Greg McElroy says Steve Sarkisian is feeling the most pressure in 2023

After two years, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has the most pressure going into 2023, according to ESPN’s Greg McElroy.

While Sarkisian certainly had his moments with Texas, the Longhorns have yet to win a Big 12 title or get to the College Football Playoff. Sure, two years does not seem like that much time, but Texas puts a lot of pressure onto head coaches.

McElroy explained why Sarkisian has a lot of weight on his shoulders going into next season.

“I think the most pressure heading into this upcoming season, it’s a difficult one, but it would probably be Steve Sarkisian,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “I think that there was progress made last year. People are optimistic about the progress that was made. But he’s now entering into a year in which they have one year left in the Big 12 and then they move to the SEC. They need to show some progress this year.”

McElroy talked about Texas’ move to the SEC putting a lot of pressure on Sarkisian. Texas and Oklahoma are set to enter the conference after the 2023 campaign.

“And then also at the same and there was progress made this year I might add. But they played better this year than they did at any point in the previous year. And they had a couple close calls. But guess what, you know, this year needs to show me more progress. And guess what, next year SEC. It’s tough sledding, it’s gonna be tough.

McElroy talked about the most recent example of competitive advantage: Georgia’s national title win over TCU.

“And we all saw what happened when Georgia played against TCU, not saying that would happen every day when I think both teams play their ‘A’ game. Georgia probably wins by 21 or so …

“The step up in competition from what they’ve faced week in week out in the last handful of years is going to be very different than what he’s going to see in the next few years when they get to the league. So Steve Sarkisian and Jimbo Fisher, I might add, probably the two that are needing to win the most this year.”

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Sarkisian is 13-12 in two seasons with Texas but is 0-1 in bowl games. Texas was No. 25 in the AP Poll at the end of the season last fall.