3 takeaways from what Steve Sarkisian said at SEC meetings

For the first time, Texas football head coach Steve Sarkisian spoke at the SEC spring meetings as a member of the conference in 2024. Sarkisian was there representing Texas in Destin, FL, this week for the SEC spring meetings less than 100 days from the start of the 2024 Longhorns regular season.

Steve Sarkisian represents Texas football at the SEC spring meetings in Florida

This was a much different feeling at the SEC spring meetings this offseason, with the Oklahoma Sooners and Longhorns head coaches representing their teams in the conference. For the first time in nearly two decades, the SEC meetings were also without legendary Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban after he retired earlier this offseason.

The fourth-year Texas head coach spoke to the Longhorns media specifically and held his own press conference at the SEC spring meetings on May 28. Sarkisian discussed a wide range of items ranging from the NCAA Transfer Portal and NIL to the updated recruiting calendar and potential fines imposed by the NCAA for tampering.

Here's a look at three important takeaways from Sarkisian's media availability at the SEC spring meetings this week.

Texas is likely done in the transfer portal this offseason

Much of the time Sarkisian spoke to the media, specifically with those covering the Longhorns, was spent talking about the transfer portal and NIL. Sarkisian pretty much straight up said while talking to the media today that Texas is very likely done recruiting in the transfer portal this offseason.

"I think we’re done unless something were really to present itself. I feel really good about our roster and our depth at all the positions. You try to really look at it from that angle. If something were to happen to a player or two at a position, how would we be able to respond to that."

- Steve Sarkisian at SEC spring meetings

Sarkisian specifically mentioned the Longhorns' looking at a punter in the transfer portal this spring. Texas took a grad transfer punter from the portal last offseason in former Stanford Cardinal senior Ryan Sanborn, who did a great job with the punting duties for the Longhorns last fall.

But it sounds like the Longhorns will be rolling with incoming freshman punter from Florida, Michael Kern, to handle the punting duties entering preseason camp in a few months.

The biggest need the Longhorns' coaches addressed in the portal this spring was defensive tackle. Texas added two immediate impact defensive tackles with plenty of proven experience playing in the trenches week in and week out in the Power Five, Jermayne Lole and Bill Norton.

Texas flipped Lole from the rival Sooners late this spring after Oklahoma landed a portal commitment from former TCU Horned Frogs transfer Damonic Williams. Lole is playing his final year of collegiate eligibility at Texas after spending two years with the Louisville Cardinals and three with the Arizona State Sun Devils.

"Having Bill Norton and Jermayne Lole, I think solidifies the depth on the interior defensive line. And it gives us some real experienced guys who have played a lot of football to go with Tia Savea and to go with Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton as we bring along some our younger players. That was huge for us."

- Steve Sarkisian on Texas's D-Line

Norton, meanwhile, joins new Texas co-DC/LB coach Johnny Nansen from the Arizona Wildcats for the final year of his collegiate eligibility. Norton gives the Longhorns a much-needed big body who can take quality snaps playing nose tackle this fall in the SEC.