Longhorns New Year’s Resolutions for 2022

We are just about through the first month of 2022 but it is never too late to set goals for the year. This year, Steve Sarkisian will enter his second season as the head coach of the Longhorns and will coach a roster that looks radically different due to recruiting and transfer additions during the offseason. Today, we look at some of our New Year’s resolutions for the football team.

Resolutions:

• Better Wide Receiver Recruiting: Just prior to the start of the New Year, the Longhorns announced that they added former Pittsburgh wide receivers coach Brennan Marion to the same position on Steve Sarkisian’s coaching staff. Despite landing a few talented receivers during his tenure at Texas, it was evident that former Longhorns wide receivers coach Andre Coleman was not getting it done on the recruiting trail. Longhorns fans have had to wonder for far too long how the team could butcher the recruitment of several talented in-state wide receivers such as Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Marvin Mims – who all opted to go out of state. While Andre Coleman and, for that matter, Tom Herman, had a difficult time landing star-studded wideouts, the onus is now on Steve Sarkisian and Brennan Marion to change things. Last season, Sarkisian felt the lack of wide receiver depth following sophomore Jordan Whittington’s injury during last season’s Cotton Bowl matchup, which left him sidelined for much of the season. Following Whittington’s injury, freshman wideout Xavier Worthy became much more of the focus for opposing secondaries and Texas’s running game faltered.

• Better (and Consistent) Quarterback Play: While most will be quick to pencil transfer quarterback Quinn Ewers as the starting quarterback of the Texas Longhorns, he will still have to earn it. With that said, Ewers was the best player that I have ever covered at the high school level and certainly has many of the traits that you want to see in your “franchise” quarterback. Last season, Longhorns fans witnessed up-and-down play from the position, despite the fact that Casey Thompson actually ended up leading the Big 12 Conference in passing touchdowns. Now with Thompson having transferred to Nebraska, the pressure will be on Ewers or Hudson Card to produce for the Longhorns. Also worth noting, while Card’s redshirt freshman season certainly left a lot to be desired, he has a tremendous amount of potential as well.

• (Cont.) Regardless of who wins the competition, Steve Sarkisian will want to have faith in whoever is under center and will have to allow them to learn from their mistakes on the field. While anything is possible, it would be unwise to expect an inexperienced quarterback to play like a Heisman finalist. As a result, both fans and coaches must show patience and hope that someone wins the job outright and progresses week by week.

• An Improved Record: Last, but certainly not least, the Longhorns will want to field an improved team and win more than five games. Of course, there are several positions of need that have to be addressed by the start of next season, but it appears that the pieces are coming together to slowly turn the ship. It is truly impressive that Steve Sarkisian and his coaching staff has been able to recruit such as promising incoming class, the fifth-best in the nation, and one can only assume what could be done if the team were to show steady improvement. However, above all, the team’s culture must be transformed by Sarkisian if the team wants to reap what it sows in recruiting.