Texas football: Steve Sarkisian addresses offensive line, backup QBs as spring progresses

Late Tuesday morning, Steve Sarkisian walked into the Moncrief Athletics Complex’s recruiting lounge and greeted a handful of reporters.

“Missed you guys. Good to see you,” the Texas football coach said as he prepared to begin a scheduled press conference.

It had indeed been a while since Sarkisian last spoke with the local media. Twenty-nine days, in fact. And in that span of time, a few things happened.

Sarkisian and his wife, Loreal, announced last week that their first child had been born, and Sarkisian revealed Tuesday their son is named Amayas. The Texas football team also has completed seven of its 15 allotted spring practices. And while Sarkisian accepted congratulations from a few media members, he was ready to talk more about the latter subject than the former.

“There’s been some really good, positive things that have occurred so far (at practice). There’s been areas where we definitely need to improve and that’s understandable,” Sarkisian said. “When you’re seven days into spring practice, there’s plenty of room for growth right now. I can’t ever question the work ethic, the passion, how hard our guys are going right now. We’re a far, far, far way away from a finished product right now.”

Sarkisian mentioned the word “growth” a few times. That’s something the fifth-year coach expects to see across his team throughout the spring.

One area where growth may be stressed more than others? The offensive line. Heading into this fall, Texas must replace 62 of last season’s 80 game starts on the offensive line as left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. will likely be a first-round pick in this month’s NFL draft, longtime center Jake Majors exhausted his eligibility and both left guard Hayden Conner and right tackle Cameron Williams are also trying to go pro.

That leaves senior guard DJ Campbell as the lone returning starter on the line. Senior Cole Hutson is both versatile and experienced, though, and third-year lineman Trevor Goosby filled in for an injured Banks in the SEC championship game and for Williams in the Peach Bowl. Sarkisian also likes what he’s seen from several of the team’s young linemen.

“I think we all have an idea of who Trevor is. We got a pretty good glimpse of that, not a finished product, but we got a pretty good glimpse of what he looks like,” Sarkisian said. “This is probably the best version of DJ Campbell we’ve gotten. Here’s four years into it, you think a guy, he is who he is, there’s growth for everybody, and I think he’s taken a really big step from a leadership standpoint and energy standpoint, this is the best condition he’s been in. And then Cole, his experience at center has been helpful.

Sarkisian added that “I’ve loved the competition with a lot of those other tackles, Brandon Baker, (Andre) Cojoe, Nick Brooks, that’s been really healthy competition there. I love the growth of Nate Kibble right now of where he’s at. So again, work in progress, seven practices in, but I think just the steady consistency of growth is what we’re looking for.”

Including when they arrived ahead of UT’s 2021 campaign, Sarkisian and assistant coach Kyle Flood had always returned at least two starters on the offensive line each season. Last year Texas entered its season opener against Colorado State with four returning starters up front.

“I think the sign of a healthy program and the sign of a successful program is when people move on, the next group’s ready, that next wave of guys are ready to step in and compete and do it at a high level,” Sarkisian said. “There’s been a high standard set in our program at all positions. This has been kind of the first time the offensive line has had to be part of that.”

Sarkisian also discusses Texas running backs, quarterbacks

Sarkisian didn’t just chat about offensive linemen. As expected, he fielded a few questions about the new starting quarterback, Arch Manning. He discussed what’s next for defensive standout Trey Moore. He touched on the transfer portal and how Texas may use that to address its depth at receiver, tight end and on the defensive line.

But what about the running backs? Christian Clark is practicing after missing last season with an Achilles injury. He joins a running backs room that returns Quintrevion Wisner and Jerrick Gibson, welcomes freshmen James Simon and Rickey Stewart Jr. and is awaiting a comeback from CJ Baxter (knee).

“It’s a good room for us,” Sarkisian said. “As everybody here knows, we value the running back immensely, and we’re fortunate to have a good room there.”

How about the development of Trey Owens and KJ Lacey? Owens, a redshirt freshman who appeared in three games last season, and Lacey, a four-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, are expected to be Manning’s backups this fall.

“Trey feels like year two. It makes a little more sense, a little bit more smooth. We’re fighting for consistency with him, which is pretty much across the board as a team of trying to stack plays, stack periods of practice, ultimately, stack practices on top of one another,” Sarkisian said. “KJ, natural ability. When he knows what to do, man, it’s a very pretty thing. When he doesn’t know what to do, he looks like a guy in his seventh practice of college football. I will say for both those guys; I think they’re taking the coaching.”

And the new defensive tackles? How are Cole Brevard, Travis Shaw and Hero Kanu fitting in after their transfers from Purdue, North Carolina and Ohio State?

“I think Cole, you can feel his experience, he’s a really stout guy inside. He’s played a lot of football,” Sarkisian said. “Travis, we’re kind of monitoring him. I don’t want to overdo it, he’s had a knee that has lingered throughout his career some so we’re working him in. And Hero’s been a great addition. I think those three guys have been really nice additions for us, along with the young players that have been in there. A lot of new faces to go along with the growth of an Alex January and a Melvin Hills.”

Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Get access to all of our best content with this tremendous offer.

This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.