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July 15, 2025 • 28 mins
Listen to Texas Longhorns' head coach Steve Sarkisian at the SEC Media Days as he begins his press conference with an introductory statement followed by a Q&A with the media from Atlanta, Georgia.
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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Being part of the Southeastern Conference now to be in Atlanta, uh,
this is where you always want to be. And uh,
I just want to say we we appreciate all that
you do and covering our sport. A ton of respect
for the job that you all have in celebrating our game.
Our games at an all time high from from a
popularity standpoint, the passion and the energy. Uh So, the

(00:21):
job that you all do was greatly appreciated. I think
before I get started, UH, I'd be remiss if I
didn't address the Central Texas and and the thoughts and
prayers with those families, those communities that have been affected
by the recent devastating flooding and UH are they'll always

(00:42):
have our continued support and like I said, thoughts and
prayers for all affected and uh continued support as.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
We go.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
Year two in the SEC, it's gone fast.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
You know.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Year one was it was it was a great year
for us.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
We uh, you know, making it to the SEC Championship
game in year one, going to back to back college
football Playoffs semi finals, having twelve players drafted off of
last year's team, twenty three drafted in the last two years,
leading the country there speaks to the development I think
that we have going on in our program speaks to

(01:20):
the recruiting that's happening. But this is a new year,
new faces, new team, and obviously expectations are high for
our program. I'm not naive to that. I don't put
my head in the sand, and expectations are very high.
But I also say we're the University of Texas and
the standard is a standard here, and that's competing for
championships a year in and year out. And it didn't

(01:42):
matter when we're in the previous conference, it didn't matter
now that we're in the SEC.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
It is what it is.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
But I think there's one thing that's important for us.
It's not what other people think about us. It's not
what other people say about us. It's about what we do,
and that's taking action and doing things the right way
I do.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
I think we have a very hungry.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
Football team, one that is talented. I really like our roster.
We've strung together now three really good recruiting classes of
very talented people, but really good people that I think
represent the University of Texas the right way. I really
feel like we've navigated the portal well through three years,

(02:21):
and this year was no different. I think we filled
needs on our roster where players can have an impact
on our team immediately, not just to fill roster spots,
but I think this is a championship roster. Now we've
got to play like a championship team, but I do
think it's a championship roster. Starting on the defensive side
of the ball. We brought Anthony Hill and Michael taff

(02:41):
with us today, both all American players for US, but
it goes well beyond those two. We've got great depth
on the defensive side of the ball. Manny Muhammad, Colin Simmons,
Marod Watson, Trey Moore, Brad Spence, Ethan Burt, Travis Shaw,
Cole Barvard, Jay Gilbo, Jelani Jelani McDonald, Derek Williams, just

(03:04):
to name a few, Leongo Lafal. So this is probably
the deepest and most talented defense that we've had, uh
and we've made incremental growth on the defensive side of
the ball now through four years, and we're gonna need
to do that again.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
I think championships are one on the.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Defensive side of the ball, and we've got a We've
got a defensive football team that we're very excited about
from a special team's perspective. You know, the one thing
I love is that we've got all seniors. I've got
a senior long snapper, a senior holder, senior punter, senior kicker,
senior kickoff guy, and so the experiences that they've had
and what they've been through, I think is going to

(03:41):
serve us well as this season goes on. So we're
excited about that unit. And then obviously offensively is probably
where we've had the most turnover.

