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Steve Sarkisian, Pete Golding continue to keep things cordial in public | Thursday, 11:03 a.m.

TAMPA, Fla. — If book excerpts and off-the-cuff remarks have damaged the relationship between Steve Sarkisian and Ole Miss coach Pete Golding, neither coach is admitting it publicly.
Golding spoke of Sarkisian only with reverence while making the rounds at SEC Media Days in Tampa on Wednesday.
“I've always been a super-big fan of Steve Sarkisian. I was able to get really close to him in his time at Tuscaloosa and always had really, really admired him, even prior to that,” said Golding, who worked alongside Sarkisian on Nick Saban’s Alabama staff in 2019 and 2020. “But to see him and how he works on a daily basis and his love of the game and his rapport with his players when he was the coordinator there, the ability to bring people around him with him from a leadership standpoint. I always thought he was one of the best game-day play-callers out there, and packaging plays and seeing things and the way he window dresses things to be able to get certain guys — as they're moving — the ball, which I think is very, very unique.”
Golding also made note of what Sarkisian and the Texas staff have done on the recruiting trail, quipping during his main press conference that he’s not fond of the Longhorns’ effort to recruit deep into the SEC footprint, specifically the state of Mississippi.
“I tell Sark all the time, ‘Dude, you’ve got plenty of guys in Texas. Get out of our state,’” said Golding, who suffered an in-state recruiting loss to Texas when Brookhaven (Miss.) EDGE Derwin Fields committed to the Longhorns over other suitors, including Ole Miss, in April. “They’re everywhere.” 
All joking aside, both parties have taken their share of shots in the last year, some more hurtful than others
The first indication of possible friction between Sarkisian and Golding came in August 2025, courtesy of an excerpt from Seth Wickersham’s book “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback.” According to the excerpt, Golding reportedly tried to use Sarkisian’s battle with alcoholism to sway the hotly contested race for Arch Manning in Alabama’s favor (Manning committed to Texas on June 23, 2022).
After the dust settled, Sarkisian took what could be considered a swipe at Golding’s program while voicing his issues with transfer portal recruiting in a wide-ranging interview with Matt Hayes of USA Today.
“All you have to do is take basket weaving, and you can get an Ole Miss degree,” Sarkisian said. He admitted during his appearance at the Touchdown Club of Houston’s annual Texas luncheon in May that he shouldn’t have used that specific example while trying to frame big-picture issues in college football.
Since then, Sarkisian has been complimentary of Golding, touting their friendship. For his part, Golding is returning the favor, praising Sarkisian and the Longhorns on Wednesday for the challenge awaiting the Rebels when they visit Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Oct. 24.
“I think it's going to be a really, really tough game. They're a very talented football team,” said Golding, who will continue to call the defense for Ole Miss, making the game a true head-to-head battle with Sarkisian. “(Sarkisian has) put together a really good staff. I've worked with a lot of those guys; a lot of respect for them. Really good relationship, obviously, with Arch. Playing down there is going to be tough.
“We've definitely done our homework; you have to with Sark,” he added. “You're going to get certain plays, but you've just got to contest those, man, and spot the ball and play the next one. Super excited about the opportunity.”
Jeff Howe

Jon Sumrall on Florida's third consecutive meeting with Texas and his relationship with Arch Manning's family | Wednesday, 12 p.m.

