September 23, 2024 • 10 mins
Sark visited with the media on Monday for his weekly press conference and wrapped up his thoughts on the win over ULM, Arch Manning's play, injuries, and Saturday's upcoming game against Mississippi State.
Sark also fields questions about the linebackers, Jahdae Barron and Jaylon Guilbeau's play, and why Texas has been able to be in full control for the first four games.
Sark also fields questions about the linebackers, Jahdae Barron and Jaylon Guilbeau's play, and why Texas has been able to be in full control for the first four games.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
It's the craig Way Show with the voice of the
Texas Longhorns and Hall of Fame broadcast there Craig Way.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
It's a Long Worns Monday. Earlier this morning, eleven am,
to be exacts, is when our coverage began. And then
at eleven thirty the head coach stepped to the mic.
That's when we brought you the press conference weekly press
conference Long WRNS head coach Steve Sarcasian live here on
the zone. Let's hear some of the thoughts from Sarka again.
(00:38):
We'll bring this to you in the Q and A form,
and we'll do this throughout the course of the program
so that if you've missed any part of it or
all of it this morning, you'll get to hear it all.
First of all, sark leading off with his opening thoughts,
his opening comments for this press conference.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
You know, just a quick recap of this past weekend again,
and you know, I got a chance the atmosphere. What
a great job by our fans, the support we had,
you know, and and it we've created an environment here
that I think is really cool in dk R. You know,
I was kind of reminiscent with somebody about kind of
year one when we weren't a great team and and
(01:18):
the crowd was was here, but they were trying to
figure out who the heck we were to go to
where we are today, and I think the product on
the field is much better product and the energy and
the stands, and it's a great job by uh, you know,
our administrative team to create the environment that they've created,
and so it's really it's really poured itself into being
(01:39):
a tremendous home field advantage that I think our team
feeds off of and I know it makes it difficult
on our opponents and the beauty of it. We're gonna
need that again this weekend with our SEC opener, which
I'll get into in a minute.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
I think there's a couple of other things.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
To hit on, you know, get a chance to kind
of see some highlights of our NFL guys and what
they're doing. And I'm proud of all those guys. You know,
it's really cool to see Bijeon and X last night,
you know, playing in a primetime game and just all
the stuff that those guys are doing now and and
you know, hopefully that that number continues to grow for
us in the future. Where they can represent long horn
(02:14):
football the way that they the way that they do. So,
you know, for us as a team, I thought, like
I talked about with this morning with them, was we
played really good complimentary football Saturday. There was a moment
there when Anthony Hill gets the interception, we get the
block in the back, but we convert that into a touchdown,
Like that's what you want to have. It's one thing
to get turnovers, it's another are you getting points off
(02:34):
those turnovers? We get forced to punt, We pin them
down inside the five, we get a safety by Leon Lafoul,
We force them to have to kick off in the twenty,
we get really good field position, we go score a touchdown.
Like that's us playing really good complimentary football together.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
I thought that that was exciting.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
I think the other thing that was exciting was, you know,
we give out Players of the Game awards on offense, defense,
and special teams. And the fact that our two defensive
players of the game play the same position in Anthony
Hill and the Oungelo Foul, And I think that that
speaks volumes to a couple of things. One the depth
on our football team right now, but two the fact
(03:13):
that guys aren't. They're not counting their reps, They're making
their reps count. And I think that that we've got
a team full of guys that are selfless, that that
pull for one another, that understand the value of having
the depth that we have. So I think that was
a that was a pretty cool thing to recognize on
that front.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Obviously, it was great to have Jayden Blue back.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
He played a very good football game and impacted us,
I thought, arch from a from an offensive perspective, you know,
when we go back and look at it, it's kind
of what I thought. There was probably four or five
plays in there where you know, when he's really gras
checking that ball down, the value in that checkdown and
maybe not having to force a couple of those throws,
(03:52):
the impact that that could have had.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
You know, that's the difference of.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Completing you know, fifty two percent of your passes to
six percent of your passes and then what that all
looks like. So you know, room for growth there. But again,
I've been proud of our team. We've been playing really
well in all three phases. But again we we keep
pushing them for improvement. And I'd say that the greatest
thing I heard this morning was when the players got
out of their position meetings of watching the tape. Uh,
(04:18):
Jayden Blue walked right up to me said, man, I
should have played a lot better than I did. And
here's a guy with four touchdowns and one hundred and
something yards. So I think the mentality of our team
is trying to improve, trying.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
To get better. Uh, and they did that today.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
So we've got a We got our sec opener with
Mississippi State and coach Levy.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
A ton of respect for coach Levy.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
He knows you know Texas football well from his time
uh in the Big twelve.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Uh, very very you know, offensive, innovative guy.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
They've got really good wideouts to where they're a dangerous
team that way. You know, I think back to our
first year. You know, it's where they're fighting, scratching and
klon and uh, you know, they're they're dangerous that way.
