Texas gives coach Steve Sarkisian new 7-year deal amid NFL interest, reports say

Steve Sarkisian is staying in school.

Texas and its head coach have agreed to a new seven-year deal, adding a year to his current deal while giving him a significant raise, ESPN reported Saturday. The new deal for Sarkisian came as he received interest from NFL teams, but turned down two chances to interview for an opening, according to The Action Network.

On Saturday, Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte posted a photo with Sarkisian, which Sarkisian shared with a “Hook’em” message.

Sarkisian has overseen a strong turnaround at Texas. The Longhorns reached the College Football Playoff semifinals for the second straight year in 2024, beating Clemson and Arizona State before losing to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. Additionally, Texas played in the SEC Championship Game in its first season in the conference, falling in overtime to Georgia.

In his four seasons at Texas, Sarkisian has gone 38-17. His previous deal had six seasons remaining, carrying through the end of the 2030 season.

Texas hired Sarkisian in 2021, when he was working with Alabama as its offensive coordinator. Sarkisian had just won his second national championship as an assistant at the time. However, he had two previous head coaching stints prior to taking the Texas job. He went 34-29 in five seasons at Washington before returning to USC, where he previously worked as an assistant and an offensive coordinator, before the 2014 season. His tenure at USC ended in the middle of his second season, when he was put on administrative leave before getting terminated after allegedly showing up to a practice intoxicated.

Sarkisian told FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt that he shares his prior struggles with alcohol with his team and players at the start of each season to help build a “culture of vulnerability.”

“We’ve all got things in our past that we’ve had to work through and continue to work through,” Sarkisian told Klatt on the most recent season of “Big Noon Conversations.”

“We’ve created a platform for the players to start to share. What happens is there’s some empathy. I know what you’re going through, man, and I know if you look a little off today, I’d have something to tap into, whatever it might be. In the end, I think that really did draw us closer.”

In between his stints at USC, Sarkisian also served as the offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons for two seasons. But he told Klatt it’s what he learned while coaching under Pete Carroll at USC and Nick Saban at Alabama that gave him the most important lessons about coaching.

Texas HC Steve Sarkisian opens up about his sobriety journey

Now at 50, Sarkisian is hoping to emulate the success that both coaches had in the final two decades of their careers at Texas.

“If you look at their careers, the second half of their careers is when they really took off,” Sarkisian told Klatt. “Both of them at right around 50, and then the last 20, 22 years, they’re both 72, have been the greatest years of their careers.

“Well, why is that? What happened? I asked both of them the exact same question and really got the exact same answer: They figured out who they were. Then, they coached who they were, rather than trying to be something that they’re not. When you try to be something you’re not, when adversity strikes, the real you comes out. Then, everybody around you is like, ‘Who the hell is that guy? That’s not who he was yesterday.'”

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