The Texas Longhorns officially completed their spring program on Saturday with an open practice at DKR that was free for fans to attend.
The Longhorns had some key players limited or sidelined altogether but there was still a ton of talent on the field for fans to observe before heading into a long summer.
Here is everything Steve Sarkisian said after the practice during his interview with KXAN:
On Arch Manning’s Health:
Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning warms up before a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Darrell K Royal-Texas | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
“He’s 100% ready to go. I just didn’t think it was worth putting them back in here this late in spring. So he got plenty of work. He does a great job, even on the off days of working with the wideouts, throwing with those guys. And they’ve got really good rapport going already, and looking forward to the summer, working with them.”
On getting the new players adjusted:
“I thought this spring was huge for us. A lot of new faces, but a lot of great leadership on this team too, that these guys have done a tremendous job of bringing these new faces in, getting them acclimated and making them feel part of this team, it’s very close knit already, and this spring was helpful, new schemes on defense, new faces learning a new scheme on offense, but we made a lot of strides through 15 practices. Now we got to get back to work in the summer and get ourselves ready for fall camp.”
On the fan turnout:
“I really appreciate Longhorn nation showing up today for Fan Day, weather permitting, but it was good for a lot of our younger players, a lot of the new faces to play in the stadium, in front of some fans. You see a couple guys had some jitters, but they worked through it and but it was also good for some of the transfers that came in, just to get a sense and a feel for the support that we have here.”
On the new defense under Will Muschamp:
Georgia Bulldogs defensive analyst Will Muschamp reacts before the 2022 CFP college football national championship game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
“There’s definitely a style and a brand of football we want to play defensively around here, and coach Muschamp fits that. And he’s got a level of intensity that he brings, but he’s got a level of connectivity that he has with the players as well that shows, so we’re fortunate to have him. The players did a great job learning the new system. Now we got to really dig deep into the nuances and the details of it all.”
On the short-term and big-picture goals before the season:
“Short term, we got to finish up the semester. Got to finish it up academically. Get back and doing some exit meetings with the guys, so that they know where they stand in the program, what we want them to work on for the summer. They’ll get some time off in the month of May. Our rehab guys, they’ll be kind of here in the month of May, rehabbing themselves, getting themselves ready. June and July is big for us. We get to work with our players now in the month of June and July. So that’ll be big, you know, kind of going back to the basics of installation, and that’ll get us set up for fall camp in August. So it feels like we have a lot of time, but it’s a race, you know? It’s a race to see how good we can get as quickly as we can get there.”
On looking ahead to the season opener:
“It’s exciting. Like I said, I’ve been saying this for quite some time. I really like this team. You know, it’s one thing to like the talent on the team, but I like the makeup of these guys. They’re competitive, they’re tough, they’re close knit. They like to practice. It’s a get to, not a have to, and it exudes out of them every day we get to get on the grass.”
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