Texas HC Steve Sarkisian Denies Interest In NFL HC Job

University of Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was seen as a candidate for an HC gig in the NFL during the last hiring cycle, and he reportedly turned down interview requests from two pro clubs before signing a one-year extension with Texas that keeps him tied to the Longhorns through 2031. The latest reporting on Sarkisian’s potential jump to the NFL met with significant backlash.

On Saturday, Dianna Russini of The Athletic (subscription required) reported that Sarkisian’s camp has let NFL execs know the 51-year-old would be interested in joining the professional ranks as a head coach. Russini said Sarkisian would consider the Titans’ HC job, which is the only one currently manned by an interim bench boss (Mike McCoy, who took over after Brian Callahan’s in-season dismissal).

After Russini’s report was published, Sarkisian’s agents were quick to issue a statement refuting it. In that statement, Jimmy Sexton and Ed Marynowitz of CAA said, “[a]ny reports regarding communications on coaching opportunities are patently false and wildly inaccurate. Sark is solely focused on coaching the University of Texas football team.”

Following the Longhorns’ overtime victory against Mississippi State on Saturday, Sarkisian himself blasted Russini’s report during his post-game presser (video link).

In a lengthy diatribe, Sarkisian said, “I’d love to touch on this, so bear with me for a second, because it really pisses me off that one person can make a report that, in turn, the entire media and sports world runs with as factual, to the point that my agency and my agents had to put a statement out, which they’ve never done historically. CAA, Jimmy Sexton, Ed Marynowitz have never done that. But I had to do it to protect my locker room and my team, and I thought it was absolutely ridiculous” (via Anwar Richardson of OrangeBloods.com).

Sarkisian, whose last NFL work came as the offensive coordinator for the Falcons in the 2017-18 seasons, has been in Austin since 2021. He guided his team to the CFP semifinals in each of the past two seasons, and though the Longhorns are currently 6-2 and the No. 22 team in the country, one-score wins over unranked Kentucky and Mississippi State have not necessairly buoyed confidence in the program’s 2025 prognosis. In his first season as a full-time starter, quarterback Arch Manning has not lived up to the overwhelming hype that surrounded him before the campaign got underway, though he did play well in the victory over the Bulldogs.

Sources within the program have expressed optimism about Manning’s future, and Sarkisian’s contract is reflective of the school’s faith in its HC. That may not stop interested NFL teams from calling, but in order to put his current locker room and his recruits at ease, Sarkisian clearly felt it was necessary to adamantly deny the veracity of Russini’s report.

“I thought it was completely unprofessional of that person to put that report out, and the fact that everybody ran with it is borderline embarrassing for the media,” he added. “And I respect what you guys do — I really do — and everybody else. But the fact that everyone ran with that as truth is really embarrassing.”