For over a decade, the Alabama Crimson Tide ruled college football. Coach Nick Saban seemingly got all the best players en route to an astounding six national championships. But the college football power structure always shifts eventually. Has Texas replaced Alabama on top of college football’s highest perch? The Athletic says the Longhorns have.
Texas’ first year in the SEC was kind of a watershed moment for Texas coach Steve Sarkisian and the program he’s building in Austin. Only Georgia prevented Texas from running through the league last year. A conference that was supposed to humble the Longhorns made them stronger.
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Now, armed with one of the best quarterback recruits of all time, Sark looks to complete the mission at UT and win the national championship … either this year or next. But with a title or not, it appears to Ralph D. Russo of The Athletic that Texas is the new CFB super power.
“Texas is becoming the new Alabama. No, that doesn’t mean the Longhorns are going to rattle off a half-dozen titles in the next decade. But this is the season Texas puts its staying power on display. There is always another draft pick. There is always another All-American. The talent conveyor belt is fully operational — and well-funded. The days of stumbling as a 12-point favorite at home appear to be over.
Much like Kirby Smart did when he left Saban and Alabama to take over at Georgia, Sarkisian implemented the Bama blueprint at a school with more resources and easier access to talent than Saban’s old school, building a program to rival the Tide.” – Ralph D. Russo of The Athletic
After serving as Saban’s offensive coordinator, Sark has brought the Saban way to Texas. No one could evolve with the changing climate in college football better than Saban for over a decade.
Much of Texas’ success can be attributed to how Texas implements NIL. It’s just just having money. Texas leads the nation in managing NIL. The Texas One Fund has at least 20 sponsorship partners, including Texas-based Benchmark Bank.
“The area to differentiate any university is, how many outside — call it true NIL or whatever you want to call it — how many of those opportunities are out there for student-athletes? And having the best model not only is good for your university and you can recruit better and win, but it’s also good for kids to get opportunities. So our plan is to continue on that whole for-profit space, to get as many opportunities as we can for our student-athletes in the for-profit brand space.” – Patrick “Wheels” Smith, president of Texas One Fund
The Saban way also turns players that might think they’ve “made it” by getting a scholarship and NIL funds to play at a program like Texas into players obsessed with winning that hate losing.
“Excellence is exhausting, but it’s worth it. (The players) see the success of their peers, and they’re like, I want that, you know? The Outland trophies, the Thorpe awards, the All-Americans, the first-round picks, the draft picks, the College Football Playoffs. The on-the-cusp-of-a-national-championship. I want that. So how do I get there? It’s pretty simple. The only thing I just keep looking for is, is there a complacency? Because complacency is, that’ll get you. And we’re fortunate. We’ve got no room to be complacent, because we haven’t won the thing yet, you know?” – Texas coach Steve Sarkisian
To put the crown jewel on his achievement in Austin, Sark needs to win a title. Based on its first preseason No. 1 ranking in program history, it could happen this year.
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This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: The Athletic says Texas Longhorns are new Alabama of college football
