The Texas Longhorns will enter the 2025 season with a chip on their shoulder. After making two straight College Football Playoff semifinals, the team is getting ever closer to entering the national championship game and winning one under head coach Steve Sarkisian’s regime.
The stakes are so much higher in Texas that several are seeing the 2025 season as a “natty or bust” season for the Longhorns. This includes On3’s JD PicKell, who shared his two cents on the same on Sunday’s podcast episode of his show.
“If Texas does not win a national championship, it is absolutely fair to call this season a failure,” PicKell said on his show, standing behind a comment made by fellow analyst Carl.
PicKell made his point by saying that things were different two years ago. But after two deep College Football Playoff runs, the expectations will naturally be sky high. He defended his point while raising the stakes for Texas.
“Look at the oxygen you’re breathing right now in the world of college football,” PicKell added (1:47). “The fact that we can have this discussion and have it be a rational discussion—enjoy that. Because it wasn’t always this way. And this is not me telling you to just be grateful for what you have. That’s not my angle.
“My angle is: Texas—where Steve Sarkisian has taken you to—this is where you always talked about being. This is where you felt like you deserved to be. So, when people say, ‘Isn’t this kind of harsh? Saying Texas needs to win the national championship or it’s a failure’—not really. They’ve made the semifinals the last two years. Once in the 4-team [format], once in the 12-team. What’s harsh about that?”
Texas Witnessed a Cultural Change for the Good Under Steve Sarkisian
The University of Texas at Austin hired Steve Sarkisian as the head coach of the football program in 2021. While in his very first season, he could only win five games but he bounced back in a great deal by putting together an 8-5 season in 2022, a 12-2 season in 2023 along with a CFP semifinal appearance and a 13-3 season last year and another CFP semifinal appearance.
Moreover, in three seasons, Sarkisian has built Texas into a recruiting and NIL powerhouse. They led two of the last three recruiting classes ranked in the top three nationally, ahead of Ohio State, Michigan, and even Georgia. Sarkisian has also brought massive NIL investments, which are turning fruitful for Texas’s cause.
“It’s been a culture 180,” PicKell said. “The NIL commitment—there was that article about how much Texas was allegedly putting behind themselves to recruit and add talent. Turns out that number wasn’t 100% accurate. But even being in that neighborhood speaks to the commitment Texas has made. You’ve earned the right to talk like this. And I think that’s worth unpacking together.”
With Arch Manning leading the side for the first time as a full-time starter, Texas is expected to do well in 2025.
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