Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
Oct 10, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian during the game against the Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl.
In just two short weeks, the Texas Longhorns have gone from No. 1-ranked team in the nation to No. 19 and staring down the barrel of a completely lost season.
After starting the year 4-0, including a big win over Ohio State, the Longhorns suffered brutal losses to rival Oklahoma and Florida, both of which were unranked at the time. Now, head coach Steve Sarkisian, who is making $10.8 million this season, appears to be on the hot seat.
To make matters worse, it seems that Texas doesn’t even trust Sarkisian to make big coaching decisions on his own, instead relying on AI to do so.
Steve Sarkisian And Texas Let AI Make Big Fourth-Down Call Against Texas
On Thursday, Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte announced what he called “the new wave” of college athletics. The announcement was in reference to the athletic department’s “Bevo Lab,” an artificial intelligence data analytics platform.
The program will be used by coaches, trainers, nutritionists, student-athletes, and analysts across various sports.
That includes the football program and Sarkisian, who used the AI platform to decide to go for it on 4th-and-2 late in the game against Florida at Texas’ own 47-yard line.
BRENDAN BETT STUFFS ARCH MANNING ON FOURTH DOWN. https://t.co/N7GagMwjex
— Sidelines – CFB (@SSN_CollegeFB) October 17, 2026
The Gators ended up getting a stop and getting the ball back. Now, going for it may well have been the right decision. Perhaps a different play call leads to a first down.
But it’s telling that despite Sarkisian’s immense pay, the program still turned to a computer, rather than the head coach, to make a pivotal decision.
Del Conte insists that “Bevo Lab” is the future of college athletics. If that’s the case, perhaps there’s no need to pay any head coach nearly $11 million? Especially not one who has yet to come close to the highly coveted national championship that Texas is after.