TAMPA, Fla. — Jon Sumrall enters his first season at Florida knowing the caliber of quarterback his defensive staff will have to deal with when the Gators travel to Austin to face Texas and Arch Manning on Oct. 17.
Sumrall got to know Archie Manning and the Manning family during his two seasons as Tulane’s coach. Sumrall recalled during his press conference at SEC media days on Wednesday that Archie Manning reached out to him to see if he’d allow Arch Manning to work out at Tulane’s football facilities while the Longhorn quarterback was spending time at home in New Orleans.
“Archie would shoot me a text or a phone call and see if it's OK in May, during a little downtime, if Arch comes over and throws,” Sumrall said. “I'm like, ‘Yeah. And ask if he wants to transfer.’ I might go out there and watch him throw and (Arch’s father) Cooper or whoever might be out there. I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’d like to coach that guy.’”
In the face of constant pressure the Florida defense applied in a 29-21 loss the Gators handed Texas in Gainesville last season, Manning went 16-for-29 for 263 yards and two touchdowns (two interceptions and 37 net rushing yards on a season-high 15 official carries). Although the third bout between the Longhorns and Florida in as many seasons will be Sumrall’s first time preparing a plan to defend Manning, he knows the caliber of player the Gators will see under center.
“He's a good player,” Sumrall said. “I really have a lot of respect for the Manning family as a whole. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree with Arch, with how he carries himself.”
Sumrall inherits a Florida program that’s split its two SEC meetings with Texas (the Longhorns blasted the Gators in Austin in 2024, 49-17) and will battle Steve Sarkisian’s club for a third consecutive season. It’s one of the quirks of the league’s effort to equitably schedule a nine-game SEC slate for the league’s 16 programs, which resulted in scheduling anomalies, such as Florida and Tennessee not facing each other for the first time since 1989.
Texas won't supplant the Volunteers on the list of schools the Gator faithful would consider a true rival to Florida. Nevertheless, Sumrall is looking forward to Sarkisian and the Longhorns being one of his team’s nine conference opponents during his maiden voyage as an SEC head coach.
“It’s a big game because you're playing Texas and they're really good. Every SEC game is a big game is a big game,” Sumarall said. “It doesn't matter who we're playing; we don't change our prep for the game. It stays the same. But it is new and unique to be playing Texas a third year in a row. That's not something that's maybe historically been a part of Florida's past and Texas’ past. Who would’ve thought 10 years ago that Florida was playing Texas for the third year in a row and not playing Tennessee?
“A lot of respect for Sark," he added. "He's a brilliant offensive mind and a play-caller. I've always admired how he does things. I think he runs a great program.”
Jeff Howe

Sark on play-calling, Muschamp on havoc and other need-to-know notes from the THSCA Convention

