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NEW ORLEANS — Texas is “back.” Debates have raged at various times over the last decade whether the Longhorns are “back” and what “back” entails for a program that is rich with tradition and resources, but the program’s first-ever College Football Playoff appearance puts those conversations to rest.
As No. 3 Texas prepares to compete for a national championship, beginning with Monday’s Sugar Bowl semifinal against No. 2 Washington, what’s become more apparent is how coach Steve Sarkisian and this 2023 Longhorns team has reached the status of championship contenders — which, to be clear, is “back” for Texas football.
It all started when Sarkisian arrived in 2021 and conducted a diagnostic test, of sorts, for a program that had gone more than a decade without winning a Big 12 title and had just one 10-win season over the prior 11 years.
“We have an adage that culture beats talent. But culture and talent combined is extremely dangerous,” Sarkisian said earlier this week. “So when you take over a program, you’re trying to figure out where are your issues, what are the issues. I don’t think anybody ever felt like our issue was a lack of talent or lack of resources.”
The issue, Sarkisian explains, was culture. It was the need for the Longhorns to feel connected as players and coaches to the point they’re playing for each other. One approach Sarkisian took to address that was to push the program to a point of honesty. He was able to set the standard from the top.
“I’ve always given my story every year,” Sarkisian said. “Where I’m from, how I was raised, where I went to school, where I worked, why I went to rehab, all the things that has transpired in my life to get me to this point so that they could get to know Steve [Sarkisian], the…
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Author : Chip Patterson
Publish date : 2023-12-31 19:48:54
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