Speaker 4 (03:49):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
We got a new quarterback, Arch Manning. If you didn't know,
he's replacing Quinn who.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
Had a great three years for us.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
But we're replacing a lot of offensive linemen. We're replacing receivers,
tight ends. But that unit is really good. You know,
we're returning the leading rusher in the SEC and Trey Weisner,
which some of you probably don't even know that, but
bring that to your attention. We get Cedric Baxter back
with the addition of Jared Gibson who played a ton
as a true freshman for US, to along with Christian Clark.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
In that room.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
The receiving corps is one we're really excited about. You know,
we've had receivers drafted in the first round in the
last two years draft. But this group is really good.
DeAndre Moore is kind of the leader of that group
who played.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
A ton for us last year in the slot.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
Ryan Wingo was a true freshman last year who probably
in a lot of other schools, probably had more opportunities,
but when you had the room we had, you know,
he was very efficient, had a bunch of catches and
critical moments for us. We're excited about him. We brought
in Emmitt Moseley, a transfer from Stafford who had fifty
catches there as a true freshman Stafford who were excited

(04:56):
about to go along with a really good recruiting class
and a group young guys Parker Livingstone leading that charge
of younger players.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
In that room.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
And then at tight end we lost a really good
player in Gunner Hilm. We brought in Jack Injuries from
cal who was a great player there with an uptick
of young players Jordan Washington, Spencer Shannon to go along
with Lamar Winston and Nick Towns, and we're excited about
that group. And on the offensive line, we're replacing four starters.
DJ Camp will be in the one coming back but

(05:26):
Cole Hudson's played a ton of football for us. We
found out a lot about Trevor Gooseby last year. He
played in some big time games against some big time fronts.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
We're excited about him.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
But the beauty of when you have that group the
way that we had it for the last few years,
we had a chance to develop offensive lineman and that's
one thing that you really love to do is develop
those players throughout their time and not throw them into
the fire. So we're really excited about that group and
what they can do. Another continuity and quicker they can
gel and grow together is going to be critical from

(05:59):
a staff perspective. I think one of the keys for
us is staff continuity. You know, we've had turnover it
position coaches, but we've had the same offensive coordinator, the
same defensive coordinator, same special teams coordinator, and same head
coach now for five straight years, which I think has
been big for us because we know our schedule is
going to be really challenging. We've got road games out

(06:19):
Ohio State, at Georgia, at Florida, at Kentucky, which are
all going to be very difficult environments to play in,
not to mention playing in the Red River Rivalry in
Dallas every year against Oklahoma, and then playing at home
against a couple of traditional rivals again with Arkansas and
A and M.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
So we'll be the.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
Most traveled team in the SEC this year, which is
a great challenge for us.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
We're looking forward to it.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
But at the end of the day, I talked about
the popularity of our sport. I think the popularity of
the Texas Longhorns is at an all time high as well,
and so I appreciate our fans and their support. We
averaged over eight million viewers a game last year on TV.
We averaged over one hundred and two thousand people in
attendance at DKR last year, which was fifth in the country.

(07:05):
Our season tickets were sold out in May for the
four straight year, and so the environment at DKR has changed.

Speaker 2 (07:13):
If you haven't been.

Speaker 1 (07:13):
Back in a while, it's an electric atmosphere. Love our
fans and the support that they give us for that.
But I think the key for us this fall is
going to go. We got to go enjoy this journey.
We need to be present. We need to be present
in the moment, enjoy the journey, and then ultimately.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
Finish the mission right.

Speaker 1 (07:30):
We've been close, we've been there, We've been knocking on
the door of the last two years. But to go
do that, we need to take it one step at
a time as we embark on the summit that we're
looking for. And that's going to take great discipline. It's
going to take great commitment. It's going to take great
toughness mental and physical toughness that is needed. And it's
going to take accountability for our actions and doing our job.

(07:50):
And so I think we've got the culture in place
to do that. We've got the connectivity on our roster.
These guys have grown up together. I was thinking about
arch and Ant to today. These guys don't know any
different in college than playing for a conference championship and
being in a college football playoff. That's what they're experience
in college has been so far.

Speaker 2 (08:10):
So it's going to.

Speaker 1 (08:11):
Take the resiliency, the confidence, and the belief, and it's
going to take being at our best when our best
is needed. And that's going to be laid into December
and into January if we want to accomplish the things
that we think we're capable of accomplishing. So looking forward
to it again, appreciate all that you do in supporting
college football and with that will open it up.

