Longhorns Country

Nick Saban 'Always Hated Playing Against' Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian; Here's Why

According to legendary former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian is quite frustrating to deal with.

Matt Galatzan

Sep 9, 2023; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian greets Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban midfield before their game at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sportse
Sep 9, 2023; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian greets Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban midfield before their game at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sportse / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
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The Texas Longhorns officially joined the SEC on July 1, marking a historic day in college football.

And with Texas heading into a conference that was already incredibly difficult, teams around the league are going to have to be even more prepared than before.

Yes, that includes the perennial powers like Georgia, Alabama and LSU.

Don't believe us? Just ask former Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban, who explained exactly what makes going up against Texas so difficult.

Sarkisia
Sep 10, 2022; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian talks with Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban before the game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports / Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

“I kind of always hated playing against Sark,” Saban said. “In practice for several years, as well as when we played them the past couple of years. Because they do such a good job with what I call squeeze splits. We play in this day and age where people take these huge splits like Tennessee. Which, that’s a problem, too. Players — especially DBs — are not used to playing when you have squeeze splits because you put them in unfamiliar positions, whether it’s run support or how they cover.

“When you’re in squeeze splits, how can this guy get to that side of the field quickly, which messes up your pattern matches... So, I always hated playing against Texas, and Kirby (Smart) has got some of the same issues that we had.

Obviously, Saban knows as well as anyone what Sarkisian and his offenses are capable of.

Not only did Sarkisian serve as Saban and the Tide a decisive home loss in Tuscalossa last season, but they also nearly pulled off an upset in Austin in 2022 as well.

Not to mention, Sarkisian was also the offensive coordinator for Saban and Alabama during their 2020 national championship run, as well as serving a separate stint with the program as an analyst in 2016.

Fortunately for Saban, he won't have to deal with Sarkisian's scheme anymore, seeing as he is no longer on the sidelines.

However, other SEC coaches are surely going to take notice of what he had to say about his the Texas head man.

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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.

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