'Get Our A** Moving': Steve Sarkisian Not Holding Back Motivation for Longhorns

On the drive toward a bounce-back year, the Longhorns have no shortage of motivational fuel.

As with most years, doubters of the Texas Longhorns are in abundance as we approach the 2022 college football season. 

Considering the team's woeful 5-7 record a year ago, it's hard to blame anyone for having minimal expectations from a program that has failed to meet the standard for nearly a decade. 

This made Monday all the more interesting, as the USA TODAY Sports AFCA football coaches poll was released and brought with it a preseason surprise. Texas received an out-of-nowhere first-place vote, becoming one of just four teams alongside Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia to do so.

Still, as some might expect, coach Steve Sarkisian isn't all for preseason rankings. 

"I never really understand preseason polls," Sarkisian said Monday. "And I know you guys do your media picks for the Big 12, we do it for the coaches poll, and then the AP poll. I never quite understand it because you are the way you play. You are the record that you end up with."

But knowing that the Horns' 5-7 record is the only thing to base their future success on, he wants his players to use the doubt as motivational fuel headed into a season where there is loads to prove. 

"We got a lot of work to do," Sarkisian said Monday. "We're picked to finish fourth in the Big 12, so that should motivate us to get our asses moving and practice really well." 

Teams like the defending conference champ Baylor Bears, the up-and-coming Kansas State Wildcats, and the always-dangerous Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Longhorns have some tough challenges ahead to prove that a projected fourth-place finish would be a disappointment. 

There are also still the Big 12 teams that they failed to beat last season, including Iowa State, Kansas, and West Virginia. Despite Texas getting more talented on paper, these three teams hold all the momentum against the Horns headed into the fall.

But with an acknowledgment of the inevitable nationwide feeling of doubt that is ahead, the Longhorns have some piping hot motivation to use on their 2022 Big 12 revenge tour this season. 

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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