Texas ran wide receiver Parker Livingstone out of Austin and across the Red River to Norman. Although Longhorns fans have sworn that's not how things went down, there's no denying it now thanks to UT head coach Steve Sarkisian.
Sarkisian, during his time at SEC Media Days on Thursday, laid it all out in the open, dishing on an offseason that was headlined by the transfer portal addition of Auburn receiver Cam Coleman, as well as the loss of Livingstone, who's now an Oklahoma Sooner. As if running an NFL front office, Sark detailed how Texas navigated a non-existent salary cap by dumping a few loyal players in order to afford all the big names the Longhorns wanted.
“To make the moves we make, to bring in a Cam Coleman, to bring in a Hollywood Smothers, to bring in a Raleek Brown, to bring in a Mike Masunas at tight end; we had to let DeAndre Moore go. We had to let Parker Livingstone go. We had to let Tre Wisner go. We had to let CJ Baxter go," Sarkisian said.
Mentioning each player by name was certainly a decision. Sark basically added fuel to each player's fire, which is a particularly ignorant move regarding Livingstone, who will be motivated by revenge in the Sooners' biggest rivalry game that second Saturday of October. Sark then went on to even emphasize how he believes the Longhorns got better thanks to those player swaps.
"We had to let some pretty good players leave to create the cap space to bring those guys in," Sarkisian said. "I think strategically, there were some tough decisions to make. But, we made them.
"I think we all can agree that we’re probably better around Arch (Manning) today than we were a year ago at this time.”
Parker Livingstone has even more Red River Rivalry motivation after Steve Sarkisian's comments
Sarkisian's latest comment likely won't put an end to it, but Livingstone admitted during his first media appearance about two months after his transfer decision that he was still being harassed by Texas fans on social media. Going to your former team's biggest rival comes with some heat that Livingstone anticipated, but if not for their own program, Livingstone would still be wearing burnt orange. Even OU head coach Brent Venables made that clear. However, Texas fans had still been denying that the Longhorns essentially cut Livingstone.
Livingstone was living his dream as a native Texan and was even roomates with quarterback Arch Manning. It looked like Livingstone would end up being Manning's favorite target over time after he caught 29 passes for 516 yards and five touchdowns last season as a redshirt freshman.
Now, he's wearing crimson and cream, and joined an improved cast around John Mateer.
Read more: Parker Livingstone buzz is exploding and ESPN just confirmed it
Livingstone had two top deciding factors when choosing his next move. First, he wanted to join a team with a serious shot at making the College Football Playoff, which he did not get to experience with Texas last year. He also wanted to be close to home. In the end, OU was the closest national contender to his hometown of Lucas in North Texas.
As Sarkisian did what he believes was best for his program, Livingstone did the same for his own career. The Longhorns didn't care about forcing Livingstone out of his new home, so Livingstone shouldn't have worried about whether he was joining a rival or not.
Livingstone is a Sooner by Texas' own doing, and that's now indisputable, no matter how loud Longhorns fans whine or want to believe their program wouldn't let such an elite talent join a rival.
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