Sarkisian embraces challenge ahead
FRISCO — With college football all-star games winding down this weekend, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian owns a crystal-clear memory of his own big play in such a contest.
“I have a great one,” Sarkisian said with a crooked smile while taking part in East-West Shrine Bowl festivities this past week at the Dallas Cowboys’ Ford Center. “I threw a pick six to a defensive lineman on a screen pass in an all-star game. An all-star game!”
It’s why the former quarterback Sarkisian is still mightily familiar with the name Matt Finkes more than a quarter century after Sarkisian wouldn’t mind having that pass back from the 1997 Shrine Bowl.
“We call a screen, and this guy (Finkes) jumps up and picks it and runs it for a touchdown,” Sarkisian added with a slight chuckle. “That was my highlight.”
Sarkisian, 49, shared the memory at the exact otherwise shining moment he and former NFL receiver Steve Smith Sr. were being honored for their induction into the Shrine Bowl Hall of Fame. Sarkisian’s message to youngsters and even young men and women in all walks of life? Good things can still be around the bend following major mistakes, thanks in part to resolve and a plan.
“I’m pretty good at making humor out of some tough times, but the point being football (can be) the best way to look at life,” Sarkisian said of freely sharing the interception anecdote. “The adversity we get faced with ingame, (it could be) a turnover by a quarterback, a cornerback getting beat deep on a go-ball, a tackle giving up a sack, a fumble by a running back. But the game is not over.
“You still have to continue to play, and you’ve got to get refocused and recalibrated and trust your training, trust the people around and do your job. It sounds a lot like life.”
Sarkisian, who led Texas to its first College Football Playoff this past season and has the Longhorns on an upward trajectory, knows of what he speaks. Less than a decade ago, he was fired as head coach at Southern Cal for alcohol-related addiction issues.
Sarkisian, after blowing a bigtime opportunity for a coach in his early 40s at a prominent program, rebounded to become an offensive coordinator with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and with Alabama under coach Nick Saban, renowned for rehabilitating coaches needing second and even third chances.
UT hired Sarkisian three years ago, and this past season’s CFP semifinal came down to a final play between the Longhorns and Washington (where Sarkisian was a head coach prior to USC), as the Huskies prevailed 37-31 in New Orleans on New Year’s Day.
“Life presents adversity to us as well,” Sarkisian said in wrapping up the football analogy. “But how do we get back up and continue on that journey? Hopefully that (Shrine interception story) gives just a little bit of a nugget that you can overcome a lot in life.
“An interception to a defensive lineman might seem small, but as you get on the other side of that and you keep playing and maybe throw a touchdown, that can serve in life, too. That we can overcome a lot and keep moving forward.”
Smith Sr. during his Shrine Bowl induction talk said, “I know I’ve made some mistakes myself. And Google reminds me of those mistakes.”
Sarkisian laughed and responded, “Who are you telling?”
After starring at El Camino College in his home state of California and at BYU, Sarkisian went undrafted by the NFL in the spring of 1997. He played three seasons in the Canadian Football League before coaching quarterbacks at El Camino in 2000, the start of a 24-year coaching career.
“Coming out of high school we all have hopes and dreams and aspirations,” Sarkisian said of his occasionally meandering career trek. “As we grow, I don’t know if anybody’s path always is exactly what they thought it was going to be. At that time, I wanted to be Joe Montana, he was my idol and who I wanted to be.
“In the end, I’m trying to be like Mack Brown and Darrell Royal.”
So what is next for Sarkisian, outside of Wednesday’s traditional national signing day (UT is currently sixth in national rankings) and the Longhorns’ annual Orange-White game on April 20 in Royal-Memorial Stadium? He vowed “championships” are on the list, and Texas believes him considering it rewarded him with a four-year contract extension through 2030 following the appearance in the CFP, which expands from four to 12 teams starting this season.
Sarkisian, who originally signed with Texas for about $6 million annually in January 2021, is now making closer to $10 million annually following UT’s most successful season since 2009 under Brown, when the Longhorns lost the national title game to Alabama.
“There are challenges along the way,” Sarkisian said of his tasks ahead, specifically citing UT and Oklahoma’s shift from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference on July 1. “But I didn’t come to the University of Texas just to say, ‘I’m the head coach at Texas.’ I came here to win championships. We got a conference championship last year, which was a tremendous honor.
“… But there’s more out there for us to do. We’ve built a program that is more than capable of doing that on a yearly basis. It’s hard to be a dynasty if you don’t have one (title). We need to get one first and go from there.”