Texas Head Coach Used Clemson As Inspiration When Building His Program

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian saw the Clemson Tigers as one of the game’s standard bearers when he took over the Longhorns.

Texas Longhorns Head Coach Steve Sarkisian watches from behind the play during the first quarter of the Longhorns' spring Orange and White game at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, April 20, 2024. | Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA

The Texas Longhorns are making final preparations for their move to the SEC, which becomes official on July 1.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian spoke with SiriusXM recently and said that when the Longhorns agreed to make the move from the Big 12, they didn’t need to change their plan for success because they were already building like a championship team — and Clemson was part of Sarkisian’s template.

Sarkisian took over at Texas in early 2021, right after he served as offensive coordinator for the Alabama Crimson Tide, who won the national championship that year.

When he sat down with athletic director Chris Del Conte and university president Jay Hartzell during the hiring process, he was asked what the Longhorns needed to do in order to compete with the heavyweights of college football.

Sarkisian referenced Clemson as one of the teams Texas had to chase and overtake to get there.

"I said, 'We’re going to have to build a roster that can compete with and ultimately beat Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State, Notre Dame … because those are the perennial teams in those final four games (College Football Playoff).'"

Clemson made the CFP that season as the No. 2 seed and lost to Ohio State in the semifinals. But the Tigers were already one of the best teams in the CFP era.

They made the second-most appearances in the CFP during the four-team playoff era, which started with the 2014 season. Only Alabama with eight has made more. The playoff expands to 12 teams this year.

Clemson won the national championship at the end of the 2016 and 2018 seasons, while reaching the championship game at the end of the 2015 and 2019 seasons.

But they haven’t been back to the CFP since that 2020 season.

The Tigers are hoping to challenge Florida State for the ACC title or take advantage of one of the expanded at-large berths to make a playoff return.

Texas, meanwhile, has rebuilt under Sarkisian.

The Longhorns are coming off a 12-2 record, a Big 12 title, and their first CFP appearance, where they lost to Washington.

Sarkisian appears happy to tip his cap to Clemson and others as inspiration for this Texas rebuild.