Texas head football coach Steve Sarkisian spoke with some of his players during spring football practice Monday at DKR Texas Memorial Stadium. (Kusan photo)
AUSTIN (KXAN) – Texas Longhorns football coach Steve Sarkisian likes to talk about thermostats and thermometers during spring practice, but it has nothing to do with central air conditioning systems.
The analogy he's talking about is about the players who provide the energy during practice, or as Sarkisian puts it, “they set the temperature.” Of course, they are thermostats. The player, which is a thermometer, responds to the thermostat settings. Sarkisian wants to add a thermostat.
“We need more guys who are going to step on the field with real intent and great energy,” he said, “so that other players who might not be getting it right yet. You will be able to keep pace with that figure.”
Sarkisian said defensive linemen Alfred Collins, Valin Soler and Ethan Burke and running backs CJ Baxter and Jadon Blue were examples of thermostats in Monday's practice, Sarkisian said. He also mentioned defensive lineman Trey Moore, a transfer from UTSA, who he said plays with an edge.
“That guy is wired right in front of you,” Sarkisian said. “You can tell there's a chip on the shoulder of the players coming into the program. Trey has something to prove. If you can recruit players in the portal who aren't from college, there's some value in that. I think. He's a really talented player and you could see that when I played against him. He practices seriously and that starts with his approach. He tries to squeeze everything out of the day. There is.”
Moore recorded 45 tackles and 14 sacks for the Roadrunners last season and was named the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He finished second in the FBS in total sacks and sacks per game last season, adding another dimension to the Longhorns' already deep position group.
Texas has four practices left until spring training and two more this week, making the most of this period to lay the foundation for fall camp and the 2024 season. He said that's everything.
Last Saturday's practice was the first time the players were fully involved, and Sarkisian said it was “really physical.”
“We're looking at what the players look like and what that looks like,” he said. “One of the challenges he finds in spring ball is trying to make the most of these 15 opportunities.”
Coach Sarkisian said Wednesday and Friday's practices are important because the team will have three days off before resuming play next Tuesday. All spring practice will culminate in the Orange vs. White spring scrimmage scheduled for April 20th at DKR Texas Memorial Stadium.
Another thing Sarkisian enjoys about spring ball is the competitive nature of the players. He gave the example of when a young player made a mistake during Saturday practice that could have hurt another player, and several veteran players talked to the young player and corrected him before the coach could say anything. Ta.
“They looked like wolves,” Sarkisian said. “As competitive as we are and as hard as we are at practicing, they're learning how to do it and coaching each other. That's the beauty and that's what I'm talking about. It's the leadership that we've shown. It's not just one or two voices that say a player is doing something wrong, we have a lot of players who are doing that.”
