Steve Sarkisian addresses the development he's seen from Texas secondary

Texas needs to see improved play out of its secondary in 2022. Head coach Steve Sarkisian knows this as well as anyone and has been working to address that over the course of the offseason. He also addressed the secondary’s development when speaking to the media.

One player who Steve Sarkisian decided to focus on was Jaylon Guilbeau, who has moved to the star position in the Texas secondary.

“I think Guilbeau, you know, he’s a very confident player,” Steve Sarkisian said. “He is a gym rat. You know, he’s a football junkie. He loves the game and you see his instincts. We saw it at corner and then when you slide him into the star position, you see his instincts there as well and he’s been a playmaker. You know, he’s made some plays on the ball, made another nice play today.”

“Actually, in practice, they got an interception, so that creates healthy competition, you know, for Jahdae Barron, and now we have guys that are very interchangeable, that can do different things, and play with the instincts that we’re looking for at that spot.”

Steve Sarkisian went on to praise Jamier Johnson too, pointing out that he’s getting more comfortable on the back end for Texas.

“The product of development, I think, is what we’ve been trying to preach to these guys and Jamier is a prime example of that and I think he’s playing with a lot more confidence. He’s a lot more comfortable. And it’s created really good competition back there,” Steve Sarkisian said.

Steve Sarkisian’s bold goal for playing time

Going into the season, Steve Sarkisian has a bold goal for playing time. The Longhorns are going to play young athletes early in the year. This, in large part, is going to be because Texas has an extremely young roster and they’ll be fighting extreme temperatures in the early part of the season.

““For the first month and a half of the season, it’s going to be 100 degrees, so we have to have the ability to play more players,” Steve Sarkisian said.