Steve Sarkisian is making 'business decisions' during the Longhorns preseason
The Texas Football program doesn’t have the benefit of preseason games ahead of the season opener on August 31 against Colorado State, but that isn’t stopping Steve Sarkisian from making sure his starters and main contributors see the right amount of snaps in scrimmage settings ahead of the first game of the season.
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Inside Texas’ Eric Nahlin mentioned on Saturday that known commodities on the depth chart like Jake Majors were being protected with less than two weeks to go to the start of the 2024 season. When asked about that on Monday, Sarkisian made a comparison to the NFL preseason and said his staff was making “business decisions” when it came to how often starters and contributors were seeing action during Saturday’s scrimmage.
That means some players weren’t tasked with heavy snaps during the scrimmage while others were getting the chance to prove themselves with less than two weeks until kickoff.
In describing his process, Sarkisian made light of Majors’ experience within the Longhorn football program as an example of his overall point.
“At this juncture of training camp, we’ve had a couple of tough injuries, season-ending injuries that you have to deal with,” Sarkisian said Monday. “But we’re really not missing many players at all that are ‘out.’ We’re making some business decisions as a staff on what we need to do.
“A guy like Jake Majors who has been here for 15 years and started about 100 games, I don’t know if he necessarily needs that scrimmage I needed some of those other centers to get some work, so you make those types of decision on what you think is the best interest of your team in the long run.”
Without the benefit of exhibitions, Sarkisian discussed what he looks for from players further down the depth chart during scrimmages while making a comparison to NFL football as part of those business decisions
“There’s a reason the starters maybe get a couple of series or maybe a half about in that third preseason game, but they’re getting them ready for showtime,” Sarkisian said. “We’re having to look at it the same way.”
While Texas is working to enforce physicality, the Horns are also being mindful of program needs and making other sorts of business decisions ahead of the 2024 season. Running backs CJ Baxter and Christian Clark have been lost for the upcoming campaign due to season-ending injuries. Sark is working to make sure that the Longhorns get what they need in practice while also maintaining health at the ‘runner’ position.
“They’re not no-contact, they’re definitely thud,” Sarkisian said. “We need them to get thudded. We’re trying to minimize them going to the ground. That would be not a whole lot different than we normally would be.”
Thud means getting hit and wrapped up but not tackled to the ground. The Longhorns are working to make sure top-two rushers like Jaydon Blue and Tre Wisner are ready for the season in more ways than just being healthy ahead of week one against Colorado State without bringing them fully to the turf.
That’s part of a balance Sarkisian has to strike between preparation and preparedness. Sarkisian said the Longhorns have seen fewer and fewer players miss practice time due to cramps. That can be credited to his strength and conditioning staff, per Sarkisian.
“We’re great health-wise quite frankly,” Sarkisian said. “Credit to (Torre) Becton and his staff for the work they did this summer. Credit to our training staff.
“We had a couple of guys come in a little limited, and everybody’s back working.”
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Business decisions are paying off for the Longhorns for the most part ahead of the 2024 season as the Longhorns get ready for the Rams.