HOUSTON — If Texas wins the national championship in 2026, Steve Sarkisian will become college football's first head coach in the College Football Playoff era to win the title while calling his team’s offensive plays.
Jimbo Fisher was the last play-calling head coach to win it all, doing so at Florida State in 2013. Sarkisian, Fisher, Lincoln Riley and Ryan Day led their respective teams to the CFP semifinals in the four-team format (2014-23). Day guided Ohio State to the championship game in 2020 (the Buckeyes lost to Alabama, with Sarkisian calling the Crimson Tide’s plays en route to Nick Saban’s last national championship), making him the only play-calling head coach in the CFP era to clear the semifinal hurdle.
Day turned play-calling over to Chip Kelly during the Buckeyes’ run to the national title in 2024. Sarkisian isn’t ready to relinquish those responsibilities. During his press conference at the Texas High School Coaches Association Convention in Houston on Sunday, Sarkisian pointed out a few advantages he believes he has as a play-calling head coach.
“I'm coaching these guys, I'm installing plays, I'm around them, we're talking game plans, so I think from a connection standpoint, that helps,” Sarkisian said. “I think on game day, trying to manage the game and control the game of when you want to speed up, maybe when you want to slow down. When you go for it on fourth down, when you don't; the impact that can have on your team if you make it, if you don't make it. Field position with the defense and things of that nature.”
Sarkisian’s response when breaking down the other side of the coin, however, reinforced why he parted ways with Pete Kwiatkowski after the 2025 regular season concluded, which paved the way for Will Muschamp’s return to the Forty Acres for a second tour of duty overseeing the Longhorn defense.
“I think one of the areas where it can be difficult is trusting those guys on defense,” Sarkisian said. “If I'm trying to make adjustments on the offensive side of the ball between series, it's having trust in the defensive coaches that they've got a good grasp of what we're doing and, if a timeout is needed, why? What that situation looks like.”
Muschamp’s “ability to really lead young men in our locker room is big for me,” Sarkisian said. With Muschamp hired to be the head coach of the defense, as Sarkisian put it when he publicly discussed the move before the Citrus Bowl against Michigan, whether or not the offense returns to being the explosive, productive unit it was throughout Sarkisian’s first four seasons on the job is squarely on his shoulders.
That’s exactly how Sarkisian wants it to be.
“This is the only way I know it,” Sarkisian said. “You know I've never done it any other way. I grew up in the profession with a guy that did it that way as well in Pete Carroll. He called the defense and, when I went to the Oakland Raiders early in my career, Norv Turner was the head coach — he called the plays.
“Obviously, there's a lot of ways to do it and there's a lot of successful ways to do it, but this is just the way that I learned how to do it.”
***
One of the reasons Sarkisian specifically targeted Muschamp is the reputation his defenses have for causing havoc. Hunting havoc plays (tackles for loss, forced fumbles, pass breakups and interceptions) was a talking point throughout spring practice because Muschamp emphasizes them.
While breaking down defensive back play to a standing-room-only crowd in a ballroom at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Sunday (along with the high school coaches who were present for Muschamp’s lecture, coaches from Texas State, SMU, Texas A&M and other FBS programs were spotted in the room), Muschamp touched on the importance of havoc. It starts with every drill in practice ending with a Longhorn defensive back getting his hands on the ball.
“There’s no drill where we just backpedal and let them go,” said Muschamp, whose 2009 Texas defense led the nation with 25 interceptions (the seventh-most in school history and the most in a season on the Forty Acres since 1951). “It's ending with catching the football or knocking the ball down every single time because that determines if you're a good player or not. You create havoc when you get hands on the ball.”
While the Longhorns finished fourth in the SEC in passes defended (combined interceptions and pass breakups) per game (4.62), the defense’s 2.33 passes defended per game in their three losses (two interceptions and five pass breakups) was the second-worst mark in the conference. Just two of Texas’ 12 forced fumbles came in its losses, further highlighting Sarkisian’s desire for more consistent havoc on defense.
***
Has the physicality of Muschamp’s defense helped the Texas offense get ready to navigate one of the toughest schedules in the country?
“Absolutely,” running backs coach Jabbar Juluke said when fielding a question from the audience during his presentation on Monday. Juluke demands his running backs play with a physical edge, something the Longhorns consistently lacked on offense last season.
“I only know one way,” Juluke said. “We want it every day.”
Juluke then joked that the “no thud equals no play” mantra Muschamp introduced in the spring was born out of the offense’s willingness to trade punches with the defense in practice.
“They couldn’t tackle our (expletive) ass,” Juluke said. “They weren’t stopping the run like they needed to. We’re going to finish the drill.
“We work hand-in-hand,” he added. “I think we have an amazing staff.”
***
During his THSCA press conference on Monday, while rattling off games he felt exemplified Texas A&M’s lack of consistency in 2025, Mike Elko omitted his team’s 27-17 loss to Texas.
“I think last year what we showed was, at our peak, we were good enough to play with and beat anybody in the country. That's how you win 11 games,” said Elko, who will be in Tampa on Wednesday with quarterback Marcel Reed, linebacker Daymion Sanford and safety Marcus Ratcliffe. “But we also had too many times where we didn't play at our peak. Whether that was a quarter at LSU — the second quarter — whether that was the (first) half against South Carolina or whether that was for longer stretches in the Playoff game (against Miami), our ability to play the best football that we can play consistently a little bit more often has been the entire emphasis of our offseason.”
Elko’s second loss to the Longhorns in as many tries should be grouped with those other performances, especially since Texas overcame a 10-3 halftime deficit, dominating the Aggies in the second half.
***
Looming changes to college football’s offseason structure are another sign of the sport’s rapid evolution, which might not be a bad thing. Specifically, the FBS oversight committee has proposed changing the traditional spring practice model (15 practices over 34 days), further clouding the future of spring games across the country.
What would replace it is something closer to an NFL offseason model. The proposal is for two sessions (one of which can take place over a maximum of five weeks) totaling 21 practices. If the proposal is approved in August, FBS teams would get up to seven weeks to conduct both sessions.
Former Wyoming coach Craig Bohl, the executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, admitted during his Monday press conference in Houston that “the world has changed." That's why one of Bohl's priorities is working with the NCAA on behalf of college football coaches to overhaul an outdated offensive structure.
The AFCA has worked extensively with the NFL when designing an offseason schedule that’s more in line with where football is headed, Bohl said. While there are noticeable differences between how the NFL and college football operate, Bohl said the addition of six practices to the offseason calendar and shortening the timeline for preseason practice (the proposal calls for 21 on-field practices over 27 days) are sensible, long-overdue changes that are being embraced.
“What we did feel like was important is to look at some of the positive things the NFL is doing and then, quite frankly, too, we looked at some of the things in that chaotic world that we experienced during COVID, where everybody said we couldn't play football,” Bohl said. “What we found was there were things that we were able to adapt that really were meaningful, and one of the things that we found was more access to our players to do some work during the course of the summer. Players enjoyed it. Coaches enjoyed it. It didn't have to be a hit fest where you're in full contact and you're going to go out and do a full scrimmage. You could do some work in (spider pads) and get some good work done. This is where we integrated six extra workouts. It has been really warmly received by players and coaches.”
Jeff Howe

