This remark came from an unnamed Hefty 12 coach, who gave Texas football a big Horns Down.
Despite recent success on the recruiting trail, Steve Sarkisian’s Texas football team still does not command the respect of their Big 12 coaching counterparts.
Several Big 12 coaches gave anonymous interviews to Athlon Sports on their true opinions of the other league teams. amazingly direct, yet you never say anything like this in public.
However, it is still greatly valued. None of the anonymous comments made about the 10 Big 12 programs were as informative or as humorous as the one about Texas.
Texas may appear impressive on paper and in its sharp uniforms, but nobody is fooled by the Longhorns.
“When they get off the bus, nobody in college football looks better. Then they play you, and it all comes back down to earth. Bottom line, there’s no dressing it up — they didn’t play hard defensively last season,” said one anonymous Big 12 coach about Texas to Athlon Sports.
The fact that this team continues to compete with no grit or mental toughness is damning.
“I don’t know if it’s because they didn’t have all the pieces they needed or there was a cultural issue transitioning from the last staff, but they either chose not to play hard or didn’t know how to,” continued the anonymous Big 12 coach to Athlon Sports. “Either one is possible. Culturally, not enough has changed there. You look at Red River tape and they’re on fire, or they’re trying to be. Watch them after three losses, and they’re over it.”
The Longhorns have not been a consistently good collegiate team since Mack Brown’s heyday.
It is yet unclear whether “All Gas, No Breaks” will get Texas where it needs to go or if it will crash at high speed off the road due to a general lack of awareness or control.
This unnamed Big 12 coach destroyed Texas football in a public space
On the Austin campus, it is true that there has never been a problem with talent; rather, the issue has been with the department’s lack of advancement.
Not that the players who wear burnt orange nowadays are as entitled as guys were in the past, but Texas needs a culture shift so badly, it’s really rather sad. The Longhorns failed to even qualify for a bowl game during Sarkisian’s first campaign in Austin.
Texas is still regarded as one of the Big 12’s top four teams this season. The Longhorns should finish around 8-4 and compete for a spot in Arlington against teams like Baylor, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State.
Texas might go as good as 10-2, but for that to happen, one of Quinn Ewers or Hudson Card will need to lead the attack whenever Bijan Robinson needs a break on the bench.
In the end, it all starts with Texas winning games with far superior efficiency. It is never simple to learn how to succeed under challenging circumstances, but that is exactly what Sarkisian’s lads entering year two together will need to do.
Texas’ transfer to the SEC will hammer the Longhorns like a ton of bricks if Austin continues its monkey behavior. We can all, regrettably, see it coming.
Texas should come out in 2022 and show all of its critics how mistaken they are.
