Steve Sarkisian Media Availability #texaslonghorns #stevesarkisian #secfootball #texasfootball #sec

all right start off all righty uh what an exciting time uh anytime you're kicking off a football season um you can kind of feel the excitement in the air you know we had the gond to Texas event last night with President harzel right there at the tower and over 9,000 incoming freshman there and I think the you know the largest incoming freshman class or something so uh it's it's really cool you know the fact that season tickets are sold out again uh the like I said the buzz on campus um I I I always I love game days um even when we even first start at the hotel but I love the fact of like walking down biville Boulevard and seeing everybody there and and seeing the parents of our players the excitement they have in their eyes all the way through pregame that that that stuff is is is super cool um you know I know there's a lot of really cool things that are happening this season obviously the 100th year uh anniversary of DKR uh which is a tremendous uh honor to be the head coach to play in The 100 season here um when you think about all the great teams and the great players and the great coaches and the moments that have occurred in the stadium uh we have an opportunity Saturday to honor um our entire athletic department for the director's cup we have an opportunity to honor all the National Championship uh Champions this season uh and then we also have an opportunity to honor all the Olympians uh from Paris this past summer so a lot of cool things happening Saturday um but the coolest thing is we get to play football again and um we're excited for it we've got a a very tough opponent um coach norell has done a really good job of building that program back up at Colorado State um they were they were you know I know that five and seven last year but there was a lot of close games that could have went either way um they've got a very explosive offense that likes to throw the ball around a dynamic receiver uh in in Tory Horton as well as him being a kick returner a a veteran offensive line with a couple grad transfers a very veteran uh defense uh with two really good safeties you know all conference safeties that have played a lot of football um and a very intricate special teams unit U very well coached team uh they tax you mentally as well as tax you physically uh and this is going to take a great week of uh preparation from our players not only physically but mentally uh because they're going to get challenged uh in all three phases coach Steve I don't know if you've developed a a checklist or anything over the years but what do you want to see from your team during a season opener yeah you know I I think one of the one of the Keys is you you you try to minimize the self-inflicted wounds in in week one and what are those false starts illegal formations uh defensive you know lining up in the neutral zone jumping off sides uh you try to minimize the the the penalties and the Special Teams game right the blocks in the backs the holds um you try to minimize the substitution errors you know you want to have 11 guys on the field you don't want to get stuck with 12 or 10 and having to waste timeouts um naturally you want to tackle as as best you can you know we we try to tackle to get our guys ready but you can never do it enough um but to to take care of both sides this is what you have to do so you're you're always looking for how are we tackling are we bringing our feet um and then for me the biggest thing that I'm looking for now more than ever is our ability to play a lot of players especially in the first half of this game and um you know I know you know like we have a two deep um when in reality our ones are our twos and our twos are our ones and so getting all those guys involved in the game um and seeing the Comfort level maybe of some of our younger players then getting them more comfortable as as the game goes on I think is important for us as well coach you mentioned the two deep are you guys set you know five days before the game are you set at every position or are there a couple positions particular this week that you're still looking at no we always week one for us we always leave it open um again because I think a lot of guys there's still growth to be had um and and I think this week and and as always early in the season because we play so many players early in the season and now more than ever like if you're in the two deep you're playing in the first half you know and then if you're a three there's a good chance that you could play especially at specific positions and so it's more about who's going to go on the field first uh but they're all going to play and so uh I try to keep that open in week one um so that guys can continue to show their development their improvement from week to week to week and this is an important week for a lot of our younger players to continue to develop Steve you talked about tackling a minute ago I just wonder if you could talk about the challenge that Tory Horton presents as far as tackling for your secondary I know scenario you want to improve on from last year or this yeah I I think it's I think it's you know with him first of all where is he lining up you know the guy they move him around a fair amount um and then having the ability to win at the top of routes against him um he's got good length um and then you got to get him on the ground and and as much as getting him on the ground when we're on defense we got to get him on the ground when he's returning kicks too um we've got to get him on the ground um because when he can open his stride up and get in the open field he can run away from you and so I think it's going to be important that uh we get multiple hats to the ball not just with him but with everybody we got to play with amazing effort defensively we got to swarm the football um with the understanding that we might miss some tackles in week one and well it's okay sometimes to miss as long as two three and four tacklers are showing up you know right after that and so that just goes back to effort and and so that's why we always try to critique effort first uh to make sure that that our guys are playing playing with that fanatical effort that's needed for us defensively hey Steve this is likely the last go around for guys like Quinn and Kelvin Banks Big Jake Jade um they kind of embody what you've built here locker room wise and culture wise um how much trickle down have you seen uh from them and