Over the last few years, the Texas Longhorns have become one of the most dominant teams in college football. All thanks go to the leadership of Steve Sarkisian, who shared in a conversation with analyst Josh Pate that he prefers brutal honesty while dealing with unhappy players on the team.
Steve Sarkisian Stresses “Brutal Honesty” in Addressing Player Frustrations
Soon after taking over as the program’s head coach in 2021, Sarkisian has improved many things and introduced a winning culture back into the team. So much so that it is not surprising that the SEC coaches have praised Steve for turning Texas back into an elite producer of NFL talent in a short time.
For any team, while tactics and playbooks are essential, many internal initiatives also play a pivotal role in changing a team’s fortunes. Looking at the conversation between Josh Pate and Steve Sarkisian, perhaps we see a great example of this.
Steve led Texas to an 84-42 record during his tenure and had the team on the cusp of playing for a national championship last campaign. Following his first year, Sarkisian has established himself as an elite recruiter for both high school talent and through the transfer portal.
He reached a promising milestone this year as the Longhorns saw 12 players get taken in the NFL draft 2025. It is a school record for the seven-round era. Steve’s contributions go way beyond just Texas Longhorns. Recently, he has voiced his displeasure with the current setup of college football.
Last month, he was asked how he manages the quarterback situation during spring practice while the transfer portal is open. The Longhorn coach’s answer featured both his efficiency with the team and his discontent with the system.
In a recent conversation with Josh Pate, we again saw a glimpse of Steve Sarkisian’s approach to his team and the players.
In the conversation, Pate asked Sarkisian a tricky question about his approach to the unhappy players.
I asked Sark about how he communicates with young players disgruntled over lack of playing time pic.twitter.com/dFteU50JlW
— Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) May 7, 2025
“Let’s hear one example. We have a very simple form that is filled out by our academic department for every player. He’s got a form..Here is Josh Pate…boom…here’s how he doing academically…here’s his strengths and conditions….here’s his postioning coach…here’s is strengths and weaknesses, and he need to work on,” the Texas coach explained.
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“…Then I sit down with these players and say, ‘Here’s where you are at. Here’s where you can improve,” he continued. “When you are being honest with them and you show it to them, now there is not but this not that no no,” said Sarkisian.
Entering his fifth season as the “head honcho” in Austin, he seems to be closer than ever to reaching the pinnacle of the college football mountain. With QB Arch Manning at the helm, could this be the year? Is Texas finally back?
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