Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian looks on during warm ups Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian lashes out at media over NFL report

Originally posted on CFB-HQ on SI | By Alex Weber | Last updated Oct 26, 2025 8:46 AM ET

Texas head football coach Steve Sarkisian went hard on the defensive after a report from The Athletic's Dianna Russini surfaced suggesting he's got an eye on the NFL.

"I’m told that representatives for Texas coach Steve Sarkisian have let NFL decision makers know that he would be interested in potential head coaching openings, including the Titans," Russini posted to X on Saturday morning ahead of the Longhorns' road game at Mississippi State.

After victory in a fully-armed war against the foes from Starkville, a fired-up Steve Sarkisian hit the press room with some wrath, pointing his finger directly at Russini and calling her out as well as anyone in the media who went with her report.

"I'd love to touch on this," Sarkisian said as soon as the report was brought up in the postgame press conference. He was upset that "one person can make a report that in turn the entire media sports world runs with as factual."

Let's be fair, though. There are plenty of reporters with enough respect to their name that if they are the first and only ones to report something, you'd still believe it. Like Adrian Wojnarowski back in the day — you could take pretty much every story he reported as close-to-fact in not 100% true. Sarkisian clearly isn't extending that courtesy to Russini.

"I thought it was absolutely ridiculous," he added and didn't stop there. "I thought it was completely unprofessional of that person to put that report out. And the fact that everyone ran with it is borderline embarrassing for the media. And I respect what you guys do, but the fact that everyone ran that as truth is really embarrassing."

Sark on today's report that he has interest in NFL head coaching vacancies:

"I'd love to touch on this.. because it really pisses me off that one person can make a report that in turn the entire media sports world runs with as factual.."

"I thought it was absolutely… pic.twitter.com/QDe8TGfgpj
— Dennis de la Pena (@dennisonfox7) October 26, 2025

Even Sarkisian's agents came out angrily in his defense.

“Any reports regarding communications on coaching opportunities with NFL teams are patently false and wildly inaccurate,” they said in a statement.

The thing is... the only way for Steve Sarkisian to prove himself right is to not go to the NFL and not even talk to them this coaching cycle. But college football fans have seen this callous song and dance before, where a coach spitefully refutes every report that he's leaving yet still winds up leaving anyway. It's a tale as old as the American pastime that is college football. Fans know better than to take a major head coach at his word when discussing their future job status. So, we'll see.

Attacking the reporter is a classic move, trying to undercut the credibility of a story you don't want people to believe, whether it's right or wrong. Is Sarkisian trying to evade Texas? It doesn't feel like we'll have a concrete answer until later on.

This article first appeared on CFB-HQ on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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