Speaker 4 (08:30):
Coach, thank you for your comments. If you have a question,
raise your hand. We'll get a microphone to you. So
we're going to start right here in front of me
about Fort roseback.

Speaker 3 (08:41):
Coach Ryan Spyro Texasport Network. Hope you're doing well today.
I just want to ask over the last couple of seasons,
the red zone offense has been faltered a little bit
in late game situations, in big moments too. I just
want to ask if the red zone offense being better
would help push you guys are over the hump to
get you into that national championship game.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
That was a good start. Man. Can I get up
with jabs right there at the rep?

Speaker 1 (09:08):
Yeah, I mean clearly, you know the last two years
we've had the ball inside the ten yard line to
score to either play for a national championship or tie
a game to go play for a national title. So
huge point of emphasis of ours. Every years a staff,
you look for areas of improvement where you can improve
your team, and as a coaching staff, that's clearly been

(09:30):
an area for us where we want to improve and
need to improve. I think that our staff has put
forth the effort to do that. I think our players
recognize that. You know, hopefully that we're good. Like I said,
we need to be at our best when our best
is needed, and those are two critical moments in the
last two years where we needed our best and we
just weren't quite at our best as coaches and or players.

(09:51):
And so big point of emphasis of ours. Hopefully next
year you ask me a different question. You say, since
you got that resolved, what are you working on this year.

Speaker 4 (10:00):
That we're going to stay over On the left hand side.

Speaker 5 (10:03):
Goes Travis Brown kBT X.

Speaker 6 (10:06):
With the new enforcement arm the CSC, how confident are
you that if a enforcement is laid down on a
team that they will do what's best for college football
as a whole and not work in their own self interest.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
Honestly, I have no idea. I don't know.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
We're in such the beginning stages of this thing. I
think that everybody is operating differently. Everybody's trying to navigate
this differently. And what are exactly the rules and are
they going to be enforced? Nobody really knows. And one
thing about me, I tend not to get into the
hypotheticals of what might be. I tend not to worry

(10:47):
about what might happen down the road. I try to
keep my focus on what we're doing, and my focus
is on our team, and that's you know. The more
time I spend on those things outside of our team,
then I'm then I'm doing a disservice to our players
into our team. So I'm going to let the powers
that be figured that out. My job is to be
the best head coach I can be for the University

(11:08):
of Texas.

Speaker 4 (11:09):
Because we're going to stay in front of me. Second
row Kurt.

Speaker 7 (11:14):
Kurt Balls from the Houston Chronicle. I was curious about
the linebacker position. How strong you feel like it is?
And I don't know if you move Colin around from
edge rusher to linebacker.

Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yeah, great question.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
You know our linebacking room, what we've tried to do
in that room, and we'll see if it all plays out.
We tried to make it a really versatile room, and
we know about the versatility of Anthony Hill's ability to
play off the ball and off the edge. Leong Lafol
is a steadfast player for us there.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
We love the development.

Speaker 1 (11:44):
Of ty Anthony Smith and how far he's come and
excited about him. And we love the addition of Bo
Barnes and the physicality that he brings in, the speed
factor that he brings.

Speaker 2 (11:53):
In the size.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
But we also moved Tray Moore to linebacker and we
brought in Brad Spence, two guys that both play off
the edge and play off the ball linebacker. And if
you really look at the body type of a call
in Simmons, he really can do those same types of things.
And so we're trying to create a room where we
can give multiple looks but still stay true to who
we are.

Speaker 2 (12:14):
But you got to have the players to do that.

Speaker 1 (12:17):
And I think that we've recruited that room that way,
and I think PK has done a great job of
evolving the defense with Coach Nansen to allow our players
to utilize their versatility to make it difficult on our opponents.

Speaker 4 (12:30):
Coach, We're going to go over to the right hand
side section.

Speaker 8 (12:32):
Hey goaj Hamilton Culpepper with Boldog Illustrated and the Hami Show.
With the recent news that today that Tyler Atkinson committed
to Texas and you got justice Terry last year, how
do you come into the state of Georgia get those guys,
and what's the importance of locking up some national big
time recruits.