What Cole Hutson's lawsuit against the NCAA could mean for Texas in 2026

If Cole Hutson, who is suing the NCAA to gain an additional season of eligibility, becomes a member of the 2026 roster, his return will check two important boxes for Texas.
A team that could play upwards of 17 games needs as much quality depth as possible. With 48 games played and 23 career starts under his belt, Hutson's return would immediately provide the Longhorns with experienced depth at all three interior line spots. Even if he needs time to adjust to being back in a team setting after missing spring practice, Hutson would be a tremendous insurance policy if there’s an injury to one of the current projected starters on the interior (Connor Robertson at center, Brandon Baker at right guard and Laurence Seymore at left guard) or if a performance issue forces Steve Sarkisian and Kyle Flood to make a change.
Just as important as Hutson’s experience is what he brings to the table from a culture standpoint. In the transfer portal/NIL era of college athletics, it helps to have a player on your team like Hutson. He's proven himself to be a good locker room presence, is someone folks in the building like having around and he cares about wearing the Texas uniform.
Hutson can make positive contributions to a squad expected to compete for a national championship, even if he’s made his last start as a Longhorn.
***
While Hutson would be an option at center upon returning to the team, the offense was better last season with Robertson at center and Hutson at left guard. Still, Hutson’s experience makes him a better option in a pinch than Jackson Christian, Dylan Sikorski or any other option the staff looked at during spring practice (ideally, Christian, Sikorski and the other young linemen in Flood's room would continue to develop with Hutson in place as a stop-gap measure to avoid forcing them into action before they're ready).
The No. 2 center on the depth chart is a spot nobody spends much time thinking about until that player is pressed into action. If Hutson’s return sees him called upon to fill in for Robertson, his experience combined with what would figure to be an upgrade at left guard (Seymore over Nick Brooks or Connor Stroh) would make the conditions ripe for a more productive run than the one he had in his five starts at center in 2025.
***
What does Hutson’s potential return say about the state of the left guard spot with less than three weeks to go until the start of preseason practice?
I don’t think the staff would welcome Hutson back because they’re disappointed with Seymore, Sikorski, Jaydon Chatman or anyone else competing to occupy the starting spot Hutson held for the last five games of the season. This is a case of Sarkisian doing what he didn’t do heading into 2025, when he left too many things to chance, resulting in an offensive line that operated with little to no margin for error.
Since Seymore didn’t go through spring practice and arrived on campus in June, it’ll be a few weeks into camp before the staff has a reasonable feel for what the Western Kentucky transfer brings to the table. Even if an eligible Hutson couldn’t overtake Seymore or Chatman for the starting job, him providing a push that results in a true winner emerging from the impending camp battle is much better than if the coaches felt like they were rolling the dice on a starter heading into the Sept. 5 season opener against Texas State.
Whether Hutson gains eligibility and picks up where he left off or not, making Seymore work to win the job is what will be best for the Texas offensive line in 2026.
***
Before anyone cries foul or tries to find fault in what Texas is doing when examining Hutson’s situation, it’s worth going back to something Sarkisian said at his Touchdown Club of Houston press conference in May.
When explaining comments he made in an interview with USA Today’s Matt Hayes, including saying that “all you have to do is take basket weaving, and you can get an Ole Miss degree” to describe potential hurdles when recruiting a transfer, Sarkisian voiced his frustration with college football’s governance and oversight, or lack thereof:
“We're not governed by one thing and that's one of the major issues. That's why we're striving so hard for federal intervention that we're struggling to get, so that we can police these things that we have in place. Because if not, any time somebody does something that is against the rules, and against the rules for a group that we all signed up to be part of. We all sign up to be a part of the NCAA and we agree to these rules. We make the rules. But then, when we break a rule, we want to run to a judge in our hometown and get an injunction against that rule to get that player eligible. That doesn't make sense to me. We aren't policing our own rules. Why do we need federal intervention? For that very reason. Now, we're struggling to get that done. That's why there's been all of this talk of potential breaking away. Could college football break away from the NCAA? It's not to break away to get away from everybody. It's to break away so that we can actually govern the rules that we're putting in place.”
The difference between Hutson seeking a fifth year of eligibility and the saga that ended with Texas Tech and Brendan Sorsby parting ways is that Hutson and Texas didn’t break a rule.
With a judge already granting an injunction for a group of men’s and women’s college basketball players who sought additional eligibility based on the NCAA’s application of its age-based eligibility model beginning with the 2026-27 academic year, this is Hutson shooting his shot to see if he can get one more season on the Forty Acres. For those who can’t understand the difference between a player in the midst of pursuing a postgraduate degree asking a judge if the NCAA’s "arbitrary application of this bylaw,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed Friday in Travis County, means he can play one more season (for what it’s worth, Hutson played nine games in 2023 after starting all 13 for Texas as true freshman, but an offseason shoulder surgery opened the door for DJ Campbell to enter the starting lineup and limited Hutson to a career-low 144 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus) and a player suspended by the NCAA trying to find a loophole to avoid punishment, no explanation will suffice.
To Sarkisian’s point, it’s currently open to interpretation what the rules are and how they should be enforced. At the very least, if Hutson can get closer to completing his MBA and spend one more fall while helping the football team, it should be considered a win-win for all parties involved.
Jeff Howe

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

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.”
Jeff Howe

OTF Sideline Debate: If Texas had to pick a sponsor jersey patch, who would you go with and why?

