re: Texas Program- Bombs Dropping

This just dropped, never much that you can trust with Ketchup because he really doesn’t have inside sources so he just regurgitates rumors mostly



By Ketchum:


As I begin to put some thoughts through the keyboard this morning, I'm not even sure that I fully know what to say. In this moment, up kind of feels down, and down kind of feels up. Where does one even begin?

Again, I'm not sure that I know, but you guys have questions … the Internet is out of control … and my job is to forever meet the moment and not shy away from it when you guys need answers.

So, let's talk … mostly stream of conscious-style.

1. Let's just start at the top. Monday kind of came out of nowhere to me. I thought Sark's press conference might be interesting, but I didn't wake up thinking we'd be at DEFCON2 by 2 p.m. I talked to a lot of people about a million different things. I suppose what I would say is that when you build a program to the level of success that Steve Sarkisian has in the previous two seasons, there are consequences to not achieving that success. It's been a while since we've lived inside of that kind of bubble, but we should probably take some notes about the temperature changes that occur when you're expecting to be a playoff team and appear to be on the outside looking in on that established measure of success.

2. For all of the panic that exists online and in my text messages, there is still a general vibe that Steve Sarkisian will be the head coach at Texas moving forward. I'm going to type a bunch of words after this paragraph, but it feels like we should start there. Hell, I spoke with someone yesterday who is very influential behind the scenes, and he swore that he has never heard anyone ever have a conversation about a world where Sarkisian isn't the head coach. Not in a conversation with Kevin Eltife. Not in a conversation with Chris Del Conte. Not with anyone he communicates with. Something that emphatic feels important to begin with.

3. There is some disconnect behind the scenes. I don't know that I can tell you the exact number on a 1-10 scale, but it's not a 1 or a 2 and it's not a 9 or a 10.

4. From my estimation, this all boils down to the following … there are some concerns about how some of the decision-making related to personnel and cost of personnel in the 2025 season was made and there are some expectations that tweaks in the name of making improvement/not repeating mistakes will be made. On the other side of that coin is a head coach who believes he's achieved enough success that his methods/judgements shouldn't be called into question at the first sign of adversity/a disappointing season.

5. I don't know what to tell you about the Desmond Howard video. I cannot believe that it happened. Steve Sarkisian is a CAA guy (Jimmy Sexton's agency). Howard is a CAA guy. Everyone in college football knows about the Sark-to-NFL reports from a few weeks ago and that CAA put out an incredibly rare public statement refuting the report from Dianna Russini. It's very, very, very hard to believe that one of the biggest voices in college football would bypass CAA to cut a social media video talking about a mutual parting between Sarkisian and Texas after the season, without him first talking to someone at CAA. Can you imagine how much of a storm that would create to have someone inside of CAA starting crap for a fellow CAA guy? These two guys are not fringe clients. They are huge deals at CAA. Again, I don't know what to tell you other than a lot of people have a lot of questions about how that video could have been made and released. It's wild.

6. There's a very strong sense behind the scenes that Texas' plan for building the 2025 team from a financial standpoint was full of mistakes that can't be repeated. You've heard me talk about things like dead money before, but with the new rules of the sport taking place with regard to NIL restrictions and revenue-sharing, there isn't an endless supply of money that can save a program if it doesn't use its allocated money wisely. I don't think there's an anti-Sark vibe that I can find at all, but this is an anti-2025 plan that people think is proving to have been wasteful in spending/projections and will prove to be very problematic and unsustainable moving into the very near future.

7. You're not going to hear about this beyond July 1 when the new year kicks into place and all of the schools across the country are having to live by the sport's new rules regarding NIL/revenue sharing, but in the meantime … Texas isn't rolling in incoming NIL funding. Different people believe this means different things, but there have always been a very few select guys carrying a large amount of lifting. There's no single sugar daddy making it rain. If the Longhorns lose even a little of the heavy-lifting lifters, it will have a very serious impact in the short term. All of this is super fluid, but this is where some of the disconnect sits.

