Nick Saban on Texas: 'They're not gonna run the SEC'

As a long-standing member of the Big 12, some argued Texas helped “run” the league. Now in the SEC, the Longhorns – along with Oklahoma – are now the new guys in the room as the conference ushers in a new era.

When it comes to UT “running” the conference, former Alabama coach Nick Saban joked it won’t be a problem. He noted the amount of “arrogant people” who could get in the way of that happening.

“What kind of tickles me is all these people asking questions about how Texas always ran the conference they were in,” Saban said during SEC Media Days. “They’re not gonna run the SEC. There’s a whole lot of arrogant people in a lot of places in the SEC. Forget all about that. They’ll be a good team and a great program and Sark will do a great job, but that’s not gonna be a problem.”

Texas is coming off its best season yet under Steve Sarkisian, making its first-ever College Football Playoff and winning a final Big 12 championship. That gave the Longhorns plenty of momentum as they headed into the SEC, especially since they still have their quarterback. Quinn Ewers is back for one more year, keeping the keys to the offense.

For Sarkisian, it caps off a journey that started after he took over at Texas. Two years after missing a bowl game entirely, UT played in the College Football Playoff for the first time. Roster construction was key to that success as Sarkisian added talent in the trenches and at wide receiver as part of three straight top-six recruiting classes, according to the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Ranking.

Now, the vision is taking shape with the SEC move coming. Sarkisian said he knows his team is ready, and the arrow is pointing up.

“When I took the job and I was meeting with Chris Del Conte and Jay Hartzell, our president, what is needed and how are you gonna build it, and you talk about your plan. I said then, we’re gonna have to build a roster that can compete and ultimately beat Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State, Notre Dame – because those are in those Final Four games,” Sarkisian said on SiriusXM College. “And that’s the goal at Texas is to win the national championship.

“So when they exposed it to me that we were going to the SEC, they said, ‘What needs to change?’ I said, ‘Nothing,’ because that’s what we were already building for anyway.”