What anonymous coaches told Athlon Sports about the Texas Longhorns

Every year, Athlon Sports speaks with SEC coaches and gives them the chance to anonymously (and candidly) speak about other teams in their league as part of its annual preview magazine. Every program is discussed, including the Texas Longhorns.

[Sign up for Inside Texas for $1 and get THREE MONTHS of Premium Access!]

Here’s what some of the anonymous coaches had to say about the Longhorns. As to be expected, there were comments that served to hype up the Horns and comments that downplayed Texas’ prowess.

“They made some bold moves. Obviously, there’s a ton of money in that program, so you’ve gotta feel like they made moves that they felt they had to make to make their program better. What’s that gonna look like after a loss or two? I don’t know.”

This coach is playing the “they’re mercenary” card, wondering if the Longhorns will be tight-knit enough to overcome adversity they may face. Is it valid criticism? Steve Sarkisian appeared to at least partially agree with the sentiment earlier this year, moving the start of his Culture Wednesday’s to January as opposed to June. The opposing coach also feels there are at least a couple of losses on the Longhorns’ schedule, which is ranked as the most difficult in the country by certain outlets.

“I thought Arch [Manning] got better as the season went on. Is he what he was unfairly hyped to be? Probably not, but I think he’s a good solid quarterback in this league.” 

A fair estimation of Manning’s 2025 campaign, acknowledging that the Longhorns’ signal caller improved after the struggles of mid-October and flourished late in the year. However, there are a lot of NFL scouts that think a little higher of Manning than “good, solid quarterback in this league.”

“On paper, I think they’re the team to beat in the SEC. They might be preseason No. 1 again.”  

This coach sees the combination of recruited talent, portal talent, and overall development, along with offensive continuity and the addition of Will Muschamp, to believe there’s reason to rank the Longhorns ahead of everyone else to start the season.

“[Manning] is gonna be just fine. I think he did such a good job of managing it, but he was put in a tough situation. It was literally a ‘Heisman or bust’ situation for a kid who hadn’t played yet. But he’s super talented, he does everything right, he prepares hard, he’ll be just fine.”

A coach who thinks higher of Manning. The talent is there and his second half of the season where he was 6-1 as a starter going 146-for-242 for 1846 yards with 14 passing touchdowns, two interceptions, five rushing touchdowns, and one receiving touchdown stands as evidence.

Other notable anonymous coaching quips

On Ole Miss: “In those three games that he coached last year, Pete Golding was Pete Golding. He was himself. He naturally transitioned into his role while staying the same dude. That’s gonna be the challenge. Can he continue to rely on all the things that have made him a big-time ball coach, or is he going to try to be the anti-Lane [Kiffin]? A lot of people in Oxford want him to be the anti-Lane, but he just needs to be Pete Golding.”

On Oklahoma: “That offense has answers for everything. They don’t do a ton, but everything they do complements the other thing. When he just executes and then makes splash plays here and there, they complement their elite defense very well.” 

On Texas A&M: “Mike Elko is a real-deal ball coach. The way they carry themselves, the way they compete, how physical they are on both sides of the line of scrimmage. They play complete team football. You watch them and you see the way they handle adversity at times throughout the season — that doesn’t just happen unless you’ve got a culture.”