delivering what you're trying to build to the younger guys who are the future yeah this is a this is a bit of a more of a unique year for us that way um and I know we lost some we lost some great players off of last year's team um and we lost some some tremendous leadership off of last year's team um and that was something coming into this year what was it going to look like for us um and then you you just named off a few but but I could I literally I could list between 20 to 30 guys who have been with us now that are in year four in our program um that really our culture is their culture you know it's not something that we're trying to instill in them that's just who they are and I think more than ever when you just listen to them talk uh they don't they they speak our language I sometimes I feel like they're saying exactly what I've been saying now for three and four years and that's the beauty of having um you know continuity as a staff and and players on your team as well as you know the the the the coaches that at the coordinator position they're hearing a very consistent messaging um which which ultimately then it starts to exude out of them and then it's easier for them to to work with the younger players that are trying to figure it out because they sometimes can see the roadblocks for the younger players before we do and and where could those Road Blocks come up and when they start getting in front of it that the sooner those younger players really start getting on board and contributing to the success of the team just to clean up a question about the two deep do you hope to play archer in the first half is that a we'll find out okay and then second it way nice slide there you try to slide there take the effort uh second just kind of following up on said you know you I know you've thrown a lot of adverse situations at them over the last eight months how do you feel like they've handled those situations and do you see that leadership growth in those adverse situations yeah no I I I really do and um you know our our players I think one when they grow up with us you know we we do throw a lot at them and we put them in in some uncomfortable situations and we try to you know get them out of their comfort zone to expand their comfort zone and so um for a lot of the older players they can almost sense when I'm doing something like that and they almost rally more now and and you can feel that leadership you can feel that energy from the Michael taffs or the baron cell's uh or the Alfred Collins the Jade Barons on defense I me I could name a ton you know the Jake Majors the Kelvin the Hayden Connors those guys the Jaden blues that you can feel them like oh here's one of those moments this is when we really got to go forward as from a leadership standpoint and so that's encouraging for me right that that gives me that gives me a lot of confidence to know that hey we're going to get put in some tough situations you know I touched on this with them at the start of training camp you know we won we won 12 games last season eight of those 12 wins were one- score games in the fourth quarter and so it wasn't like we just walked our way to victories we had to find ways to win late in games and some adverse situations and I think that part in part was our culture and our leadership and we're going to need that again this fall coach in the running back room um losing CJ you know bigger back what's your confidence level with Jay and Trey with Jerick as far as running between the tackles getting the tough yard we're going to run it between the tackles they learn how to run when they when the day they show up here um three years ago I couldn't have said that about Jaden blue but he's been an understudy to bejan Robinson Roshan Johnson Jonathan Brooks um and he's more than capable Trey Weisner Jerick Gibson I mean all these guys you know when we go to Team run we're a physical football team and we believe in running the ball we believe in stopping the run and inevitably you learn how to run our style um and then we accentuate that with the perimeter plays and different things with the running back so they're going to run between the tackles and they'll do great Steve um I know you wanted to you know get the red zone offense going what have you seen um in this camp and spring that makes you think you've got you know a team that can finish more drives in the Red Zone with touchdowns and do you think the receivers you know the balls will be spread around more receivers than you've had in the past in the red area or in general or in general for the receivers okay um you know I think the first part in the red area we we you know when you analyze it we have to do a better job of not stubbing our own toe in the red area um fall starts penalties um negative plays you know our efficiency rate in the red area is is drastically improved when we just continue to move the ball forward and so that's the first part that we've made a huge point of emphasis on of of having the right mental intensity when we get into those situations to really play clean football and execute what we're trying to get done now when it comes down to the red area sometimes it's making the right call at the right time sometimes it comes down to making a play sometimes it comes down to the runner making that last guy miss that tackle there's always kind of that extra hat the closer to the end zone you get you're going to have to make some contested catches the field shrinks there um but I do have confidence in our players ability to go do that I think we've got great schemes um now now we have to go do it um from a receiver standpoint you know time will tell you know as as we go a lot of these guys are going to play we're going to play a lot of receivers especially early in the season um and and finding that Rhythm and that Rapport and especially that rotation of players as we go um but I definitely have the utmost confidence in all those guys it's just finding the right Rhythm and and naturally there's certain guys that the ball finds them you know I used to say this a lot about Devonte Smith when we had him the ball would find Devonte it wasn't like we had to design plays for him a lot of the times there's other players that sometimes you have to design plays for them to make sure that they get their touch um and and that every year kind of takes on a life of its own and so that's something we're going to have to monitor early in the season of who's the ball find naturally and then who do we have to make sure