Joel Klatt explains hesitancy to predict success for Texas in SEC

Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt is hesitant to predict instant success for Texas when the Longhorns join the SEC.

It’s been quite a while since Texas was on top of the college football mountain. So year after year where the Longhorns try to say “Texas is back,” usually falls short.

It’s only going to get more difficult in the SEC and Texas is basically in “prove it” mode.

“This notion that Texas is going to all of a sudden roll into the SEC and start winning, it’s very similar to the notion that Aggie fans thought that they were going to roll in like everything was going to be better and it’s like, no, they were exactly and have been exactly what they were in the Big 12,” Klatt said on the Will Cain Podcast.

“You and I both know that right? That’s what Texas A&M is, just perpetually underachieving. Well, Texas has been perpetually underachieving now for the better part of a decade or more. They should be better this year, but until they actually prove it, I have gone on strike for Texas. Like I get sucked in too much and quickly  I’m always like, Oh man, Texas, they’re back. This is gonna be it until they prove it. I’m just on strike.”

Steve Sarkisian is just 13-12 in two seasons at Texas but saw noticeable improvement last year as the Longhorns finished No. 25 in the AP Poll.

Quinn Ewers is back, the offense is loaded and Arch Manning created a domino effect in recruiting. Now the question is, can Texas at least win the Big 12 before departing for the SEC?

Entering Year 3, Sarkisian seems higher on this Texas group than others. The head coach provided an example of the team doing things on their own before a meeting that stood out.

If this is the mood of Sarkisian and Texas now, just wait until the 2023 season begins.

“We’re talented,” Sarkisian said. “I think that we’re together. And that’s, to me, more important than talent. I think that the connectivity on this team, the culture that these guys have created with each other, they have a lot of fun with one another. The first time today, I came into the team meeting, and they were all singing a song together. Two years ago, you could have heard a church mouse in here when I walked into a team room. Now they’re actually having a lot of fun being a team with one another and appreciating the work that each of them are doing and that comes from love.

“And the fact that that’s where we’re at as a team, that’s going to help us overcome the adversity we’re going to get faced with in the fall. But I definitely think we’re talented enough. Now we just got to keep putting in the work and make sure we understand the whys of the things that we’re doing and put ourselves in a position where we’re ready to go compete and compete at a high level with a full allotment of 85 scholarships.”