For this week’s OTF Sideline Debate, we asked the staff: If Texas had to pick a sponsor jersey patch, who would you go with and why?
— I spent my first year at Texas in Dobie Dormitory. It was in that same exact dorm where Dell Technologies was born just a couple of years prior. I like and appreciate the university’s relationship with Humann, because it started at UT, for much the same reason. No company is more UT than Dell. Any Texas team should be proud to be associated with it because of what it represents. — Bobby Burton
— The sponsor I could see on the Texas Longhorns’ football jersey is a tough one. It would likely be an extremely successful alumnus, and one of those has already been used by an OTF team member. One could be a big grocery store chain, which has also been used by an OTF team member. So, you get down to whether Texas put a Google or similar type patch on a football jersey? Or could it be a SpaceX or Tesla or something similar? I’m not sure I actually have the answer on this one. I feel like the OTF team has come up with a number of the companies that I would have used for this story. I know which one it won’t be: Double Eagle. — Gerry Hamilton
— The most fantastical pick for this question would be Tesla. In an attempt to complete Tesla’s move from Silicon Valley to the ATX, Elon Musk (the world’s first trillionaire) is ready to invest heavily to rehabilitate, associate and identify his brand with the most recognizable brand in Austin. Tesla is currently Austin’s second highest-ranking Fortune 500 company, behind Dell Technologies, and this would be a great way to let the world know that Tesla is now undeniably a Texas company. Tesla wants to be more mainstream and expand their demo to the American middle class; this move could help them do both. — Rod Babers
— I didn’t want to double up and I also wanted to pick a hypothetical sponsor that was started by Longhorn grads. So, I went with Pluckers, which was unofficially established on the Forty Acres in the early 1990s before the brick-and-mortar store was opened on West Campus in 1995. As someone who grew up in Austin, I never realized how spoiled I was, with dozens of Pluckers locations around me until I moved to DFW and had to make much further drives. Pluckers is already ingrained in the athletic department and supplies fans with handfuls of coupons for five free wings after Texas wins at home. Even though those usually end up in the junk drawer for a few years and are rarely used, it’s a good gesture. Pluckers will often cater junior days and recruiting events. Hank and I have hit the Pluckers on Rio Grande during on-campus events a few times, too. While I don’t think a restaurant will ever be under consideration for a jersey sponsor, a Pluckers one would check two important boxes as an Austin-based restaurant started by Longhorn grads. — Jordan Scruggs
— It would have to be a company that, like the Texas football program, is steeped in tradition, is recognizable to the public and synonymous enough with the Longhorns that such a transition to putting the company’s logo on a jersey wouldn’t look too out of place. AT&T is headquartered in Texas and, for starters, is already a major corporate partner with the university and the athletic department. AT&T was previously sponsored the Red River Shootout and the Longhorns have played in the Cotton Bowl 23 times (more than any bowl game in program history), with three of those appearances coming under companies that are now under the AT&T umbrella (two trips with Southwestern Bell as the title sponsor and one under the SBC banner). While seeing a corporate logo on a Texas football jersey would be a shock to the system, a Fortune 500 sponsor would ease the transition. — Jeff Howe
— Yeti was born in Austin in 2006, built by two brothers who wanted a cooler that could survive a Texas tailgate. Now it’s a billion-dollar brand and the unofficial equipment of every hunter, fisherman, and Friday night (and Saturday) parking lot in the state. Even better: Yeti’s already on the sideline. Those coolers behind the bench? Yeti. The tumblers in every coach’s hand? Yeti. Rugged, premium, homegrown, and burnt orange looks great on that logo. They don’t need Texas football only for exposure. They’d do it because it fits. That’s the sponsor you want. — Marcus Myers
— Lamborghini! Why not? It’s become synonymous with Texas Recruiting already across a couple of sports. Plus, there is something about The University of Texas, the city of Austin and the history of the athletics department that exudes luxury, power and identity. To which Lamborghini does just as well. With one of the most iconic logos in the world, it already looks like a Longhorn if you squint hard enough. The luxury supercar brand would immediately tower over the Lumber Liquidators or Woodside Energy’s of the world and continue Texas’ pursuit of becoming the ultimate ‘it’ school in all of America. — CJ Vogel
— For me, it's H-E-B. I think it's one of very few companies that would limit complaints about having a patch on a Texas jersey at all (for the record, I’m anti-patch on jerseys). Everybody loves H-E-B and H-E-B is a good representation of Texas as a whole. I don't know about adding red to burnt orange, though. — Hank South
Jeff Howe

