With a ‘John Wick mentality,’ Texas Longhorns get started at fall camp Wednesday

Apr 07, 2024

by: Billy Gates

Posted: Aug 1, 2023 / 07:00 AM CDT

Updated: Aug 2, 2023 / 12:30 PM CDT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — It’s finally here.

College football fall camps around the country are all set to commence and usher in the 2023-24 season, and Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian held this season-opening press conference Tuesday.

One of the overarching messages as the team begins official practices again before the start of the season is all about being the same team day in and day out.

“There’s a level of consistency that’s needed to be a champion,” he said. “That’s something that we got better at. We were not perfect a year ago. We can’t afford those lulls where we play really good offensive football and then struggle for three drives in a row where we don’t operate the way I know we’re capable of.”

What should help the team stay sharp is the competitive nature of fall camp, Sarkisian said. He said there are a lot of positions where the talent level doesn’t drop that much from starters to backups, and he’s going to have some tough decisions to make when Rice comes to town on Sept. 2.

“There’s not such a discrepancy on our roster of high-level players and then this gap right between the next player at that position,” he said. “I think that the players that have been in our program now for three years have gradually all improved, and they’re at a really good spot. I think we’ve recruited well across the board at every position.”

Texas comes into the season with the third-ranked recruiting class for 2023, and that includes the nation’s top recruit in quarterback Arch Manning. The Longhorns brought in four 5-star and 14 4-star recruits according to 247Sports.com. In addition to Manning, linebacker Anthony Hill, running back CJ Baxter and transfer wide receiver Adonai Mitchell are the latest 5-star recruits on the 40 Acres this season.

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With 10 returning starters on offense, the Longhorns enter the season with high expectations to put up a lot of points. They also have the fourth-highest odds to make it to the College Football Playoff according to ESPN’s analytics at 33% and they were the preseason pick to win the Big 12 Conference championship. Sarkisian said all of that aside, having so many guys come back for another year to help lead the younger generation of players is critical to the team’s success.

“Those guys are very comfortable, a well-oiled machine,” he said. “They also recognize those younger players are going to help us win. And that takes a lot of kind of self-confidence. But it also takes a lot of humility, that it’s not just about them.”

The Longhorns hit the practice field for the first time Wednesday, and they’ll do so with a handful of players already getting national award attention.

Sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers and junior wide receiver Xavier Worthy have been named to the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award. The award, named for Robert “Tiny” Maxwell and administered by the Maxwell Club, has been given to the best college football player since 1937.

Colt McCoy was the last Longhorn to win the award in 2009. Vince Young won it in 2005 and Ricky Williams won the award in 1998. Tommy Nobis, Jr., was the first Longhorn to capture the honor in 1965.

Senior linebacker Jaylan Ford, the preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, was named to the Bronko Nagurski Award watch list. The Nagurski Award is given to the best overall defensive player in college football every year. The last Longhorn to win the award was Brian Orakpo in 2008.

Sophomore offensive lineman Kelvin Banks Jr. was named to the Outland Trophy watch list after his terrific freshman season last year. The Outland Trophy is given to the nation’s best interior lineman and is voted on by the Football Writers Association of America. The last Longhorn win it was Brad Shearer in 1977.

Texas opens the season Sept. 2 against Rice at 2:30 p.m. at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Sarkisian said the improvement over 2021 was great, but the team wants so much more. Part of it, he said, is “embracing the hate.”

“I think this team is on a mission, they’ve taken this mindset of being on a mission. They’ve kind of adopted the John Wick mentality,” he said. “We’re the University of Texas, we get it. This is our last year in the Big 12. We can sit there and be a punching bag or we can go attack the people.”

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