Texas football has enormous expectations for the 2023, and head coach Steve Sarkisian has a clear message for the Longhorns and fans.
Leading up to a huge season for the Longhorns, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has been preaching a message of confidence amid lofty exactions for his program heading into year three of his tenure in Austin.
Will they be ready to make the jump under Sarkisian or still be a punchline in the college football world? The Texas football coach has a message for how to handle these expectations.
Sarkisian made an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd at the end of July and mentioned the lofty expectations that both fans and boosters have for this year's Longhorns. However, he noted how he and his players are facing that challenge head-on and with excitement.
"I don't really feel the pressure," Sarkisian said. "I feel really excited for our team. We've got a really good football team." We're returning a bunch of players, we've recruited really well, we've got good depth across the board. I've talked with my staff earlier today we're not a one-dimensional football team."
The hopes for Texas very much lie on the shoulders of Quinn Ewers, entering his second season in Austin with big expectations. While he noted that there were ups and downs in the 2022 campaign, he praised his quarterback for what he's done and also noted what he could mean for the program in the 2023 season and overall.
"I did think he saw the value in changing his body, you can see the maturity in him as he continues to grow," Sarkisian said. "Historically for us, guys going into guys going into our system, which is an NFL offense, we're doing the same stuff we did in Atlanta with Matt Ryan and Julio Jones and those guys. Going into year two, that's when we see that step."
Bringing back so much talent on both sides of the ball combined with the high-level recruiting Sarkisian and his staff have done, Texas is starting to look like the dynasty of old — at least on paper. However, winning in the spring and summer is much different than winning in the fall.
Sarkisian knows that, but that's why he has a message for that he's preaching to his team and fans, via a news conference and ESPN:
"I think that they've kind of assumed this mentality of, 'Embrace the hate'," Sarkisian said. "We're the University of Texas, we get it… We can sit there and be a punching bag, or we can go attack the people that we're going to play. And I think that they've assumed that responsibility to say, hey, we're gonna go after everybody else too."
In many ways, this might be Sarkisian's most important coaching year of his career, something he appears to recognize. There are many questions about the rematch with Alabama, Arch Manning's future, and replacing Bijan Robinson. How Texas and Sarkisian grow from last year's 8-5 season despite those questions is front of mind.
Sarkisan has never finished a season as a head coach with double-digit wins. His best season was at USC in 2014 when the Trojans ended up at 9-4. That's yet another hurdle he and the Longhorns have to clear this season.
The 2023 season has been deemed a "make or break" year for Sarkisian. This program has a loaded roster and other notable Big 12 programs are trending down, including teams like Oklahoma and TCU. With the Longhorns predicted to place first in the Big 12 for the first time since 2009, Texas has everything to gain and everything to lose.
We'll see soon enough if "embracing the hate" is good enough to gain everything.