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AUSTIN, TEXAS – AUGUST 31: Head coach Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns reacts after the game against the Colorado State Rams at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on August 31, 2024 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Tim Warner\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
The man who holds the keys to arguably the most well-resourced program in college football clearly has an axe to grind about the lawlessness of the sport.<\/p>\n
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Steve Sarkisian<\/a>, the current head football coach of the Texas Longhorns,\u00a0gave a revealing interview this week to USA Today’s Matt Hayes,<\/a> in which he expressed the view that college football has severely veered out of control.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe all signed up to be part of the NCAA, and then we all allegedly make the rules,\u201d Sarkisian said to Hayes. \u201cEveryone knows the rules, right? Then we go to our attorney general and say we don\u2019t like that rule, let\u2019s just sue. Right now, no one is afraid of the consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n The Longhorns’ coach has had plenty to say during the offseason about other programs’ habit of line-stepping rules that have seemingly evaporated.\u00a0Sarkisian’s callouts include a particular rival school not upholding academic standards for incoming recruits:<\/p>\n “At Texas, we will only take 50% of a player\u2019s academic credit hours. You may be a semester from graduating, but you\u2019re going all the way back to 50% if you play here and want a degree,” Sarkisian said to USA Today. “But at Ole Miss, they can take you. All you have to do is take basket weaving, and you can get an Ole Miss degree.\u201d<\/p>\n Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning have big plans for the Texas Longhorns ahead of their 2026 campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n Icon Sportswire\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n He also called out the poaching of players by other teams during the season, critiques of the College Football Playoff committee’s team selections, the weight of the AP and Coaches Polls, and the constant state of change within the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n “I get to Texas in 2021, and the entire world changes,” Sarkisian says to Hayes. “Conference realignment \u2014 of which we were a major player \u2014 NIL, free player movement, 12-team playoff, revenue sharing, and now we\u2019re talking about a 24-team playoff. No one takes a breath to reset. It’s all reactionary.\u201d<\/p>\n Sarkisian’s callouts aren’t necessarily unfair, as the sport’s backend operations are nearly unrecognizable compared with those of a generation ago. The coach’s desire for more regulation appears noble, although the acknowledgement that a departure from the\u00a0NCAA and a creation of a new organization feels foreboding.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s lot of sentiment for breaking away and having your own rules. That\u2019s realistic,\u201d Sarkisian said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to sign up or you don’t, but if you do, here\u2019s our rules. Here\u2019s how this thing is going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n The Longhorns, with the largest athletic budget in college sports, generate nearly $300 million annually<\/a>, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). A January 2026 WSJ report noted that the Longhorns became the first college football team to be valued at over $2 billion. Not to be outdone on the recruiting trail, the Longhorns flaunt a parade of\u00a0Lamborghinis<\/a> during high-profile recruiting visits to campus, and plush internships “with Tesla or now Google or Apple or oil and gas,” per Sarkisian, in an interview with Marshawn Lynch back in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n To call the Longhorns’ resources exorbitant would be an understatement, yet Sarkisian continues to clamor for a level playing field. At a time when the coach feels the sport is lawless, Sarkisian is an oil baron with an excess of riches, yearning for more sheriffs and deputies so his riches can be protected and he can lord over those around him.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n