Top 40 on the 40: Nos. 30-21

Each of the On Texas Football staff members ranked our Top 40 players on the Texas football roster for our inaugural Top 40 on the 40. All of our selections were compiled and averaged out to produce an overall Top 40.
Each Thursday in July, we’re releasing the list, 10 players at a time, along with a video breaking down the selections. Last week, we started with Nos. 40-31.
This week, we’re breaking down Nos. 30-21.
No. 30 — Laurence Seymore
Seymore’s addition to the roster filled a glaring hole after Texas failed to solidify one of the two open guard spots with a transfer. The second-team All-American (Football Writers Association of America) from Western Kentucky reportedly hit the ground running in summer conditioning. Still, the offensive line will be better if Seymore wins the job by the Sept. 5 season opener against Texas State, rather than getting the nod by default.
No. 29 — Derek Williams Jr.
Williams showed flashes in spring practice of being the player he was before he injured his knee in a win over Oklahoma midway through the 2024 season. After flirting with the transfer portal, Williams has the inside track to be a starting safety in Will Muschamp’s defense, which highlights the position if he’s got the versatile pieces to do so.
No. 28 — Derrek Cooper
Should a true freshman RB3 be this close to a spot among the top 25 players on the roster? That speaks to the impact Cooper made in the spring, when he reportedly showed surprisingly sharp pass-protection skills. Cooper also brought a much-needed physical edge to the running game.
No. 27 — Brad Spence
One of the Longhorns’ best natural pass rushers, Spence could be a true chess piece for Muschamp around the line of scrimmage. With Anthony Hill Jr. off to the NFL, Spence is one of several players who will be counted on to take some of the pass-rushing burden off Colin Simmons.
No. 26 — Nick Townsend
Townsend is said to be closing in on 260 pounds while remaining one of the top pound-for-pound athletes in the program. The challenge for Townsend is how soon he can channel his physicality, athleticism and ability to make things happen with the ball in his hands into becoming a consistent playmaker on offense.
No. 25 — Justus Terry
In a limited role as a true freshman, Terry flashed the potential to be the kind of interior disruptor the defense missed after back-to-back seasons with Byron Murphy and Alfred Collins in that role. After undergoing surgery to address an upper-body injury that kept him out of the Citrus Bowl, Terry has a big preseason ahead as he looks to crack a deep, talented defensive line rotation.
No. 24 — Zina Umeozulu
The Texas staff fought hard to keep Umeozulu out of the portal. Voted as high as No. 12 on OTF staff members’ ballot, Umeozulu should be in for a heck of a battle with Lance Jackson for the snaps made available with Ethan Burke’s eligibility expiring after the 2025 season.
No. 23 — Michael Masunas
The Longhorns need guys on offense like Masunas, who don’t need to touch the ball to impact the game? Can the Michigan State transfer be the same kind of blocking presence Geoff Swaim and Andrew Beck were on the Forty Acres? Whether he’s that level of blocker or not, Masunas should allow Steve Sarkisian to get back to a running game that can rely on a tight end getting a consistent push as an in-line blocker or on the move in Sarkisian’s split-zone concepts.
No. 22 — Kade Phillips
After a tremendous true freshman season, it felt like the coaches challenged Phillips in spring practice (Kobe Black was working ahead of him in the spring game). Phillips has the tools to be everything Muschamp would want in a No. 1 cornerback. The change to more aggressive, man-to-man coverage could be what the doctor ordered to unlock Phillips’ immense talent.
No. 21 — Brandon Baker
Not only did Baker turn heads with his performance after moving inside to guard ahead of spring practice, but his attitude and his embracing the move set the tone for the spring and summer in Kyle Flood’s room. If Baker has the kind of season he and the coaches believe he’s capable of, he’ll have a stay-or-go decision after the season regarding his NFL future.
Jeff Howe

The case for the 2000s as Texas' golden era, the Mount Rushmore of Longhorn offensive linemen and a hat tip

