Steve Sarkisian Thinks Two Things Could Determine Texas Longhorns Fate in 2024

Steve Sarkisian thinks there are two areas that could determine the Longhorns' ultimate fate next season.

Texas Longhorns Head Coach Steve Sarkisian during spring practice at the Frank Denius practice / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman

The Texas Longhorns might have one of the best rosters in college football, but that doesn't mean it is flawless either.

The Longhorns are currently in an extraordinary situation in the sense that they have been able to replenish their ranks with top tier talent - and in some cases even upgrade - after 11 players moved on and were selected to the NFL.

On the other side of that coin, there is also a tremendous amount of production on both sides of the ball that needs to be replaced.

In fact, there are two areas in particular that head coach Steve Sarkisian believes are of the utmost importance and could ultimately decide their fate next season.

Texas Longhorns Head Coach Steve Sarkisian during spring practice at the Frank Denius practice / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman

The first and perhaps most obvious area of the two being that of the interior defensive line, where the Longhorns lost two All-American talents in T'Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy.

"Well, I think the biggest one is when you lose those two defensive linemen in the interior of your front with Byron Murphy and, T'Vondre Sweat, how do you replace them?" Sarkisian said in an interview with 247Sports' Josh Pate. "I think our depth is really important. And so that was something that we tried to attack in the portal just to solidify the depth of playing more people and not having to rely on just those two."

And attack that they did, with the Horns getting three defensive tackle commits via the portal in Tiaoalii Savea and Bill Norton from Arizona, and Jermayne Lole from Louisville.

Still, despite the losses of arguably his two best defenders, Sarkisian is confident in what the Horns have brought in, and what they already have in place at the position.

"I think we've got some players that are ready to develop. Neither [Murphy or Sweat] had ever started a game until last season, either," Sarkisian said. "We've got some young players in our program that are growing up. I love where Alfred Collins is at, Vernon Broughton, what they can do with some of the growth of our other players."

Meanwhile, the other area of focus the Longhorns have had this offseason comes on the other side of the ball, where once again the Longhorns have to replace copious amounts of production.

Texas Longhorns wide receivers Adonai Mitchell (5) and Xavier Worthy (1) celebrate a touchdown by / Aaron E. Martinez / USA TODAY NETWORK

He is speaking, of course, about the losses in the pass-catching department, where Texas lost quarterback Quinn Ewers' four favorite targets in Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Jordan Whittington and Ja'Tavion Sanders - each of which played a critical role last season.

Fortunately for the Horns, they were able to bring in some top tier talent via recruiting and the portal.

"On the offensive side of the ball, we lost three NFL receivers and an NFL tight end," Sarkisian told Pate. "Getting that continuity back for Quinn, whether it was in the transfer portal with Isaiah Bond, Silas Bolden, Matthew Golden... whether it's with the three young players that we had that were the only returning scholarship receivers in Johntay Cook, Ryan Niblett, DeAndre Moore; or the high school kids like Ryan Wingo."

However, acquiring talent doesn't always mean success.

The Ewers also need to develop a continuity and rapport with his new pass catchers. That includes returning players like Johntay Cook and DeAndre Moore, who saw extremely limited reps in their freshmen seasons.

That will be easier said than done, of course. But as Sarkisian admits, it will also be critical to their overall success - particularly in big games.

"We've got to get that continuity to an all-time high, because that's what's going to be needed in those big games," Sarkisian said. "It's going to come down to the precision of the passing game. It's critical. You've got to be able to create those explosive plays. I think that was part of the reason why we beat Alabama. But I think that was also part of the reason we lost to  [in the CFP]. Washington hit those big plays against us. We didn't hit enough of them against Washington."

It will be difficult to know how well the Horns addressed these areas of concern until the season kicks off on August 31 against Colorado State.

Until then, all we can do is speculate.