Now that’s a nail-biting game for the Texas Longhorns fam. No, it’s not the football this time. Rather’s the NCAA Tournament for basketball. The Longhorns basketball has been facing the No.15 Kentucky Wildcats at Moody Center in Austin. While the game might turn to any side, the Texas fans are already on cloud nine. After all, someone special graced the stadium with his presence. Any guesses? It’s none other than the Texas Longhorns football HC Steve Sarkisian. And the program could no longer keep their calm. Will the football HC turn out to be the lucky charm for the basketball team? 

Well, even though it’s highly likely that Sarkisian loves football more than basketball, the Longhorns HC never misses a chance to watch some dribbling action on the court. Remember the interview that the former Texas basketball HC Chris Beard took of Sarkisian? In their fireside chat, the football HC reminisced on playing baseball for blue-blood powerhouse USC. In that way, the coach has no connection with basketball whatsoever. However, now that his school’s basketball program comes off as the dominant force, he is always spotted in the front row of the audience and February 15 was no different.

The Texas Longhorns IG page posted the sideline scenes from the NCAA basketball tournament between Texas and Kentucky. Sarkisian looked dapper in a brown sweatshirt paired with denim and sneakers. He was caught flaunting the ‘Hook ’em Horns’ hand sign – a symbol of Longhorn pride that is recognized and shared around the globe. The caption said how this came off as a sweet surprise for the whole program. It read, “good to see ya @steve.sarkisian 🤘 #HookEm.” Well, how could Sarkisian miss out on witnessing the history?

After all, it is for the first time in the program that Kentucky is playing Texas in Austin. The Wildcats are coming off a massive win over No. 5 Tennessee in Rupp Arena. The Longhorns basketball, on the other hand, lost its last three games (Alabama, Vanderbilt, Arkansas) and four of the last five. While we are yet to find whether Sarkisian is the lucky charm that the Longhorns basketball needed to flip their luck, he landed in choppy waters in his own program.

Steve Sarkisian lands in a sticky spot

The football HC and the Longhorns have given almost everything to bolster their player’s roster. With this, they qualified as one of the teams that spent the most in the transfer portal. While Sarkisian was too busy fixing the loopholes in his players’ roster, the wheels of his coaching roster fell off – as on February 13, Texas RB coach Tashard Choice left for the NFL. Choice thought of trying his luck in the NFL and will be boarding the Detroit Lions’ wagon under HC Dan Campbell.

Sarkisian must already be aware of how big has been the loss. In case, he is yet to figure it out, an analyst came up with a reality check. On3 analyst J.D.PicKell stated, “The biggest loss I think you have in losing him as a running back coach is what he is as a recruiter. Like Texas just locked up the top class in America. Choice have to believe pretty massive role in putting that class together.”

Now that’s true. Steve Sarkisian owes a lot to Tashard Choice. After all, he was the one who built Longhorns players into NFL material. Not just one player but the list is pretty long. It includes Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson, Jonathon Brooks, Keilan Robinson, and Jaydon Blue. So while the football HC might be taking some time off from the chaos that’s going around watching basketball, he must start looking for the coach’s replacement soon.