Adam Schefter reveals NFL interest in Steve Sarkisian amid coaching carousel spinning up

During a Sunday morning appearance on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown, NFL insider Adam Schefter dropped a bomb that could have wide-ranging implications across the college football ranks.

Schefter name-dropped Texas head football coach Steve Sarkisian as a serious candidate to receive inquiries from NFL teams searching for a new head coach this offseason.

“I would expect some teams to call and inquire about Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, who has drawn some interest from the NFL level,” Schefter said Sunday.

Schefter was rolling through a list of potential NFL head coaching openings entering the final Sunday of the 2024 regular season, mentioning Sarkisian immediately following a report on the tenuous situation with Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, whose contract expires at the end of their season.

Sarkisian has the Longhorns in the thick of the College Football Playoff National Championship chase after guiding fifth-seeded Texas (13-2) to the CFP Semifinals against eighth-seeded Ohio State (12-2) in the Cotton Bowl at 7:30 pm ET, Friday from Dallas.

The surging Buckeyes are a 5.5-point favorite against the Longhorns, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, though Texas has been rolling of late as well, rebounding nicely from a SEC Championship Game loss to Georgia in early December. Since then, the Longhorns have dispatch a pair of conference champs in the ACC champion Clemson, 38-24, and Big 12 champion Arizona State, 39-31, in the first two rounds of the College Football Playoff.

Sarkisian has spent much of coaching career in the collegiate ranks, but does have history in the NFL after a difficult two-year stint as the Atlanta Falcons‘ offensive coordinator from 2017-18. That experience was immediately followed by a successful two-year term (2019-20) as Alabama‘s OC under Nick Saban, which led to Sarkisian’s ultimate hiring in Austin following the Crimson Tide’s national championship-winning 2020 season.

Texas makes never-seen-before New Year’s Six bowl history with Peach Bowl win vs Arizona State

Texas accomplished a rare feat in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl on Wednesday afternoon, topping Arizona State 39-31 in double overtime.

So rare, in fact, that Texas is now the only program in college football history to have achieved the feat.

What was that accomplishment, exactly? Well, Texas became the first program to win all six New Year’s Six bowl games. The Longhorns added the final piece to the puzzle with the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.

The New Year’s Six bowls are comprised of the Peach Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the Orange Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl.

Here are Texas’ most recent wins in each bowl:

Peach Bowl: vs. Arizona State (2024)
Sugar Bowl: vs. Georgia (2018)
Fiesta Bowl: vs. Ohio State (2008)
Rose Bowl: vs. USC (2005)
Cotton Bowl: vs. LSU (2002)
Orange Bowl: vs. Alabama (1964)

Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this report.