Mack Brown Believes Steve Sarkisian Has Special Advantage With Texas Longhorns

Entering his fifth season with Texas, Steve Sarkisian has brought back life to a program that stumbled through the 2010's.

Now under Sarkisian, Texas has risen to the top among college football programs, entering the 2025 season as the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.

Former head coach Mack Brown recently commented on this success, adding that he believes the Texas head coaching job is the "best in the country," according to On3.

Mack Brown on Steve Sarkisian and Texas Football

Sarkisian has pushed Texas on an upward trajectory since joining the Longhorns in 2021, leading the team to back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinal appearances and bringing in some of the nation's top recruits. In doing so, Sarkisian has once again made Texas a powerhouse of college football and, to start the 2025 season, the nation's top team, putting the nation on notice, including Brown.

“I love the University of Texas. I think it is the best job in the country, and especially with NIL, because you’ve got a chance, because you got people that are passionate and they care. The only way you can manage it — you got to take their passion and it’s really pride and it’s not pressure. And they want to win so badly, and you’ve got to be able to handle all the outside noise. Sark’s c oached at Washington, he’s coached at USC, so he’s done all this," Brown said.

Brown loves Texas and is no stranger to the resources the Texas Athletics department has given to the football program. Head coach of Texas for 16 seasons, he commented that nothing was off the table for Longhorns football, a level of flexibility that has continued into the Sarkisian era.

“[Sark] has been there, done that. I really like him, and I respect him, and he’s doing a tremendous job. But after you coach at Texas, it’s really tough, because you really got everything you need," Brown said. "When I first got there, I asked DeLoss Dodds, I said, ‘I’d like to buy this. Does it fit in our budget?’ And he said, ‘Coach, you don’t have a budget.'”

Sarkisian has made good use of his seemingly limitless resources, bringing in some of the nation's top recruiting classes in his tenure. Since 2021, Sarkisian and his staff have brought in three top-five recruiting classes, including the nation's top class in 2025. He then developed those players into some of the nation's top talent.

Some of the biggest recruits he has brought in thus far include quarterback Arch Manning, who will be starting for Texas in week one of the CFB season against Ohio State. He also brought in left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. and linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. alongside other top-rated recruits.

Now entering the season as the No. 1 team for the first time in the program's history, Sarkisian will look to make his way past the CFP semifinal and into a national championship appearance.