Steve Sarkisian can recruit in different ways, but the results have been the same every time
Steve Sarkisian, you fool me once, shame on you. You fool me twice, shame on me. But fool me three times? After three times, well, maybe there’s something more to this that we should all consider.
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That’s how I feel right now about Sark and his recruiting strategies during his time on the 40 Acres. They are three distinctly different ones. But all three have been successful and all with a common theme.
– Sark finished his first true recruiting class, following a 5-7 season on the field, with an absolute bang. The Horns signed a top five class, including a group of offensive linemen, that was not only improbable but the envy of the country.
While it’s true that Sark and the Horns benefited from the coaching carousel uprooting long-planned choices, it was Sark’s decision to stay the course on a number of prospects that ultimately made the difference. Previous Texas coaches – all of them in my opinion in the last 30 years – would have moved on from some of the top-shelf players just to make sure they could make their numbers on the roster. And no one would have blamed Sark for that. For example, other schools had long since moved on from Kelvin Banks following his initial pledge to Oregon.
Yet, as we know, Sark stayed the course and was rewarded. And that is one of his common recruiting themes: stay on the best players to the end and don’t settle for a lesser player.
– Then, last year, the Horns took a different approach.
Texas rallied early in the recruiting cycle with a game-changing pledge from Arch Manning.
Add in summer pledges from Derek Williams, CJ Baxter, Sydir Mitchell and Malik Muhammad, and it was an early barrage that set the Horns on course for a second-straight top five class. Naturally, Sark and his staff meanwhile stayed on a precious few recruits to the end, like Anthony Hill Jr. in particular, flipping him from Texas A&M.
The 2023 class finished 3rd in the country capitalizing on a quick start and a smaller, but impactful, finish.
– Now, in his third full year of recruiting, Sark has proven he can change things up again, yet remain equally successful.
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Like a mason, he built the foundation first in the class of 2024. Brick by brick, no single commitment led to an avalanche of others.
It’s been a more workman-like class in that regard. But every couple of weeks, it seems like we wake up and the Horns are steadily adding to it with high quality prospects.
Sure, there have been high points, like Colin Simmons‘ announcement. But think of the others in the past couple of months – Brandon Baker, Ryan Wingo, Wardell Mack – each over an array of national powers. And there’s good reason to believe there are more to come.
– So what are the common themes for Sark?
The “how” a recruiting class comes together is not what’s important to Sark. He doesn’t have to have them all lined up by summer time or after a camp or two. He’s shown the capacity to build classes in a variety of ways.
Instead, Sark puts his full focus on the real task at hand – getting the best players – and on not giving in until signing day comes. The rest is just window dressing designed to fool others who don’t catch on to his true strategy.
The Horns’ recruiting class currently ranks No. 7 in the country, according to On3.
Sark’s not gonna fool others this time. I think another top five class is on its way to Austin.
