Texas HC Steve Sarkisian seemingly takes swipe at Texas Tech

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian. Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Texas HC Steve Sarkisian seemingly takes swipe at Texas Tech

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated May 21, 2026 11:11 PM ET

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is known as one of the best coaches in college football. He's also not afraid to speak his mind, especially as it relates to his confidence as his team.

Sarkisian is not really the type of coach to go after other programs, though, and that's what makes the recent comments he made while at a fan event so interesting.

Coach Sark was apparently asked about the College Football Playoff committee and whether or not a team's strength of schedule could impact decisions moving forward.

Sarkisian didn't get into specifics, but he did single out a Texas university that doesn't play in the SEC that he believes has a weak schedule heading into 2026.

No, he didn't specifically call out the Texas Tech Red Raiders, but anyone who can read between the lines knows that it was the fellas over in Lubbock that Sarkisian was referencing.

"Sarkisian said there's a team in this state that plays in another conference that, if he played his 2s and 3s, his team would go undefeated, and they'll make the playoffs this year," Anwar Richardson of Orange Bloods wrote on X.

Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian was asked by a fan at The Touchdown Club of Houston if there is any way to get the College Football Playoff Committee to factor in strength of schedule in their decision-making. Sarkisian said there's a team in this state that plays in another… pic.twitter.com/EvqDAoHA5E
— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) May 21, 2026

Texas vs. Texas Tech: Strength of schedule

Tech's 2026 schedule starts out with Abilene Christian and Oregon State before a pretty big matchup against Houston.

To be fair, Texas has Texas State and UTSA within the first three games, which should both be easy wins for the Longhorns. The kicker is that Texas plays host to the Ohio State Buckeyes in Week 2.

Texas' SEC schedule also features games at Tennessee, Missouri, LSU and Texas A&M. Texas Tech's away games in the Big 12 are against Colorado, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State and Baylor.

The Red Raiders have bigger problems heading into 2026 than the strength of schedule, because they don't know who their quarterback is going to be. Brandon Sorsby has lost his eligibility due to a betting scandal, and he's unlikely to get it back.

Of course, Sarkisian could also claim that he was talking about Baylor or even TCU, but neither of those two programs is seen as a CFP contender at this moment. At least not in the way that Texas Tech is.

Sarkisian could always claim otherwise, but it certainly seems as if he took the moment to take a shot at Tech. Talk about kicking a program when it's down.

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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