that we design a few things for early in games to make sure that they get involved and get their touches hey coach kind of a followup what you were just talking about because you do have the luxury of dep how do you find that Rhythm not only for players as they're going through the game you as a play caller Quinn like if you have so many guys that you can rotate in how do you find a rhythm you just do it you know I I I I wish I had a better answer for you than that you know we practice ice it um we practice it in a way where we we've got a rotation um we have certain packages for certain players to be on the field together at certain times um we've got obviously have our own Personnel groupings that that we try to get on the field and and there's some maybe a little bit more elaborate this year than we had a year ago um and then you you you put together a game plan and then you try to come up with your openers and you try to come up with your mus calls and you try to identify the guys that you think are really reliable on third down and you try to you know rely on those guys in the red area that can make those tough plays that we talked about um and then and then highlight them when those opportunities present themselves um if for your confidence level you lost some great players like has been mentioned here and then the running back situation is there any reason for you to think you're not going to be just as good or better than last year and and how many draft picks you think you might have off this in your class um well I I think I think something um for us that's really important I was talking to the team about this this morning you know this isn't every year is a new team and every team takes on its own personality um and and then we try to play to the strengths of those teams and and so on and so forth but it's not just like a rinse and repeat and just do it over again you know and and so it's really important that we reestablish our brand our style of football right there's a level of phys phic ality in which we want to play the game there's a there's a speed element in the speed in which we want to play the game there's an attacking manner in which we want to play the game and there's a there's a football intellect a football IQ that that we want to play the game with and so we have to reestablish that and and that starts Saturday as much as the work we've been doing throughout training camp to get us to this point ultimately Saturday is when we have to reestablish that as a program and as a team because there's new faces um without a doubt and so that's that's definitely a challenge for us um and I have a lot of confidence in our guys that they can do it but that's one of if there's a key to Victory Saturday it's reestablishing our brand of football our style of play which is really important I my goal my goal naturally and I I said this when I first got here you know we should always be hovering around 10 draft picks you know if we do this right if we recruit the right way if we develop our players the way we should be developing them if we have the team success with which ultimately then lends itself to the individual accolades Awards and honors one of which is being an NFL draft pick we should always hover around that 10 number some years it might be you know plus or minus two or three you know where some years maybe you get 12 13 guys picked maybe another year you have eight I don't know what that looks like but I wouldn't I wouldn't be surprised again if we're somewhere around that number of 10 uh come next spring for draft picks last year the rice game was kind of similar to this really hot wanted to play a lot of players what are some things that you took from last year's game in that regard that you'll keep and maybe some things that you'll change in rotating players in I think I think definitely defensively we'll keep the same what we did I think last year in the first half of the rice game we might have played 32 or 33 players on the defensive side of the ball uh in that first half Alone um and so playing multiple players on the defensive side of the ball I think will be big um I think inevitably what we've learned from an offensive perspective coming out of the rice game is whatever's on tape proba isn't what we're going to see uh Colorado States had had nine months to get ready to to play us and so we're going to see things that aren't anywhere on tape and we're going to have to trust our training um and execute our plays regardless of what the looks that we could be getting and so I think that that's important but I also think offensively us playing more players I think will will be beneficial to us as well hey coach the the week with the emotion school starting today now you're just a few practices away from a game how do you kind of manage all that with your guys I imagine there's a little extra kick in their step this morning they yeah I mean I I our players are excited you know Roger the these guys like I I touched on this even when we got back from from the Sugar Bowl last year this is a very hungry football team and they have worked extremely hard and they have pushed one another they've held each other accountable they've picked each other up um they've been driven they've been focused and so now that here's their first op to to take the field that I think our players just want to maximize it and and they want to go for it but on the flip side they also want to enjoy it you know that we don't we only get so many opportunities to play in DKR in front of 100,00 people it's not like it's an everyday occurrence for us so it's exciting for us too we're looking forward to it our players are looking forward to it as probably as much or more than the fans are quite frankly and so um I think they're just excited and and part of that is controlling our emotions a little bit you know this is this is an emotional game right um and we want to play with emotion uh we just don't want to get emotional and because that's when we can get out of character and that's something that we kind of have to harness especially early in the ball game coach last week you mentioned potentially adding a grad transfer at the running back position since then you have can you talk about the process of finding him and of course what does he bring to this team and is he on the practice this field currently yeah so Velton Garner uh has joined us from SMU as a grad transfer uh um he was a guy that that you know we had to wait to see if he was going to graduate