Steve Sarkisian shares what stands out about Texas' freshman class

Texas’ freshman class brings in plenty of hype from the recruiting trail as Steve Sarkisian brought in one of the top groups in the country from the 2023 recruiting cycle. Through training camp, though, there’s one important quality about them that stands out to Sarkisian.

“The one thing about this class, in general, I think it’s very competitive,” Sarkisian said. “I think these guys are a competitive group.”

Texas landed the No. 3-ranked recruiting class in the country, according to the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Ranking. The group is headlined by Five Star Plus+ quarterback Arch Manning — the top player in the nation, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Manning is one of nine top-100 players to sign with the Longhorns, along with fellow five-stars Anthony Hill, CJ Baxter and Johntay Cook II.

Even beyond their talent, though, Sarkisian said he’s impressed with their mentalities. They hit the ground running through training camp, and while they might not see the field much right away, that bodes well for the Texas freshman class’ chances of long-term success with the program.

“They play hard, they go hard. And I think that’s a credit to the coaches too of instilling that in those guys to go,” Sarkisian said. “But I also think it’s a credit to our older players because they’ve understood how we’d like to practice. I think it’s made it a little bit easier for the young guys to be like, ‘Oh, this is how we work,’ and they’ve been going for it. I do think there’s a lot of quality players in the class.

“Time will tell how much they impact the game when we get to the games. Obviously, some more than others. But that doesn’t mean over time, when we look back at this class, three, four years from now, hopefully there’s there’s a lot of production — whether it’s at the line of scrimmage, on offense or defense, in playmaking ability and things of that nature. But I think up to this point, I’ve been very pleased with what this class has brought.”

As for who specifically is emerging as a leader, Sarkisian didn’t sound ready to say considering the freshmen are still settling in. But they’re all showing promise because of their desire to be competitive, and that’s what he’s taking away from camp.

“It’s kind of difficult, right now, to say one guy has stepped up,” Sarkisian said. “But I do think they come with a really good mentality. They’re not all perfect yet, but I do think they come with the right mentality to work.”