Steve Sarkisian, stability, and the SEC

Saturday, the Texas Longhorns announced a contract extension with head coach Steve Sarkisian that keeps him in Austin through 2030. The deal tacks on four years to his original contract, and more importantly, provides the Texas football program with a needed level of stability ahead of its first season in the Southeastern Conference.

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Stability starts at the top, and Texas’ leadership is arguably as stable as it’s been this century. UT board of regents chairman Kevin Eltife, school president Jay Hartzell, and athletic director Chris Del Conte were all prominently featured in the university statement announcing the extension. That trio is responsible for bringing Sarkisian to Texas and for providing him with the tools needed to help return the Longhorn football program to heights it last enjoyed over a decade ago.

That trio also is responsible for ushering Texas into the SEC. The Longhorns will compete in the highest profile league in college football starting this year. Vying for victories in the SEC requires an “all hands on deck” effort from leadership, and vying for victories is only possible when situations are stable.

The Texas situation is stable, and will be for the foreseeable future thanks to Sarkisian’s recent extension.

Coaches like stability, and Sarkisian has to like his situation at Texas. The leadership structure is not going anywhere anytime soon, with Hartzell a UT graduate and Del Conte signed through 2030 as well. Texas secured its spot at the head table amid the craziness that was the most recent round of realignment by accelerating its entry into the SEC to this calendar year.

Plus, anything a college coach could ask for, whether a cutting-edge sport-specific building, a new practice facility, a strong roster, and robust Name, Image, and Likeness resources are in Austin. Just as Texas was intent on signing Sarkisian, a name floated as a potential option for Alabama to look to after Nick Saban’s retirement, Sarkisian was likely just as intent on signing his extension especially assuming that his salary will rise from its original $5.6 million.

Sarkisian for sure earned his extension. After a woeful 5-7 debut campaign in 2021, Sarkisian and staff rebounded in 2022 with an 8-5 year that saw the Horns finish one game away from a spot in the Big 12 Championship game. Then, the Longhorns surged back into the upper echelon of college football with a win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa, a Big 12 Championship, and an appearance in the College Football Playoff. All the while, Sarkisian has recruited at an elite level with three consecutive top-five classes and premier additions to the roster via the transfer portal.

The 12-2 season that ended 12 yards and an extra point short of a spot in the national championship game was the product of a number of efforts, spearheaded by Sarkisian, to stabilize and strengthen a program with championship potential that has often gone unrealized.

Texas’ current status did not come without some considerable pain, over a decade of it in fact. Between the end of the Mack Brown era, Charlie Strong’s tumultuous three seasons, the peak and valleys of Tom Herman’s tenure, and even Sarkisian’s first season, the Longhorns have more often been considered a laughing stock than lauded.

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But Sarkisian’s efforts toward returning Texas to excellence, and keeping it excellent, have been evident over the past three seasons. Saturday’s extension is a reward for those efforts and further evidence of the Longhorns’ efforts to maintain stable, high-level performance ahead of the program’s move to the SEC.