Steve Sarkisian’s Texas had a lot of eyes on it in the 2025 college football season, with analysts expecting Arch Manning to lead the program to the playoff in his first year as the starting quarterback.
However, despite a preseason No. 1 ranking, Texas finished 10-3 and at No. 12. Nevertheless, the Longhorns will have high expectations again heading into the 2026 season. An ESPN ranking from this month has UT at No. 5.
Many analysts, like Urban Meyer, have said Sarkisian didn’t do a great job of protecting Manning last year, and the Texas coach has agreed with that assessment as well.
Sarkisian has also claimed to fix a lot of gaps that the Longhorns faced last year with valuable additions like Cam Coleman.
Talking about the pressure on Sarkisian and team to make it to the playoff, On3’s J.D. PicKell said on Monday:
”There are a lot of things that should cycle up and be really hard to stop and be tough to deal with. The psychological part of it is something called I’ve never heard of a couple of times, but like Pete Nakos with Colin Simmons and Colin Simmons saying, “Yeah, we felt that pressure. It did impact us. Once we took a breath and started playing our game, we were a much different team.”
“It’s like, OK, well, the pressure was a thing before. The pressure is doubled down this year. The pressure is cranked up to 11 this year, dude. And as much as that’s, you know, kind of angsty for Texas and can be a thing to navigate around, maybe I’m just too nostalgic, Kato, but I remember Texas losing to Kansas.”
Stephen A. Smith Offers Bold Arch Manning Advice to Steve Sarkisian
Steve Sarkisian has stood up for Arch Manning time and time again and has also appreciated his resilience amid the hype and criticism surrounding the Texas quarterback.
During Friday’s episode of his podcast, Smith pointed out all the “slippage” that happened last year and added that the headlines and storylines from last year got to the Texas coach as much as they did to Manning.
“If you believe that much in Arch Manning, then don’t baby him. Don’t pacify him,” Stephen A. Smith said. “Have faith that he can get the job done. Have faith in the people around you. Not only the subordinates that you delegate responsibility to, but his family as well, and his inner circle.”
Smith advised Sarkisian to have faith in the Longhorns quarterback that he will be able to do his job.
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