Steve Sarkisian Talks Texas’ Preparation For the SEC

Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian appeared on the nationally syndicated Dan Patrick Show on Monday and discussed various topics concerning his program.

One of the first issues raised was how Sarkisian is working to prepare his team for the rigors of the SEC, with the Longhorns’ first conference game less than six weeks away.

“Everybody's aware of the physical challenge that it takes, you know, the physicality of the SEC and things that nature,” Sarkisian said. “To me, it's the mental intensity that you have to have week in and week out to get prepared. And I think that's going to be probably one of our challenges that I have to help navigate our team through and manage through.

"That's my job to do that, because week in and week out, when you go on the road, the environments are the environments. Even our home games, the SEC fans, travel really well. They're going to want to travel to Austin. It's going to be a new, new place for them to come play. And so we've got to do a great job, from a mental intensity standpoint, of making sure that we're dialed in, not just on Saturday, on game day, but Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.”

Patrick then asked about Texas’ non-conference schedule, which includes a visit to “The Big House” in week two to play Michigan, the reigning National Champions.

“We'll go three straight years at Alabama, non-conference, at Michigan, at Ohio State,” Sarkisian said. “For me, I think that that's it's actually a really good thing, especially now more than ever with the expanded playoff. The fact that, you know, we get to go play these early non-conference games, get a little bit of a barometer of where we're at as a program. But I think the beauty of it is that those games early in the year really aren't going to define your season. You still have to go play well in your conference. If you don't win, you still can maybe afford a loss or two, or maybe even three, and get into that playoff gives it a little bit more of that NFL feel that way to where you can really test your team early in the season, see where you're at. Where do you need to improve to get ready for conference play?”

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However, Sarkisian clarified that he didn’t want his team looking towards its non-conference test in Ann Arbor yet, as Texas will open the season a week earlier at home against Colorado State. The fourth-year head coach revealed that he has been having practices at 2:30 p.m. despite the scorching-hot temperatures in Austin to keep his team from looking past its week one tilt with the Rams.

“It'll be about 100 or so degrees temperature,” Sarkisian said. “It'll be probably about 100 and I don't know 30 or 40 on our turf, so putting them in the sun reminds them every day that we play August 31 against Colorado State.”

In case you need an additional reminder, Texas will open the season within the friendly, but hot, confines of Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium on August 31 at 2:30 p.m. CT against Colorado State.