Steve Sarkisian brought a breath of fresh air to Austin.
Hours after securing the national title with Alabama, Sarkisian arrived on the Forty Acres as the head coach of Texas. He replaced Tom Herman, who lacked in player development, suffered inexcusable losses to lower quality opponents each season, and couldn’t consistently compete for conference championships.
A change in culture was needed.
Sarkisian has the program headed in the right direction after just a few short months on the job. Recruiting seems to be going well and the current players on the roster enjoy playing for the new coaching staff. However, expectations are always sky high at Texas and preseason hype is often let down by underwhelming performances throughout the season.
Could Sarkisian quickly get Texas back on the right path? According to Brandon Marcello of 247Sports, Sarkisian is near the top of the list in terms of first-year head coaches that will be successful in 2021. He landed at No. 3 overall, just behind Andy Avalos (Boise State) and Gus Malzahn (UCF).
Here’s what they had to say about Sarkisian’s first year:
Whoever the quarterback is in the opener, he’ll have the luxury of leaning on running back Bijan Robinson, who might just be in the Heisman Trophy race at the end of the season. On defense, the line could be among the Big 12’s best.
The Longhorns have a top-25 roster and should be a top-25 team on the field. The feeling here is Texas finishes with less than the three Big 12 losses Tom Herman delivered the proud program last season. The Longhorns should improve as the season develops, but they might be a year or two away from contending with Oklahoma for the conference title again.
While Sarkisian’s success at Texas may be gradual, there’s no reason to think that his roster can’t compete for a Big 12 title right away.