Steve Sarkisian had emotional reaction to watching son Brady Sarkisian make electric moves for Texas: "That was really awesome" 

Texas Longhorns linebacker Brady Sarkisian, the son of coach Steve Sarkisian, finally saw some action in Week 3. He played in the fourth quarter of his team's 56-7 win over the UTSA Roadrunners during week three of the 2024 season.

During his weekly press conference, the Longhorns coach revealed the emotional reaction he had to watching his son play football for the team.

“When he (Brady Sarkisian) got in tonight, I took my headset off, and I played dad for about three plays,” Steve Sarkisian said. “I just watched my son play football at the University of Texas. That was really awesome."

House vs. NCAA could have impacted Brady Sarkisian's walk-on status

Brady Sarkisian was an unranked prospect in the class of 2022 and when he left Corona Del Mar High School, he had offers from the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Arkansas State Red Wolves. He opted to join the Texas Longhorns as a preferred walk-on under his father's tutelage.

Brady did not play as a freshman in the 2023 season, finally making his debut for the Longhorns this season.

Had it come earlier, his place as a walk-on would have been put in danger by the controversial House vs. NCAA settlement, which states that programs had to pay their student-athletes like employees but eliminated the number of scholarships available to programs.

The knock-on effect was that schools could move to a capped roster size (between 85-105) which would then reduce the chances of walk-on prospects getting opportunities.

During an interview with ESPN, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian revealed his thoughts on the potential elimination of walk-ons, a status that was held by his son, Brady Sarkisian.

“I think in the end, if (85 total players) is the number, that’s the number,” Sarkisian said. “We have to adapt. We have to adjust, and we’ve got to figure out the best way to put our players in the best position to have success.”

“In football, I really believe you get better at football by doing it, by failing, by learning from failures, and then doing it again,” Sarkisian added. “In the traditional model of one-spotting, I have 22 guys out there practicing one play. That means I have another 100 standing on the sideline watching those 22. Well, you can only practice so long, and so at the end of a practice," he explained.

If the House vs. NCAA settlement impacting walk-ons in college football would have come a few years ago, Steve Sarkisian, might have never had the emotional moment watching his son, Brady play for the Texas Longhorns.