Texas Longhorns Head Coach Steve Sarkisian is expected to be met with growing interest from the NFL in filling a potential coaching job. Should there be interest from Sarkisian in leaving college football, curious NFL teams may be the next landing spot.
In an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up” on January 9, Adam Schefter reported, “Well, I think there are a couple of teams that have some interest in speaking with Sark after the season ends,” Schefter said. “So, if Texas were to lose this week, then that would free him up to go do that if that’s what he wanted. And, if they win and go on and somehow find a way to win the national championship, I would think there might be even more teams that would be interested in talking”.
Sarkisian’s Offensive Prowess May Be All The Difference For Some Teams
Schefter’s report comes as several coaching vacancies have formed around the NFL. Currently, the Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, and Las Vegas Raiders all have head coaching vacancies.
As the NFL playoffs progress, many of the top teams currently competing feature offensive-minded head coaches (Nick Sirianni, Andy Reid, Sean McVay).
The interest in Steve Sarkisian pairs well with much of the current trend in the NFL as high-performing teams tend to be following an offensive-minded approach at the head coaching position.
NFL teams with a genuine interest in Steve Sarkisian will look to replicate his high-powered offensive success at The University of Texas. In the 2024 regular season, Texas put up the most total yards in the SEC with 7,000.
The University of Texas Atheltic Director, Chris Del Conte, was not thrilled with the report by Schefter, which was released just days before the Longhorns were preparing for their Cotton Bowl game against Ohio State.
“We’ve got a game to play,” Del Conte told the Houston Chronicle. “I’m not going to comment. Somebody’s just creating fodder before our biggest game. That’s stupid”.
The Longhorns fell 28-14 versus Ohio State. On Jan. 10.
The Arch Manning Dilemma
Following the recent announcement from Quarterback Quinn Ewers declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft, it is looking like the quarterback situation in Austin for 2025 is already set. This raises a question for Sarkisian. Why would he ever choose to leave The University of Texas right as one of the most hyped college football prospects ever is set to be the starting quarterback for his program? Perhaps fatigue from two playoff semi-final losses two years in a row could do it.
However, the answer is Sarkisian would not leave this opportunity. With Arch Manning going into his redshirt sophomore season, Sarkisian potentially creates an ideal environment to recruit even more talent to Texas and further increase his interest in NFL teams, assuming the program continues its trajectory.
It’s not entirely impossible that Manning could play more than one season at Texas. He’s only 19. It’s no secret that young quarterbacks who played longer in college can find success at the next level (Joe Burrow, Bo Nix). Along with the potential NIL deals he could acquire should manning want to transfer later, there’s much upside for Manning should he chose to stay in the college game before he takes any NFL snaps.
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