4 takeaways from Steve Sarkisian's SEC media days presser
Texas football head coach Steve Sarkisian took the podium for his press conference at SEC Media Days at the Omni Hotel in Dallas on July 17. Sarkisian spoke in front of the media as a member of the SEC for the first time this week.
Steve Sarkisian heads up Texas football's entrance into the SEC at his media days press conference
The SEC welcomed the Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners as the new member schools in the expanded 16-team conference field for 2024 a few weeks ago in early July. The additions of Texas and Oklahoma make the SEC as deep and challenging as its ever been on a weekly grind.
Sarkisian was joined by three of Texas's most experienced top players as representatives of the program at SEC Media Days this week. Junior offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., redshirt junior quarterback Quinn Ewers, and super senior defensive back Jahdae Barron were Texas's three representatives who spoke at media days on Wednesday in Dallas.
As expected, Sarkisian was very energized and a great representative of the Texas program at media days. Here are four takeaways from his press conference at SEC Media Days on July 17.
Wide receiver room is as talented and deep as any Sarkisian's had at UT
Texas has undoubtedly one of the best and deepest receiving corps in the SEC and the entire country entering the 2024 season. Sarkisian and Chris Jackson had to replace all three starters in the receiving corps this offseason, and the starting tight end, all of which were drafted into the NFL this past spring.
The Longhorns replaced all this starting wide receiver talent and production with multiple immediate impact transfers and their high school recruiting efforts in the past two classes. Texas added immediate impact starters from the portal, like Matthew Golden from Houston and Isaiah Bond from Alabama, to reload the receiving corps entering the SEC for this coming fall.
All this talent and depth in the receiving corps gives Sarkisian the chance to essentially play position-less football at the skill positions on offense this fall. Texas has so many weapons and options in terms of who they can get the ball to in space to generate big plays that it will be difficult for Sarkisian to narrow down his receiver rotation for live-game action this regular season.
Sarkisian said he plans to "play more receivers" this fall and that the rotation could go up to seven players deep.
Last year, there were only three or four wideouts who got regular playing time in live-game action. But the plethora of weapons Texas has assembled in the receiving corps gives Ewers and Co. probably a half-dozen capable targets in the passing game to utilize this upcoming season in the SEC.