Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian hit on it briefly when he said last week that with the dissolution of the Pac-12, more West Coast talent likely will be available to programs in the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12. And Sarkisian’s California roots as a former USC and Washington head coach, as a USC assistant and as a former BYU quarterback along with new linebackers coach Johnny Nansen’s time at Arizona will only grease the wheel for more West Coast blue-chippers possibly ending up in Austin.
Not all of those players — or the parents of said players — will be interested in that massive travel to Big Ten destinations or, in the case of Stanford and Cal, ACC locales.
In his first Texas classes, Sarkisian has already made his mark with 15 scholarship signees from Pac-12 country: eight from California and three from Arizona. He also culled two from Hawaii and one each from Washington and Colorado.
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He’s lured talent like wide receiver Xavier Worthy (California), tight end Gunnar Helm (Colorado) and offensive lineman Brandon Baker (California), punter Ryan Sanborn (California via Stanford), receiver DeAndre Moore (California) and offensive tackle Malik Agbo (Washington) and quarterback Maalik Murphy (California), who since transferred to Duke.
With the Cardinal and Bears three time zones away from most ACC places, you half-wonder if that league should schedule some neutral-site conference games halfway in the neighborhood of new ACC member SMU and play games at Jerry World or Globe Life Field.
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Recruiting the West Coast
A look at Longhorns signees since 2021, Steve Sarkisian’s first year at Texas:
2021: WR Xavier Worthy (Fresno, Calif.) — a national top-100 prospect who shined…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/texas-coach-steve-sarkisian-dominate-225000485.html
Author : Austin American-Statesman
Publish date : 2024-02-14 22:50:00
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