Why Steve Sarkisian is the Best Play Caller in College Football

There aren't many coaches in college football who have done a better job of reviving a program than Steve Sarkisian has with the Texas Longhorns. Making them competitive for a national championship, and one of the most feared recruiting competitors in the country.

Those characteristics might not even be his greatest strengths, either, as he is one of the few head coaches who still call plays, directing the offense himself from the sidelines in their quest to return a national championship to Austin.

How great is he, though? Coach Dan Casey said on the Crain & Cone show that he is the No. 1 play-caller in the country, but what is it that sets him apart?

What Makes Sarkisian the Top Play Caller

Texas Longhorns Head Coach Steve Sarkisian — Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian waits to lead 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 failed to meet their lofty expectations last season, primarily because they struggled early on offense as they adjusted to a new offensive line, a better running back room, and a first-year starting quarterback in Arch Manning. Despite that, they finished 27th in the country in points per game (30.5) and 33rd in yards per play (5.8), showing that when the offense clicked, it really worked.

"The person that gets stolen from the most, by a mile, is Steve Sarkisian," Casey said on the Crain & Cone Show. "The design, the execution. When I go back and look at the Quinn Ewers years, and the different things they have done on the fields with the athletes, I think Sark does more for the play-calling head coach than just about anybody in football."

Casey made light of the situation for the Longhorns last season, dealing with a banged-up Manning, which further hindered his abilities on the field, though it might not have felt like it at times. Sarkisian has elite play design and execution, even earning a screen named after him, "the Sark screen," that allows him to use different looks in different formations.

While there is a curse in college football, that no head coach who is also a play-caller has ever won a national championship, Sarkisian has always been one to go his own route and break molds. Already viewed as one of the top signal-callers in the country, with a new defensive coordinator in Will Muschamp to alleviate his worry, Sarkisian now has a revamped offense in one of the best systems in college football.

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