and if he could get it all done and he he really kind of fits the mold of the style of backs we have right now really versatile guy um natural running ability uh very good hands out of the backfield and so I think that the transition for him coming to our system uh fits well and bodess well with kind of the other the other three guys with the addition of Ryan niblet doing some things for us back there as well so he just kind of fits the mold and so it's an easy transition for us and for him uh obviously he's got a lot of experience you know and he's a veteran player that way so um glad we able to do that um and I know everybody keeps wanting to complain about the transfer portal but I'm one that's going to say appreciate glad we have it we we're able to get a free agent here right before the season so coach you talked about you run this team like an NFL team and in the offseason you talked about talking with Bill bich and Andy Reid is anything that they said to you or shared with you did you Implement that in this team in the off season and if so what was it I think it was more so about in season than it was offseason um you know I was really leaning into those guys [Music] because just look at the run that that New England went on with Bill bich you look at the run that Kansas City's been on with Andy Reid and you can really look to what Kyle Shanahan's done with the 49ers they go deep into the playoffs year in and year out and then they have to turn around and get their team ready again and then they go deep into the playoffs again and then again and again it's and it's more about um workload management of their players and that's a fine line because you want to make sure that your players are prepared physically and mentally ready to play um but yet you also want to try to see the big picture of that you've got you know the the bulk of your roster and and your best players really healthy when they're needed you know in in that playoff run and those guys have had a had a lot of success of doing that and we're in a little bit of different phase they have older players veteran players who have done it for a long time we have younger players that we're still developing right 18 to 22 year olds but um you know I I just try to tap into their expertise and their experience of all this and yes there's a few things we've already started to implement um that will continue to implement as the season goes on uh when you looked at uh third down offense from last year what did you see as some of the issues last year and how do you get better in that area this year kind of kind of similar to the red area you know where I felt like we were in way too many third and long situations a year ago and part of that is because of some self-inflicted wounds um too many false starts you know too many um you know penalties or or negative plays that knocked us back and you know the conversion rate is just not good when it's third and seven plus it's just not good it's not good for anybody and when those are the bulk of your conversion plays we need to be better there we need to move those numbers into third and fives and third and fours on the flip side we need to be better in the kind of that third and two to three range our executions got to improve um and so we how do we how do we Rectify it I'm a I'm a solution oriented guy we got to minimize the self-inflicted wounds and then we we got to make sure that we're really dialed in in the execution component from that third and two to four type range to where those should be a high high completion or conversion rate and we weren't quite as high as where we need to be in that phase Steve how much um has Michael Kern come along this month and is he at the point where you would feel comfortable putting him on the field Saturday oh he's yeah he'll be on the field well hopefully he's not on the field but he he'll be on the field um Michael Kern I've been very impressed you know I think early on he had a little bit of the Freshman Jitters um I thought that Coach Banks did a great job with him um he's a guy that uh I think is is operating at a high level Force right now naturally Saturday is going to be a little different you know when the first time he trots out there and you know that there's the buzz in the crowd and there's that many people but he's extremely talented guy he's very confident um he's got good demeanor about himself um so we're very comfortable with him taking the field and putting the ball for us coach you've told us about some of the things that you are going to learn early in the season about the team um but now before the first game day what's something that you already know this team can do at a high level well I I think the one thing about this team and I've said this to a few people here in in the last three or four days that have asked me about just the season you excited for the season uh I'm I'm excited for the season because this is a very close-knit team these guys are tight um and I think because a lot of it is they grew up all together you know that that they've all just kind of grown up in the same household and the same culture and um and then the guys that we have integrated into the program transfers or new players they've just kind of taken them in with open arms and that part is something that I've learned and and you never know what that really looks like you know I'm around all summer but when you get to training camp and I really am around those guys you know a majority of the day and you can see the Rapport they have with one another um that part's exciting for me because I really believe our culture is going to win us games uh I felt that it did last year I think it's going to again this year uh more so than ever because of the the connectivity that these guys have with one another hey coach uh in the spring game there was just so much fun there was a great atmosphere in the air what are you looking forward to game week uh game one against Colorado State for you and the team oh man everything I I was funny Saturday we had our mock game and I know you guys wonder what the heck is a mck game um but last week we took our players through as if it was game week you know Monday was our normal Monday in season Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday was game day we did all of pregame warm-ups we did all those things and it was interesting coach Jackson came up to me during during pregame during the mock game Saturday and he said you know a year ago you told me how much you love Saturdays