Steve Sarkisian Doesn’t Hold Back on ESPN’s Desmond Howard As He Confirms Texas Future

Texas HC Steve Sarkisian had stern words to share toward ESPN college football analyst Desmond Howard about his job status on Thursday.

After making pointed comments about his coaching situation at the University of Texas, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian wasn’t quite done discussing it.

Sarkisian and Texas, which is ranked at No. 17 in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings, will host Arkansas on Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. It’s the next-to-last regular-season game for Texas, which also welcomes Texas A&M to Austin next week.

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What Did Texas HC Steve Sarkisian Say?

Ahead of the Arkansas game, Sarkisian was talking about his team’s matchup against the Razorbacks when he was asked to elaborate on Wednesday’s comments. Sarkisian opened Wednesday’s SEC Coaches Teleconference with a lengthy statement, making it clear that he’s not leaving Texas for any other college football jobs.

Sarkisian apparently had seen a video posted by ESPN college football analyst Desmond Howard online, where Howard hinted at a change in head coaches at Texas.

Sarkisian was in no mood for Howard’s comments. “Think about something else when you are taking your trash out,” Sarkisian said, in part, on Thursday.

“But also, I wanted to say that for Longhorn Nation,” Sarkisian said. “Because I don’t want them or anybody here to feel like, ‘Boy, Sark is window shopping or maybe he is trying to go.’ I am not trying to go anywhere. And it is also for some of our opponents that I am not going anywhere, stay out of our locker room.”

The Longhorns are 7-3 overall and 4-2 in SEC play at this time. It’s been an up-and-down season for Texas, which was the preseason No. 1 pick to win the College Football Playoff. But key losses, including last Saturday’s 35-10 beatdown against Georgia on the road, have dented those dreams.

Texas quarterback Arch Manning received a lot of attention, not necessarily of his own making, before the season as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Well, his road to the Heisman has dimmed a lot at this point. According to the PFSN CFB QB Impact metrics, Manning has a CFB QB Impact Score of 82.0 and grades out to a B-.

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At this point, Texas probably needs to win its last two games in a big way even to get College Football Playoff attention. The Longhorns also need for some teams ahead of it in the College Football Playoff Rankings to lose this week, too.

Currently, it appears that Texas may be headed to another lower-tier bowl game, such as the Texas Bowl or Holiday Bowl. That’s not the type of result Sarkisian, his players, or Longhorns fans want to see happen at all.

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