In an ideal world, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian would already have an offensive coordinator on his staff whom he trusts enough to call the plays.
However, that's not the world we live in, and Sarkisian refuses to hand over offensive play-calling despite the fact that Kyle Flood holds the "offensive coordinator" title. Instead of trusting Flood with the plays, he only trusts him with the O-Line, and even that has regressed over the last few games.
Yet, as the offense continues to struggle and quarterback Arch Manning continues to lose productivity, it is arguably past time for Sarkisian to make a change on offense, and many are calling for him to hand over play-calling.
So, who are a couple of candidates that the Longhorns could target if Sarkisian ever admitted it was time and finally made the move to hand over offensive play-calling?
G.J. Kinne has not only turned the Texas State Bobcats into an impressive program, but he has also led the offense into one of the most productive units in the entire country.
The former Texas Longhorns quarterback was named Texas State's head coach in 2023 and has led the Bobcats to a 26-19 overall record since then.
His experience across the board on the offensive side of the ball, including acting as the Philadelphia Eagles' offensive assistant coach in 2019, has undeniably qualified him to lead the Horns' offense to the success it has failed to find over the last two years.
In a year of revitalization for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Sean Brophy has helped transform the team alongside redshirt sophomore quarterbac Drew Mestemaker.
As Manning and the Longhorns offense have regressed, OK State's offense and Mestemaker have done the exact opposite, the Cowboys' QB flying up NFL mock draft boards while Manning has seen himself slide.
Brophy's leadership and success on the offensive side of the ball are the exact qualities the Texas offense needs in a play-calling OC.
Similarly to Brophy, Missouri quarterbacks coach Garrett Riley has helped lead Tigers quarterback Austin Simmons to a ton of success this season.
While Riley isn't currently an offensive coordinator, he has experience handling the entire offense, having been the offensive coordinator for both the SMU Mustangs and TCU Horned Frogs.
While Kinne and Brophy would be more desirable candidates for the Texas job, Riley would undeniably be a great option as well.
Honorable mention for Texas OC candidates:
- Landon Keopple, Texas State Bobcats offensive coordinator
- Mack Leftwich, Texas Tech Red Raiders offensive coordinator
- John David Baker, Ole Miss Rebels offensive coordinator
After those top three candidates, Kinne's offensive coordinator Landon Keopple would also be a good option, as would Texas Tech offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich and Ole Miss OC John David Baker.
For now, Sarkisian is still clinging to play-calling on the offensive side of the ball with an iron fist. However, once he finally lets go, Texas will have to find an OC that the entire team can trust.
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