Speaker 1 (12:50):
Well, I can't speak directly towards any recruit just I'm
not trying to not answer your question.

Speaker 2 (12:55):
To see know the rules there.

Speaker 1 (12:57):
I think in this day and age of recruiting, one
thing is of note. Players are leaving states all over
the place, going to other states to go play, and
we've had We've had a ton of players lead the
state of Texas and go play at other schools. We've
obviously made it a point to recruit more in the
Southeastern region. I think when we moved into the SEC,

(13:18):
it was a lot more natural for players from Louisiana, Alabama, Florida,
Georgia to be willing to come play at the University
of Texas. They were already kind of going to A
and M because they were in the SEC. But now
that that we've joined the conference, it's a lot more
palatable for those families, more palatable for those families and

(13:38):
for those kids to want to come play at Texas
knowing we're playing in the Southeastern Conference, and so we've
tried to take advantage of that. Again, we don't we
don't major in that, but we do definitely try to
recruit the high level players that fit our scheme, that
that are rated, that made of the right stuff, not
only as football players but as people.

Speaker 3 (13:58):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (13:58):
And so so far, so good, you know, Like I said,
We've recruited Florida, we recruiting Georgia, recruiting Alabama, recruiting Louisiana,
and it's been good to us.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
But at the same token, we're still recruiting the state
of Texas.

Speaker 1 (14:10):
We got a lot of great players in our own
state as well. So but again, I think we've got
a good product. And the product is what we've been
putting on the field and in the classroom, and the
success we've had as a team, success our players have
had in the classroom, and then the success that our
players have had getting drafted in the NFL. And I
think all those things adding up are you know, we're
an attractive school for players to want to come take

(14:32):
a look at. And then if we can start to
develop the relationships the right way and start to weed
out some of those that are just there to take
the trip and really hone in on the ones that
we think fit us, then we try to take advantage of.

Speaker 9 (14:45):
It, but we're going to go straight in front of me,
second row, etc. Hey, Steve Cedric Golden Austin, American States.
When Arch Manning cares himself like he's thirty years old,
how that maturity to fit him as he takes on
his challenge in the.

Speaker 1 (15:02):
Starter, Well, I think he learned a lot over time, right,
And so for Arch, he grew up in this era
of seeing.

Speaker 2 (15:11):
High level football.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
He's watched Super Bowls, He's watched gold jackets getting put on,
He's been to playoff games, He's been recruited at the
highest level as the number one player in the country.
He watched Quinn navigate through, you know, the ups and
downs of being a starting quarterback at the University of Texas.
And I think the one thing that you find out
about Arch has won. He's got a very even key

(15:32):
about him too.

Speaker 2 (15:34):
He's very quick witted.

Speaker 1 (15:35):
He's got a great sense of humor about himself, and
he's okay to laugh at himself. And I think that
that's a great quality to have because at the end
of the day, there's there's gonna be adversity that's going
to strike this season, and we all talk about resiliency
and grit and all those things that are needed when
adversity strikes. But I think some of that resiliency can
come from calm remaining calm, and Arch definitely has that

(15:58):
about him.

Speaker 2 (15:59):
He's a he's.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
A great guy, he's a great teammate, He's got unbelievable
work ethic, and I think if he stays true to
himself that that's going to help him navigate.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
These waters as they present themselves.

Speaker 1 (16:09):
And we've got to do a great job of supporting
him around him as coaches, as players, you know, and
ultimately I think he's prepared for the moment, but now
it's just time for him to go do it and
enjoy doing it quite frankly, which.

Speaker 4 (16:25):
We'll stand the same section about three rows back in
the middle.

