247Sports names Texas HC Steve Sarkisian a top play caller

Among college football head coaches, Texas football's Steve Sarkisian is one of the best offensive minds in the country. For well over a decade and a half, Sarkisian has been one of the most well-respected play-callers in college football.

Steve Sarkisian boasts an impressive offensive resume as the Texas football head coach

In a recent 247Sports piece that polled anonymous college head coaches ahead of the 2024 season, Sarkisian was named among the best play-callers in all of college football. He was ranked as the second best play caller in this poll from various college head coaches, only behind the No. 1 slotted USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley.

Sarkisian has also proven his chops for calling plays and assembling offensive schemes and gameplans during his time as the offensive coordinator under head coach Nick Saban with the Alabama Crimson Tide in the late 2010s and in 2020.

"Steve Sarkisian is always respected by his peers as an offensive mastermind of sorts, but his most impressive display of coaching acumen might have come during his second stint at Alabama, this time as Nick Saban's OC during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He helped cap a perfect season during his final year in Tuscaloosa with a game plan to remember against Ohio State in the national championship game, a 52-24 pounding of the previously-unbeaten Buckeyes."

- 247Sports on Sarkisian's play-calling

During his time as Alabama's offensive coordinator (in 2016 and from 2019-2020), Sarkisian coached up the 2020 Heisman winner, wide receiver DeVonta Smith.

Entering Year 4 as Texas's head coach, Sarkisian has continued to prove that he is a mastermind in constructing offensive schemes and finding different wrinkles to exploit in opposing defenses.

Despite having the full responsibilities of leading a major college program and nationwide brand like Texas as the head coach, Sarkisian is still committed to keeping the play calling duties to himself.

"I love the kind of art of our game and the art of building a team; the art of strategically trying to game plan somebody; the art of calling plays in the midst of the psychological warfare with the other play caller on the other side of the ball. So there’s a lot that I think goes into it. "

- Steve Sarkisian on calling plays

Texas's offensive progress over each of the last few years under Sarkisian as the play caller has been evident in the team analytics and the Longhorns' overall success in the win column. Sarkisian and the Longhorns ranked in the top 10 nationally in SP+ offensive efficiency and ninth in the nation in total offense in 2023.

Last season, the Longhorns also won the Big 12 Championship and made the College Football Playoff after winning a dozen games.

Texas enters its inaugural season in the SEC in 2024 with the momentum of making the four-team Playoff for the first time last year and with plenty of offensive firepower to succeed on the field again this fall. Sarkisian has a top-five-ranked team in the preseason Coaches Poll entering the 2024 season.

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