Why Steve Sarkisian is Thrilled About 2026 Texas Longhorns Running Back Room

Historically, the Texas Longhorns may have the greatest running back room in all of college football, as gridiron legends such as Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams, and Jamaal Charles have graced the 40 Acres with their speed and agility and went on to have successful professional careers.

The same can be said for the backs that have toted the rock during Steve Sarkisian's tenure since he was hired before the 2021 season, especially names such as Bijan Robinson and Jaydon Blue.

With the addition of Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers in the backfield, that success can be expected to continue, but there is one critique that the head coach has had of one of his halfback rooms, a very recent room.

"Maybe We Didn't Have That a Year Ago"

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian and running back Quintrevion Wisner — Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian celebrates with running back Quintrevion Wisner (26) after beating Clemson in the first round of the College Football Playoffs at Texas Memorial Stadium. | Sara Diggins-USA Today Network via Imagn Images

The two transfer backs' performance during the spring camps made Sarkisian realize the skill they possessed, a skill set that also made the head coach realize that maybe there was a year gap in a certain piece of the team's game.

"The ability to make a guy miss in tight quarters in the open field is something we had the luxury of the first few years here," Sarkisian said. "We were very fortunate to have that aspect of our team the first four years here that maybe we didn't have a year ago."

Last year's running back room in Austin featured Quintrevion Wisner and CJ Baxter, the latter of whom was coming off an injury that caused him to miss the entire 2024 season.

2025 saw the lowest rushing yardage total under Sarkisian's watch, with only 1,791 total rushing yards from the two backs, as well as Christian Clark, Arch Manning, and the other rushers on the team, with Wisner leading the way with 597 yards, with 155 of them coming in the regular season finale against Texas A&M.

Though he missed a month of action in the season due to injury, the numbers are a sharp decrease from his 2024 numbers, which again saw him lead the Longhorns' rushing attack with 1,064 yards as he and Jaydon Blue contributed to the 2,540 total rushing yards the team tallied during the season.

Baxter's return to the team also resulted in more time missed due to injury and overall lackluster performance, resulting in only 196 yards in the eight games he played in.

Due to the injuries both men suffered, their mobility and change of direction wasn't exactly the most on point, so open field tackling was somewhat simple for opposing defenses as long as they caught them before they reached full speed, and both backs entered the transfer portal following the season, allowing for Brown to come in from Arizona State and Smothers from NC State.

Two moves that have seemingly given Sarkisian hope again in the backfield game.

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