Steve Sarkisian Issues Apology To Holly Rowe, Addresses Arch Manning Controversy

Following their thrilling win over No. 1 Ohio State, the Texas Longhorns probably expected the news cycle to be a little bit different this week.

What started as a celebration quickly turned to controversy, with head coach Steve Sarkisian facing fire for the way both his halftime and his post-game press conferences with ESPN played out.

Sarkisian was seen on camera, seemingly blowing off the halftime interview with Laura Rutledge, as well as the post-game opportunity with Holly Rowe.

Steve Sarkisian addressed both of those situations with the media on Thursday, and issued and apology for his actions.

Sarkisian's apology

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian walks across the field prior to the NCAA football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

"I want to address is a couple of my in-game interviews last Saturday night in the Ohio State ball game," Sarkisian said. "The first at halftime, I had I was scheduled to have an interview with Laura Rutledge. ESPN was having technical difficulties, and I had to make a had to make a in in moment decision to stay, wait on the interview, or try to get with our team and try to make the proper adjustments to come out and play as good as we could in the second half. I let Laura know that, and I think she said that on air. And then I had an opportunity to visit with Laura when we came back out of the locker room to let her know where our thoughts were as a team and what we needed to do in the second half of that game."

"As it pertains to after the ball game, again, there was a delay after I greeted Coach Day in the middle of the field; there was a delay in the moment. You know, through that delay, I wanted to go celebrate with our team. We just had a 21-point fourth-quarter comeback against the number one team in the country. If hindsight's 2020, if I could do it all over again, I would have exuded more patience in that moment and sat through and waited for the interview with Holly. Obviously, we have a ton of respect for ESPN and Holly. Holly and I go way back to even to my days of playing at BYU, and we've got a great relationship. ESPN is a great partner of ours."

"We know we're going to have more opportunities with that crew covering us, and we're looking forward to those opportunities. So, could have definitely handled that situation better with a little bit more patience in the moment"

Howver, they wasn't the only blowback the Longhorns received this week.

Sark Addresses the Arch Manning Situation

In the Monday press conference following the win, Texas quarterback Arch Manning faced his own backlash, after making a joke about an AI Video that depicted Sarkisian slapping Rowe.

Manning eventually issued an apology of his own, which was accepted by Rowe.

Sarkisian addressed that situation as well, and made his stance clear on the issue.

"Arch recognizes he made a mistake, and it's an unfortunate one. Nowhere do we condone domestic violence or violence against women. Nothing in our program says that, nor Arch individually. I think if he could take it back, he would," Sarkisian said. "He has since apologized to Holly. He's made a public apology, and you know our goal is that we can move forward with him being the guy that we all know he is and what he represents."

Sarkisian and the Longhorns kick off against the UTSA Roadrunners on Saturday night at 7 pm.

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