steve-sarkisian Page 1 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

In college coaching, it’s better to have a <i>Succession</i> plan than deal with a surprise retirement
So much about sports is often about who’s next. But ironically, over the last few years, we’ve seen how multiple team’s inability to look to the future in one certain area has hurt more than it’s helped. From Nick Saban and Jay Wright to what Tom Izzo has recently shared, it’s clear that focusing on...

Does Kalen DeBoer know what he’s getting into at Alabama?
It’d be interesting to see how many Alabama fans knew the name Kalen DeBoer before this season. Hell, I’d love to see the numbers a month and a half ago. It took all of two days for the Crimson Tide to find a replacement for Nick Saban, which feels fast, but with players diving into the transfer poo...

The Texas Longhorns’ season-long bank heist fell short at the vault
The horseshoe that’s been up the Texas Longhorns’ ass finally fell out Monday night. Hours after its claim at legitimacy flamed out, with Alabama squandering a seven-point fourth-quarter lead to a semi-lethargic Michigan team, UT repeatedly looked like frauds. ...

The year’s CFP selection process is an omen of things to come
For those of you who think the decision facing the College Football Playoff committee is proof that expansion is needed, this is only a taste. Regardless of who gets left out of the final four, it’s going to be hilarious. Anytime you get to laugh at Alabama, Texas, or Florida State, it’s a pleasure....

The SEC is a one-bid conference — again
This is a weird season for the SEC thus far. Only one team appears worthy of the playoff, and Georgia didn’t exactly look like world beaters against South Carolina on Saturday either. Tennessee lost to Florida (who already lost to Utah), LSU lost to Florida State, and Alabama lost to Texas. Those th...

Bill Belichick is reportedly shopping Mac Jones because he's still pissed at the QB
Bill Belichick must have forgotten that he is not the only football luminary who has been Mac Jones’ head coach. Jones played college football for Nick Saban — arguably Belichick’s greatest student. Remember, “One band, one sound,” from the movie Drumline? That line is Alabama football. Every person...

It’s never been easier to rebuild or bottom out in college football
The transfer window for college football players doesn’t officially open until Dec. 5., but that hasn’t stopped disgruntled wide receivers, linemen, linebackers, QBs, running backs, and every other position from making their intentions known. Per ESPN, there were 3,085 transfers in 2021-22, almost d...

There’s a reason Mike Leach’s quarterbacks have never cost him his job
The next time a pundit says “Missing on such-and-such QB cost coach X his job” will be my next visit to the psych ward. You know why Spencer Rattler didn’t cost Lincoln Riley his job, and Paul Chryst couldn’t survive Graham Mertz? One looks at a chalkboard as a place to draw plays, and the other see...

The Marty McFly College Football Rankings Week 4: Rocky Top tops the list after holding off Florida
Praise be to the college football gods who provided me with enough undefeated, resurgent programs to continue to populate this list. Of the seven teams to have curried Michael J. Fox’s favor, three of them have two losses. Miami, Florida, and Texas all lost again Saturday, and only one of them to a ...

The College Football Marty McFly Rankings for Week 2: USC is the most back of any team that’s ever been gone
It was a pretty good week for teams still working their way back to the arbitrary standards that their fans set for them, and the rate at which ranked schools and heavy favorites were going down Saturday, I was a little nervous. I’m not quite sure what this list will look like once all of these team...

Alabama-Texas was drunk, I mean like drunk drunk
This is why people can’t quit Texas. They have all the talent to hang with and beat the best teams in the country even with a backup QB, and like Mikey with a number in Swingers, fuck it up. The rest of the SEC watching wishes that version of Alabama shows up to conference play, but still someone ha...

Beware the YouTube footage of the transfer quarterback
A change of scenery doesn’t change a player’s DNA. Coaching staffs can alter the way a quarterback is used and improve his production, but the flaws will surface under intense stress. It’s like Tim Tebow’s throwing motion. The guy could have the footwork of Peyton Manning and the accuracy of Drew Br...

There’s a reason hope is one letter away from hype
The biggest offseason addition for Texas football every year isn’t an offspring of the Manning family or a QB from the Ohio State discard pile. It’s hype. People point to recruiting rankings, staff changes, the Texas flag, the sky, an armadillo, and, presto, people who follow college football develo...

Well, it’s official — Quinn Ewers has an Arch nemisis
The ever-optimistic “Texas Is Back” believers have much to rejoice in the coming years, as football royalty’s heir apparent, Arch Manning, announced a somewhat surprising commitment to Texas on Thursday. Heavily recruited by a number of SEC schools, including Ole Miss where his grandfather and names...

The war on the ‘horns down’ gesture continues
Clowning the University of Texas has become somewhat of a tradition on this website. It may be the delusional self-perception, the overrated and underperforming football team, Steve Sarkisian, a racist fight song, or any matter of Friday Night Lights-type drama that seems to bubble out of Austin eve...

Hope springs eternal, justified or not, for Texas fans
Lift up the annual refrain: “This is going to be our year! No, we know we said that last year after Sark got hired and then promptly went 5-7, and the year that Tom Herman got hired and we went 7-6, and just about every year for the last decade with nothing much to show for it, but 2022? Yeah, it’s ...

Hey, Steve Sarkisian, admitting Texas has a problem is the first step to recovery
As a journalist, I’m always skeptical when someone isn’t allowed to talk. So when I read that Texas senior defensive lineman Moro Ojomo is taking a Steve Sarkisian-enforced break from talking to reporters “for a while” after criticizing the Longhorn’s culture, my immediate reaction was to question w...

I know just the coach for Auburn
The writing is on the wall for Bryan Harsin at Auburn, to the point where Paul Finebaum is openly speculating about Hugh Freeze coming in from Liberty — after five years of SEC exile — to take the Tigers job....

Sooners’ planned move to the SEC might’ve pushed Riley to USC
There were too many openings at too many big colleges for a notable school or two not to be on the losing side even after being on the side of winning for so long. In a not so subtle reminder that there’s always a bigger fish, Lincoln Riley opted for Southern California rather than the Southeastern ...

Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is my college football team to be good
The idea of getting back to a previous, dominant form is antithetical to moving forward. By looking back and chasing past eras, schools like USC, Miami, Nebraska and others are envisioning levels of dominance that are extremely rare and difficult to replicate — or in some cases *cough* Texas *cough*...