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Joel Klatt: Texas is not going anywhere after great first season in SEC

IMG_6598by:Nick Kosko•03/03/25•

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Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt doesn’t have Texas taking any sort of step back following the Longhorns’ first year in the SEC.

In fact, they’re here to say based on what head coach Steve Sarkisian has done to accumulate talent. Klatt didn’t even mention Arch Manning stepping up at quarterback this coming season, although that’s obvious.

Based on the talent coming through the NFL Scouting Combine, Texas just manages to reload every season.

“We should not anticipate Texas taking a step back, and I know none of us do, but just taking what we see at the scouting combine can confirm things that we know about programs in college football,” Klatt said on his podcast. “And if you’re a college fan, we know Texas is here to stay. And here they are, they’re in the national semifinal, they represented the SEC in the SEC championship game and they’re going to go nowhere. Because Sark is accumulating talent, we can see that by that speed that we saw over the last couple of years.”

If Texas doesn’t go anywhere, it’ll be because of the coaching of Sarkisian and the play of Manning, primarily.

“You always see guys mature, right? We get them when they’re 17, 18-years old, and then, you know, as they grow in the program, and you start to see them, not only physically mature, but mentally mature. It’s no different. This guy has really grown up in our program,” Sarkisian stated, regarding Manning taking over as the Texas QB. “You know, he was the guy that was so fired up, every gameday, he showed up.

“But I think he saw the value of learning, and kind of taking heed to what Quinn was going through, ‘Okay, how would I handle those situations?’ And so, I think we’re getting a guy that might be a first-year starter, but yet, kind of has the experience of what it’s going to feel like to handle some of those situations as they come up.”

Texas will certainly be a team to keep an eye on in 2025, and the combination of Sarkisian and Manning could take the Longhorns a long way. It all begins with a trip to Columbus, Ohio on Aug. 30, where they’ll face Ohio State in a rematch of last season’s College Football Playoff Semifinal showdown.