Speaker 5 (16:29):
Anny Davis, Austin Statesman, Steve.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
Over the years, how have you seen Michael Taff go
from being a walk on to someone whose voice is
respected in your locker room and being a bigger leader. Yeah,
Probably the coolest story on our team right now is
Michael Taff. Here's a guy who was a state champion
at Westlake High School two years in a row state
championship game, MVP, two years in a Row has scholarship

(16:55):
offers to go to other universities. His lifelong dream was
to be a longhorn and walks on at the University
of Texas, and all he did was work hard, and
he never put a ceiling on himself. I think in
his mind he always expected to be an All American
safety at the University of Texas, as a captain representing
US at SEC media days. I think that that's how

(17:17):
this guy thinks, and that's how he's wired.

Speaker 2 (17:19):
And so now when you when you when.

Speaker 1 (17:22):
You chronologically look at his path of walking on you know,
being Scout team players of the week, earning a little
bit of playing time on special teams, to earning a
little bit of playing time on defense, to becoming a
regular down player on defense, to becoming a frontline starter
on defense, to becoming an All American on defense. It's like,

(17:42):
how do you not respect the guy all the while?
The way he carries himself and the way he represents
the University of Texas in our community, I think is
something to be admired. And I think that that's what
his teammates do. They respect him, they admire him, and
he's probably as hard on his teammates as he is
on himself, and he probably harder on the other walk
Ons than he is on himself because he knew what

(18:03):
he had to do to earn what he got, and
so I couldn't be happier for him. It is huge
for us that he decided to come back for.

Speaker 2 (18:11):
His senior season. His leadership, his.

Speaker 1 (18:13):
Ability to communicate in the back end for us. I mean,
he is like a coach on the field, and so
you know, just proud of him and proud to be
his coach.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
And like I said, you know, I think.

Speaker 1 (18:23):
Nobody deserves the accolades that he's getting more than more
than Michael Taff right now, coach.

Speaker 4 (18:30):
Right in front of us front row.

Speaker 10 (18:35):
Coach Terry Middleton with Orange Illustrated. So this season, Orange
Illustrated is going to write a lot of stories. We're
going to post a lot of social media posts about
Anthony Hill, about Arch Manning, about Michael Taff. But who
should we absolutely not forget to mention in these stories
when we write about them, because these teammates are, these coaches,

(18:55):
are these unsung heroes we never hear about, are the
reason why they're so great.

Speaker 2 (18:59):
Yeah, I think we have a bunch of great stories.
You know.

Speaker 1 (19:02):
I referenced Trey Weisner, like this guy's gone unforgotten, Like
he's got a thousand yard rusher in the Southeastern Conference
last year. It's a fantastic story.

Speaker 2 (19:12):
Of who he is.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
I think that there's so much work that goes into
developing our players. You think about our strength staff, you
think about nutrition, you think about academics. I'm going to
brag on our academic team for a minute. When we
got to University of Texas, at the end of our
spring semester, we had a two point three to two
team GPA in twenty twenty one, which is I couldn't
believe it, and I said, man, I know the University

(19:36):
of Texas is a tough school, but that's really low. Well,
what was the byproduct of that team GPA. We went
five and seven. We had zero players drafted in the
NFL Draft, So we pour into the academic side of things,
we pour into the culture. At the end of the
spring semester in year two, we have a two point
seven eight. The byproduct is eight and five five guys drafted,

(19:58):
one first round draft pick. The end of year three,
the team GPA is a two point nine to eight,
we go twelve and two, We win the Big Twelve, We.

Speaker 2 (20:06):
Go to the College Football Playoff.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
We have eleven guys drafted, two first rounders. At the
end of last year, we had a three point two
seventeen GPA. We go thirteen to three, We go the
SEC Championship Game. We have twelve guys drafted, three go
in the first round. At the end of this past spring,
we had a three point three to one team GPA.
So a lot of people get a lot of praise
in the development of our players and the program and

(20:29):
the commitment that everybody puts into this. But I think
Jeff Nelson and his team and academically what they do
as well as our player our players buying into the
idea of who you are some of the time is
who you are all the time. So how can our
GPA go up every year, our wins go up every year,
our draft picks go up every year. It's amazing how
the correlation of those things occur. And so there's a

(20:50):
lot of credit. There's a lot of great stories that
go into that, but that would probably be one that
we should tap into and write about.

