Texas Football: Entire team isn’t bought in to Steve Sarkisian?

Many question marks have surfaced of late surrounding new head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program in the midst of this four-game losing streak. Sark is not in the greatest place right now with his team, and some of the things that are going on off the field are proof of that.

Sark and the Longhorns saw a wave of players head into the NCAA Transfer Portal in roughly the last month. And some of these losses just look to be amid the players that weren’t very bought into this program under the new coaching regime.

This is something that had to happen either way for Sark and the Longhorns to move this program forward. But it doesn’t sound great for Texas in the short term.

That is exactly the narrative that the Longhorns are facing with the former blue-chip recruit and redshirt junior wide receiver Joshua Moore entering the transfer portal this week. The spat that Moore had with the coaching staff in practice last week is a good example of a player that is not fully bought into the program.

Those circumstances sound similar to the underlying theme as to why freshman linebacker and former four-star recruit Terrance Cooks entered the portal in the last month.

Moreover, the Longhorns have dealt with distractions lately surrounding the program including the situations with new special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks and defensive line coach Bo Davis. While the nature of these two situations was completely different, it goes to show that the focus surrounding the Longhorns is not where it should be at this point of the season.

Texas had some real hype and excitement behind it following the season-opening win back on Sep. 4 over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns. But that now feels like a very long time ago. Texas had a trio of key losses to the transfer portal, some ups and downs on the recruiting trail, a lot of second-half collapses, and a pretty tragic four-game losing streak since then.

Joshua Moore situation highlights some Texas football players potentially not bought into Steve Sarkisian’s direction

This is where Sark really needs Texas to finish out the season with no more than one loss. Texas has a chance to do that to really right the ship starting with a matchup against the Kansas Jayhawks at home this weekend.

A piece from Inside Texas (paid content on the On3 network) on Nov. 13 detailed the fact that not all of this team could be bought into the direction that Sark is taking the Longhorns in. This really goes to show that the Longhorns not only need some real momentum on the field to close out the season but there should be plenty of changes ahead next offseason.

The underlying tone of the Monday and Thursday press conferences this week would also give the indication that Sark is just trying to instill the right culture into this program and hoping the rest falls into place next offseason. It is clear at this point that next offseason is going to be a time of change for the Longhorns.

If a lot doesn’t change next offseason, there will surely be more problems on the horizon for Sark and his staff.

A turnaround to round out the season starts by getting a convincing win over Kansas this weekend and having a successful weekend with the key in-person visiting recruits. That is a start for Texas to get bowl eligible and finish out the season with more direction and momentum for the program under Sark’s guidance.

Texas is sporting a record of 4-5 (2-4 Big 12) heading into this meeting with head coach Lance Leipold and the Jayhawks at DKR. Kickoff time between Texas and Kansas is set for 6:30 p.m. CT at DKR on Nov. 13.