Three things to know from Steve Sarkisian: Defensive battles, practice patterns, coaching his son

Texas took to the Frank Denius Fields for the first practice in preparation of the 2023 campaign.

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Inside Texas offered not one, not two, not three, but four practice reports on a number of positions and with several takeaways from the 20 minute viewing period.

Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian was then available to the media after the first day in helmets, and gave the session positive marks.

“The first day is a little bit difficult to evaluate because we’re in helmets and you can’t really get a gauge from a physicality standpoint of where everybody’s at,” Sarkisian said. “But the intent felt right, the focus, the communication was really good, and again, I thought the pass game was good.”

Here are three things to know from his 20 minutes with the media

Notable defensive battles

Two of the biggest preseason battles on the defensive side of the ball are at Will linebacker and field corner. Last year, DeMarvion Overshown occupied Will while D’Shawn Jamison was at field corner before he was overtaken by Terrance Brooks.

Will, who’ll play alongside All-American Mike linebacker Jaylan Ford, requires certain qualities according to Sarkisian.

“We’re looking for versatility, but we’re also looking for consistency,” he said Wednesday

That battle currently consists of three major players, who Sarkisian felt all performed at a good level during Texas’ first practice of the preseason on Wednesday.

“We’ll look at the tape, but felt like David Gbenda had a good practice there,” Sarkisian said. “Felt like Mo Blackwell, Anthony Hill, all those guys, it felt good. But again I could go turn on the tape and we could have a bunch of busts. I don’t know. I’ve got to figure that out. The feel of it, it felt right. We weren’t cutting guys loose. We weren’t out of our zone, things of that nature. That was a positive.”

At field corner, Sarkisian broke down who’s competing to play opposite of boundary corner Ryan Watts.

“It’s a great competition in the secondary, that’s why I mentioned it yesterday when I got asked what position groups are you intrigued to watch,” Sarkisian said. “The secondary is one because we have a lot of good players. We have a lot of good corners. Ryan obviously started all year and is a good player. Terrance Brooks had a great offseason and I think had a good practice. Again, I’ve got to look at the tape, but the addition of Gavin Holmes, the addition of a Malik Muhammad, Xavion Brice in year two playing the position and what he can do, the versatility of Jahdae Barron and what he can do, there’s a lot of quality players.”

In addition, freshman Warren Roberson was a name Sarkisian mentioned. Roberson was working with Terry Joseph and the nickels and corners during practice, which included a few opportunities at field corner.

It’s only day one, but the competition at two important positions will include data from this day of practice.

Morning and afternoon

In order to prepare for the Texas heat on Saturdays, the Longhorns practiced in the middle of the day on Wednesday.

Sarkisian mentioned there were portions of practice that took place in The Bubble, but he believes his team needs to get as many reps as possible outdoors to prepare for when they kick off versus Rice at 2:30 p.m. on September 2.

“We’ll go in the afternoon tomorrow again, then Friday and Saturday we’ll actually practice at night, and then we’ll come back and we’ll practice Monday morning,” Sarkisian said. “We’ll start to move around a little bit, but we do need to get in these afternoons. We need to get these afternoons in the books because when school starts here on the 21st, we’ll be exclusively in the morning.”

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Family Matters

One of the less heralded newcomers for the Longhorn football program took the field for the first time on Wednesday, and it’s a player Sarkisian sees on a regular basis.

Freshman walk-on linebacker Brady Sarkisian, son of Steve, put on the Texas helmet and practice jersey Wednesday, offering the Texas head coach a unique opportunity with his son.

“Very cool moment,” Steve Sarkisian said. “It’s interesting, we assign seats in the team meeting room, and our operations people do that. I don’t necessarily assign those seats. He’s like front and center, four rows back, right in the middle. Last night, when we were going through our philosophy, our style and things, I must have looked up and saw him 10 times. He must have thought I was lecturing at home.

“Very cool moment. That’s one of the cool things about what you get to do in this profession, that’s one of them: to have your son on your team and be around him every day.”