AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff are on the recruiting trail before the team starts practice in earnest for the Sugar Bowl and College Football Playoff semifinals against Washington, and he was in Houston on Wednesday celebrating the local high school athletes.
Sarkisian and other college coaches from around Texas were at the UIL High School Awards banquet put together by the Touchdown Club of Houston, and Sarkisian discussed recruiting in Houston, the team’s bowl preparation and the transfer of backup quarterback Maalik Murphy with reporters.
“This is always a huge stop for us, just recruiting in general,” he said. “Houston is a hotbed for us and there are so many great players. The hard part is that we can’t sign them all, we just have to try to sign the right ones.”
With the early signing period Dec. 20-22, Texas already has the No. 6-ranked 2024 recruiting class based on verbal commitments according to 247Sports. There are a few Houston-area players who have pledged allegiance to the Longhorns including Cy-Fair quarterback Trey Owens and Langham Creek tight end Jordan Washington, both rated as three stars by 247Sports.
Maalik Murphy’s transfer
As far as Murphy goes, Sarkisian said he “loves him to death,” and hopes college football will adjust dates around the transfer portal and bowl games. Murphy announced his intention to transfer from Texas on Thursday via social media , saying he was, “extremely grateful to have played in the burnt orange.”
“That stuff is always difficult,” Sarkisian said. “I understand this day in age of college football, and it’s unfortunate that he was put in this position where he’s looking out for his future but he was part of a team competing for a national championship. This structure of how our seasons go in college football isn’t perfect, and we’re learning as we go with the transfer portal, the early signing period and the College Football Playoff.”
The transfer portal window opened Dec. 4 and closes Jan. 2, 2024, forcing players on bowl-bound teams to choose if they want to go to another school or stick it out at their current school.
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Murphy played two full games this season as starter Quinn Ewers recovered from a shoulder injury and the Longhorns won both 35-6 over BYU and 33-30 in overtime over Kansas State. Sarkisian has said numerous times that the Longhorns wouldn’t be in the national title hunt if it wasn’t for Murphy’s play.
“I loved the opportunity to coach him. He was a great teammate and I wish him the best of luck,” Sarkisian said.
Preparing for the Sugar Bowl vs. Washington
After the current recruiting trip, Sarkisian and his staff will hone back in on getting the team ready for the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day. With final exams for the fall semester going on, Sarkisian said the players can focus on their schoolwork and keep up on their conditioning before football-specific work resumes.
“You have to compartmentalize the month,” he said. “For the first couple weeks, it’s about them finishing school and doing great there. We have to make sure our conditioning is on point, and then we have about eight practices before we send them home for Christmas.”
He said the team will come back after that for about six practices and then it’ll be showtime. In the Alamo Bowl to end last season, Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. — the runner-up in this year’s Heisman Trophy voting — led the Huskies to a 27-20 win. Clearly, the teams are much different now.
“They are a great team,” Sarkisian said of Washington. “Coach (Kalen) DeBoer has done a heck of a job. They have talented players, and we know a lot of the personnel from last year’s ballgame, but they’ve gotten better, we’ve gotten better and we just have to prepare well.”
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