Steve Sarkisian: Texas Is 'Embracing the Hate' Ahead of Matchup With Texas Tech

Sarkisian discussed the animosity towards the Longhorns and how the team has come to embrace it.

While the last decade has not been kind to the Texas Longhorns on the football field, they've maintained their status as one of the most hated programs in college football despite an overwhelming lack of recent success. 

When the Longhorns hit the road, they are met with a chorus of boos and thousands of fans throwing the horns down hand gestures, making sure they know just how much they hate Texas. 

As for why the Longhorns draw such disdain, well, there's a plethora of reasons. They range from a perceived "holier than thou" attitude towards other fan bases to straight arrogance and a belief that Texas is better than you and will beat you. 

Now, as the Longhorns prepare to hit the road to Lubbock to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders, that hatred has ratcheted up to another level.

How they respond to that hatred and hostile environment, though, is important and critical if they want to leave Lubbock with a win. As they prepare for their first road game, Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns are ready for the hatred and hostility. 

"I'm looking forward to an awesome environment," Sarkisian said. "There's a lot of places you go, and the opposing fans aren't very happy that we show up. It is what it is, we're the University of Texas. Nobody likes us. That's okay, we embrace the hate, and we'll be ready to rock and roll Saturday at 2:30."

Simply put, there will likely never be a road environment that the Longhorns play in that isn't hostile or downright toxic, regardless of the sport. 

If you watched the Longhorns play East Carolina in the Greenville Super Regional, all you saw was a sea of fans throwing horns down, even though there is no historic rivalry between the two.

For the Longhorns, hate will always exist, and there is likely no way of changing that. However, Sarkisian has the right mindset. Embrace the hate and let it flow through you. If the other team wants to make you the big bad villains, oh well. It'll just make any victories that much sweeter in the long run. 

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You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98

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