Fresh off of winning a national championship with Alabama as the offensive coordinator, Texas announced the hiring of Steve Sarkisian as their new head football coach on Jan. 2.
While some viewed the hire as a lateral move from former head coach Tom Herman, others thought Sarkisian was a perfect fit to improve the culture at Texas and be the man to lead the program back to relevancy.
Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY Sports originally tabbed Sarkisian the third-best college football head coaching hire last season, but he has since dropped Texas’ coach to No. 9 on the most recent re-rank.
Last year’s ranking: No. 3
What should we make of Sarkisian’s first year? Texas had the program’s longest losing streak in nearly 70 years. Sarkisian became just the program’s second coach since World War II to post a losing record in his first year, joining Charlie Strong. But the recruiting machine is rolling, the roster is getting a huge influx of talent — including quarterback Quinn Ewers — and there is some hope that 2022 will yield something better.
The most important part that Myerberg mentioned is the recruiting success that the Longhorns are experiencing even after an underwhelming 5-7 season. It was clear that Sarkisian had a vision when he came to Austin to revamp the roster, and he’s certainly accomplishing that this offseason.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and if Sarkisian can continue the recent momentum on the recruiting trail, the Longhorns should benefit with production on the field in the near future.
Texas currently holds the No. 5 recruiting class in the country for the 2022 cycle, according to 247Sports. The incoming class includes two sought after transfer players in five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers and four-star cornerback Ryan Watts.
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