Steve Sarkisian isn’t budging.
After Texas’ 27-24 loss to unranked Oklahoma in Dallas, the Longhorns coach made it clear he is not planning to hand off play-calling duties or shake up his coaching staff during the season.
When asked if he was thinking about giving up offensive play-calling, Sarkisian shot it down immediately.
"Not a chance," Sarkisian said. "We have to play better."
The questions didn’t stop there. With Texas special teams under the microscope after another rough outing - the second straight week the unit played a role in the outcome - Sarkisian was also asked whether he needed to rethink Jeff Banks’ responsibilities.
Banks, who also coaches tight ends, has earned credit for developing NFL-caliber players such as Ja'Tavion Sanders, Gunnar Helm and Jack Endries in recent years. But Texas has now had enough special teams issues to force the conversation, and Sarkisian acknowledged the problems after the game.
"I feel like we've missed some opportunities on special teams quite frankly," Sarkisian said. "I felt like we had a couple return opportunities that we didn't get.
Clearly, two weeks in a row we've kicked the ball out of bounds on kickoffs. We're better than that, and so I've got to find a way to get our guys playing with more confidence from a specialist standpoint.
But again, that's my job to try to get that done."
The special teams concerns are not new. The source of the frustration stretches back to the second half of last season, when Texas gave up a surprise onside kick in the loss to Georgia.
Still, Sarkisian took the blame for the miscues and made clear that he views the fixes as his responsibility. At the same time, the offense continues to demand attention, which is part of why the staff debate is intensifying. The Longhorns’ attack has been too inconsistent for a team with this much talent and this much money tied up in it.
For now, though, Sarkisian is standing pat.
Texas now heads into next week’s game against Florida needing a cleaner performance fast, with its College Football Playoff hopes already starting to feel the pressure before the calendar flips to November.
In Other News...
Texas Opens Red River With Early Drama Beyond The Score
The Red River Rivalry opened with the kind of first-quarter buzz that always seems to follow Texas into the Cotton Bowl. Arch Manning found Cam Coleman for a touchdown to get the Longhorns on the board early, and the game immediately settled into the familiar mix of emotion, urgency and big-game tension that defines this matchup. Even before the score line had much time to breathe, the opening stretch had already delivered the sort of energy Texas fans expect when Oklahoma is on the other sideline.
Beyond the touchdown, the early going carried plenty of its own storylines, from pregame warmups to the injury notes and key plays that shaped the first quarter. Those details mattered in a game like this because every snap can shift the tone, and Texas had to navigate all of it while trying to keep control of the moment. The scoreboard gave the Longhorns an early edge, but the first quarter made clear this one was going to be about much more than one drive. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Looked Vulnerable In Dallas For One Frustrating Reason
Texas left Dallas with a bitter 27-24 loss to Oklahoma, and the frustration had less to do with one isolated mistake than with how the game unraveled after halftime. The Longhorns offense stalled repeatedly in the second half, stringing together multiple three-and-outs before Arch Manning was picked off late, while special teams problems kept adding pressure to a team trying to stay afloat in a tight rivalry game.
The blocked punt and missed field goals only deepened the sense that Texas kept finding new ways to make the path harder on itself. In a game where every possession mattered, the Longhorns never quite settled into rhythm, and the combination of offensive inconsistency, coaching choices, and special teams breakdowns left them vulnerable in a way that should linger well beyond one afternoon in Dallas. [Read more 🡒]
Steve Sarkisians Career Turnaround Adds New Emotion To Oklahoma Week
Oklahoma week always carries its own edge in Austin, but this one comes with a little more personal history for Steve Sarkisian. The Texas coach has been open about how Nick Saban played a major role in helping steady his career after a difficult stretch, bringing him to Alabama as an offensive analyst in 2016 after Sarkisian was fired by USC. It is the kind of reminder that gives a rivalry week already loaded with meaning a more human layer.
Sarkisian and his wife, Loreal, have both expressed gratitude for Sabans support, and Saban in turn has credited Sarkisian for doing the work needed to rebuild his career and add value to the program. For Sarkisian, that connection is part of the path that brought him back to this stage, where the Longhorns are trying to manage the usual Oklahoma Week intensity while their coach carries a little extra emotion into it. [Read more 🡒]