Texas Longhorns Are 'A Hungry Team' In Spring Football

According to Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian, the Texas Longhorns look like a 'hungry football team in spring practice.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers during spring practice at the Frank Denius practice fields / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman

Coming off of a Big 12 title and a College Football Playoff berth, the Texas Longhorns could have become complacent.

Instead, officially entering this SEC this summer, and projected as one of the top teams in the country next fall, they are hungy.

And that is exactly how head coach Steve Sarkisian wants to see.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers during spring practice at the Frank Denius practice fields / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman

“I think we have a very hungry football team,” Sarkisian said. “These guys are highly, highly competitive. Our practices are extremely competitive right now.”

The Longhorns aren't just trying to live up to expectations either. They're trying to improve and be the best team they can be.

It is a mindset that the coaches of tried to instill since taking over the program in January of 2021.

But while they are doing their best to grow that mentality heading into Year 4, it has been the players that are truly carrying that culture forward - much to the delight of Sarkisian.

"That’s the conversation in the locker room,” Sarkisian said on Monday. “It’s on their mind. I think that’s a good thing. That us being the best football team we can be is on their mind, and what they need to do to make that happen is on their mind. We’re four practices in. We’ve got a ton to work on, but I think we’re making the right strides.”

So how are the players holding up there end of the bargain? Well Sarkisian gave an example.

During a special teams drill, instead of himself of special teams coordinator Jeff Banks needing to step in and correct a mistake, it was the players who took care of the issue.

"A young player made a mistake, and before myself or coach Banks could even say anything to him, man there was like a flock of wolves that just kind of, ‘That’s not what we do, That’s not how you do it,’" Sarkisian said. "So as highly competitive as we are in our intent and the way we’re practicing with the intensity, they’ve learned now how to do it.”

And that is exactly the kind of thing that Sarkisian has been trying to instill in the program and has been preaching since his arrival in Austin.

"I think that’s the beauty of it," Sarkisian said. "That they’re coaching one another. And that’s the leadership that I was talking about at the first press conference. We’ve got a multitude of guys doing that, and I think there’s a real positive to that for us.”