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Even among heavyweights, Texas Longhorns’ presence reigns supreme at first SEC Media Days

Coach Steve Sarkisian and quarterback Quinn Ewers had the largest media draw on Day 3 of SEC Media Days.

The Texas name carries, and the energy surrounding the storied program is as bold as the burnt orange blazer Steve Sarkisian wore on Wednesday at SEC Media Days.

Despite being one of two newcomers to the Southeastern Conference this season, the Longhorns seemed like the most popular draw of the four-day media event at the Omni Hotel in Dallas.

Dozens of cameras seemed to magically appear on each side of the ballroom when Sarkisian began to address media members. Numerous hands shot up when the Texas coach began taking questions.

Junior quarterback Quinn Ewers was swarmed by cameras and reporters hoping to get a sound bite from the signal caller from Southlake Carroll.

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Interest in the program couldn’t be higher after last football season, when Texas finished 12-2, won the Big 12 championship and earned a College Football Playoff bid. A school record 11 Texas players were selected in the 2024 NFL draft.

“It’s been a long time coming for Texas to get back to this stage,” Sarkisian said. " Last year was a tremendous run.”

Even in slumps (and there have been a few since the Longhorns’ last national title in 2005), that interest — and the scale of the Texas brand — never seemed to waver. But popularity doesn’t win games, especially not in the SEC, a league full of comparable brands, equally large stadiums, just as many overzealous fans and bitter rivalries.

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Heading into the 2024 season, however, the frenzy surrounding Texas arguably has as much to do with the prospective on-field product as it does with the program’s flashy image. Sarkisian said he didn’t know of Texas’ plans to join the SEC when he took the job in January 2021 after serving under Nick Saban as offensive coordinator at Alabama, but he’s primed for this new era.

“We have a ton of respect for this conference and a ton of respect for the teams, the coaches, the players and the fans. This is the elite conference in college football and we’re fortunate enough to be part of it,” Sarkisian said. " On the flipside of that, We have to go earn their respect.”

The Longhorns already proved they can hang with the best of the SEC, downing fellow CFP qualifier Alabama in Tuscaloosa last September when Saban was still the coach. Texas has a future NFL draft pick and Heisman hopeful in Ewers. Sarkisian noted the stability of his coaching staff, and the Longhorns boasted a top 10 recruiting class in 2024.

Sarkisian, who landed football royalty in Arch Manning, has proven himself a good salesman and that has strengthened the roster.

“In this conference, you’ve got to have depth,” Sarkisian said. “You’ve got to have depth at quarterback. You have to have depth at running back. You have to have depth at safety. You have to have depth across the board. … This is the deepest team we’ve had, probably the most talented team we’ve had in my four years here. I can unequivocally say that.”

While former Alabama coach Saban, a mentor of Sarkisian’s, doesn’t think Texas will run the SEC from an administrative perspective, he thinks they’ll fare just fine on the football field in the country’s toughest conference.

“I think Georgia and Texas [will make the SEC championship],” Saban said. “I think Texas if their defense comes through and they can replace some of the interior people that they lost that were high draft picks and all that, they are really good offensively. … Depth at quarterback is probably really important for them because Ewers has missed time the last couple years.”

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Texas is slated for a slew of tough games this season, including a non conference contest against reigning national champion Michigan and SEC matchups with Oklahoma and Georgia.

The Longhorns will also renew rivalries with Arkansas and Texas A&M as part of their first SEC campaign.

“We’re super excited, but with uncertainty comes an anxious feeling and a little bit of nervousness for sure,” Ewers said. “We preach [to] have no fear of failure … because when you have fear of failure, you play slow and you end up making wrong decisions.”

At a place like Texas, failure isn’t much of an option.

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“Part of the standard being the standard is competing for championships. I’m up here talking about football, but it’s at every sport. It’s at every level,” Sarkisian said. " Regardless of the conference, and that’s to take nothing away from the SEC, our goal is to come into this conference and compete for a conference championship. It is what it is. That’s why you go to the University of Texas. That won’t change.”

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