Jeff Howe

I don’t believe so.

Much appreciated, Burnt Orange Horn!

Twelve different coaches have led the Texas football program since the launch of the weekly Associated Press poll in 1936. 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. View full news story

Martez Walker for men's hoops under Rick Barnes. He was only in the program for one season.

Winfield and Navarre have already been removed from the program's online roster.

Yes, the three question marks are expected to return. I would expect Harrison to be back in the Saturday role and Grubbs to be a versatile bullpen hand. We'll see if the staff can get Ruger back into the stopper role they had envisioned for him initially. Don't forget Burns, Walker, Bing and Saunier.

Rerick and Jason Flores are the two names we've heard most among the rising sophomores.

I gave you a Hook 'Em for a positive Mavs reference and your avatar. Love me some Bar Rescue!

Easton Winfield and Bryce Navarre entering the portal brings the total number of outgoing transfers from the 2025 team to 15.

LSU baseball is kinda like Miami football, if they hadn't hit bottom while Butch Davis was cleaning up the program and kept winning after 2001. LSU has little to no baseball history before Skip Bertman. It makes their program résumé more impressive when put in the proper context.

Everyone must show respect to the face mask made of Legos.

Cruz is coming along. He's very much viewed as a big piece for the future of the Texas offensive line. When he'd be used would depend on the situation. In a pinch, they'd probably go with Robertson since he has more experience, but we've heard nothing but positive reviews on Cruz.

It's updated in the OP, but here are the 14 outgoing transfers from the 2025 squad: C Oliver Service C/INF Cole Chamberlain INF Carson Luna INF/OF Sam Richardson INF Jaquae Stewart OF Tommy Farmer IV OF Will Gasparino OF Donovan Jordan OF Matt Scott OF Easton Winfield LHP Chance Covert II LHP Ace Whitehead RHP Aiden Moffett RHP Easton Tumis

If I was an LSU fan, I’d be enjoying my team winning a national title instead of trying to be the best internet troll I could be.

He’s off to a good start because I don’t think I’ve seen him look better physically in his time at Texas than he has coming out of spring practice.

I’m optimistic after he held off Cojoe and Nick Brooks in the spring. He was pushed and responded with a strong close.

For me, it's less Hutson by himself and more so the power of the trio of Hutson, Campbell and Neto.

Justin Blalock decleating the blitzing safety was clutch. The same can be said for what that group did to help Selvin Young score the two-point conversion.

When Jared Spencer went down, Texas lost the element of knowing they had a guy who could toe the rubber every Friday and give them a chance to win the game. It feels different when a team has a stud they trust in the Friday role, which is something the two SEC teams that made it to Omaha had.

In all seriousness, I like the growth potential for the 2025 offensive line. For me, it comes down to how quickly the group of Huston, Campbell and Neto comes together and how they set the tone in the running game. Those three could come together and make Texas a much better short-yardage/red-zone offense.

I'm trying to see how many characters I can use in a headline before I get some kind of error message. Still hasn't happened yet.

Since Bob McKay wrapped up a Texas career (1968-69) worthy of induction into the College Football Hall of Fame three decades before Lyle Sendlein began his time with the Longhorns (2002-06), the 2005 national championship team’s starting center had an uphill climb to become the top player in program history to wear No. 62. Still, Sendlein started each of the 26 games on the schedule over his last two seasons on campus before starting 133 combined regular-season and playoff games over nine NFL seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. One of those starts Sendlein made came in Super Bowl XLIII, which pitted him against Texas and Pittsburgh Steelers legend Casey Hampton (the Steelers, with former Longhorns Tony Hills and Limas Sweed also on the roster, won, 27-23). Sendlein’s second career start in burnt orange saw him jump from the frying pan into the fire, in the second game of the 2005 season, playing one of the biggest roles on a star-studded offense when No. 2 Texas went into Ohio Stadium, at night. It upended No. 4 Ohio State, 25-22, kickstarting, in earnest, a run to the program's most recent national title. Sendlein’s redshirt junior season saw him replace departed starting center Jason Glynn, who was with the Longhorns for five seasons (2000-04) and started each of the last 38 games of his career. The Longhorn offensive line (left tackle Jonathan Scott, left guard Kasey Studdard, right guard Will Allen and right tackle Justin Blalock) had experience to share, combining for 89 career starts between the four returning starters from a squad that went 11-1 with a thrilling Rose Bowl win over Michigan in 2004. The 2005 Texas offensive line started the season as a group oozing potential and fulfilled it, ending an unforgettable 13-0 campaign as arguably the best unit in school history. Sendlein helped elevate the line, which paved the way for an offense quarterbacked by Vince Young to record the best single-season marks in school history for points (50.2) and total yards per game (512.1). When it comes to the similarities between the Longhorn offensive lines in 2005 and 2025, a new starting center is roughly where they end. Cole Hutson started 13 games as a true freshman right guard in 2022, so he’s not new to the starting lineup. Hutson also logged 389 snaps in a reserve role last season, including a season-high 52 in the team's College Football Playoff first-round win over Clemson and 35 in the loss to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. The return bout with the Buckeyes, on Aug. 30 in Columbus, will mark Hutson’s starting debut at center. He’s taking the baton from Jake Majors, who signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent after starting a school-record 57 games in his career (2020-24). Unlike Sendlein’s situation, there isn’t a lot of starting experience around Hutson. Major is one of four departed starters, accounting for more than 35 percent of the 161 combined starts Texas lost from last season. DJ Campbell (30 career starts at right guard) and projected starting left tackle Trevor Goosby (two starts as a redshirt freshman last season) have 45 combined career starts between them. Those three account for all of the starting experience among Kyle Flood’s group. What the group lacks in starting experience, it makes up for in raw, high-upside talent. If Neto Umeozulu and Brandon Baker continue to trend in the right direction from where they ended spring practice, the group charged with protecting Arch Manning and creating running lanes for a deep backfield has a tremendous opportunity to grow together en route to a possible third consecutive berth in the CFP. While the 2005 offensive line merely added a new starting center to a mix of talented blockers coming together at the right time, the remaining members of a highly-touted 2022 signing class (Hutson, Campbell, Umeozulu and Connor Robertson are on the 2025 roster, Kelvin Banks and Cam Williams are in the NFL and Malik Agbo will suit up for West Virginia after entering the transfer portal during the spring window) and their 2025 linemates will get a good idea of where they stand and what's possible in Steve Sarkisian's fifth season leading the program after traveling to the Horseshoe in 62 days. View full news story

We've had plenty of requests for a full list of players transferring out and transferring in through the portal. How we're doing it is the best way to keep track of the roster.