Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian leads warm ups prior to the Cotton Bowl Classic College Football Playoff semifinal game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Texas Longhorns at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Jan. 10, 2025. Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Texas Longhorns Steve Sarkisian Sets Record Straight on False 'Assumption'

Originally posted on Texas Longhorns on SI
By Harrison Reno | Last updated May 27, 2025 4:20 PM ET

As the Texas Longhorns prepare to embark on a 2025 season that will come with expectations of being a national championship contender, there is a lot of talk about the inexperience the team will have at some key positions.

However, head coach Steve Sarkisian recently reminded folks that inexperience should not be confused with youth. During his meeting with the media on Tuesday at the annual SEC spring meetings in Destin, Florida, the fifth-year head coach set the record straight.

"One natural assumption—I was asked this earlier—is that people will say, ‘Oh, we’re going to be a young football team this fall.’ We’re not necessarily young; we just have some new faces," Sarkisian said. "These are guys who’ve been in our program, working on their craft, developing, and now it’s their opportunity. They’re not necessarily young; these are third- and fourth-year players in our program, and now it’s their time to compete and show what they’re capable of doing."

The narrative that Texas will have a "young" team mostly stems from their success in the NFL Draft, where they had 12 players taken. Which reset the program record that was broken last year with 11 players. Combine that with ESPN's Bill Connally's "returning production" statistic, and it is easy to see why there is a narrative forming about Texas being a "young team."

The Longhorns rank No. 82 in the country in returning production for the 2025 season. They return 40 percent of their offensive production and 62 percent on defense, per Bill Connelly.

While that is a lot of turnover for any team, as Sarkisian notes, it isn't like the Longhorns will be forced to replace those now NFL players with freshmen. With the strong recruiting Texas has experienced since Sarkisian's arrival, a lot of those NFL players will be replaced by former four and five-star players.

Many of those players will be entering their third and fourth season in Austin. A perfect example of this would be Cole Hutson, the rising senior interior offensive lineman who has been a utility player for Texas throughout his career. But now he is projected to start at center as he heads into his final season.

This article first appeared on Texas Longhorns on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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