Sark on the development of Arch Manning

Steve Sarkisian updates us on the development of Arch Manning and Trey Owens as Texas prepares for Colorado State. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's the craig Ways with the Voice of the Texas
Longhorns and Hall of Vaine broadcast at Craig Way on
a Thursday afternoon, getting plugs out of the weekend. There
is football Tonight. I go football. College football. One week

(00:22):
away from the start of the NFL and speaking of
the college football, Long Worn's head coach Steve Sarkisian had
his Thursday media availability today and one of the players
he was asked about was the corner Derek Williams and
how his Paul Camp has gone. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
I mean, Derek is a really versatile player. He's a
guy that had a nice freshman year for us last year.
You know, he he creates a lot of position flexibility
for us because although he plays safety, he really has
the coverage skills of a corner. He's definitely an impactful
player for us on special teams. He's rangy, he can run,
He's got a high football IQ. So again, we expect

(01:06):
him to have a nice season for US.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, that's another one. Now, one of those curiosities that
always comes up when you get ready for a season opener.
The look at guys a second team and even third
team guys, especially if things go well, clearly, and that's
a prerequisite. You have to have that go well to
go deep into your bench. But Sark was asked what

(01:32):
he looks for when players who aren't in the starting
rotation get on the field. What is he looking for
once he sees those guys on the field and what
are some of the things they can do to help
give them a chance to move up the depth chart.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Well, I think one it's a byproduct of practice and game,
and the players you know, are different. Some guys practice
really well, they prepare really well, they play really well.
That's the ideal formula for success in our book. You
have other guys that can prepare really well, practice really well,
and then don't perform well and maybe make some uncharacteristics

(02:07):
in game. And then you have the other player that
maybe isn't practicing great, but then you put him on
the field and he plays pretty good. And so we're
always trying to learn our players that way, and we
have a lot of new players that we don't have
all of that information on yet, and that's what games
are for. And then if it is a player that
is practicing great, preparing really great, but is making some

(02:27):
uncharacteristic errors in game. Well, now we're getting into maybe
some sports psychology stuff that that's an area where we
can help him throughout the week get ready for a ballgame.
So everybody's different. We're looking for all of those things,
and we're looking for the guys that are comfortable playing
in that arena. For some guys, it's easy to play
football when no one's watching. It's a little bit more

(02:48):
difficult to play when there's one hundred thousand people in
the stands and millions watching on television. And when you
get caught up in that, that a lot of times
causes some of those uncharacteristic errors. When you just focus
on fifty three to a third wide one hundred yards
along right, the hashes of the hashes, and you play
the plays, generally, you're better served when you can stay

(03:09):
in that frame of mind and not get too emotional
with it.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Okay, all right, on the quarterback sedge, right, No, No,
not a question about Quinn. Not a question about Quinn.
Yours question about arch Banning and also Trey Owens the backups,
what is he seen in terms of their development as
they get ready to back up Quinn? You weres going
into the season.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah, I would say for Arch, I'd probably say light
years ahead of where it was last year's time. You know,
his understanding of what we're trying to do offensively, the
nuances of the scheme, the timing of certain throws, the protections,
all those things. And I just think his overall comfort
level and confidence is much higher than it was a

(03:52):
year ago at this time, and very comfortable. If Arch
goes in the game, then he'll go in and operate
and operate at a high level. I've been I've been
impressed with Tray. You know, again, he's a true freshman,
and there's days when I'm sure he's like, can I
just get Coach Sark and Coach Millby off my back?
And there's other days where he does some great stuff.
But that's a little bit of the life of a
first year quarterback in our system. But I think the

(04:14):
one thing we've learned is that when the lights come on,
he performs. You know, He's performed really well for us
in every scrimmage. He performed well in the spring game,
and I think we've got a pretty good idea of
the things that he does well. And so if his
number is called, I think we feel comfortable with calling
the stuff that would put him in a good position
to have some success.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
So there's some thoughts from Steve Sarkagan. We're going to
hear more from sar obviously coming up top of the
hour Long Worn Weekly, our season premiere edition of it
with sark and we'll hear some from that tomorrow as well,
in specific taking a look at the opponent of Colorado
State Rams. Now to basketball. As I mentioned, we heard
some last hour from Rodney Terry, the Long Worn men's coach,

(04:58):
also had a media availability today and heard him talking
about the learning curve of a freshman like a trade Johnson.
So he was asked about the challenge that exists for
the construction of a roster with so many new players.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
You know, I think anytime you're putting a team together,
you know you're you're trying to it's kind of like
a jigsaw puzzle in terms of all the pieces have
to kind of match up, and you know, they have
to compliment one another. You know, you once you once
you're able to identify who's coming back, and then you know,
along with the guys that you recruit the first part

