Kirk Herbstreit praises Steve Sarkisian, rebuild of Texas ahead of SEC move in 2024

Kirk Herbstreit heaped immense praise on the job Steve Sarkisian has done with the Texas Longhorns on Saturday.

Sarkisian’s squad clinched a spot in the Big 12 title game on Friday, as they’re finishing their final season in the conference with a bang.

During Saturday’s edition of ESPN’s College GameDay in Ann Arbor, Herbstreit was complimentary of Sarkisian returning the Longhorns to the College Football Playoff conversation, and having them ready for the SEC next season.

“Think about how long, every preseason for the last ten years, ‘Look out for Texas this year,’ and then by October they’re done. And then it’s like, ‘Look out for Texas,’ and then they’re done. Texas is now, ‘They’re back,’ I don’t want to talk about that. Talk about, they’re winning games (that) in the last ten years they would find a way to lose. It’s not just that, ‘Hey, this Texas team is good,’ and all that, it’s Sark is building something not just for 2023, Sark is building something for the duration.

“What a great job by him of this year, and then going into the SEC at the right time. This brand, and what he’s building right now — he’s doing it the right way. It’s taken a little bit of time for him to do it, but he’s doing it the right way, and they are dangerous when they’re playing good.”

Many college football fans have been waiting for Texas to return to the forefront of the sport for well over a decade now. Sarkisian has helped accomplish that since he’s taken his talents to the Longhorns.

Texas needs some help to get to the College Football Playoff, but the future is more than bright for the Longhorns, and Kirk Herbstreit recognizes that.

Steve Sarkisian reflects on journey at Texas, reaching Big 12 Championship

In 2021, Steve Sarkisian took over a Texas program that was coming off four straight seven-plus win seasons under Tom Herman. It didn’t go as planned, though, with a 5-7 record to miss out on a bowl game for the second time in five years.

But some of the players he inherited from Herman’s regime stuck around in Austin. They’re now seniors, and Friday night’s matchup against Texas Tech — which could’ve clinched a Big 12 Championship appearance with a victory — was their final home game.

They went out in style as the Longhorns dominated in all three phases en route to the 57-7 victory. It capped Sarkisian’s three-year journey from a 5-7 program to an 11-1 program, with at least two more games to go.

And for that group of players who stuck around after Herman’s firing, Sarkisian made sure to give them credit for helping build the foundation.

“They’re the reason we’re here,” Sarkisian told ABC’s Tom Luginbill after Friday’s game. “I think about a guy like Jett Bush. For him to get that play, he showed up here as a walk-on for a different coach, stuck with me and what we were doing. There’s a bunch of those types of guys. In the end, I just couldn’t be more proud and happy for that group of guys because without them, we would not be here.”

Bush had one of the biggest plays of the night, catching a ball that ricocheted off Tahj Brooks’ foot and took it to the house for a pick-six to make it a 50-7 Texas lead. It was part of a complete performance, which also saw Xavier Worthy — a member of that 2021 recruiting class — record a touchdown after shaking off an injury.

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this article.

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