Texas Longhorns Coach Steve Sarkisian Falls in Latest Coaching Power Rankings

Despite an up-and-down career, Steve Sarkisian has hit the ground running as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns.

In his five years at the helm, he has led the Longhorns to a 48-20 record. Although the Longhorns haven't won a title just yet, many in the sport have deemed that the once-dominant program is "back," which is hard to argue with.

Sarkisian has led Texas to a Big 12 title, SEC Championship appearance and two College Football Playoff appearances, including an appearance in the four-team playoff. Despite his success on the field, his elite recruiting prowess and offensive mastermind, Sarkisian is not considered a top-five coach in college football in the eyes of The Athletic's Stewart Mandel.

Where Steve Sarkisian ranks among college football's best coaches

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Sarkisian wasn't too far away from being in the top five, as Mandel had him at No. 6, but the veteran college football writer did admit that having Sarkisian at No. 3 last year was too high.

"I may have had Sark a couple spots too high last year, when he was coming off back-to-back CFP semifinals. Texas slipped to 10-3 in 2025," Mandel said. "But Texas had one 10-win season in the decade before he got there and now has three straight. I can’t justify keeping him above Lanning or DeBoer, but no one else I considered for No. 6 had two CFP trips."

The dynamic of college football has shifted so much just in the past five years with NIL and the transfer portal.

As a result, coaching has become a top priority.

Here's our top 25 power rankings for coaches — a snapshot of the coaching landscape today. pic.twitter.com/SFRh9go9Qn
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 12, 2026

It's certainly interesting that Sarkisian is below both Lanning and DeBoer based on his criteria, as Mandel made it clear it's not entirely based on past successes but their trajectory.

"These rankings are not a career achievement award," Mandel said. "They are a snapshot of the coaching landscape today. While I don’t throw out a coach’s earlier accomplishments, I’m more concerned with their trajectory over the past three to five seasons."

Considering just about everyone in Tuscaloosa is ready for DeBoer to be shown the door and he has yet to get things to click at Alabama, it seems like he'd be more worthy of a falling out of the top five. At the end of the day, coach rankings don't necessarily matter, but if Sarkisian wanted some personal bulletin board material after Texas' 10-3 season, this could serve as just that.

He and the Longhorns will open the 2026 season on Sept. 5 against the Texas State Bobcats before having a chance to avenge both last year's Week 1 loss and the year prior's season-ending loss against Ohio State.