Steve Sarkisian Aggressively Shuts Down Rumors of Leaving Texas Longhorns

AUSTIN -- Steve Sarkisian is making it crystal clear: He's not leaving the Texas Longhorns anytime soon.

While speaking with the media on the weekly SEC Teleconference, Sarkisian gave a lengthy statement in regards to recent rumors of his potential departure. ESPN college football analyst and former Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard caused a stir on social media Monday with out-of-nowhere comments about Texas and Sarkisian "mutually parting ways" this offseason, something that came a few weeks after The Athletic reported Sarkisian had interest in leaving for the NFL.

Sarkisian didn't call out Howard or The Athletic directly, but emphasized that the Forty Acres will be his home for the long run.

Steve Sarkisian: "I'm Not Going Anywhere ... This is Our Home"

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian gestures after a game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Though Sarkisian didn't mention Howard's remarks. he directly said that he has not had any discussions about leaving for the NFL and is focused on staying at Texas to "win championships."

"I'd like to comment something before I get into our team that has been bothering me now over the past few weeks," Sarkisian said. "That is people reporting that are insinuating that there's a possibility I could leave the University of Texas, and that is absolutely false and untrue."

"I'm not going anywhere," Sarkisian continued. "Never do I do this because I never want to be a distraction, so I never address these things. At this point, I feel like this is important that I do this because it's important for our team. It's important for our university. I've had no discussions, not with my agent, not with the university, not with any other school, not with any NFL team about ever going anywhere else. I came here to win championships."

"I've got two kids enrolled at the University of Texas, one in law school, one on our team. I've got a third that hopefully decides to enroll at the University of Texas next fall. My wife and I just had our son here in Austin. This is our home."

Steve Sarkisian Has Brought Texas Back to Relevance

Despite coming up short of expectations this season, Sarkisian undeniably brought Texas back from its decade-long lull that occurred after the 2009 National Championship loss and the departure of Mack Brown.

Since his arrival in 2021, Sarkisian has led Texas to a Big 12 Championship title, an appearance in the SEC Championship and two straight trips to the College Football Playoff Semifinals, where the Longhorns found themselves a few plays away from a berth in the National Championship.

He outlined this accomplishments in his statement.

"We came here to win championships. We've built a damn good football program over the five years that we've been here. We've been to two College Football Playoffs. We won a Big 12 championship. We went to the SEC Championship game in year one. We've had 23 players drafted the last two years, which is more than any other school in the country and our team GPA is at an all-time high."

Steve Sarkisian's Sends Message to the Media

Sarkisian added that he wants to put an end to false rumors circulating around social media without first getting clarification from him or Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte.

"Can we please stop putting things out there that you have absolutely zero evidence on? Can we please stop retweeting and putting it back out there as if it's true? As if it's the gospel? It is not true. If you have a question about my future, call me or call Chris Del Conte our athletic director and we can set the record straight for you so everybody understands."

"So moving forward, when some Joe Blow decides to put something on social media out there, we all don't run with it like it's the gospel. Can we all agree on that on this call? If you have a question about my future with the University of Texas, ask me on one of these calls. Ask Chris Del Conte. He'll be more than happy to take your call so that we can set the record straight and so we can focus on our football team, which is what we should be doing. Everybody good with that?"

Sarkisian and the Longhorns will now shift focus to their upcoming matchup against the Arkansas Razorbacks.