Steve Sarkisian Steps into the SEC Spotlight with Texas Longhorns

DALLAS, TX – Steve Sarkisian is no stranger to Southeastern Conference (SEC) football, but the reality of his current school’s impending move to the conference hit home as he arrived at the SEC Media Days in Dallas on Wednesday. Reflecting on the grand reception, Sarkisian shared, "We flew in this morning, landed, and got off the plane to a Sprinter van and a police escort to media days. ‘It just means more?’ It just means more right there. The fact that we had a Sprinter van with a police escort to come to this was tremendous."

As the SEC gears up to welcome Texas and Oklahoma this summer, Sarkisian emphasized the respect his team holds for the conference. “As far as our transition into the Southeastern Conference, I think the key word is respect,” Sarkisian said. “We have a ton of respect for this conference. We have a ton of respect for the teams, the coaches, the players, and the fans. This is the elite conference in college football, and we’re fortunate enough to be part of it."

Acknowledging the challenge ahead, Sarkisian noted, "We won’t do anything without having a level of respect for who we play, where we’re playing them, the types of players that they have, the coaching that they have, and I think on the flipside of that, we have to go earn their respect. Nothing is going to be free. We’re going to have to earn the respect of our opponents, the opposing coaches, the opposing fans, and that’s going to be at the forefront of what we do.”

Sarkisian’s familiarity with the SEC comes from his time at Alabama, where he served as an offensive analyst in 2016 and as the offensive coordinator from 2019 to 2020 under Nick Saban. He took a moment to express his gratitude towards Saban, who attended the media days despite retiring last winter. “I would not be standing here today without you and what you’ve meant to my career, to my life, and I can’t thank you enough. The impact that you’ve had on our game has been second to none,” Sarkisian said to Saban.

Addressing Saban’s earlier remark that Texas “is not gonna run the SEC,” Sarkisian quipped, “Yeah, I gotta talk to him about that.”