Steve Sarkisian’s recruiting comments don’t match what Texas is actually doing

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian’s words aren't matching his program's actions at all.

On Tuesday at SEC Media Days, a day in which Texas landed two five-star recruits, Sarkisian, like every coach, was asked about recruiting within the new revenue-sharing rules with NIL still present. Sarkisian then either lied or has completely fooled himself.

"I think sometimes, quite frankly, I think it hurts us a little bit in recruiting, in the fact that when kids come on our campus, one of the first things we do, we don't talk about NIL," Sarkisian said. "We don't talk about NIL or revenue sharing or publicity rights until the very end.

"And that may hurt us on some kids, but if the kid is coming to Texas for that reason, we don't want them anyway. You know, we want kids that want to be at the University of Texas because of the school, the coaches, the team, the culture, all those things that go into it. And, oh, by the way, you can get publicity rights or revenue shares, so on and so forth. If you're coming for the other reason, he's probably going to be the guy in 18 months that's back in the portal going somewhere else where they're going to offer him more money. Because I can't offer every player the most money that he might get offered from another school. It just doesn't work like that."

Texas was the biggest spender in college football as Sark says NIL is not a priority

The first sentence of that statement had eyes rolling. There are videos littered on social media of Texas, a program that apparently puts money on the back-burner, greeting recruits on visits with Lamborghinis lined up. That's how visits to Texas start, yet Sark claims money opportunities aren't discussed until the end. Rows of Lambos doesn't exactly tell kids, "Come here to play for the love of the game."

On the same day Sark lied about Texas' recruiting approach, Pete Nakos of On3 released a list of the biggest spenders in college football with Texas at No. 1. An earlier report in May from the Houston Chronicle said that Texas spent between $35 to $40 million on its 2025 roster. Sark declined that report after it spread like wild fire, but it seems he's not exactly trustworthy when it comes to Texas' recruiting strategies.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Texas is the second-most valuable college football program in the country.

The truth is, the more you spend the more you get. That's how life works, and that's also how college football works now. As much as it pains Sooner Nation, Texas has reinserted itself as one of the best programs in the country and is currently out-recruiting everyone.

The Longhorns paid their way to the top, though. Plenty of fans hate that, but that's the way to win, at least for the moment. It would still be frustrating, but Sarkisian could just own up to the fact that he leads a program that's able to take advantage of the new money game. He's not the best recruiter in the SEC, but he is the biggest spender.

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