Paradoxically, when 10-3 is a disappointing season, it’s proof Steve Sarkisian has done a very good job. You remember rival fans nicknaming Texas’ new head coach Seven Win Sark when he was hired. Now those same fans are making fun of Sark and Texas for winning 10 games. Often those fans cheer for Oklahoma or A&M, two playoff teams Texas defeated convincingly.
When you enter the year as preseason No. 1 and then miss the playoffs, some things certainly went amiss, but let’s keep some perspective—Sark has pretty much set the floor at Texas at 10 wins.
The season certainly revealed some cracks in the foundation, not only in losses to Florida, and to a lesser extent, Georgia, but also in wins against Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt. Visible cracks are much easier to address than those beneath the surface. Due to the realties of the season, Sark was staring at fairly long punch list. Through his actions, we’ve been given a good look at that list.
Changed out Chad Scott for Jabbar Juluke as running backs coach, in part to bring more physicality and attitude to the room.
Changed out Pete Kwiatkowski for Will Muschamp at defensive coordinator, in part to bring more physicality, attitude, and aggressive play calling to the defense.
Brought back Blake Gideon at safeties coach. Gideon preaches…you guessed it, physicality and attitude while also bringing very strong pre-existing relationships with the safeties. Gideon left a DC gig to return to his alma mater, which says quite a bit.
Swapped running backs CJ Baxter and Tre Wisner for Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown. There was a lot of doubt about whether or not he would move on from Baxter.
Improved the O-line through the portal. Added a good OT in Melvin Siani when it wasn’t even the greatest need. This move also addressed one of the guard spots.
Added the best player in the portal in Cam Coleman, in part thanks to shrewd handling of quality receivers DeAndre Moore and Parker Livingstone.
Replaced linebacker Anthony Hill with a preseason All-American in Rasheem Biles.
Retained offensive tackle Trevor Goosby, safety Jelani McDonald, and defensive tackle Hero Kanu. Along with Siani, Goosby gives Texas one of the best tackle tandems in the country. Both McDonald and Kanu have early-round 2027 NFL Draft upside.
Addressed 12 personnel efficacy by adding tight end Michael Masunas. 12 personnel was a clear weakness in 2026, now it should be a strength as Masunas pairs with Nick Townsend or Emaree Winston.
Addressed roster shortcoming at nose tackle by signing proven starter Ian Geffrard as well as Zion Williams.
Added experience and talent at cornerback in Bo Mascoe despite the room being strong and possessing significant upside.
Pragmatically altered rules on players entering the portal: they’re now allowed to return to the program. That kept a lot of talent in-house, namely safety Derek Williams, Edge Zina Umeozulu, cornerback Kobe Black, and cornerback Warren Roberson.
Re-instituted “Culture Wars” offseason accountability program. (I gave it that name, but they should use it.) Sark has admitted he didn’t hammer culture hard enough in the early going of last offseason. This is a reversion to his original approach.
Significantly altered weight lifting program, underscoring self-scouting. The players are lifting much heavier in order to gain strength that translates to physicality.
Added an experienced starting guard, assuming the NCAA grants Laurence Seymore one more year of eligibility. He also added Dylan Sikorski to compete at guard.
I’m sure I forgot some other big moves, but this demonstrates a successful program audit. Imagine if that exact to-do list was written on December 1. Every fan would gladly take these results. That list addresses nearly every foundational crack that was exposed last year.
Everyone is free to debate Sark’s decision-making, that’s what he signed up for, but there’s no doubting his motivation to right the wrongs from the 2025 season. In his time at Texas he’s proven himself to be a good problem-solver, this offseason may prove to be his best example yet.