Steve Sarkisian Makes Bold Statement About the Role He Played in 2026 Texas Failures

The Texas Longhorns have their eyes set on the season ahead, and with a revamped roster, strengthened to fix the programs needs, the expectations are sky-high on the team to deliver a national championship back to Austin for the first time in over 20 seasons.

This is the second season in a row that the Longhorns have been tasked with bold promises on the season, and for head coach Steve Sarkisian, despite beginning the 2025 season as the No. 1 team in the country, they missed out on the College Football Playoffs.

While that season is in the past, the results still don't sting for Sarkisian, who opened up the Triple Option Show about the role he played and the steps he had to take to put the Longhorns in a better position for 2026.

How Sarkisian Impacted the Missed Results

Texas Longhorns Head Coach Steve Sarkisian — Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is interviewed by the media after the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Kroger Field. | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

In college football, the head coach is often at the forefront, leading the way to ensure everything is done down to the T, in line with the style they prefer for their program. Sarkisian, despite being one of the rare coaches who still calls plays, is no different in that regard.

"I feel like I failed our team last year because I was on that same model," Sarkisian said. "We'll go through winter conditioning, we'll go through spring ball, we'll start all of our culture-building stuff in June. Our culture was getting developed without any of my input."

In a world with the transfer portal being one of the main builders for a program every offseason, instilling the culture built by the players who originated from there is key. The Longhorns failed at that, and Sarkisian admitted to as much, leaving the team with bad habits that didn't break until halfway through the season.

How the Longhorns Will Rebound in 2026

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian leads his team onto the field prior to the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The Longhorns welcomed 35 new faces last season, and ahead of the 2026 season, while the number is different, welcoming new players to help the program win games that weren't there through the trials and tribulations of the prior season is once again at the forefront.

That is normal in the sport today, using the transfer portal to find pieces to help teams reload, rather than rebuild. With those new additions, though, come NIL offers that often sway players, sometimes leading to playing for the money, rather than for the team's common goal of winning a national championship.

"I started doing our culture work in February, and I started pouring into that," Sarkisian continued. "These guys are playing for the team first, and I think we do have the leadership going right now that these guys understand the little things that it takes to be a championship team.

While it's no secret that the Longhorns had their shortcomings last season, Sarkisian has gone a different route to find success this season, and proves once again that he is willing to do whatever it takes to return a national championship to the Forty Acres.

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