College football is evolving past its amateur genesis. It’s now got flash and money adjacent to pro leagues across the country and beyond. But it’s never quite going to be the top entity in the football food chain. The NFL is, across the board, a touch above. The gap has shrunk, though, at least financially. CFB coaches at the biggest programs are raking in more green than most of their big-league counterparts. However, the tryst with plying your craft among the very best athletes the sport has to offer creates a conundrum. Stay put, or take the leap upwards? Texas HC Steve Sarkisian was reportedly faced with this conundrum this off-season. He chose the former and has finally broken his silence on affairs.

According to Adam Schefter, Sark either did or was imminently going to receive offers to take the helm at NFL franchises. Before he shunned them off. Coaches make the move all the time. Success breeds interest, and that knock is difficult to turn a deaf ear to. The likes of Chip Kelly and Al Golden switched their coordinator jobs in CFB for ones in the league this offseason. However, it must be said luring head coaches has become a challenge. They’re building and nurturing these college programs like their own kids. While being paid handsomely for their loyalty and efforts. Steve Sarkisian is no different. 

Let’s suspend disbelief and consider that Steve Sarkisian was indeed prepared to leave Texas and move to the NFL if the chance arrived. Sark is the 4th highest-paid coach in CFB. He’s making $10.3 million annually and rising year by year. For context, merely 7 out of 32 NFL coaches make more. All 7 of these coaches have either been to multiple Super Bowls, i.e., Kyle Shanahan, or won the Lombardi outright. Sark will need to take a hefty pay cut to move up an echelon. An unproven coach on the NFL level was never getting top-of-the-line money. His Texas contract, worth a gaudy $80 million, is difficult to replicate outside of Austin. This and more was likely baked into why Sarkisian held firm. He has now verbalized the reasons himself, too.

“I was very clear in my opening press conference. I’ve been very clear along the way. I came here to win championships, and we’ve got a lot of unfinished business,” said Steve Sarkisian during his spring presser. “So I wasn’t entertaining anything that was beyond making sure I had a really good job here.” The reporter, Joshua Newman, confronted Sark about the interest from the NFL. Which he neither confirmed nor denied. Opting to move diplomatically while projecting a laser-focused aim at being successful in the burnt orange. “The mission is not complete,” he added.

Sark signed a contract extension less than a year ago, off the back of a 2023 season that culminated in a CFP berth when they still only had 4 teams. Expectations were high at the outset of 2024. Stemming from the new contract in tandem with the realignment to the SEC. The season entailed moments of greatness and moments of growth. All things considered, Sarkisian can take solace from his and his team’s efforts to make the final 4. They took the champs closer than any other team in the playoffs. That said, he cannot rest on his laurels. Sark’s self-proclamation “mission” of winning the Natty is far from linear. His own statements about the spring game are a proponent of the tough road they face.

Steve Sarkisian expands upon his decision not to post a spring game

Of all its quirks and abnormalities, the concept of spring games is one of the most interesting in CFB. Something that’s so etched in the fabric of the sport. Yet, Steve Sarkisian has announced Texas won’t hold one this year. Spring games as a concept are trending towards becoming history soon, and so could the tradition of fans pulling up in the thousands to watch these glorified practices. Support their new players. Why? Tampering is at the crux of it all. Coaches have pointed to these games being an opportunity for some illicit outside intervention. It’s especially lethal since it’s right before the transfer portal reopens. However, he insists Texas’ reason to avoid a spring game goes beyond just tampering.

Alongside Notre Dame and Ohio State, Texas played the most games in the FBS last season. One that was already longer than ever, owing to the extra regular season game and 12-team playoffs. This meant the players had to work harder than any of their predecessors. Sarkisian just wants to err on the side of caution to avoid burning his players out. Plus, he’s got a massive roster turnover that he doesn’t want to expose to the huge demands of Longhorns football just yet. Who just earned the label of the most hated CFB program from a national analyst. Sark said the following during the aforementioned presser.

“We’re not, not having a spring game so people don’t tamper with our players…we’re not having a spring game because I have 27 new faces on my roster,” he said. “People are going to tamper with our players whether we like it or not.” Steve Sarkisian, being the vetted coach he is, knows not to throw these 27 inductees straight into the firing line. “We’ve got to really build a foundation. Of understanding the ‘why’ of what we do. From how we practice, to the drills that we do…the challenge for us as a coaching staff is to grow quickly.” With so many new players to bed into the team, Sark’s facing an uphill task to keep Texas’ contender status alive.

Morals and ethics are partisan values to hold in a results business, which CFB now is. A business where a pigskin gets thrown on Saturdays. Until there is stricter penalization for tampering, it’ll continue to hamper the sport. On the contrary, CFB becoming a business with strong finances bodes well for fans who don’t want their coaches to be plucked by the NFL. It provides monetary security, allowing coaches like Sarkisian to display loyalty. Talk about a double-edged sword.