And I think that our players respect the heck out
of them because of that. But this week is really
about us, you know, and the fact that this is
our sec opener at home should be a great environment
(05:07):
at three point fifteen kick. We're looking forward to our fans,
you know, showing up early staying late like they do,
and then our guys going out and playing the brand
and style of football that we've grown accustomed to. So
we'll see everybody then on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Incidentally, if you didn't hear it, is a three to
fifteen kickoff. Our coverage here on sports Radio AM thirteen
under the Zone will begin with Longhorns Game Day coming
your way from the hook them hangout there on Vivo Boulevard.
We're in the WinChip Circle area with Cameron Parker and
my cardball harge and also Mark Henry coming away. That
(05:43):
will be at noon at noon and then at two
o'clock will be network pregame start time. The kickoff there
at three point fifteen. Now, Sarks has to be a
lot of things, including you know how the transfer portal
can giveth and taketh away. He's had linebackers come in
(06:04):
and we're yeah, and then he's had the linebackers come
in and really make a difference, and he was asked
about those guys.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
We've always felt really highly of Lafoul.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
You know, he just the way the depth chart was
as a true freshman, you had Jalen Ford, and you
had Anthony and you had he had Theonga, so but
he was an impactful player for us on special teams.
You know, we talk a lot about Trey Wisner a
year ago on teams or at Jelani McDonald. Leonga was
was in that kind of same mold, and he's just
come back this spring. I think, you know, he's got
a great relationship with coach Nansen, and I think coach
(06:39):
Nansen's approach, you know, everybody's approaches a coach is a
little bit different, has really resonated with Anthony and Leonga
and it and their style of play fits what we're
doing defensively right now. And then you know, Ty Anthony,
we didn't really know. I thought I was getting a
developmental player. Quite frankly, he was a guy who was
undersized coming from Jasper, But shoot, he gained almost twenty
(07:02):
pounds in his time here in a short amount of time.
He's very instinctual, he's really athletic, and so not a
finished product by any means, but as a true freshman,
he's getting some meaningful snaps right now. So we feel
good about the future at that position. But you know,
but more importantly is the playmaking ability that we can
rotate those guys and I'm still I haven't referenced David
Bendamo Blackwell that are in that mix as well.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yeah, linebackers contributing both those who came to the portal
and those who have come in as freshman. How about
that secondary, It's been very interchangeable. That's why it's been
as effective as it's been. In specific Sark was asked
about Jade Barron and Jalen Gilbo, and you know how
they have helped really kind of mold and shape this
(07:46):
secondary into a very versatile and talented secondary.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
I felt like Gilbil had a really good spring, and
you know, as we started to go through it, we
kind of said to ourselves, how do we ensure that
we're getting our five best players on the field. And
you know, John A played some some corner for us
last year, and when we were in base defense, and
when Gilbert came back, I thought to himself, well, if
they both just play star, one of our better players
(08:12):
is going to be standing next to me, you know,
half that time. And that's if we're in nickel. What
are we gonna do if we go to base Now
they're both standing next to me, and so we just
we just made the decision to say, hey, John A's
played a ton of football. He's got a really high
football IQ. And really what we did is we taught
him three positions. You know, he he learned obviously knew
the star position, new enough of corner, and we taught
(08:33):
him safety. He was really our for safety for Saturday.