8. There could possibly be some tough decisions that have to be made with the roster. Texas can't have players making large amounts of money (especially from revenue-share) that aren't playing. Period. I cannot stress this point enough. There's not enough money to compensate for it. "Starters only," one person texted me this morning. I'm not sure that anyone is looking forward to the sausage being made once the season ends and financial decisions have to be made. The current revenue model does not support incredibly expensive recruiting classes, in addition to expensive rosters that are already in place. It's almost like you can't have both.

9. As an example, Texas can't ever spend what it spent on the freshman wide receiver class, only for none of that money to return an immediate investment. Every dollar spent has to provide immediate return on investment, at least that's the sense I have about what changes are believed to be needed. There's a real sense that we could see more departures through the Portal than we've seen in the last couple of years.

Also, although no one has said anything to me about all of this with regard to the 2026 recruiting class, it feels like an elephant in the room right now is the expected cost of the group and how the hell it can possibly exist in its current form after everything that was just learned with the No. 1-ranked 2025 recruiting class and its lack of immediate return on investment in the 2025 season. I know this ... Texas isn't going to spend another damn dime on a recruit in this class from the sounds of it. No one wants to say this out loud ... to the point that no one has said it ... but, I have real questions about how Texas has the 2026 roster it wants to compete for a championship and is still able to sign 8-10 super blue chip level prospects at the same time.

That kind of goes for everyone in college athletics. Folks, the rubber is about to meet the road with balancing budgets ... for everyone.

10. The final note on all of this for now (I could definitely keep going …) is this … it feels like everyone wants the same thing. Everyone wants to arm Sarkisian with the tools he needs to be the best that he can be. There are simply some concerns about his choice of tools and level of work that he personally takes on every day inside the program, and whether it's the optimal way to approach competing for championships on an annual basis. There's a sense that Sark likes HIS process kind of the way it is (on every front) and there's a sense that others would like to see some of HIS processes simply evolve/mature with added lived experience in this new college football world.

p.s. - Nike schools are getting their butts kicked by Adidas schools. It's a thing

if he's back then yay, another year of looking like arse against the elites in the coaching world. At least Georgia isn't on the schedule next year.
Day coming into Austin and winning will be ugly, but if that's what we want, so be it.
I don't even care at this point. I'm over it.

Curious what bopper has to say about ketch's post.

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p.s. - Nike schools are getting their butts kicked by Adidas schools. It's a thing

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What a random take. But I’ll let it slide.

I’m not really sure I understand what he means by that


On the field in wins and losses?

In NIL money?

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I want him to land on his feet. None of my issues with him are personal. I just think he's an average head coach. We may do worse with the next guy, but it's a risk we need to take. This is not a guy who's capable of winning it all.

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What drives me absolutely insane is that I believe we are one good offensive coordinator (he can run Sarks offense) away from being the type of team we're capable of being with the talent level gathered. Hell, I've been wanting Sark to give Milwee a shot at it since last season, and there is nobody else who knows Sark's offense better.

For example..while Kirby is busy micromanaging everything that happens with his team (including non stop chirping at the refs) Sark is squatting on the field listening to his assistants on his headset and trying to decide the next play on offense. Yes he was hired because of the offense he ran at Bama, but he was also hired to be CEO of the Texas Longhorns.

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Being a horn can be fricking exhausting at times.

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Well luckily there's a lot more to it than just football

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I’m not really sure I understand what he means by that

On the field in wins and losses?

In NIL money?

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My guess is playoff eligible teams? But I’m too lazy to research it.

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Well luckily there's a lot more to it than just football

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Yeah sorry I meant to say Horn football fan.

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unfortunately, I think the disfunction goes way beyond the offensive coordinator. Last season I would have agreed with you but this goes much deeper than who's simply calling plays.
Can that be fixed? no clue.

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Hell no it can't be fixed with Sark. Dude is lost as frick out there, while acting all whiny and petulant to the press for asking legitimate questions.. Red flags all over the place. He gotta go.

It's like when Homer Simpson had a heart attack and his coworkers replaced him by tying a brick to a lever. We just need a brick to replace Sark.

I just think one more year will be a waste. Sark's troubles this year seem to run deep both personally and professionally. I mean you can literally point to 8-9 different problems easily with this team and do a deep dive on each one. It's just so fricked across the board, and everything's a mess. Add to that our rival's success and it's a titanic-level disaster.