J.D. PicKell: What a successful season would be for the Texas Longhorns

Expectations will always be high in Austin for the Texas Longhorns football program. Even after head coach Steve Sarkisian posted a 5-7 record in his first season, some kind of improvement is expected out of Texas after a solid influx of talent this offseason.

On3’s J.D. PicKell broke down what he thought would be a successful 2022 season for the Longhorns, landing somewhere between eight and nine wins. In what would be a major improvement in Year Two of Sarkisian, if Texas hits the goal set by PicKell, it would be just the third time since Charlie Strong took over the program in 2014.

He discussed the thought process of the win total after originally talking to fans on a Twitter Space.

“Coming off a 5-7 year in 2021 and a lot of people were upset,” PicKell said. “Nobody was calling for Sark’s job or anything like that but obviously, that is well below the standard in Austin. And so we just posed the question. How many wins would it be for Texas? How many wins are you happy with? And we got a myriad of answers. From, just better and 5-7 to Big 12 title. The number we landed on more or less was eight to nine wins.

“‘Hey, if we get eight or nine wins, we’re probably okay with the year in 2022. Now, it may not be the long-term solution, it may not be what we hope for in the long term with this recruiting class and Quinn Ewers and this, that, and the other. But we’re going to be okay. We’re going to put our pitch forks down if we can get eight wins, nine wins.'”

More on the Texas Longhorns heading into 2022 season

Texas finished the 2022 recruiting cycle with the No. 5 class in the country but expecting true freshmen to make an immediate impact can be a tough ask. The transfer portal is where Sarkisian and his staff really excelled, with Quinn Ewers being the difference-maker. Add a few offensive weapons for his quarterback and defensive pieces — such as CB Ryan Watts and LB Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey — and Sarkisian could be cooking with fire.

On the schedule, there won’t be much help. Week 2 presents a tough home game against Alabama, with Sarkisian facing his old team. Oklahoma will always be circled on the calendar but a road trip to Oklahoma State will always be a tough ask.

Recruiting well has never been something Texas struggles to do. The momentum has even carried into the 2023 recruiting cycle, with Five-Star Plus+ quarterback Arch Manning hopping on the boat. But wins will be required so Sarkisian can keep sailing ahead.