It has been a while since Texas football was an elite program so younger fans may not knos that there was a period from 1998 to about 2009 when the Longhorns were the cream of the crop nationally.
Mack Brown built a legendary program that won national big-time bowl games and a national championship during that stretch.
The Longhorns lost their way a bit in the post-Brown era, but head coach Steve Sarkisian has Texas back in the championship conversation. And after a run to the College Football Playoff last season, he has only one thing in mind.
Speaking after the spring session, Sarkisian said that he took the Texas job because of those high, championship expectations.
“I think the first part is you have to understand when you take the job at the University of Texas what you’re signing up for,” he said (h/t On3). “Everyone talks about expectations here, but the reality of it is we had those same expectations or we wouldn’t have taken the job. I didn’t want to be a head coach again just to wear the hat. We’re trying to win championships. We’re chasing it every day.”
For what it’s worth, Texas does have a tremendous opportunity to win it all in 2024.
Out of the four teams that were in the CFP last season — Michigan, Texas, Washington and Alabama — only the Longhorns have stability at the head of their program.
Michigan lost Jim Harbaugh to the NFL, Alabama lost Nick Saban to retirement and Washington lost Kalen DeBoer to Alabama.
Meanwhile, Texas is heading into Year 4 of the Sarkisian era and into Year 3 with Quinn Ewers as the starting quarterback.
The Longhorns are poised to keep rolling right through 2024. Yes, there’s going to be the move into the SEC to contend with, but Texas is primed to thrive right away in its new conference.
“I think that the trajectory that we’re on is a very good one. Obviously, this year poses new and different challenges like every year does, but one of the challenges as always is, as we’ve recruited this talented roster, which I do think we’re very talented, we have to remember at our core what has made us unique and special,” Sarkisian said.
Leave a reply