Steve Sarkisian on preparing for Texas vs. Michigan, Leadership, LSU vs. USC | CFB | THE HERD

All right, Steve Sarkisian, fourth year at Texas. Here we go, joining us live. Game of the weekend against Michigan. Former head coach at Washington to USC. I'm so fired up for this stuff. You had a lot of influences. You had Pete Carroll, you had Dan Quinn, you had Nick Saban, but yet you've developed your own program. I can feel the swagger. I can feel the attitude. Here's my question. I think all of us in the media are too tough on coaches. I feel this is actually your first team and roster that I look at and I go, oh, that's a national championship team. I looked at you last year and I thought, they're close but I don't trust the back end. Is that fair to say? That's not a knock on last year's team, but I feel this team's different. I just do, Sark. What do you think? Well, I thought we were pretty good last year. [LAUGHTER] N/A We ran into a hot Michael Penix there in the semis, but hey, we didn't play our best game on either side of the ball. But I like our team this year. I would think, when you look at our roster, I think we only have four or five guys on our team that were here before I got here. The rest of the players, we recruited. A lot of these players have been here for two, three, and four years now, and have really grown up in the culture and understand what we're about, and we've got great leadership. But I also think we've got great depth. I would say, the one thing about this year's team is we definitely have more depth than we've had in any of our other years. And our two deep. Sometimes, you can't tell the difference between our 1s and our 2s, and that's great for us. That's great for us right now, early in the season. We can play a lot of players, especially in the heat, when we're at home. But also for the longevity of this season. To think that we kicked off August 31 and we're hoping to play January 20, we're going to need all the depth that we have. OK, you lost a great tight end, you lost two great receivers-- one of them late first of the Chiefs-- you lost a running back I like. Are you going to be as dynamic offensively? Because that's a lot of NFL talent that walked out the door. We lost three receivers. The other one's playing for the Rams now too, George-- That's right. That's right. Yep, Jordan. Yeah. What I liked about the way we played Saturday was the efficiency we played with offensively. I think there's a nice blend of new faces on our offensive side of the ball, we have some transfers at receiver and tight end, but we also have some true freshmen that have stepped up. But we also have some guys that kind of waited their turn last year. But I think that the most important thing is, we've got a veteran offensive line. We're returning four of our five starters on the offensive front. We've got a third year starting quarterback. And so if you want to be good on the offensive side of the ball, the quarterback and the offensive line are critical. And then I think we filled in some nice pieces around those elements. And like I said, I thought we played really efficient game, Saturday. We showed the explosiveness, we showed the speed and space, we showed the physicality in which we like to play with. Quinn Ewers. Now, is there an advantage to playing Michigan early? Harbaugh's gone, new staff, although it's the same kind of physical culture. N/A This is a tough one. This is a blue blood. It's a big game. It's high leverage. Is it an advantage to play Michigan early? I don't know. There's plenty of new faces, you know. And I think there's one thing about Michigan that what Coach Harbaugh did and now what Coach Moore is doing is, when you think about this program, it's three consecutive years they've gone to the college football playoff. COLIN: Wow. Naturally, that's capped off last year with them being national champs. The amount of draft picks that they've had, 13, I believe, last year, I think they're 41 and 3 in their last 44 games, they've won 16 games in a row, they've won 23 straight games at home, in the Big House, so this is a great program. As much as it is about this current team they have, it's about the program, the development, what they've done. And so the harder part for us isn't about that they're going to be a quality opponent, it's about some of the new faces. And then naturally, from a staff perspective, Wink Martindale is a defensive coordinator. We've only got one game sample size of him as a defensive coordinator at Michigan. So some of those things can be a little bit more difficult. But at the end of the day, it's a great opportunity to go play Michigan in the Big House. First time ever, Colin, in the regular season that Texas is meeting Michigan. And so when you think about those two iconic programs coming together, and it's pretty humbling for myself that I get to be on the sideline leading the Texas Longhorns. What did you say to Quinn Ewers? You played quarterback in college, you've had a lot of great quarterbacks. What was the one thing, after the season, that you told Quinn Ewers? I mean, you do this with all your quarterbacks. "Here's what we're going to work on in the off-season." What is the one thing that you said, hey, let's get better at this-- Because you've made your mark with him. There's no-- even diet wise, you've changed it. What's the one thing you said, Quinn, let's work on this? Let's make this a point of attack in the off-season? This is your team, go lead them. Really, it was about leadership. We knew we were going to have to replace all those pieces, and we knew we were going to have to bring in some transfers, we knew we were going to have to rely on some young players on the perimeter. And it was going to take Quinn leading them. It was going to take Quinn getting the rapport with those receivers and the tight end. It was going to take Quinn stepping up into that leadership role where Jordan Whittington and Jaylan Ford and those guys have moved on from. And so that's been our focus, and he's done a tremendous job of that. You can feel his presence. I think he instills confidence and belief into everybody in the organization, not just his teammates, and that's what quarterbacks do. That's why it's the most important position in sports. If you've ever-- you ever been to Gillette, and when Tom Brady took the field, it was almost like a sigh of relief for everybody in the stands. Like, OK, Tom's here, we're good to go. And I'm sure it's the same way in Kansas City with Pat Mahomes and so on and so forth. So the quarterback is a powerful guy, not only with his play, but I just think in the presence and the leadership that he provides. Couple of minutes left. I would argue, in a 12-team playoff-- If I was a coach, I think I'd be more aggressive. Because sometimes, in college football's history, it's like-- I'm not saying anybody coaches not to lose, but I think everybody's going to lose a game potentially, even the good teams. Does the 12-team playoff, does it matter to you at all or is it like-- just go, Saturdays are Saturdays? I mean, I think it matters. There's still some strategy involved, especially if you have to play in the first round, you sure love to have home field advantage and get a home game and not have to go back to Michigan in December, right? And you sure would love to win your conference and to get a bye in the first round. So I do think that matters. I don't think we're out here just trying to be reckless and take shots and go for it on fourth down. I do think there's a rhyme and a reason to everything that we're trying to accomplish and what we're trying to do and develop in our team and our program. But in the end, I do think it allots you to play in games like this and not feel like, man, if we don't win this game, we have to be perfect the rest of the way. I do think it allots you to expose your team to some tough environments, to play against quality opponents, to get yourself ready for conference play, and then not have to feel the repercussions if you don't come out on top. On the flip side of that, man, it can serve as a great springboard. You go into the big house and get this win, what it can do for the rest of your season and the confidence of some of the players in your program that are just getting, maybe, their second game of exposure to big-time football. 12 and 2, won the big 12, they're pivoting to the SEC, and I think their roster, along with Georgia, is the best in that conference. I only got a minute left. I know you coach Texas, did you just get a couple of minutes of that USC game at all, Sark? Did your-- How did I know you were going to ask me, man? How did I know? You were so giddy. You were so giddy. You probably went for a walk the next morning right around Manhattan beach, man, and you were just-- you were kind of throwing your victory sign up there, just excited about it. Hook 'em. Great seeing you, Sark.