Steve Sarkisian had a ton of ground to cover. The Texas football coach needed to get through his opening statement before taking what was sure to be a massive quantity of questions at the Longhorns’ first SEC Media Days in Dallas on Wednesday.
After first remembering the late Monte Kiffin, Sarkisian, a former Alabama offensive coordinator, took a few moments to address the man in a powder blue suit jacket peering at him from the ESPN set in the back of the room.
“I want to talk briefly about coach Saban,” Sarkisian said. “Coach, I see you. I know everybody’s been coming up, talking about you. I know you’ve impacted a lot of people who have been up on this stage. No one have you impacted more than me.”
The man who led the Longhorns to a College Football Playoff appearance in 2023 first joined Alabama as an analyst in 2016. He had recently been fired by Southern Cal, done in by a serious alcohol problem.
Sarkisian sobered up to become a major contributor to the coaching staff in Tuscaloosa. After Lane Kiffin’s departure, he took over as interim offensive coordinator.
He then put in a stint with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons before returning to Alabama. Sarkisian took over the offensive coordinator role with the Crimson Tide on a full-time basis, a job he held for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
Eventually, the Los Angeles native got another shot at a head job, taking over Texas in 2021. It’s been a steady build since then, leading to the semifinal spot.
Sarkisian even dealt Saban his final home loss in the second week of 2023, when the Longhorns prevailed in Tuscaloosa.
“I would not be standing here today without you and what you’ve meant to my career, to my life,” Sarkisian told Saban from the stage. “I can’t thank you enough. And the impact that you’ve had on our game has been second to none and I just can’t thank you enough, and just wanted to be able to publicly do that to you, coach, thank you very, very much.”