(05:35):
of the year, you know, now it's about putting the
right right guys or you know, with one another. I
think for us, we had eight weeks this summer, you know,
and summer has become really a major time for you
because you're fighting time when you're putting a team together
and the roster together, like we all are right now
in college athletics for one year and you got to
max that roster out for one year. You know, You've

(05:57):
got to try to really instill in your guys over
the course of the summer the importance of developing chemistry
off the court. We're gonna spend time on the court,
but we have to have really good chemistry off the court.
And I think for us, we don't try to force
feed that. We look, we try to let it happen organically.
We try to have you know, some older guys take
some lead with with with making that happen, in developing

(06:24):
that chemistry off the court. I think again, I always
say that guys, the best teams are player led. You know,
obviously it's coaching. We're gonna do our part to put
you in the best position and and uh to be successful.
But when you invest as as players and as a
as a team, where you guys all come together and
your great teammates and you love being around one another,

(06:46):
then that chemistry carries over on the court, just like
with the staff. You know, you have to have great
chemistry with your staff, and you guys gonna see you
have great chemistry with your staff that bleeds over into
your team, so vice versa. But but I think our
guys have done a great job of that this summer.
They spend a lot of time off the court together,
we spend time on the floor together. We still have

(07:07):
a lot more time we need to spend h here
in the fall together on the court. But I like
what we've done, what we've done to this point right now.
I think our guys got a chance to get for
me with each other a little bit this summer, and uh,
you know, I like, I like what we are right
now with that process.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
So yeah, so that's the process, getting through that process,
and that means establishing the chemistry they want. Does he
have a specific example of the chemistry that he's seen
so far from this team.

Speaker 3 (07:39):
Well, I think again, when you when you say something
happens organically, you know, uh, I know for us, and
you take it, you know, you take it for you know,
you may even take it lightly in terms of guys
organizing things themselves, you know, and and I know for us,
I know guys had a couple of activities this summer
that they did themselves. But knowwns to us. You know

(08:01):
that they Hey, we're gonna go out to the lake.
You want to spend time out on the lake. You know, Hey,
at the end of the summer, it's it's it's uh,
it's it's so and so it's birthday. We're all gonna
meet up and we're gonna you know, he's gonna have
his birthday in Vegas. You know that's again, guys don't
do that when they have a chance to go somewhere
else and and and uh or even for that matter,

(08:23):
go home, but they're gonna go and still spend more
time with each other together and stuff. So that you
know that that opened your eyes in terms of these
guys like being around each other, they like each other
as a group, and uh that that's gonna give us
us a chance to be successful the team.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
Nor were you invited to the Vegas trip?

Speaker 3 (08:42):
I wasn't invited to that Vegas trip, so I've kind
of fell left out a little bit with that, so
I get enough for Vegas. I don't need to go
out to Vegas.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
We'll be out in.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
Vegas here here the first part of the year, so
that's true.

Speaker 1 (08:55):
Season openers in Las Vegas on the ever fourth against
Ohio State. Uh. There for that one more question for
Rodney Terry to get to here, and we'll have some
more of it tomorrow for you, because it was it
was a nice lengthy uh the Zoom media session. But
but but here's one more. We've all been so accustomed
to seeing Brock cutting in with the program. I mean,

(09:16):
after all, they're six years six years, so the question
is Brock really gone?

Speaker 3 (09:22):
You know what, Brock did not leave him. I'm not mistaken.
He left very at the very tail end of July.
First of all, I believe it was first of August.
He was still in the gym working out with our
guys and and and uh, you know, preparing himself for uh,
for his first professional season. But uh, but yeah, it's
a little different not having Brock around. I think even
for Brock. I think it was different for him not

(09:43):
to be a part of the team this summer. And uh,
you know, sometimes guys hear it over and over they
hear coach saying, well, you know what, you're gonna miss
this now when it's done, you know, And uh, I
think he was sure went through some of that. He
may not, he may not want to own up to
it a little bit, but I think so. I mean,
he's go on up every day just like he was
still here and would no one telling him to do that.

(10:05):
But but yeah, we we miss having oblock around.

Speaker 1 (10:08):
No tubt about. It'll be a different world. It's gonna
be a different world in the SEC. It's gonna be
a different world with long worn basketball, without brock hunting
gam We'll be back to wrap up today's edition the
program on sports Radio AM thirteen under the Zone