Steve Sarkisian gets brutally honest on Texas’ defense

The Texas Longhorns will enter the 2025-26 season with high expectations, with Arch Manning in line to play as the starting quarterback. Offensively, excitement is through the roof for this program, however, the defense might be getting overlooked. Head coach Steve Sarkisian opened up about what to expect from the Longhorns’ defense next season.

During a Q&A with ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Sarkisian was asked about the “vibe on the defensive side.” The 51-year-old head coach claims that Texas has “real playmakers” on the defensive side of the ball. But his confidence in the defense overall stood out the most when Sarkisian stated that he doesn’t believe Texas will have to go into games with the idea of having to score 40+ points a game to win.

“I think more importantly is who we are on defense and the growth of who we have been as a defensive team from Year 1 through Year 4. Going into Year 5, we have real playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, whether it’s Anthony Hill, Colin Simmons, Trey Moore, and we touched on Michael Taaffe, we touched on Derek Williams and Liona Lefau, and Ethan Burke. We have some real players on the defensive side of the ball, to where I don’t think Arch is ever going to have to go into a game thinking we have to outscore ’em.

“We need to play good football, and as a team, we can win a lot of games. It’s not going to feel like the weight of the world, where if we don’t score 40, we’re in trouble. We’re going to be in plenty of high-level games where 24, 28 points is going to be good enough to win. Now, do we want to score 35, 42, 49? Of course. But I don’t think we’re always going to have to. It’s managing some of those games the right way to make sure that our defense can play to their ability.”

Texas finished the 2024-25 campaign with a 13-3 record and a trip to the College Football Playoff. The Longhorns reached the semi-finals, where they suffered a 28-14 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Last season, Texas held the third-ranked defense in points allowed, allowing just 15.3 points per game. If the defense can remain one of the top in the nation, then Manning’s job as quarterback should be incredibly easy.