The Texas football team is joining a new trend in college football as they will not have a Spring Game this year. Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian confirmed the plan on Thursday, and we are seeing other teams go this route as well. Sarkisian cited limited practice time as a reason, but we have also seen other coaches express concern about the Spring Game giving other teams a look at potential transfer portal options.

Another concern for Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football team is the number of games that they have played the past two seasons. The Longhorns have made two straight runs to the College Football Playoff and have played 30 combined games the past two years.

“Over the last two years, we've played 30 games,” Sarkisian said during an appearance on the Up and Adams Show. “That's a lot for college football, 14 two years ago, 16 this year. And I just mentioned, we've had 25 guys get invited to the NFL Combine the last two years. So we've got a lot of young players on our roster. We have 21 mid-year high school kids that just showed up. And so the development that's needed for these guys to get ready for the fall is a little bit different than it used to be.”

Sarkisian also pointed out the change that is happening in college football right now. Many things are different, and being able to adapt is the key to success.

“And so our approach is going to be a little bit more NFL driven, kind of more of an OTA style early on, and as we grow into more of the scrimmage formats in the second half of spring ball, that I just don't know, rolling the ball out, playing the game when we only get 15 practices is the best for us to maximize the opportunities that we get,” Sarkisian continued. “So it's going to be a little bit of different approach. But I think college football is changing right now, and we need to do a great job as coaches of adapting to college football. And that's what we're trying to do and I think it's going to be good for our team.”

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Texas isn't the only team concerned about the Spring Game

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule discussed his concerns about the Cornhuskers holding a Spring Game as well, and his biggest concern involved the transfer portal.

“The word ‘tampering' no longer exists,” Rhule said, according to an article from CBS. “It's just absolute free, open, common market. So I don't necessarily want to open up to the outside world. I don't want these guys all being able to watch our guys and say ‘Wow, he looks like a pretty good player. Let's go get him.'”

The first window of the transfer portal opens up after the college football regular season ends, but there is another window that opens up after spring practice.

Steve Sarkisian and Texas are the latest team to cancel their Spring Game.