Steve Sarkisian reveals what he has emphasized throughout offseason

This offseason could be the most vital in Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian’s career. Unsurprisingly, the 49-year-old Longhorns leader is doing everything he can to capitalize on the moment.

“You get what you emphasize, right? If we emphasize something, and you’re really thoughtful with your approach to it, and the players understand why it’s of importance, generally you get the result that you’re looking for,” Sarkisian said in a recent discussion with ESPN’s Greg McElroy.

Despite a solid 8-5 season last year, Sarkisian seems to believe Texas has plenty to work on.

“We’ve got to be a more balanced attack than we were a year ago. We were a very good running football team. Clearly, when you have a Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson. We had a lot of youth on the offensive line and quite frankly, we had youth at the quarterback position. And, I didn’t love the depth at wide receiver.

“We did a lot to try to address the depth chart that way, and then you have to put in the time. Our offense is better when we can run the ball, we can throw the RPOs the way that we do, we can play-action pass and take those shots.”

Last season, the Longhorns rushed for 2446 yards, averaging 5.2 yards per carry, ranking top 20 in the nation. On the flip side, the team threw for 3,138 passing yards, not even top 50 in the country. This year, fans could see the exact opposite.

Texas’ quarterback room is stacked. With Quinn Ewers, Arch Manning and Maalik Murphy ready at a moment’s notice, the Longhorns have enough cannons to shoot down any enemy’s secondary. Add on the fact Texas returns most of its production out wide and Georgia WR transfer AD Mitchell, and the Longhorns aerial attack looks scary.

Although Sarkisian admits Texas has made strides in its offensive balance this spring, he isn’t satisfied yet.

“We felt really good about that coming out of spring. We continue to work on it here this summer. Because, for us to be the team that we want to be late in the season, we’re going to need that balance to attack and we’re gonna need to make sure that we’re dangerous through the passing game.”

If Texas’ quarterback room lives up to the hype, Sarkisian shouldn’t have any issues accomplishing his goal. The Longhorns will kick off their season when they take on Rice on Sept. 2, in DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.