went 69-9 with two Big 12 titles, a Rose Bowl win over Michigan at the end of the 2004 season, a Fiesta Bowl victory over Ohio State to cap a 12-1 season in 2008 and a trip to the BCS title game during the 2009 season.

A forgettable 42-11 loss to Arkansas, after vaulting No. 1 in the AP Poll, and a 14-14 tie against Houston kept Akers’ 1981 club from claiming a share of the national title, but a 14-12 win over Bear Bryant’s third-ranked Crimson Tide in the Cotton Bowl lifted Texas to a No. 2 final ranking. It was the program’s best finish since splitting the 1970 national title with Nebraska (a Cotton Bowl loss to Notre Dame dropped the Longhorns to No. 3 in the final poll, although the UPI declared the Longhorns No. 1 at the end of a 10-0 regular season).

Over his fifth, sixth and seventh seasons running the program (1981-83), Akers coached Texas to a 30-5-1 record and an outright Southwest Conference title in the 1983 season, which ended with a brutal 10-9 loss in the Cotton Bowl to Georgia.

When it comes to near misses at a national championship, Sarkisian has a lot in common with Akers.

Seven years apart, Akers led the Longhorns into a Cotton Bowl played on Jan. 2 with the national championship hanging in the balance, only for his team’s title hopes to be dashed, with titles Texas could’ve claimed going, instead, to Notre Dame (1977) and Miami (1983). Sarkisian has led the Longhorns to the brink of the College Football Playoff National Championship in each of the last two seasons, a pair of opportunities all for naught, with Texas getting painfully close to college football’s top prize before succumbing to Washington and Ohio State, respectively.

If the Longhorns went to battle with a healthy Jonathon Brooks in the Sugar Bowl two years ago, or if CJ Baxter’s knee injury didn't end his sophomore season before it started, Sarkisian might’ve already gotten Texas over the hump. The mission to win the school’s fifth national championship begins in 61 days, an appropriate number considering the link between Sarkisian, Royal and a running back injury muddying a title-winning picture.

The 1961 season, Royal’s fifth at the helm, saw the Longhorns race out to an 8-0 start, climbing to No. 1 in the AP Poll for the first time since 1946. With Jimmy Saxton leading the offense, Texas won its first eight games by an average margin of 26.6 points; a 28-7 Red River rout of Oklahoma was the closest anybody came to nipping Royal’s bunch.

Long before Marcell Dareus simultaneously launched Alabama’s dynasty under Saban and brought an abrupt end to a golden era of Texas football under Brown with an ill-timed blow to Colt McCoy’s shoulder, Saxton was on the receiving end of arguably the most controversial hit in school history. Whether Bobby Plummer’s knee intentionally connected with Saxton’s head at the end of a 45-yard gain is irrelevant; the shot forced Saxton to miss enough of the game to render the offense helpless in a 6-0 loss to the Horned Frogs, a defeat Royal reportedly said was the toughest he endured during his coaching career.

The first consensus All-American running back in school history, Saxton was the third-place finisher for the Heisman Trophy and held the school’s single-season record for yards per carry (7.9), which stood for 59 years until Bijan Robinson’s 8.2 yards per rushing attempt in 2020 established a new program standard. A 25-0 win over Texas A&M and a 12-7 victory over Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl helped the 10-1 Longhorns end the season with a No. 3 ranking from the AP, but Royal wouldn’t claim his first of three national championships until two years later.

Texas was arguably the best team in college football for four seasons in the middle of Royal’s 20-season tenure (1961-64), compiling a 40-3-1 record with three SWC titles, a national championship and four consecutive finishes in the top five of the AP Poll. If not for Saxton's injury and a one-point loss to Arkansas in 1964, Royal might've ended the 1960s with four outright national titles to his name.

Until the Wishbone revived Royal’s career and led the Longhorns to 30 consecutive victories, the program’s run of success beginning with Royal’s fifth season could count as arguably the most prosperous Austin has ever experienced.

Texas is 61 days from kicking off Sarkisian’s fifth season, which has a chance to be another campaign in what’s shaping up to be the next historic run of Longhorn football.