With the Longhorns set to play their final season in the Big 12 before moving to the SEC, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian expressed confidence in his team’s ability to rise to the occasion and embrace the challenge that lies ahead.
Sarkisian revealed that his team has adopted a fearless mindset akin to that of the iconic movie character, John Wick, as they try to leave the Big 12 with a bang.
“I think this team is on a mission, they’ve taken this mindset of being on a mission. They’ve kind of adopted the John Wick mentality,” Sarkisian said. “I think that they’ve kind of assumed this mentality of, ‘Embrace the hate.’ We get it.”
“We’re the University of Texas, we get it. This is our last year in the Big 12. We can sit there and be a punching bag, or we can go attack the people that we’re going to play. And I think that they’ve assumed that responsibility to say, hey, we’re gonna go after everybody else too. I think that that’s the right mentality to have.”
Steve Sarkisian on his #Longhorns going into their final #Big12 season:
"I think this team is on a mission."#HookEm | @KVUE pic.twitter.com/i5NLOUloSu
— Tyler Feldman (@TylerFeldmanTV) August 1, 2023
This fiery spirit comes amidst high expectations for the Longhorns, who were picked in the media poll to win the Big 12 for the first time since 2009. Sarkisian acknowledged the optimism surrounding the team and credited the excitement to a deep roster with the potential to win games in various ways.
“There’s definitely a lot of excitement,” he said. “When you look at the season-ticket sales in June, being sold out in June, over 68,000 season tickets.. I know our student tickets are on a record pace right now of what’s to be sold. So, I think there’s a lot of excitement in the air.. Now it’s time to put in the work.”
One key player driving the optimism is quarterback Quinn Ewers, who Sarkisian praised for his dedication and improvement in the offseason.
“You see the dedication the guy’s put into his overall body composition; he really has bought into his diet. He’s bought into the workouts,” Sarkisian said. “That takes a lot of discipline and dedication and focus.”
“I think clearly, you know, he’s in a great frame of mind. This feels like his team. He leads that way, you can hear how he talks to the team that way.”
While the team is focused on the upcoming season, there is also curiosity surrounding the potential return of former TCU coach Gary Patterson, who served as a special assistant to Sarkisian last year. Sarkisian remained tight-lipped about Patterson’s status with the program.
“Gary was a tremendous asset for us a year ago,” he said. “He did a really good job with the program, stepped away at the end of the season. As of right now, he’s not part of the program. We’ll see where it goes from here.”
On a lighter note, Sarkisian humorously addressed the record-breaking $103,000 sale of freshman quarterback Arch Manning’s football card, jokingly denying his involvement in the purchase.
“I did not,” he said. “I don’t have that much money. But I will say this.. I don’t touch on NIL deals like that. But I do think, what a cool notion, and the fact that it’s supporting St. David’s and what it all kind of played out to be and hopefully everybody kind of took the time to research what that card was about and what it was supporting. Because I do think it’s a really cool deal.”
With the Longhorns carrying a fearless “John Wick mentality” and high hopes for the upcoming season, Texas fans eagerly await the start of what promises to be an eventful and passionate final season in the Big 12.
Do you think the Longhorns will win the conference?
Better yet, will they make the Playoff???