Steve Sarkisian outlines what Texas' running back room looks like in 2025

The Texas Longhorns made a run to the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff under Steve Sarkisian in 2024. They were able to do that despite some major injuries to the running back room. Now healthy, Sarkisian is excited for that unit in 2025.

As spring rolls on, Sarkisian outlined what the room looks like at this point. In particular, the depth that the Longhorns are going to have at that position next season.

“I think that the backfield will be better, in some degree,” Steve Sarkisian said. “We got two guys coming off of injuries in CJ Baxter and Christian Clark, and we really think highly of both of them. We have a 1,000-yard rusher coming back, Tre Wisner, and we have a true freshman kid who’s going to be a sophomore in Jerrick Gibson, who played some really significant meaningful snaps in some big games. And so I feel really good about the running back room.”

Tre Wisner was largely asked to step up to fill in for some of those injuries. He finished the year with 1,064 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. He also caught 44 receptions for 311 yards and another touchdown. Jaydon Blue, now a Dallas Cowboy, was the other key running back for Texas last season.

Much was expected of CJ Baxter going into the 2024 season. He had rushed for 659 yards and five touchdowns as a freshman in 2023 while sharing carries with Jonathon Brooks. However, a knee injury required surgery on his ACL and LCL. One of the backs expected to step up once he went down, Christian Clark, tore his Achilles over the summer. Now, they’re both returning to the running back room.

Steve Sarkisian also brought up Jerrick Gibson. He stepped up in 2024 as a freshman and played in 14 games. With 377 yards and four touchdowns rushing, he could also be looking to take a step forward in 2025.

With the depth that Texas has in the running back room, Sarkisian hasn’t added any new running backs through the Transfer Portal. Then, in the Longhorns’ 2025 high school recruiting class, Texas brought in two running backs. James Simon was a four-star recruit and Rickey Stewart Jr. was a three-star recruit. However, Sarkisian didn’t bring up either of them when discussing the running back room in 2025.

Texas fans will get their first look at the 2025 running back room on August 30th. That’s when the Longhorns open the season on the road against the Ohio State Buckeyes.