If if we had to have him, he was going
to go back there and play him. That's a versatility
he gives us. It also gives us a presence, especially
into the boundary and the run game.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
UH.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
And he gives us a good blitzer from the boundary
and that frees up Manny Mohammed some uh to play
a little bit more to the field and cover guys
that way. So what it did really is we've got
a versatile group and that's the biggest thing that's come
out of it.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
And Gavin Holmes is has been impactful.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
I think the four safeties have had a really good
start to their season, and you know, hopefully we can
get those other two back with Jilani and Derek back
on the field, but it was a good experience for
Jordan Johnson Rebel too. So I just think the versatility
of our secondary is really starting to show up. It's
allowing us to play a multitude of coverages. They're very
they're they're a veteran group too, so I think our
(09:21):
disguising of coverages has been helpful. And that's because they're
communicating really well and they're thinking. They're thinking alike. They
know what we're trying to get done.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
If you've noticed anything about the long words, they've been
able to really just keep the entire game under control
in all four weeks, jumping out to good starts, taking
quick and big leads and doing that. And Sark was asked,
what's the secret to that success?
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Being able to do that?
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I think our guys kind of believe in our formula
for success, and I think they believe in preparation. This
group most importantly, the preparation the practice that creates the
confidence to just go play.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
You know, I don't think.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
That they've we've played to what the thought was supposed
to be, meaning this is a big game, we need
to be up for this one, or maybe this is
a lesser opponent and we come down and we don't
have the mental intensity. I think they're so focused on
what we need to do that we stay really consistent
in our approach throughout the week, and we stay really
(10:19):
consistent in pregame warmups, we stay really consistent when we
come out of the locker room. This group's confident, and
their confidence comes from the belief of the preparation that
they put into it, and so I love that our
personality is coming out of this team. I think we've
got a pretty cool swagger about us right now, but
that swagger has been earned because of the work that
(10:41):
they put in day in and day out.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
All Right, there's some thoughts and comments from Long Worn's
head coach Steve Sarkisian. We'll have more throughout the course
of the rest of the afternoon.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Up next.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
It's inconceivable on a Monday afternoon here on sports Radio
AM thirteen under the zone of the iHeartRadio app.
It's the craig Way Show with the voice of the
Texas Longhorns and Hall of Fame broadcast there Craig Way.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
It's a Long Worns Monday. Earlier this morning, eleven am,
to be exacts, is when our coverage began. And then
at eleven thirty the head coach stepped to the mic.
That's when we brought you the press conference weekly press
conference Long WRNS head coach Steve Sarcasian live here on
the zone. Let's hear some of the thoughts from Sarka again.
(00:38):
We'll bring this to you in the Q and A form,
and we'll do this throughout the course of the program
so that if you've missed any part of it or
all of it this morning, you'll get to hear it all.
First of all, sark leading off with his opening thoughts,
his opening comments for this press conference.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
You know, just a quick recap of this past weekend again,
and you know, I got a chance the atmosphere. What
a great job by our fans, the support we had,
you know, and and it we've created an environment here
that I think is really cool in dk R. You know,
I was kind of reminiscent with somebody about kind of
year one when we weren't a great team and and
(01:18):
the crowd was was here, but they were trying to
figure out who the heck we were to go to
where we are today, and I think the product on
the field is much better product and the energy and
the stands, and it's a great job by uh, you know,
our administrative team to create the environment that they've created,
and so it's really it's really poured itself into being
(01:39):
a tremendous home field advantage that I think our team
feeds off of and I know it makes it difficult
on our opponents and the beauty of it. We're gonna
need that again this weekend with our SEC opener, which
I'll get into in a minute.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
I think there's a couple of other things.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
To hit on, you know, get a chance to kind
of see some highlights of our NFL guys and what
they're doing. And I'm proud of all those guys. You know,
it's really cool to see Bijeon and X last night,
you know, playing in a primetime game and just all
the stuff that those guys are doing now and and
you know, hopefully that that number continues to grow for
us in the future. Where they can represent long horn
(02:14):
football the way that they the way that they do. So,
you know, for us as a team, I thought, like
I talked about with this morning with them, was we
played really good complimentary football Saturday. There was a moment
there when Anthony Hill gets the interception, we get the
block in the back, but we convert that into a touchdown,
Like that's what you want to have. It's one thing
to get turnovers, it's another are you getting points off
(02:34):
those turnovers? We get forced to punt, We pin them
down inside the five, we get a safety by Leon Lafoul,
We force them to have to kick off in the twenty,
we get really good field position, we go score a touchdown.
