Texas Fall Camp: Quotes That Matter From Steve Sarkisian And What They Reveal About Day 1

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian met with the media Wednesday following the team's first practice of fall camp ahead of the 2026 season.

Sarkisian had a positive energy while talking with reporters, as it's clear he liked what he say from Day 1 even though he acknowledged there's a long way to go.

Here are some of the best quotes from Sarkisian after the first fall practice.

Day 1 standouts

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning warms up before a game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"I thought Arch (Manning) had a good day. I've seen a lot of rough quarterback days. First day of practice, the defenses have seen all these same plays all summer long. I thought he looked good," Sarkisian said. "I thought a couple of runners, Hollywood (Smothers) had some nice runs. I thought Michael Terry III showed up running the ball. I thought defensively, Rasheem Biles was flying around. You know, so a lot of positive positive stuff. It was good to have Jermaine (Bishop) back on offense too. I thought he did a couple nice things for us there."

It says a lot that Sarkisian is pointing out Michael Terry III in particular. He's become somewhat of a forgotten name in the running back room but it's clear he's showing he can still have an impact on this roster, regardless of what that looks like.

On John Meredith III's first practice

Texas Longhorns cornerback John Meredith III during fall camp practice. | Zach Dimmitt, Texas Longhorns on SI

"He's in real freshman moments right now," Sarkisian said of Meredith. "A lot of our freshmen have been with us since January. I mean, this guy just showed up a week ago, so everything is brand new to him. But I thought he fought through. I thought he worked at it. You know, getting in shape and competing at the level of which we're competing at is is not easy to do. But he's working hard, and there's some positives. He's a competitive guy, that's for sure."

This was an important quote from Sarkisian. Many fans will overreact to the clips taken by Texas Longhorns on SI of Meredith appearing to struggle with the heat in his first-ever college practice but it's crucial to remember that he only joined the Longhorns a week ago and didn't work out with the team the entire summer in Torre Becton's conditioning program.

Naturally, there is going to be some growing pains for a guy that should be preparing for his senior year instead of getting ready for SEC football.

On if there are any starting spots up for grabs

"A lot of them," Sarkisian said. "I mean, I think this team is really deep, and we're going to need a lot of these bodies. You guys know what our schedule looks like, and you're playing playing nine conference games now with Ohio State (and) Texas State and UTSA both probably going to be bowl teams this fall, so we've got a we've got a real challenging schedule."

"We're going to need as many bodies as we can, and the goal is to be quality two-deep at every spot. Hopefully you got a third guy that can play if if he needs to, and so hopefully we can develop all of that at all three phases because special teams is going to be crucial in that aspect as well."

This shows that Sarkisian truly feels he has some tough decisions to make across the depth chart. Though fans have a good idea of where things will likely end up, it's not quite so easy when you're the coaches actually figuring out the rotation. There's a lot of talented players on the roster deserving of a starting job but only 22 of them will get that designation.

Could this mean that a surprise name will emerge as a starter once fall camp is over? Only time will tell.

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