Speaker 4 (20:57):
If we're going to go in the center Aisle just
over here to the right.

Speaker 11 (21:00):
Yes, Coach Sarkeys and Drew de Arman w'ss and Radio Huntsville, Alabama.
I wanted to ask about a key member of your
staff that's from our backyard and Boaz, Alabama. I know
you've you started your relationship with him at the university
on the coaching staff, and you took him with with you.

Speaker 5 (21:16):
He was key in helping you.

Speaker 11 (21:17):
Develop quinn Ewers and recruiting archs Manning. But tell us
about Aj Milwey and the role he plays and his
development as a coach.

Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yeah, Coach Milwey is is a vital piece of the
puzzle for us, for sure. You know, we forged a
great relationship at Alabama when I was the quarterback coach
offensive coordinator. Coach Millwey was an analyst on staff. He
had just come from Akron where he was one of
the younger offensive coordinators in the country.

Speaker 2 (21:44):
And when I.

Speaker 1 (21:45):
Got the job at the University of Texas, he was
the first guy I hired. You know, we had worked,
you know, step by step all the way through those
two years at Bama and went in the national title.
Brought him on here to Texas and he's grown into now.
He's not just our quarterback coach, he's our co offensive coordinator.

Speaker 2 (22:01):
I don't think.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
I definitely there's nobody I work closer with on a
daily basis than Aj Millwie, from the development of game
plans to the scripting of practice, to talking about play
calls during the game, to recruitment of players. I think
he forges a great relationship with all the guys in
that room. And there's not a day or a moment

(22:23):
in the day where I don't feel very comfortable if
I can't do something that Aj Milwi can handle it
and handle it at a really high level. So we're
very fortunate to have them.

Speaker 4 (22:32):
We're gonna go front left.

Speaker 5 (22:33):
From Rep Hey coach Al Richardson for Orange Floyds.

Speaker 12 (22:37):
Yesterday, Lane Kivin came up here and said they're trying
to operate within their cap but didn't necessarily feel like
everyone else was doing that. Curious how you, maybe, Brandon Harris,
figure out how.

Speaker 5 (22:49):
To operate within your cap? Who's worth what, who's not worth? What?
Do you feel like everybody else is played within the rules?

Speaker 2 (22:56):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (22:57):
I can't speak on behalf of everybody else. I really
don't know, And like I said Amy or email me,
well enough, I don't have time or energy to worry
about what everybody else is doing. We're trying to We're
trying to build a roster that is one that that
can withstand the test of time. And we never wanted
to come here and be a one year wonder team
and then the next year be not very good. So

(23:17):
we're trying to be sustainable, uh for for a long
period of time. I think that that's what good programs do,
and so managing that takes a lot into account. It
takes a lot into ultimately the production of players.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
Are they performing right?

Speaker 1 (23:32):
And and you know, we've created this environment that this
is a production based business in sport, and so are
players producing one?

Speaker 2 (23:41):
Two?

Speaker 1 (23:41):
Do they uphold the standards of the organization off the field,
And if not, then that could be a factor.

Speaker 2 (23:47):
Three we got to retain.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
Those players because as much as we've built a really
good roster, I promise you, other schools are trying to
hire our players off of our roster to get them
to transfer. And our players are very uh transparent with
me about that. And then the fourth piece is then
we're trying to recruit to our roster and so you
only have so much money to go around. You got
to be mindful of that, and you just don't want

(24:11):
to be reckless with what you do. And now more
than ever with a cap in place, you really have
to be effective and efficient, and you have to make
sure that you're filling your needs on your roster with
high level people when you know another high level person
is leaving and or is.

Speaker 2 (24:26):
This a depth move.

