Steve Sarkisian pinpoints where he thinks he failed in 2021
The first step after any mistake is to take responsibility and acknowledge what went wrong and why.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian did just that when he spoke at the Texas Exes event on Monday night. He addressed where he and the team went wrong in 2021, and while it could have been anything from lack of talent, poor coaching adjustments, or even a pull of the ole pandemic card, none of that is what Sarkisian believes went wrong.
He expressed that the way in which he managed the facilities and where the team met played a huge role in the lack of connectivity between coach and player according to 247Sports.
We had eight months and if you really, really want to critique a program, you have to look at that program from A to Z. Where I failed, quite frankly, in our program, is I failed at connecting with our team and our team connecting with one another at this time last year. Why and how did that happen? We were in the north end zone. I was on the seventh floor, up in a cubicle. Our players were down in the visiting locker room. We would meet as a team on the eighth floor of the concourse on the north end zone where that big bar is. You know where the Tito’s sign is? (Where) the Deep Eddy sign is? That was right behind me with a pop-up screen and our players were in card table chairs. Then, the position coaches met with their players in the suites on the eighth floor. We didn’t have a natural place to really connect with our players and I failed in that spot because I didn’t generate enough opportunity for our team to grow as one. That’s what culture is, right? That’s what we’re talking about and that has to grow organically.
Now that the renovations are complete, Sarkisian explained that he sees his players each day. If not having a bond due to lack of a cohesive facility was a part of the reason Texas struggled, Sarkisian and company should have an easy time handling the 33 new scholarship players for the 2022 season, and even that number may increase.
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