Texas HC Steve Sarkisian shares key lessons from working under "dramatically different personalities" Nick Saban and Pete Carroll

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian provided insight into his coaching philosophy and the invaluable lessons he learned from legendary coaches Nick Saban and Pete Carroll during a podcast interview with Joel Klatt on "Big Noon Conversations."

Klatt posed a thought-provoking question to Sarkisian about the influential coaching influences in his career — specifically, Saban and Carroll, who both coincidentally stepped away from their coaching roles on the same day.

Klatt asked about Sarkisian having the opportunity to work under the two highly esteemed coaches and the distinct traits of each of them.

The Longhorns HC interestingly answered that he had asked both Saban and Carroll the same question and received remarkably similar responses from the two coaching icons. After describing the two coaches as having "dramatically different personalities," Coach Sark went into further detail. Describing Super Bowl champion Coach Carroll's personality and coaching style, he said:

“Here's Pete Carroll: He's bouncing around, he's chewing gum, he's playing catch every day, he's got his gloves on, he's creating an environment of energy and the guys are flying around.” [Timestamp - 21:50]

Speaking about seven-time national champion Saban, Sarkisian told Klatt that:

“Here's Nick Saban: It's like the methodical regimen — the discipline of 'this is how we're going to go about our business, and this is the approach.'"

Sarkisian added that despite their differences, the two coaches are similar in terms of what matters:

"But in the end they're both striving for the exact same thing which is being Champions. They're both highly competitive. Two of the most competitive humans I've ever been around, and they're both extremely successful.”

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian (left) greets Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

The Texas Longhorns coach underscored the pivotal moment when both coaches experienced a remarkable surge in the latter half of their careers, around the age of 50, leading to the most successful and impactful years of their coaching endeavors.

“But what I came to find out of my time having been with coach Carroll then I get back with coach Saban and asking those questions were if you look at their careers the second half of their careers is when they really took off… both of them right around 50 and then the last 20-22 years they're both 72 have been the greatest years of their of their careers. Why is that? what happened?” Sarkisian said.

“And so I asked them both the exact same question and really got the exact same answer. They figured out who they were, and then they coached who they were rather than trying to be something that they're not.”

Steve Sarkisian recalls his early coaching days as a reactive "thermometer" to a proactive "thermostat"

Texas head football coach Steve Sarkisian tries to quiet the crowd.

Drawing from his experiences at the University of Washington at a relatively young age, Sarkisian reflected on his personal growth as a coach, likening his initial approach to that of a "thermometer" that merely reacted to external factors, to eventually evolving into a "thermostat" that sets the desired temperature.

“I was 34 years old. I was the head coach of University of Washington. I didn't know what the heck was going on. I was... one day I was like this; the next day I was like this. I was at that time — and I use this analogy — I was a thermometer,” the Texas coach said. “I was walking into whatever the situation was, whatever the temperature was, that's how I responded. ”

“Now I'm a thermostat, I set that temperature for how I want it to be every day, and then others can either buy into that temperature or not. And so if you figure out who you are, and then you try to act in accordance to who you are as consistently as possible, so everybody knows what to expect, and I think that's the beauty of having an opportunity to work for those two guys. They're drastically different, but they figured out who they were.”

Steve Sarkisian's insights from his interactions with Saban and Carroll emphasized the transformative power of authenticity and unwavering commitment to core values.