Texas head football coach Steve Sarkisian is saying one thing and doing another when it comes to the role of NIL in recruiting. His program is actively promoting its lavish wealth and financial opportunities while he actively downplays the importance of lavish wealth and financial opportunities.
Sarkisian’s recent comments about Name, Image and Likeness are as tone deaf as they come.
The 50-year-old, who is in his fourth year with the Longhorns, joined The Joel Klatt Show for a lengthy conversation about a variety of different topics. Recruiting was one of them. More specifically, how money factors into recruiting.
Sarkisian — with a straight face — said that “NIL should be the last reason why you choose to go to a school.” And to be fair, he’s right. That is the correct outlook on the recruiting process. High school athletes should pick their college program based on system, fit, playing time, coaching staff, and tangible on-field performance metrics. The opportunity to get paid at the right school is an added bonus.
However, Sarkisian went on to say that Texas takes a different approach to recruiting. He claims to push the history and tradition of Longhorns football, the quality of education, his coaching staff, the trajectory of the program and the city of Austin before NIL.
"NIL should be the last reason why you choose to go to a school."@CoachSark talks about how the approach to recruiting is different at @TexasFootball 🤘 pic.twitter.com/uF4KYaVuyz
— The Joel Klatt Show: A CFB Pod (@JoelKlattShow) June 17, 2024
All of what Sarkisian had to say about recruiting could be true. It’s hard to believe him.
Former Alabama wide receiver Isaiah Bond completely snubbed Kalen DeBoer and hit the transfer portal shortly after Nick Saban’s retirement. The five-star pass-catcher flexed a Lamborghini on Instagram during his visit to Austin and later committed to Texas. He said that he “likes the whole package” that comes with the school, which may or may not carry an underlying NIL-based meaning, and ultimately ended up in a free Ford Bronco from a local dealership. That was in January.
Sarkisian and the Longhorns hosted a large group of elite prospects on campus during the first week of June. The recruits were greeted by a large fleet of Lamborghinis upon arrival. That was less than 14 days ago.
Texas’ partnership with Lamborghini Austin pretty clearly plays a large role in the recruiting process even though Steve Sarkisian is actively saying otherwise on a very prominent college football show. This is also the same collective that pays each of its offensive linemen $50,000 annually— just for playing the position even though money supposedly isn’t important. Sure, olk.