Steve Sarkisian describes how he approaches difficult conversations about depth chart

It’s the time of the year when official depth charts are put out and hard conversations are had about what it means for some of the players who aren’t as high up on it as they’d like to be.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian knows all about that. But the third-year Longhorns head man isn’t overly worried about it.

“Real life. I think that’s why we’ve created an environment here where honesty works and being transparent works,” Sarkisian said. “I don’t think by the time we put a depth chart to the team and when we explain to them in their position meeting who’s going to go with the ones and who’s with the twos and so on and so forth, there’s not going to be a lot of surprises because we’re very up front with our players on a regular basis.”

Still, players who aren’t high on the depth chart might still be upset.

There’s something about seeing it codified in writing that makes it harder to deal with, a sense of permanence added, even if some coaches are fluid with their depth charts throughout the year.

For Sarkisian, it’s simply a matter of needing to see what he has asked from certain players for them to work their way up the depth chart.

“We’re constantly trying to improve them,” he said. “We’re constantly trying to give them the things we’d like for them to work on. We’re constantly trying to show living examples of players that do it right and what that looks like and why that’s how we want it.”

In the transfer portal era, there always exists the threat of a player who isn’t where he wants to be on the depth chart looking for a new opportunity elsewhere. But that’s one place where the current NCAA rules may just get it right.

Because of the transfer portal windows put in place, coaches are less worried about an exodus at the start of the fall than they have been in the past. Many transfer decisions will now come after the regular season ends.

That gives even the disgruntled players the chance to work their way up the depth chart.

At least in Texas’ program, they should know exactly what they have to do to start cracking into the rotation and earning real playing time.

“We point out times when we don’t do it right, so that everybody gets a real sense and a feel of what we’re looking for and how we try to get it done,” Sarkisian said. “So in the end, nobody likes to not hear that they’re not going to be a front-line starter, but as long as they know what they’re working on and how they can earn more playing time, I think that that’s fair.

“Because I think that we’ve been fair all the way through.”