"That made it pretty easy for me": Texas HC Steve Sarkisian spills the beans on why he took the HC job with the Longhorns

Steve Sarkisian is among the most talked about coaches in the college football world. Be it developing one of the strongest quarterback rooms in the country with talent powerhouses like Quinn Ewers, Trey Owens, and Arch Manning or using the new era of transfer portal and NIL to his advantage, Sarkisian has proved his abilities with the Longhorns.

After a disappointing start to his tenure at Texas, Sarkisian was successful in changing the team's momentum and leading them to a 12-2 record in the 2023 college football season. Besides Michigan, Texas was the only team to beat Nick Saban's Alabama in week 2, which was a remarkable milestone on its own for Sarkisian's career.

In a conversation with Joel Klatt, Sarkisian opened up about the thought process before taking the head coaching job with the Longhorns:

"Once you kind of come to that realisation that you know what you're signing up for, you understand what the expectations are, why am I taking this job? Right? Is it just to be a head coach again? Or is it to strive to be a champion? And then can you do it again and again and again.

"And so that that made it pretty easy for me at that point to say, I know why I'm taking the job. So the expectations that others may have for me, mine are probably higher than than what everybody else can think of right?" (4:00)

Steve Sarkisian opens up about issues faced as HC due to alcoholism

Steve Sarkisian came into the spotlight for alcoholism during his time at USC and Washington. Sarkisian's battle with alcohol was very publically documented, and many recruiters tried to use that against him.

In the same conversation with Joel Klatt, the Texas head coach spoke openly about the challenges faced as a coach during that phase of his life:

"I quickly realized, in coaching, there's this thing called ‘negative recruiting, some coaches love to talk about another school or another coach,” Sarkisian stated.

"So I really became open, honest, and vulnerable with the recruits first, and their families first, to talk through my story.” (11:00)

Fans will be eager to see how Steve Sarkisian continues with Texas' momentum in the 2024 college football season.