Texas has put itself in a spot it never wanted to see, and now the conversation around Steve Sarkisian is starting to shift from frustration to math.
The Longhorns made unwanted history Saturday by becoming the first program since 1961 to be ranked No. 1 in the AP poll and then lose back-to-back games to unranked opponents. After coughing up a lead in the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma, Texas again built a big first-half cushion, this time against Florida in Austin, only to watch the Gators and backup quarterback Tramell Jones rally for the win.
That kind of slide naturally turns up the heat on a coach, even one who has delivered plenty of wins. Sarkisian was hired to do two things: lift Texas into a steadier, higher baseline and then push the program into true championship territory.
On the first part, he has done his job. Texas has gone 35-8 over his last three seasons.
The bigger question is the one that still hangs over the program. Texas has spent time at No. 1 in the AP poll in each of the last two seasons, but it still hasn’t taken that final step to become a perennial title threat. Now sitting at 4-2, the Longhorns again look like a team drifting outside college football’s top tier.
If Texas ever did decide it wanted a new direction, the price tag would be massive.
Sarkisian’s 2025 contract extension runs through 2031 and pushed his salary into the upper reaches of the sport. Counting this season, he has six years left on a deal worth just over $70 million. His buyout is set at 85% of the remaining balance, which means Texas would owe $50.15 million after the 2026 season.
That number would not be the biggest buyout in college football history, or even in Texas, but it would still land among the five largest ever. A move like that would mean Texas had moved well beyond disappointment and reached the point of believing Sarkisian simply cannot take the program to the top.
It would also require the Longhorns to have a clear answer waiting. Texas has the money to chase almost anybody, but there isn’t an obvious next coach sitting there for them right now.
For the moment, though, two losses do not automatically knock Texas out of the College Football Playoff picture. With the win over Ohio State, the Longhorns could still make a case, even as a three-loss team, if things break right. But if Texas ends up missing the playoff altogether after being in such a strong position after Week 5, the online grumbling around Sarkisian might finally turn into a real discussion inside Austin.
In Other News...
Alabama Suddenly Faces Real Pressure After College Footballs Wildest Shakeup
College football spent a chaotic Saturday turning the top of the sport upside down, and Texas was right in the middle of it. Five of the Associated Press Top 25s top seven teams lost in Week 7, an unheard-of shakeup in the regular season that has not happened since the poll began in 1936. Georgia, Notre Dame, Indiana, Alabama and Texas all fell, leaving the rankings in the kind of flux that rarely survives more than one week.
For the Longhorns, the result is less about one bad night than the mess it creates around them. Miamis double-overtime win over Florida State has it in position to grab the No. 1 spot for the first time since 2002, and the rest of the poll now has to sort through a weekend that knocked out so many of the presumed front-runners at once. For Texas, the setback arrives at the worst possible time, with the margin for error suddenly a lot thinner and the path back up the rankings far less predictable. [Read more 🡒]
Arch Manning Suddenly Faces A Texas Question Fans Never Wanted
Texas is in an unfamiliar spot after back-to-back losses, and the discomfort has naturally turned toward Arch Manning, whose play has become a central question as the Longhorns try to steady themselves. For a program that entered the year with high expectations, the conversation has shifted quickly from upside to accountability, with the offense under scrutiny and the quarterback position now part of the broader review.
Steve Sarkisian has made clear that the evaluation goes beyond one player, but it does include the people behind Manning if he decides a change is needed. KJ Lacey, Dia Bell and MJ Morris are among the options being considered, which says plenty about how seriously Texas is weighing every part of the offense while trying to find a way out of the slump. [Read more 🡒]
Arch Manning And Texas Suddenly Face A Season-Saving Debate
Week 7 reshaped the national picture in a hurry, and Texas was among the teams feeling the fallout after its loss to unranked Florida put the Longhorns playoff hopes in jeopardy. Around the country, ranked contenders kept tumbling, from Auburns last-minute upset of Georgia to Tennessees defensive win over Alabama, while Ohio State survived Indiana but came away dealing with a quarterback injury. The AP top 25 changed with all of it, and Texas suddenly found itself with far less room for error than it had just a week ago.
For Arch Manning and the Longhorns, the bigger issue is no longer just the loss itself, but how the rest of the season should be handled from here. With the margin for another slip now razor-thin, Texas faces a debate that can define a season: whether to lean into the urgency of chasing a playoff rescue, or treat the remaining schedule with a longer view in mind. In a year when the title race has already been scrambled by chaos, the Longhorns are left sorting out what kind of push still makes sense. [Read more 🡒]