Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was all business when quizzed by ESPN reporter Laura Rutledge ahead of halftime with his team clinging to a 6-3 lead against Georgia in the SEC Championship game.
His quarterback Quinn Ewers (despite playing through injury) ultimately guided a game-tying drive deep in the fourth quarter to send the contest into overtime. Yet Georgia managed to get a 22-19 win thanks to running back Trevor Etienne’s last-gasp touchdown.
Along the way, the game was notably sloppy. Coach, eight penalties in this first half, how do you get your team to clean some of that up,” Rutledge asked the fourth-year coach of the Longhorns.
Sarkisian took the opportunity to air out some grievances. “Well hopefully, they call them for a holding one of these times too,” he said.
Following his court 13-word response, the Texas coach proceeded to awkwardly glare into the ESPN camera. He then glanced back at a flustered Rutledge. “Lets go to Holly Rowe [in the studio] for a little bit more,” she pivoted.
Sarkisian was admittedly upset with his team’s first-half sloppiness – Texas’s eight penalties account for 80 yards in Georgia’s favor.
The 50-year-old head coach should be credited with re-awakening a dormant Longhorns program. Long one of the premier programs in the country, Texas entered a dry spell before Sarkisian arrived in 2021. He’s amassed an impressive 36-15 record (before the 2024 SEC Championship game) in four seasons with an 11-1 record in 2024.
Steve Sarkisian didn’t mince his words pic.twitter.com/6Z9GjOhr80
SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 7, 2024
Sarkisian is compensated nicely for his services – he collected a cool $10.3 million this season. His contract escalates year over year through 2030 and he’ll make nearly $10.9 million by the end of the decade. He served as the Alabama offensive coordinator in 2019 and 2020 before joining Texas, coaching current Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Before his stint with the Crimson Tide, Sarkisian spent two years as the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator. He failed the replace the excellent Kyle Shanahan (who left for the head coaching gig in San Francisco) and was let go after two seasons.
Sarkisian was the head coach at both Washington and USC before his foray into the NFL ranks. He was bizarrely fired from the Trojans job in 2015 for showing up to multiple team meetings and events while intoxicated.
Following the SEC Championship, he will look to lead Texas to their first national championship since Vince Young and company accomplished the feat in 2005.
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