Despite No. 1 Ranking, Texas Football’s process remains the same as ever

Yesterday, Texas football earned one of the highest honors a team can receive heading into a season: the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll.

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Being ranked No. 1 in the Coaches Poll the week prior may have softened the impact slightly, but it’s still historic—it’s the first time Texas has ever entered a season at No. 1. Not in the 2000s, not in the ’60s—2025 marks a first in Longhorn history.

Expectations shift when you’re given that kind of billing. The Longhorns were a top-four team to start 2024, but that was their debut year in the SEC and followed the first truly successful season of the Steve Sarkisian era. Any grace period evaporated after a 2024 campaign that ended in the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff semifinal.

So when Sarkisian addressed the media Monday, the question on everyone’s mind was simple: Is anything different now? Coaches typically give the same recycled answers in these moments, but around the program, there’s a sense this year really is different.

Year 5 Sark. Arch Manning. A defense that could be the nation’s best, led by three of the top players in the country. The excuses are gone.

Still, Sarkisian insists the attention hasn’t changed his team’s approach.

“We just focus on the process, you know? Really, I wish I could tell you that’s something different that we’ve done. That’s exactly what we’ve done the last three years, last four years, and it’s served us pretty well,” he said. “We’ve played for two conference championships in the last two years. We’ve been to the College Football Playoff semifinals two years in a row. We’ve been knocking on the door two years in a row.”

If there’s one constant in Sarkisian’s tenure, it’s that he’s stuck to what he believes works. The offense he brought in 2021 still shapes Texas’ style today. He’s recruited elite athletes from across the country. And he’s kept perspective on what being ranked No. 1 really means.

“I don’t operate with my head in the sand. I address the rankings because they’re going to see it here anyway, but they understand it really doesn’t matter,” Sarkisian said. “What do we do? What are we going to do come August 30th, and the next week, and the next week, and the next week? What are we going to do when we’re faced with adversity in-game? That’s the key to the drill. And I think we have enough guys in that locker room who have been through it the last couple years that know what the messaging is and what the approach needs to be.”

Few players on this roster have experienced anything but winning. Most came from powerhouse high school programs. Only two scholarship players were here for the 5–7 season in 2021. Outside of incoming transfers, the “worst” year the veterans have seen is 8–5.

That background, Sarkisian believes, fuels competition. Players want to beat their opponents and their teammates for starting spots. Everyone in that STAR room wants to open against Ohio State.

“Ultimately, a byproduct of being a really good competitor means you’re taking care of your body, you’re preparing the right way mentally, you’re preparing the right way emotionally,” Sarkisian said. “And then you have the ability to perform when it’s needed. The byproduct of that is winning. I think they appreciate the process, maybe more so than the result, and that’s something I appreciate about our team right now. These guys really enjoy the process.”

The process has elevated Manning to QB1 and earned Michael Taaffe a scholarship. It hasn’t yet delivered a national title appearance—or win. Sarkisian didn’t shy away from the reality: having a “1” next to your name matters most at the end of the season.