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Steve Sarkisian details challenge of building culture during transfer portal era
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Texas is not alone when it comes to the challenge of retaining players in the modern era, but head coach Steve Sarkisian believes his program has a formula worth keeping.
In a recent interview with Danny Kanell and Dusty Dvoracek, Sarkisian admitted that the focus of the Longhorns is to establish a fair environment for the players. Ultimately, that comes through outlining clear expectations and how each player can improve to meet those expectations.
“We try to create an environment that is fair… We try to be fair, we try to be transparent, we try to be honest as far as where guys are at in our program, what they need to work on, what they’re doing right, maybe what they can improve on,” said Sarkisian.
How does that translate into player retention for Texas? Sarkisian believes open communication and working together breed an environment where his players want to be, and that hopefully translates into more players sticking around for the long haul.
“I think we’ve created an environment where guys really want to be here, they don’t have to be here,” Sarkisian explained. “We’re working toward the common goal, there’s a commitment for something.”
On the field, Texas’s model has led to back-to-back trips to the College Football Playoff, where the Longhorns played in national semifinals each of the past 2 seasons. The system has also allowed Texas to hang onto top quarterback prospect Arch Manning, even as he sat behind Quinn Ewers for 2 seasons in Austin.
Now, we’ll see if it pays off with a return trip to the Playoff and the first SEC title in Longhorn history this fall.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
