On Texas Football: Coaching staff candidates, the importance of junior days

In the latest On Texas Football, Bobby Burton and Eric Nahlin discussed a variety of Texas Longhorns football topics including coaching vacancies, the upcoming junior day, and what both want to see during the spring.

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Burton talked about the hectic agenda for Texas coach Steve Sarkisian as he looks to fill openings on his staff and gear up for Junior Day.

“Sarkisian may not be living the dream right now,” Burton opined. “He’s juggling all sorts of things, from a coaching search at wide receiver to a director of high school relations. To adding an offensive analyst. I mean, he’s just got a ton of things going on.”

Nahlin said that Sark’s gauntlet keeps the program in the news during a time that’s usually slow for football.

“It kind of goes back to what I wrote in December of just how difficult a job of college coaching is,” said Nahlin. “You know, there are jobs that are much more important and there are jobs that are much more mentally taxing and much more physically taxing.

“But man, this job just never ends for these guys. If they’re not recruiting they’re coaching, and if they’re not coaching, they’re trying to recruit another coach. There’s just always something going on and right now it’s just a really good example of how busy a head coach can be. But I’m glad that we have plenty to write about here in January.”

At wide receiver, both mentioned current Jacksonville Jaguars receivers coach Chris Jackson as their current leader in the clubhouse. In addition to Jackson, the two discussed a vacant director of high school relations role. Texas may choose to alter that position from what Chris Gilbert was doing, and one of the candidates is Austin (Texas) LBJ head coach Jahmal Fenner.

Aside from the vacant positions at wide receivers coach and director of high school relations, Nahlin mentioned how an “up-and-comer” could be Steve Sarkisian’s choice for the second special assistant to the head coach role the school posted in recent weeks. That role will likely focus more on offense, while Gary Patterson continues to help the defense.

“I’ve always said that position is someone that’s looking to move up, or someone that’s looking to give advice down that’s already been there,” Nahlin said. “Maybe a former head coach, which is why Gary Patterson fit that role so well. There’s also a guy that can come in that’s going to be young, innovative, and extremely hungry. Sark serves the main value there to that person.”

Several early enrollees are now on campus, and Nahlin and Burton discussed the processes those newcomers are currently going through in their first few weeks as Longhorns. Nahlin noted how important strength and conditioning are not only toward building physical bodies, but also building a culture.

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“I think we saw a tougher team,” Nahlin said. “That strength and conditioning program, they spent a lot of time with the players.”

Nahlin added the freshmen joined the upperclassmen this week after a period of assimilation and learning techniques and the way of doing things.

They also discussed the portal, including rumors that have swirled surrounding the Georgia Bulldogs and one of their star receivers.

After discussing candidates for the multiple coaching vacancies and newcomers, Burton and Nahlin dove into the upcoming junior day where Texas will host a lengthy list of prospects in the 2024, 2025, and 2026 classes.

Is anyone on commit watch? Nahlin offered a handful of candidates, including Duncanville’s Michael January, who is a Texas legacy.

“You have to like UT’s standing there if they push, and I think they only offered if they were going to push,” Nahlin said. “That’s not a kid you offer and linger along with ties to the family and familiarity.”

Finally, Burton and Nahlin discussed what they want to see from the program at a macro level.

Nahlin wanted to see how they tailor the offense to Quinn Ewers, wondering if it’s a continuation of what Texas offered versus Washington. He’s also looking for competition across the board.

“There’s entrenched guys, sure, in many places, but there are a lot of places where there isn’t,” Nahlin said.

Defensive improvement and leadership were also mentioned as areas to watch. A leadership candidate mentioned by Burton was Jerrin Thompson. Nahlin mentioned Jaylan Ford, Jake Majors, Jordan Whittington, and T’Vondre Sweat.