There’s an argument to be made that the 2000s under Mack Brown, not the 1960s under Darrell Royal, are the best decade in the history of the Texas football program.
Only Boise State tallied more wins than the Longhorns’ 110 victories from 2000-09 among FBS clubs. Texas only won two conference championships during the decade. But the Longhorns suffered an upset loss in the Big 12 title game in 2001 and were denied rightful entry to the 2008 game (it’s hard to explain to someone who wasn’t around or didn’t follow college football at the time that a system of computer rankings rendered Texas’ 45-35 win over Oklahoma in arguably the best in the history of the series moot).
The Longhorns won at least nine games in each of those 10 seasons, including nine consecutive seasons (2001-09) with at least 10 wins. Texas was a legitimate national championship contender in three of those seasons (2001, 2004 and 2008) and finished no worse than 12th in any final Associated Press Top 25.
The 2005 national championship team is one of the best in college football history. The argument for Vince Young as the greatest college football player of his era (or any other, for that matter) is strong. Young, Brown, Derrick Johnson and Michael Huff are in the College Football Hall of Fame. The likes of Cedric Benson, Justin Blalock, Quentin Jammer, Casey Hampton, Colt McCoy, Brian Orakpo, Jordan Shipley and Rod Wright helped the program gain and maintain national relevance for those 10 seasons.
If the 2008 squad had its date with destiny against Florida, or if McCoy played the entirety of the title game against Alabama the following season, a second national championship in the decade might be enough for the 2000s to unseat the 1960s as the golden age of Longhorn football. Still, in this discussion, second place isn’t a bad place to be, if that's where one chooses to rank those 10 seasons.
***
The No. 60 is chock-full of Longhorn legends, especially with Derrick Johnson wearing it in his last game at DKR (a 26-13 win over Texas A&M, which helped secure a Rose Bowl berth against Michigan at the end of the 2004 season).
With that said, the discussion on the greatest No. 60 in school history starts and stops with Tommy Nobis. Recognizing Nobis on Tuesday, which coincides with the 60-day mark until Texas kicks off the 2026 season, puts into perspective how special the No. 60 has been on the Forty Acres and caps off an incredible run of Longhorn legends who wore a jersey number in the 60s.
For starters, the 60s are bookended with Nobis and Dan Neil, a College Football Hall of Fame nominee and two-time first-team All-American (1995 and 1996) who wore No. 69 during his four seasons (1992-96), is impressive. What’s even more eye-opening is that if Neil is inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (he’s been on the ballot three times, most recently in 2025), he’d be the fourth Longhorn offensive linemen in the Hall of Fame who wore a jersey number in the 60s, joining Bud McFadin (No. 61), Bob McKay (No. 62) and Harley Sewell (No. 66).
***
If you’re trying to assemble the Mount Rushmore of Texas offensive linemen, you could do it entirely of guys who wore jersey numbers from 60 through 69.
Along with the three College Football Hall of Fame inductees and Neil, Blalock was a two-time All-American who started all 51 games in his Longhorn career. Blalock’s primary competition to be considered the best No. 63 in school history is Mike Williams, a consensus All-American in 2001 (like Doug Dawson was in 1983, when he wore No. 66 and was a captain for a team that came painfully close to winning a national championship) who was the fourth overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft.
Jake Majors' (No. 65) school record 57 starts over parts of his five seasons (2020-24) could be in jeopardy with five-for-five eligibility looming. Although Majors and Lyle Sendlein (No. 62) wouldn’t be considered for the Mount Rushmore, their names would be up for discussion when picking a center for an all-time Texas offensive line.
***
There was more debate than I anticipated over which all-time No. 64 the OTF community preferred: Casey Hampton (1996-2000) or Kasey Studdard (2002-06)?
While I’m a Studdard fan then, now and forever, it’s hard to put Hampton’s dominance into its proper context for those who were too young to remember the two-time first-team All-American’s career or didn’t see one of the best defensive line products the state of Texas has ever produced.
Hampton led the Longhorns in total tackles with 101 in 1999 and 78 in 2000 (tied D.D. Lewis for the team lead), making him the first Texas defensive lineman to lead the team in tackles in consecutive seasons. A nose tackle who was constantly facing double- and triple-teams, Hampton recorded 39 of his 54 career tackles for loss over his last seasons and was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2000.
The best example of what Hampton meant to the Longhorns (and later the Pittsburgh Steelers, the franchise with which Hampton won two Super Bowls, was named to Pro Bowls and was voted to their all-time team in 2007 after he was picked in the first round of the 2001 draft) came in the wake of a 64-13 loss to Oklahoma in 2000. A flustered Brown told Royal that he felt the team quit in the loss to the Sooners, while singling out how hard Hampton played, Royal let Brown know that his assumption wasn’t correct.
"Teams don't quit,” Royal said. “Some players may have given up, and it may look like that. But some of your guys may have gone out and played the best games of their careers."
Jeff Howe

