As the Texas football team looks to overcome “immaturity,” as head coach Steve Sarkisian puts it, part of reaching the standard the program wants to achieve is through the culture inside the locker room. With the Texas football team coming off the Ohio State debacle in Week 1 and then beating San Jose State in Week 2, Sarkisian would speak honestly about the culture.
The term “culture” has been used extensively in sports for a long time, and it has been a point of emphasis in college football, as Sarkisian made it a point of emphasis this season. He would even go as far as to say that building a culture is just “as important” as player development, according to Inside Texas on X, formerly Twitter.
“I think developing the locker room, and in our case, our culture, is as important as developing them as players on the field,” Sarkisian said. “I’ve said for a long time now that culture beats talent. If you play as a team and you’re really well connected, you’re trustworthy, you’re accountable, and you do your job really well, that can supersede a talented team.
“I’ve always also said that a talented team that has a really good culture, that has a great, strong locker room, I think that’s really dangerous and really powerful. That’s when you have something,” Sarkisian continued.
Texas football's Steve Sarkisian shares criticism despite big Week 2
With the focus on the sports world around Texas football and star Arch Manning, there's no denying the pressure the program faces for the rest of the season. The Longhorns would bounce back against San Jose State with a 38-7 win, but Sarkisian has high standards, saying that the “best version” of the program isn't seen yet.
“I think as our team in general goes, this is not the best version of Texas football this season that we're going to see,” Sarkisian said, via ESPN. “My foot's got to get in their butt here on Monday morning. That's unacceptable. And there's a standard in which we want to play the game, and 12 penalties does not meet that standard.”
Despite the big win, Sarkisian would claim that when it came to “up front,” the team “showed a little bit of our immaturity.”
“I didn't think we carried enough information into the game and applied it up front,” Sarkisian said, according to Hook Em' Headlines. “To me, I think that showed a little bit of our immaturity upfront on Saturday, that it wasn't the same game. It was a different game. You can't play it the same. You know that's something where I think we need to grow this week and learn and understand who's my opponent, what are they trying to do to me, how are they trying to beat me, and then how am I going to combat that within the ball game.”
At any rate, the No. 7 Texas football team looks to get its second straight win as the program hosts UTEP on Saturday.