in college football it's the greatest day and he goes I know what you mean now and like I I love Saturdays there from the moment we get up we have breakfast together to the walkth through to putting on our suits to coming down bivo Boulevard to taking the field for pregame to watching the fans kind of sprinkle into the stands the smell of the popcorn the band coming in the music's playing the other teams on the other sideline coming out of the tunnel like all of that you know singing the eyes at the end the smoke the cannon the bivo like everything like that's all part of this game that's going on on the field that that we're so fortunate to be part of and so I look forward to everything and and I and I and I believe this in like I I think teams take on the personality the head coach especially over time and I really think our team enjoys game days too like all of that it entails and we work way too hard not to take a minute just to take it in and and and to breathe in the the smell of the popcorn um to to to see the student section and the orange smoke going off or the drones at the night games like we we try to embrace all that because all that's going on because we play football here at the University of Texas and so we don't take that stuff lightly and I think for our team I think if you asked them all they're excited for all of it you know Saturdays are the greatest days you know in the fall it's the greatest days of the year they're incredible thank you coach you mentioned that uh every team every year has its own personality right can you elaborate what is the the special one for this year well I think again I think it's the connectivity um because I don't think that we just have like these one two or three just dominant leaders that are the absolute voice of of our team um you know a couple years ago it was Roshan Johnson when Roshan spoke everybody listened you know last year it might have been Jordan Winnington and and Byron Murphy when they spoke everybody listened now I feel like we have so many voices and they're great voices and they're speaking really good wisdom and and great words um that that's what makes this team special um that they they've they're all in it together and it's not kind of any sort of hierarchy they're really in it together um and they know they need one another to make it happen um and so that's probably the special ingredient for this team which is different maybe than the past couple years hey hey coach you just mentioned how teams may take on the personality of their head coach in terms of getting excited for Saturdays now in year four how much more is that the case for this team and how special is that and maybe what difference does that make that this really might feel like more of your team um I don't know they they've all kind of they all become your team you know um you know I've never felt like oh I didn't I didn't recruit that guy like I mean I've always just coached them all the best of my ability and try to put them in the best position to be successful and develop great relationships with them you know I think probably the uniqueness to this team I think we have like five guys um that were here before I got here that are that are still here um but the the rest of them we recruited and so you have a little bit of a better relationship early on with them because you recruited them uh but in the end you know I think my connectivity with them is as are more important than their own connectivity with one another because I'm kind of the the the the straw that stir the drink right and I've got to be engaged with those guys that way and so um you know I just I just want to make sure that I'm at my best for them um because they deserve that um because I know how hard they've worked and if they can see me exuding the time effort energy the expertise of of what I'm good at for them I think then that's the where the reciprocal starts to you start to get that and so um we've got a mature team that way I think they understand that and they and they come to work every day with that mentality Steve what are some things that you picked up from Pete or Nick or any of the NFL guys you've been around that help you or or you learn how to gauge breathing confidence into the guys and them expecting to win versus maybe over the line and too cocky and we just roll out there and do it yeah you know I I think the first thing with both those guys with Pete and Nick um there was a real belief in competition and there was a real belief in you know you we we do a lot of you know oneson ones you know good on good team run team period scrimmages and and that's what those guys instill to me you know it's not just about the scout team and Feelgood oh all the plays work and all the blitzes work it's going against one another and and failing and winning and so that's the first part I I think we there's a healthy dose of competition in our program on a daily basis I think the second part both those guys did a great job of and and Coach Sav says it the best you know the worst thing that can happen to you is play Bad and win um because most people are result oriented and they see we we won and so it was good enough and I think the mark of a really good coach is able to identify areas where we need to improve as we continue to grow as a program and that's on a daily basis on the practice field but that's also throughout the season right we have to continue to get better over the next five six months we just didn't practice up until this point and then okay this is as good as we can be we have to continually find areas to improve and I thought both those guys did a great job in my time with them at doing that coach we heard some sad news today Edith Royal has passed away at age 98 she was such a part of this University ironically 100 years this Stadium thoughts on uh your relationship with Coach Royal did you get to meet him very much and did you get to meet Miss Royal I did not get to meet coach Royal but I got a wonderful video message from Edith uh when I first got the job here that I still have and uh the impact that they've had here um not only at the University of Texas but in Austin the impact that coach Royal had on the game of football itself um and that the fact that you know I get to sit in the same chair he did is is is pretty humbling you know it's definitely an honor um and so hopefully you know we can we can go out and play a brand of football that and a style of football that he'd be proud of as well all right y'all thank you