Speaker 1 (24:27):
And so it's no different than you know, it's easy
to say the NFL draft, you only get so many
first round picks, but man, your roster's really made up
of those third, fourth, and fifth round picks. It's not
a whole lot different that we only have so much
money to go around, and so we've got to do
a great job evaluating.

Speaker 2 (24:44):
We've got to do a.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
Great job of rewarding those players that are doing it
at a high level within our program so that they
don't go anywhere else. But we've also got to continue
to develop our players as they grow and make sure
that our players aren't doing this for the idea of money.
I think sometimes, quite frankly, I think it hurts us
a little bit in recruiting and the fact that when

(25:05):
kids come on our campus. One of the first things
we do we don't talk about NIL. We don't talk
about NIL or revenue sharing or publicity rights until the
very end. And that may hurt us on some kids.
But if a kid is coming to Texas for that reason, we.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
Don't want them anyway.

Speaker 6 (25:21):
You know.

Speaker 1 (25:22):
We want kids that want to be at the University
of Texas because of the school, the coaches, the team,
the culture, all those things that.

Speaker 2 (25:29):
Go into it.

Speaker 1 (25:30):
And oh, by the way, you can get publicity rights
or revenue share, so on and so forth. If you're
coming for the other reason, he's probably going to be
the guy in eighteen months that's back in.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
The portal, going somewhere else where.

Speaker 1 (25:40):
They're going to offer him more money because I can't
offer every player the most money that he might get
offered from another school.

Speaker 2 (25:47):
It just doesn't work like that anymore.

Speaker 4 (25:49):
We have time for two more. We'll start in the middle.

Speaker 5 (25:52):
It's a section in.

Speaker 6 (25:53):
Front of me.

Speaker 5 (25:57):
Heng coach Megan English from the Daily Texan.

Speaker 6 (25:59):
Early you talked about how you have a hungry team
with back to back playoff appearances.

Speaker 5 (26:05):
How do you keep your team hungry and battle complacency?

Speaker 1 (26:08):
Yeah, yeah, I think there's a fine line there of
what does complacency look like of monitoring it? And I
watch the intent of our players. I watch the way
they work, I watch the way they interact with one another.
I watch the way they compete with one another. And
so I don't feel complacency whatsoever amongst our players. But

(26:29):
what I do know about our team I think about
Anthony Hill was a state champion in high school. Colin
Simmons was a state champion in high school. Michael Taff
was a state champion in high school, Trey Wisen was
a state champion in high school.

Speaker 2 (26:41):
And I could keep going down the list.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
We've got winners in our locker room, and we specifically
and intentionally recruited winners into our locker room. So when
these guys are going into a locker room after a
loss in the semi finals, I promise you, it hurts them.
And so we don't forget that feeling, Okay, And so
we're back to work, and the leadership on this team
is full of winners, and that's the way they want

(27:04):
to go about the season is try to go win
a championships.

Speaker 2 (27:07):
That's the goal.

Speaker 4 (27:08):
Take one final question on the aisle about three quarters
the Way Back, Eric G.

Speaker 13 (27:14):
Ninety two one the Ticket in Fayette Vail. You mentioned
the traditional rivalries of A and M Texas and even
through Arkansas in there. Whether it's your fan base, whether
it's your program, where does Arkansas fit or how do
you view Arkansas compared to A and M and O?

Speaker 1 (27:33):
You well, from a fan base perspective, especially the traditionalists
fan base, they love the rivalry with Arkansas, and I
think naturally, when I took the job, I knew of
a rivalry with OU.

Speaker 2 (27:48):
I knew of the rivalry with A and M. Made sense.

Speaker 1 (27:51):
I found out about the rivalry against Arkansas, and they
whipped our ass in the second game of my career
when I got to Texas. So that rivalry got really good,
really fast. For so we respect it, we honor it.

Speaker 3 (28:02):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (28:02):
It's a heck of a rivalry. It's a great game
to be part of.

Speaker 4 (28:05):
Good Shark. Thank you for your time, party y'all.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
Thank you book them
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