Steve Sarkisian provides blunt assessment of Texas roster, offseason turnover

By the time Steve Sarkisian’s second season with the Texas Longhorns rolls around, he expects the roster to look quite different.

Texas, which blew three-straight double-digit leads, then extended its losing streak to five after falling to Iowa State and — shockingly — to Kansas, is having a bumpy ride under its first-year head coach. Sarkisian has led the Longhorns to just a 4-6 record, and with two games remaining, Texas will have to beat West Virginia on the road and Kansas State at home to even clinch bowl eligibility.

Amidst the abysmal losing streak, a video surfaced on Twitter of Texas’ defensive line coach, Bo Davis, ripping into the team for its loss to Iowa State. Context of the video wasn’t quite clear, but Davis is heard yelling at players for laughing on the post-loss bus ride home, “Some of you motherf— need to get in the transfer portal … You want to go? Get in the motherf—. This s— ain’t a game to me. … I got my a— kicked, and you motherf— want to laugh?”

Sarkisian on Monday gave a blunt assessment of Texas’ roster, suggesting that a number of players will, in fact, enter the portal.

“I could easily see us with 33 new scholarship players on our team by next fall,” Sarkisian said Monday, via Joe Cook.

At first glance, a 33-person roster turnover may seem like a lot. However, 33 new players could very well mean a 25-man recruiting class, plus a few transfers — Sarkisian and Texas could very well keep the transfer numbers in the single digits, despite 33 new faces.

Sarkisian, Texas lose star running back

Sarkisian’s comment on Texas’ roster turnover was hardly the headline from Monday’s press conference, because it came after he announced that Bijan Robinson would miss the remainder of the year with a dislocated elbow.

Robinson, a true sophomore, suffered injuries in consecutive losses; however, his injury against Iowa State wasn’t nearly as serious. During Texas’ 30-7 loss to the Cyclones, Robinson — who hardly looked like himself, fumbling twice — took a tough hit and stayed on the ground before entering the tent, then the locker room. Sarkisian said the injury in the Iowa State game was nothing more than a “stinger.”

One week later, in Texas’ upset loss to Kansas, Robinson tried stiff-arming a Jayhawks defender and fell to the ground in pain. He eventually went to the locker room. This injury, a dislocated elbow, will end his 2021 campaign.

Robinson had 14 carries for 70 yards in Texas’ 57-56 overtime loss to Kansas, while adding another three receptions for 48 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. He’ll finish the season with 1,127 rushing yards on 195 attempts, plus 11 rushing touchdowns. Not only was he Texas’ leading rusher, but Robinson was also No. 2 on the team with 26 receptions, taking them for 295 yards and four touchdowns (also Texas’ second-highest tally).