Texas chairman Kevin Eltife praises Steve Sarkisian and promises Longhorns fans same administrative support

Administrative disfunction was one of the major reasons why the Longhorns fell from elite status during the 2010s. When Kevin Eltife took command of the University of Texas board of regents in December 2018, that all stopped.

Eltife, UT President Jay Hartzell and Athletic Director Chris Del Conte have been a stabilizing trio the last four-plus years as UT joined the SEC and coach Steve Sarkisian turned the football program into a national power.

The UT System chairman told A to Z Sports on Tuesday that laser-focused mission isn’t going to change now that Hartzell is stepping down to accept the same position at SMU.

“We wish President Hartzell the best,” Eltife told A to Z Sports in a phone interview on Tuesday. “My relationship with Chris Del Conte, we’re going to continue what we’re doing and that’s building a great athletic department. I can assure you who the next president is will be buying into the same philosophy.

WATCH AND SUBSCRIBE: Follow A to Z Sports’ Texas Longhorns channel on YouTube.

“We had a great working relationship with Del Conte and President Hartzell,” Eltife added. “We did a lot of great things together. I think we were a good team and that will continue. We wish President Hartzell all the best. But we have one of the best athletic directors in the country.

“All of our leadership and administration at the flagship university is going to continue the support to athletics. Anyone that’s been watching the last 4-5 years knows that we are committed to the athletic direction. Nothing will change.”

Hartzell was named interim president in April 2020 and quickly faced one of the toughest presidential issues in the modern era. Social unrest around the George Floyd murder triggered a push for school officials to change “The Eyes of Texas” school song, questioning its lyrical history and how it was performed in the early 1900s.

Backed by Eltife and the UT regents, Hartzell stood firm that the school was not changing its song. UT would eventually fire football coach Tom Herman, who had a middling record and supported players who didn’t want to sing it after football games as has been done for decades.

The university then hired Steve Sarkisian, a coach with a terrific offensive mind but someone who needed a second chance. Sarkisian had been fired at USC for alcohol issues but resurrected his career with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and then won a national title calling plays for the University of Alabama.

As the coaching transition was happening, movement was afoot for Texas to leave the Big 12 Conference and join the Southeastern Conference. News of that decision broke during the summer before Sarkisian even coached his first game with the Horns in 2021.

Eltife, Hartzell and Del Conte stood firm during Sarkisian’s first season when the Horns went 5-7 and did not make a bowl. Things turned around the next year when Texas went 8-5. Sarkisian’s team won the Big 12 title with a 12-2 mark in 2023 and then reached the SEC title game in its first year in the new league this season.

Sarkisian’s Longhorns have now played in back-to-back College Football Playoffs. Texas (13-2) faces Ohio State on Friday in the Cotton Bowl in the national semifinals. Eltife cannot be more proud of what Sarkisian has done.

“I think coach Sark has done just an incredible job,” Eltife told A to Z Sports. “He told us when we hired him it would take time to build the culture he wanted. He’s done everything like he said he would do. He has upheld the great traditions of our school.

“I wanted all of our coaches to be a role model for the student-athletes, and he’s been an incredible role model. To be where we are after four short years, I think it’s incredible and my hat’s off the coach Sark and the entire coaching staff and support staff.

“We wanted somebody that would win with class and lose with class and be respectful of our institution,” Eltife added. “You couldn’t ask for anything better. He’s just done a fabulous job.”

With the chairman of the UT System Board of Regents standing behind both the athletic director and the coach, it’s hard to see how a new president could mess up the Longhorns’ momentum.

Before the conversation ended, Eltife stressed to A to Z Sports that he and Del Conte are going to keep UT on top.

Said Eltife: “Just make sure Longhorn Nation understands that best you can.”