Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Steve Sarkisian sends blunt message to Texas recruits about NIL money

Originally posted on NIL on SI | By JC Shelton | Last updated Jul 16, 2025 12:38 PM ET

No other team in college football is projected to spend more on their 2025 roster than the Texas Longhorns.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns are reportedly expected to spend upwards of $40 million this year after two consecutive College Football Playoff appearances. According to NCAA estimates, over $22 million (first nationally) will come from the Texas One Fund NIL collective.

Texas, coming off the nation's No. 1 class, sat 14th in class of 2026 rankings before a significant surge this week, landing five-star linebacker Tyler Atkinson and flipping former Georgia commit, four-star defensive lineman James Johnson.

Those two blue-chip commitments propelled the Longhorns' class to No. 6 in the country ahead of the 2025 season.

The strong NIL arm for Texas is often times mentioned when recruits choose to pledge to Sarkisian and Co. However, Sarkisian maintains that his program doesn't want players who are only seeking a lofty payday.

"We only have so much money to go around," Sarkisian said at SEC Media Days. "We don't talk about NIL, or revenue sharing, or publicity rights until the very end, and that may hurt us on some kids. But if the kid is coming to Texas for that reason, we don't want him anyway."

"We only have so much money to go around... We don't talk about NIL, or revenue sharing, or publicity rights until the very end, and that may hurt us on some kids. But if the kid is coming to Texas for that reason, we don't want him anyway." - Steve Sarkisian NIL in recruiting… pic.twitter.com/PeHOwXyu0A
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) July 15, 2025

On the other side, there have been examples of Texas reportedly winning out with better NIL offers, including the recruitment of five-star signee Justus Terry. The Georgia product, after spurning home-state UGA for the Longhorns last year, revealed to On3's Chad Simmons that NIL ultimately made the difference.

“I don’t know how else to say it — just a straight-up better NIL package,” Simmons said. “That’s kind of what it came down to."

Terry's signing aside, the reality is that Texas, along with every other major program, can't always offer the largest NIL package for each respective recruiting target. And building relationships is often times a difference maker when pitted against the nation's top NIL spenders.

The Longhorns have ultimately been able to balance both sides in recent years.