Steve Sarkisian: "I hope I retire at the University of Texas"

Steve Sarkisian is entering his sixth season as head coach of the Texas Longhorns. It’s his third stint as a head coach, joining tenures at Washington and USC.

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Along the way, Sarkisian has been at USC, in the NFL, and at Alabama as an assistant coach. He hasn’t had very many long stays in one spot. His longest head coaching tenure before Texas was his five-year stay at Washington. His longest continuous stay as an assistant was four years.

His sixth campaign at Texas approaching, and it comes after there were rumors during his fifth season that Sarkisian was interested in leaving for the NFL. On Thursday during an appearance at the Touchdown Club of Houston, Sarkisian said he doesn’t want to leave Austin anytime soon.

“I mean this when I say this, I hope I retire at the University of Texas,” Sarkisian said.

This is the longest stay he’s ever had anywhere as a coach. Though associated with almost a decade at USC, his longest stay in Los Angeles was from 2005 to 2008. While head coach of the Huskies, his time in Seattle was from 2009 to 2013.

Sarkisian’s short tenure as head coach at USC was cut off in the early portions of his second season. From that point on, he spent time at Alabama, then with the Atlanta Falcons, then went back to Alabama before taking over as head coach of the Longhorns.

Now he’ll be the eighth head coach in UT history to get a sixth season on the 40 Acres.

Sarkisian is 48-20 as head coach of the Longhorns with two College Football Playoff appearances and the 2023 Big 12 Championship to his name. He signed a contract extension after the 2024 season that will keep him at Texas through 2031.

Last season, Dianna Russini reported on the morning of Texas’ matchup versus Mississippi State that Sarkisian’s representatives “have let NFL decision makers know that he would be interested in potential head coaching options, including the Titans’.”

Sarkisian vehemently denied the report via his agents Jimmy Sexton and Ed Marynowitz: “Any reports regarding communications on coaching opportunities with NFL teams are patently false and wildly inaccurate. Sark is solely focused on coaching the University of Texas football team.”

Sarkisian was even more passionate in his denial after the Longhorns prevailed in overtime.

“I’d love to touch on this, so bear with me for a second because it really pisses me off that one person can make a report that in turn the entire media sports world runs with as factual,” Sarkisian said. “To the point where my agency and my agents have to put out a statement that they have never done. Historically, CAA, Jimmy Sexton, and Ed Marynowitz never do that. But I had to do that to protect my locker room and my team.

“I thought it was absolutely ridiculous. I thought it was completely unprofessional of that person to put that report out, and the fact that everyone ran with it is borderline embarrassing for the media. I respect what you guys do, I really do, and everybody else. But the fact that everybody ran that as truth is really embarrassing.”

Sarkisian has reportedly received NFL interest in the past but he has not ever had his name appear in an “interview completed” graphic by any of the league’s 32 franchises, a step that takes interest from both sides.

Retiring at Texas is a lofty goal, but it’s the one Sarkisian has in mind after what he hopes is a successful career as head coach of the Texas Longhorns.