Nick Saban to Steve Sarkisian: CJ Baxter was 'the best running back I saw of any team' in 2023

As SEC Network wrapped up Day 3 of Media Days coverage, Nick Saban and Steve Sarkisian shared a fun moment. The former Alabama head coach interviewed his protege on SEC Now after the ballroom emptied out at the Omni Dallas Hotel – and it led to some high praise for one Texas standout.

Saban ran through what he liked about the Longhorns this season, which likely factored into his decision to pick them to make the SEC Championship. He pointed out the amount of skill players Texas has and the talent at quarterback with Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning in the room.

Then, Saban got to the running back room. That’s when he told Sarkisian about CJ Baxter, who stood out above any other player at the position last season.

“I’m gonna alleviate some of your concerns because I know you’ve got seven wideouts that all can play,” Saban told Sarkisian. “I know you’ve got three quarterbacks that all can play. Baxter was the best running back I saw of any team, aight, so you’re gonna be able to run the ball.

“If you can run it, you can always do better in the red zone. I’m just gonna do a little coaching clinic here just in case.”

Baxter shined as a freshman in Sarkisian’s system last year. He took 138 carries for 658 yards and eight touchdowns to finish behind Jonathon Brooks on the roster. Against Nick Saban and Alabama, Baxter only ran for 31 yards, but he had breakout performances with 90 yards and a touchdown vs. Kansas State, as well as 117 yards against Iowa State.

Baxter’s production was a welcome sight for Texas, which was looking to replace the production of Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson after they headed to the NFL Draft. But Brooks is also off to the league, going in the second round of this year’s draft to the Cleveland Browns.

That means Baxter could take on an even bigger role in the offense, and with Brooks out of the picture – along with wide receivers Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell – it could allow Sarkisian to mix things up that much more.

“I never want to get stale offensively,” Sarkisian said during his press conference. “I know what I said earlier, we’re going to be who we are, but with that comes all of the subtle tweaks and things and formations and motions and personnel groupings and how do you group people the right way to take advantage of it.

“Part of that is trying to play your best players. Part of that is how do we tax the defense. So we do have a very versatile offensive team. The fact that we’ve got very versatile runners, we’ve got versatile tight ends … we use an extra tackle at tight end some. We try to do a lot of things to people to make them prepare for it.”