San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson spent part of the first week of Texas fall camp inside Steve Sarkisian’s film room, giving the Longhorns a notable guest voice after the Spurs’ run to the Finals.
Texas Football highlighted the visit on social media Friday, writing, "Special thanks to Spurs Head Coach Mitch Johnson for speaking with the team today!"
Johnson arrives with plenty of recent experience to draw from. San Antonio pushed all the way to the Finals before falling in five games to the New York Knicks, and all four losses came after blown leads.
That kind of run gives him a perspective on both ends of competition: the surge that gets you there and the sting when it slips away. OG Anunoby’s game-winning tip-in in Game 4 was one of the most crushing moments of the series.
That message should land in a Texas locker room that already knows plenty about disappointment and response. The Longhorns reached the CFP semifinal two years ago, then finished 9-3 and missed out on the CFP last season.
A number of the incoming transfers also came from programs that didn’t put them in the best position to win. The common thread in that room is clear: nobody has a championship yet, and the next step is figuring out how to get there.
If Johnson had anything to offer Sarkisian’s group, it would be the lesson of getting back up after a bad loss and staying in the fight. Even after the blown leads and the heartbreaking finish, his team kept battling through the Finals.
Texas showed some of that same quality last season. The Longhorns rebounded enough to finish with 10 wins after their playoff hopes faded before Week 13, then beat Texas A&M in the Lone Star Showdown and took care of Michigan in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. That kind of resilience has to show up every day if this team is going to reach what it believes is possible this fall.
The setting makes the connection even more natural. Texas sits in one of college football’s biggest markets, the Moody Center hosts the Spurs during the San Antonio rodeo, and Austin has grown into one of the biggest cities in the country. There are real ties between the Spurs, Austin and the Burnt Orange, and Johnson’s appearance is another reminder of how connected all of it is in Texas.
With Victor Wembanyama and Co. falling short of a title for the region in June, the Longhorns have a chance to answer in January with a roster that includes Arch Manning, Cam Coleman and Collin Simmons.
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