Steve Sarkisian praises Casey Thompson, gives recruiting pitch to out-of-state players

When Casey Thompson takes the field as the Texas starting quarterback in Dallas against Oklahoma on Saturday, it will be more of a family affair than usual. 

Thompson’s dad, Charles, was an All-Big Eight quarterback at Oklahoma in the 1980s. Kendal Thompson, Casey’s older brother, was a quarterback at Oklahoma and Utah before becoming a wide receiver. Additionally, Thompson grew up in Oklahoma City.

On Sunday, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian spoke about Thompson’s family ties and what the decision to play for the Sooners’ rival says about his redshirt junior quarterback.

“I think it speaks volumes to his own personality,” Sarkisian said. “He chose to go where he thought was best for him, and I think a lot of times in recruiting there’s a lot of narratives that come in with ties to universities for whatever reason and different things, but ultimately young men need to choose what’s best for them. They’re the ones that gotta get up at 5 a.m. in the morning and work out and run and practice and do all the things.”

Sarkisian added that adversity will inevitably arise, and if a player chose a school they did not want to attend, the transfer portal will likely begin to look very attractive.

“I think with Casey’s example, he chose to come to the University of Texas,” the first-year head coach added. “He wanted to be a Longhorn through adversity, through being a backup, through not being named the starter, through that perseverance. I think he was able to get through that because this was his choice to wanna come here.”

Thompson did not play in 2018 during his freshman year, and he backed up former Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger in 2019 and 2020. This season, he was not the initial starter as Hudson Card earned the No. 1 spot to start the season. Thompson saw snaps in Texas’ opener against Louisiana and came in to replace Card during what was ultimately a 40-21 loss to Arkansas on Sept. 11. Thompson has been the starter ever since. 

Thompson has won each of his three starts and gone 45-for-62 with 609 yards, nine total touchdowns and three interceptions. Given the last seven regular season games between these two rivals, both bound for the SEC no later than 2025, have been one-possession contests, Thompson has not gotten any relief snaps during his career against the Sooners. Saturday will change that.

With Texas back in the Top 25 at No. 21, Red River will feature two ranked teams for the third time in four years. Oklahoma is a 3.5-point favorite in the game, and ESPN’s College GameDay will be on-site in Dallas.