Steve Sarkisian Highlights 'Turnaround' Moment as Texas Longhorns Head Coach

Even before taking over as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns, Steve Sarkisian had long been a highly respected figure in the football world, be it collegiate or professional.

The BYU alum's first head coaching gig was a five-year stint with the Washington Huskies from 2009-2013, before heading to the USC Trojans for two years for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

After a short stint with the Alabama Crimson Tide as the interim offensive coordinator for the 2016 season, he would then head to the pros to hold offensive coordinating duties with the Atlanta Falcons for the next two years before returning to Alabama to coach the offense and the quarterbacks under the tutelage of the greatest college football coach of all time, Nick Saban.

Sarkisian Pinpointed A Home Game Against Nick Saban as "Turning Point"

And then, before the 2021 season, Sarkisian was announced as the next head coach for the Longhorns.

And some might say the Longhorns are looking their best under Sarkisian since the days of Mack Brown in the Forty Acres, reaching the semifinals of the College Football Playoffs the past two seasons.

But when was the moment where Sark knew that the Longhorns were capable of returning to their spot as one of college football's best teams?

Last Thursday, Sarkisian joined college football analyst Greg McElroy on his Always College Football talk show and was able to easily highlight one key game against his former protege that gave him faith in his team going forward.

"I would say in year two when we played 'Bama here and that was a really good 'Bama team that went on to play for a national championship," Sarkisian said, referring to the Week 2 matchup of the 2022 season between the Longhorns and Crimson Tide, where Saban and Alabama came out with a 20-19 victory.

"It was Bryce Young, it was Jahymr Gibbs (Alabama quarterback and running back, both were first rounders in NFL Draft), you know those guys were a very good football team. We kicked a field goal with about a minute 30, minute 20 left and Bryce leads them down, he has a big scramble and then they kick the field goal to beat us at home."

"I think in the previous year or so, I think people would have been content with playing Alabama that close and when I got in the locker room, I could geta sense and a feel from our players that that wasn't good enough. I thought the mindset coming out of that loss against Alabama, the mindset of the players that was encouraging to me, like okay, they're thinking different now we were thinking differently as a coaching staff in year one, they're thinking differently as players in year two. That's amazing, and look at what's been done since."

And what a turnaround it was, indeed. Fast forward one year later to Week 2 in the 2023 season, and the Longhorns marched into Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and defeated the Crimson Tide by a decisive score of 34-24, allowing the Burnt Orange to skyrocket in the AP rankings and return to their spot as one of college football's most elite programs.

And now that both teams are in the SEC, one can only imagine the future battles that will be in store between the two historic schools.