Like that's us playing really good complimentary football together.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
I thought that that was exciting.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
I think the other thing that was exciting was, you know,
we give out Players of the Game awards on offense, defense,
and special teams. And the fact that our two defensive
players of the game play the same position in Anthony
Hill and the Oungelo Foul, And I think that that
speaks volumes to a couple of things. One the depth
on our football team right now, but two the fact
(03:13):
that guys aren't. They're not counting their reps, They're making
their reps count. And I think that that we've got
a team full of guys that are selfless, that that
pull for one another, that understand the value of having
the depth that we have. So I think that was
a that was a pretty cool thing to recognize on
that front.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Obviously, it was great to have Jayden Blue back.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
He played a very good football game and impacted us,
I thought, arch from a from an offensive perspective, you know,
when we go back and look at it, it's kind
of what I thought. There was probably four or five
plays in there where you know, when he's really gras
checking that ball down, the value in that checkdown and
maybe not having to force a couple of those throws,
(03:52):
the impact that that could have had.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
You know, that's the difference of.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Completing you know, fifty two percent of your passes to
six percent of your passes and then what that all
looks like. So you know, room for growth there. But again,
I've been proud of our team. We've been playing really
well in all three phases. But again we we keep
pushing them for improvement. And I'd say that the greatest
thing I heard this morning was when the players got
out of their position meetings of watching the tape. Uh,
(04:18):
Jayden Blue walked right up to me said, man, I
should have played a lot better than I did. And
here's a guy with four touchdowns and one hundred and
something yards. So I think the mentality of our team
is trying to improve, trying.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
To get better. Uh, and they did that today.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
So we've got a We got our sec opener with
Mississippi State and coach Levy.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
A ton of respect for coach Levy.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
He knows you know Texas football well from his time
uh in the Big twelve.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Uh, very very you know, offensive, innovative guy.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
They've got really good wideouts to where they're a dangerous
team that way. You know, I think back to our
first year. You know, it's where they're fighting, scratching and
klon and uh, you know, they're they're dangerous that way.
And I think that our players respect the heck out
of them because of that. But this week is really
about us, you know, and the fact that this is
our sec opener at home should be a great environment
(05:07):
at three point fifteen kick. We're looking forward to our fans,
you know, showing up early staying late like they do,
and then our guys going out and playing the brand
and style of football that we've grown accustomed to. So
we'll see everybody then on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Incidentally, if you didn't hear it, is a three to
fifteen kickoff. Our coverage here on sports Radio AM thirteen
under the Zone will begin with Longhorns Game Day coming
your way from the hook them hangout there on Vivo Boulevard.
We're in the WinChip Circle area with Cameron Parker and
my cardball harge and also Mark Henry coming away. That
(05:43):
will be at noon at noon and then at two
o'clock will be network pregame start time. The kickoff there
at three point fifteen. Now, Sarks has to be a
lot of things, including you know how the transfer portal
can giveth and taketh away. He's had linebackers come in
(06:04):
and we're yeah, and then he's had the linebackers come
in and really make a difference, and he was asked
about those guys.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
We've always felt really highly of Lafoul.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
You know, he just the way the depth chart was
as a true freshman, you had Jalen Ford, and you
had Anthony and you had he had Theonga, so but
he was an impactful player for us on special teams.
