Texas and Texas A&M will always draw comparisons to each other. The former in-state football rivals are not currently playing each other on the gridiron, leaving the debate to hypotheticals.
With Steve Sarkisian being hired after winning a national championship with Alabama, the Longhorns have been the talk of the offseason. Optimism has once again struck on the Forty Acres, but there will be plenty of Sarkisian and Texas doubters.
Before getting compared to his direct competitors in the Big 12, Sarkisian, of course, has to be put head to head against Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher. Even though he likes Sarkisian “a lot,” mark down ESPN’s Paul Finebaum as one in favor of the Aggie coach, saying “it’s a really easy answer.”
“Jimbo Fisher is a legitimately big-time coach,” Finebaum said Monday on WJOX. “He’s already proven it (Florida State). He is proving it now (9-1 record in 2020). He’s recruiting at a level that I think is necessary. And he also doesn’t have the distractions and interferences that Sarkisian is going to have in terms of the alumni.”
Finebaum’s last sentence is why he believes being the head coach at the University of Texas may be too big of an obstacle to overcome. A personal relationship with Mack Brown from their time at ESPN may have negatively swayed how Finebaum views the Longhorns.
“The alumni are always the problem in Austin. I mean, it’s one of the great places in the world to work, it’s one of the great places to live and visit, but they have still not solved that. And maybe I spent too much time on Sunday mornings in Connecticut hanging around Mack Brown, but you have to deal with way too many entities and a fanbase that just can’t quite get over itself.”
Expectations going into the 2021 season are going to be different for Sarkisian and Fisher. Texas is hoping to get back on track, getting closer to their third 10-win season since 2009. Wins will equal recruits.
Fisher, on the other hand, is expected to be competing with Alabama and LSU every season. A combined 3-15 record may say otherwise, but Texas A&M finished second in the SEC West last season. Finding a way to make it to Atlanta is now wanted from Aggie fans.
Sarkisian vs Fisher will continue as the season goes on.