Why Texas is college football's team of the decade for the 1960s

Darrell Royal, who would’ve celebrated his 102nd birthday on Monday, led Texas through what, to this point, is the golden age of football on the Forty Acres.
The 1960s were so good to Texas that the Longhorns, not Alabama, should’ve been CBS Sports' pick for college football’s best program during Royal’s first full decade on the job.
The sport was a different animal when Royal led the Longhorns to an 86-19-3 record, winning the Southwest Conference five times and claiming national championships at the conclusion of undefeated seasons in 1963 and 1969 than it was in the 2000s when Mack Brown won 110 games (the second-most FBS wins in the decade) and a national championship. It’s on a different planet today, with Steve Sarkisian (whose squad kicks off the 2026 season in 60 days) looking to break through after guiding Texas to a 35-8 record during a three-season run that included two trips to the College Football Playoff and a conference title.
Still, what Royal’s program accomplished during the 1960s goes beyond the record book. That includes a few painfully close calls that would’ve added more hardware to the trophy case had things broken a different way.
The 1961 Longhorns were ranked No. 1 and in the midst of an undefeated season when a controversial hit on All-American running back Jimmy Saxton in a 6-0 loss to TCU derailed what could’ve easily been a run to Royal’s first national title. Texas settled for a 10-1 record and a No. 3 ranking in the final Associated Press poll, scoring a 12-7 win over Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl. It was one of four seasons during the decade in which the Longhorns recorded a top-five finish without claiming a piece of the national title.
Bear Bryant’s Crimson Tide benefited from the misfortune of Royal’s Texas teams more than anyone, splitting the 1961 national championship with Ohio State and sharing the crown with Arkansas in 1964. Although the Razorbacks snapped the Longhorns’ 15-game winning streak with a 14-13 win in Austin en route to an undefeated season, the AP and UPI ranked Alabama No. 1 at the end of the regular season, making the Crimson Tide national champions.
Texas made its case to be considered the nation’s best on New Year’s Day, when Tommy Nobis led the defensive charge that denied Alabama’s Joe Namath the end zone on fourth-and-goal late in a 21-17 victory in the Orange Bowl, which was college football's first-ever prime-time telecast. Again, the Longhorns settled for a 10-1 record and a No. 5 final ranking from the AP voters.
But it’s what Royal and Emory Bellard did in 1968 that makes Texas the team of the decade. Implementing the Wishbone after an underwhelming three-year stretch during the 1965 (6-4), 1966 (7-4) and 1967 (6-4) seasons, the decision to put James Street under center during what would eventually be a 31-22 loss to Texas Tech (and an 0-1-1 start to the 1968 season) kickstarted one of the most memorable runs in college football history.
Texas went 9-0 with Street in the driver’s seat of the Wishbone, including a 36-13 rout of Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl to finish with a 9-1-1 record and a No. 5 finish in the final AP rankings, the first year in which the poll conducted a vote after bowl games were played (the UPI followed suit in 1974). Ending the decade with 20 consecutive wins (part of a school-record 30-game winning streak), having President Richard Nixon proclaim the Longhorns as national champions after the historic 15-14 win in Fayetteville over No. 2 Arkansas and handing Notre Dame a loss in a Cotton Bowl game that marked the end of the Fighting Irish’s 45-year self-imposed bowl ban should be more than enough for Texas to secure the “Team of the Decade” label.
The way Bellard and Royal changed offensive football forever with the birth of the Wishbone, however, is what puts the Longhorns over the top as the sport’s top dog in the 1960s. Long after Bryant and Oklahoma’s Barry Switzer adopted the offense to revive their respective programs, Mike Leach and Hal Mumme studied the Wishbone while developing what would eventually become the Air Raid offense.
"One thing with the Air Raid that's very important is to make sure all the skill positions touch the ball," Leach told ESPN's Jake Trotter in 2018. "In the Wishbone, all the skill positions touch the ball. All the skill positions contribute to the offensive effort. From the Wishbone, we drew the concept of distribution."
Almost 60 years after the Wishbone took the game by storm, its influence on modern-day football adds further credence to the idea that from the start of Royal's fourth season through the end of his 13th, Austin, Texas, was home to the best program in college football.
Jeff Howe

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