You know, we talk a lot about Trey Wisner a
year ago on teams or at Jelani McDonald. Leonga was
was in that kind of same mold, and he's just
come back this spring. I think, you know, he's got
a great relationship with coach Nansen, and I think coach
(06:39):
Nansen's approach, you know, everybody's approaches a coach is a
little bit different, has really resonated with Anthony and Leonga
and it and their style of play fits what we're
doing defensively right now. And then you know, Ty Anthony,
we didn't really know. I thought I was getting a
developmental player. Quite frankly, he was a guy who was
undersized coming from Jasper, But shoot, he gained almost twenty
(07:02):
pounds in his time here in a short amount of time.
He's very instinctual, he's really athletic, and so not a
finished product by any means, but as a true freshman,
he's getting some meaningful snaps right now. So we feel
good about the future at that position. But you know,
but more importantly is the playmaking ability that we can
rotate those guys and I'm still I haven't referenced David
Bendamo Blackwell that are in that mix as well.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yeah, linebackers contributing both those who came to the portal
and those who have come in as freshman. How about
that secondary, It's been very interchangeable. That's why it's been
as effective as it's been. In specific Sark was asked
about Jade Barron and Jalen Gilbo, and you know how
they have helped really kind of mold and shape this
(07:46):
secondary into a very versatile and talented secondary.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
I felt like Gilbil had a really good spring, and
you know, as we started to go through it, we
kind of said to ourselves, how do we ensure that
we're getting our five best players on the field. And
you know, John A played some some corner for us
last year, and when we were in base defense, and
when Gilbert came back, I thought to himself, well, if
they both just play star, one of our better players
(08:12):
is going to be standing next to me, you know,
half that time. And that's if we're in nickel. What
are we gonna do if we go to base Now
they're both standing next to me, and so we just
we just made the decision to say, hey, John A's
played a ton of football. He's got a really high
football IQ. And really what we did is we taught
him three positions. You know, he he learned obviously knew
the star position, new enough of corner, and we taught
(08:33):
him safety. He was really our for safety for Saturday.
If if we had to have him, he was going
to go back there and play him. That's a versatility
he gives us. It also gives us a presence, especially
into the boundary and the run game.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
UH.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
And he gives us a good blitzer from the boundary
and that frees up Manny Mohammed some uh to play
a little bit more to the field and cover guys
that way. So what it did really is we've got
a versatile group and that's the biggest thing that's come
out of it.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
And Gavin Holmes is has been impactful.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
I think the four safeties have had a really good
start to their season, and you know, hopefully we can
get those other two back with Jilani and Derek back
on the field, but it was a good experience for
Jordan Johnson Rebel too. So I just think the versatility
of our secondary is really starting to show up. It's
allowing us to play a multitude of coverages. They're very
they're they're a veteran group too, so I think our
(09:21):
disguising of coverages has been helpful. And that's because they're
communicating really well and they're thinking. They're thinking alike. They
know what we're trying to get done.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
If you've noticed anything about the long words, they've been
able to really just keep the entire game under control
in all four weeks, jumping out to good starts, taking
quick and big leads and doing that. And Sark was asked,
what's the secret to that success?
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Being able to do that?
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I think our guys kind of believe in our formula
for success, and I think they believe in preparation. This
group most importantly, the preparation the practice that creates the
confidence to just go play.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
You know, I don't think.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
That they've we've played to what the thought was supposed
to be, meaning this is a big game, we need
to be up for this one, or maybe this is
a lesser opponent and we come down and we don't
have the mental intensity. I think they're so focused on
what we need to do that we stay really consistent
in our approach throughout the week, and we stay really
(10:19):
consistent in pregame warmups, we stay really consistent when we
come out of the locker room. This group's confident, and
their confidence comes from the belief of the preparation that
they put into it, and so I love that our
personality is coming out of this team. I think we've
got a pretty cool swagger about us right now, but
that swagger has been earned because of the work that
(10:41):
they put in day in and day out.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
All Right, there's some thoughts and comments from Long Worn's
head coach Steve Sarkisian. We'll have more throughout the course
of the rest of the afternoon.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Up next.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
It's inconceivable on a Monday afternoon here on sports Radio
AM thirteen under the zone of the iHeartRadio app.
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