Don’t blame the fear of tampering from other rivals. Don’t blame at injuries, and don’t blame a packed college football schedule that seems to get more crowded each season.
In his first offseason meeting with the media Monday at Royal-Memorial Stadium, Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian said the reasons for eliminating the Longhorns’ annual Orange-White spring game came down to some simple math.
Sarkisian and his staff have 22 freshmen and five new transfers to meld into a 2025 team with lots of new faces in lots of new places. Working within the constraints of a spring game at the expense of a standard practice doesn’t make sense for a team that needs as much practice time as it can get, Sarkisian said. Spring football begins March 25, and Sarkisian emphasized how critical each workout can be, especially for a team that loses most of its starting offensive linemen, a three-year starter at quarterback in Quinn Ewers and some longtime defensive staples such as cornerback Jahdae Barron and edge Barryn Sorrell.
“We’re not having a spring game because I’ve got 27 new faces on my roster that I need to take time to develop,” Sarkisian said. “That development starts at the beginning of spring ball, where we’ve got to really build a foundation of understanding the whys of what we do, from how we practice to the drills that we do, to the foundational aspects of the offense, the defense, the special teams.
“The challenge for us as a coaching staff is to grow quickly. Because I do believe we have a talented football team, but we have some youth and we have some inexperience, and I’m really pressing upon everybody in our program — coaches and staff members included — to take the next step and to develop the leadership that’s needed on this team.”
So, no fear of any rivals watching the spring game on the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/texas-football-steve-sarkisian-explains-205819836.html
Author : Austin American-Statesman
Publish date : 2025-03-10 20:58:00
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