Steve Sarkisian explains how Texas will tap into his Alabama experience for SEC transition

Steve Sarkisian is no stranger to the SEC. While he spent the 2016 season as an offensive analyst and then interim offensive coordinator at Alabama, Sarkisian then returned to the Crimson Tide’s program to serve as Nick Saban’s primary offensive coordinator for the 2019 and 2020 seasons – helping guide Alabama to the 2020 College Football Playoff national championship.

Although Sarkisian is now at Texas and entering his second season at the helm of the Longhorns’ program in 2022, the coach still keeps an eye on the SEC – mainly because his team will begin competing in the prestigious conference in 2025, unless they work out an earlier exit deal with the Big 12.

As Texas’ move to the SEC is just a few years away, Sarkisian is already strategizing how he can develop his program to be fully prepared to jump into the new league, with a primary emphasis on landing highly-rated recruits.

In a recent story from ESPN, Sarkisian explained how Texas will use his experiences at Alabama to help the Longhorns with their SEC transition.

“There’s a lot of great aspects of [Alabama] that I think we can take with us, but naturally, we have to do the things I’m comfortable doing and doing it the way that best suits us,” Sarkisian said. “There’s great coaches in the SEC, there’s really good players, there’s big people, there’s fast people.

“We’ve got to assemble a really good staff, which I think we’ve done. We’ve got to recruit on a really high level, which I think that we’ve shown that we can do. And then ultimately get those players big enough, faster and stronger.”

Sarkisian, 48, is in his third head coaching position at Texas after spending time at both Washington (2009-2013) and USC (2014-2015). Over eight years as a head coach, Sarkisian has compiled a 51-42 overall record with two bowl wins in four outings.