Texas coach Steve Sarkisian lays out his influential recruiting pitch

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19 hours ago

Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian is building a recruiting machine at Texas. In 2025, Texas had the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation. 2026 is shaping up to be another premier class and might have more five-stars than '25. How is Sark doing it? He has a great sales pitch.
UT has some very unique aspects that, when rolled into one pitch, make it one of the most desirable destinations in the nation. First, there's the team that's now been in the final four two years straight. There's the school, which as we'd documented, is a Public Ivy and one of the best public schools in the world. Finally, you have Austin, TX.
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Sarkisian joined the 3rd & Longhorn Podcast this week and laid out how he sells it all to elite recruits. "I think we've got the best product in the US," he told the podcast hosts.
First sales point -- team success.
"Who is the one School that has gone to back-to-back CFP Playoffs and back-to-back semi-finals? Who is the one school in their first year in the SEC that went to the SEC Championships?" -- Steve Sarkisian
Think of how that point will improve if Texas breaks through and wins the national title?
Next point, player development.
"Who has the MOST draft picks in the NFL Draft over the last two years? Who has had six d-linemen drafted in the last three years, five running backs drafted in the last three years? Who has had a receiver taken in the first round in the last two years?" -- Steve Sarkisian
Next, Sark points out how Texas has been recruiting and is set up to keep competing at the highest level in the future.
"Who has, last year, signed the No. 1 Class in the country, the year before that a Top 3 and the year before that a Top 5 Recruiting Class in the country?" -- Steve Sarkisian
"All the while that's occurring at a Top 5 Public Institution in the United States. ... Oh by the way, Forbes Magazine last year wrote (Texas is) the new Ivy League. Name another school that's getting compared to Harvard, Yale and Princeton (academically) but on the flip side is getting compared to Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama on the football field." -- Steve Sarkisian
Sark uses the success of the athletic department as a whole to sell recruits on an overall commitment to winning.
"All the while being part of an Athletic Department that has won four of the last five Directors Cups. So when you talk about like minded individuals pushing each other to new heights, whether it's track and field national championships, rowing, golf, softball, volleyball, a women's basketball final four." -- Steve Sarkisian
Finally, Sark makes clear it all happens in one of the best cities in America and a unique aspect of Austin that helps drive attention and money to the program.
"All the while you're doing it in the city of Austin, which, oh by the way is the largest city in the United States with no pro sports. so, no NFL, no Major League Baseball, no NBA. So who are getting those NIL deals? Who is the pro sports team? It's the fastest growing economy in the U.S. ... Austin, Texas." -- Steve Sarkisian
The Texas coach wraps all of those powerful and unique bullet points into a pitch that sells the recruit on his short term future as part of the team and his long team future in life after football.
"When you start thinking about it, big picture, and get out of just 'How much does the contract say?' And you start thinking about long term and where's my life gonna go and what's it going to look like. ... We've got a lot of avenues to go come here and really be successful." -- Steve Sarkisian
When you put the entire pitch together, you can understand why it would be hard for an elite 18-year-old athlete to want to go anywhere else.
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This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Texas coach Steve Sarkisian describes his powerful recruiting pitch