Big 12 Coaches Poll: Where Does Longhorns Steve Sarkisian Rank?

There is only room for improvement in year two at Texas for Steve Sarkisian

The Steve Sarkisian era got off to a shaky start when the Texas Longhorns finished 5-7. Missing a bowl game and losing to the Kansas Jayhawks are unacceptable for Texas football. The Longhorns must show improvement in year two.

CBS Sports ranked the Big 12 coaches ahead of the 2022 season and Sarkisian was sixth.

Here is what CBS Sports said on Sarkisian:

This is easily the most head-scratching ranking on the board, not even counting that Sark was overrated heading into last year. Sark had a dreadful debut in Austin, as he finished with the worst record for a first-year Longhorns coach since 1937 and the worst losing streak for the program since 1956. Sure, getting back-to-back No. 1 quarterback recruits should help, but I'm in no rush to elevate Sarkisian before the Longhorns win anything. In seven full seasons as a head coach at Washington, USC, and Texas, Sarkisian has never lost fewer than four games.

Sarkisian has the program heading in the right direction despite a poor start to his tenure. He has had one of the best off-seasons a coach can have coming off a losing season.

Sarkisian won in the transfer portal. He landed the former number one overall player, quarterback Quinn Ewers, and a bevy of other talented transfers.

He won on the recruiting trail when he landed another number one overall player, quarterback Arch Manning. Manning’s commitment has led to an enormous wave of recruiting momentum for the Longhorns. They have landed 10 more commits on the heels of Manning’s decision.

The future is extremely bright for the Longhorns under Sarkisian. He has an opportunity to shoot up the coaching ranks with Ewers behind center in year two. The 5-7 season may soon be a distant memory.

Sarkisian will begin year two at Texas on Sept. 3rd by hosting UL-Monroe.

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You can follow Michael Gresser on Twitter @gresser_michael

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