Steve Sarkisian joins Josh Pate - Pate State Speaker Series

Summary

Josh Pate's College Football Show
Episode: Steve Sarkisian joins Josh Pate - Pate State Speaker Series
Date: April 22, 2026
Host: Josh Pate (iHeartPodcasts)

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Episode Overview

In this engaging episode of the Pate State Speaker Series, Josh Pate sits down with Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian for an in-depth discussion just after the conclusion of spring practice. The conversation covers Sarkisian's approach to developing both transfer portal and high school recruits, dissecting games as a coach, the mindset required for high-stakes environments, and the nuances of preparing a team to peak at the right time in the era of expanded playoffs. The episode offers rare insight into the culture-building and tactical approach of a program leader in one of college football’s most high-pressure jobs.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Spring Practice Reflections and Team Development

• Spring Practice Recap ([03:00])
  • Sarkisian shares the dualistic challenge of coaching: praising one unit often means critiquing another.
  • Emphasizes the "balancing act" between offense and defense and notes the team's high number of new faces (43 newcomers).
  • Importance of learning not just skills but personalities—especially for transfers.
  • "This football team that we have was really intentional this spring... they competed at a really high level... we're not a finished product. We're far from it. But I felt better after practice 15 than I did after practice one." ([03:00])

2. The Transfer Portal vs. High School Recruiting

• Building Relationships with Transfers ([04:20])

  • Greater focus on character and cultural fit for transfers than in previous years.
  • Compares acclimation process for transfers to moving into a new neighborhood.
  • Immediate engagement with new players to accelerate their integration and development.
  • "I felt like we did a tremendous job in the portal this year. Like I'm more excited about this portal class than I've been... we identified the right types of players, we identified the right types of personalities." ([04:53])

• Transfers as Developmental Players

  • Stresses that portal players still require development: "If they weren't developmental players, they'd be in the draft." ([07:49])

3. How Coaches Remember and Analyze Games

• Defining Moments and Season Impacts ([07:57])

  • Sarkisian views games through the lens of “three to six plays that change the outcome.”
  • Recalls specific key moments from the Georgia and Ohio State games that altered Texas' season trajectory.
  • Advocates for teaching players the impact of these moments: "You don't know the play that might not just impact that game, but the play that might impact the outcome of a season." ([08:32])

• The Fragility and Finality of Key Plays

  • Discusses how a single play (an offside, a drop, a miss) can change not only a game, but entire seasons and even the fate of multiple programs.
  • Reminds the team: "We take nothing for granted. We take nothing lightly, and we don't do it with closed fists and white knuckles. We do it with confidence and with joy." ([12:20])

4. Learning from Observing Others

• Impressions from Other Programs ([13:33])
  • Sarkisian is an avid fan and student of college football, learning from situational coaching decisions in games he watches.
  • Values putting himself in another coach’s shoes, learning when to be aggressive or conservative, and respecting peers’ judgments.
  • "Inevitably, I respect guys more and more as I watch them coach in certain games." ([13:54])

5. The Difference Between Watching and Coaching

• Speed and Pressure in Real Time ([15:13])
  • Compares the slow perception of viewers to the high-pressure, fast-paced reality of in-game coaching.
  • Explains that with experience, the game slows down mentally: "I do think I can get into a space that is calm on game day and thinking clear minded and try to not be emotional in the moment." ([16:00])
  • Underscores the importance of poise and composure for coaches, mirroring expectations for players.

6. The “Happy Place” of Game Day

• Mindset Before Big Games ([21:33])
  • Describes game day as his happy place: "If I could go on vacation somewhere, it'd be game day."
  • Relishes both home and hostile environments, thriving off the energy and challenge.
  • Balances focus on performance with motivating and centering his team mentally. "If I can't enjoy that, then what are we doing?" ([21:33])

7. Peaking at the Right Time in the Expanded Playoff Era

• Learning from the NFL and Building for November ([24:41])

  • Detailed analysis of how NFL teams like Belichick's Patriots and Shanahan’s 49ers structure their seasons to peak come playoff time.
  • "You want to be playing your best by Thanksgiving... and your best players need to be available post Thanksgiving."
  • Acknowledges college football’s tighter playoff structure and smaller margin for error—early season success still matters.
  • Stresses the value in getting young players early experience, even if it brings short-term risk. ([24:41])

• Balancing Experience and Long-Term Team Growth

  • Balancing competitive instincts against the plan to rotate and grow young players, even in tight spots.
  • "We should never neglect the plan because planning is done for a purpose." ([28:14])

8. Personal Habits and Seeking Advice

• Off-Field Interests & Personal Balance ([33:42])

  • Binge-watches TV shows and listens to all genres of music; values making spontaneous memories with family.
  • "I'm kind of like spur of the moment, let's go do this and let's go make it happen." ([33:52])

• Always Evolving as a Coach

  • Often seeks advice—mainly about culture, motivation, and keeping teams cohesive amid the changing landscape (NIL, agents, transfers).
  • Prioritizes evolving communication and motivation techniques for the “modern athlete.”
  • Stays innovative in X’s and O’s, but more concerned with keeping team messaging and culture fresh: "I'm always trying to find a theme for them to kind of perk their interest in something that they can hold onto and rally around." ([35:02])

• Coaching as Art, Not Just Science

  • Game planning is scientific; play calling is art, requiring feel and intuition each week.
  • Emphasizes knowing the pulse of his team and being able to react authentically to their needs. ([37:16])

9. Key Areas of Uncertainty (Spring 2026 Outlook)

• Biggest Spring Questions ([39:19])
  • Major concern is returning injured star players to full participation and team chemistry: "That continuity of those guys being back in the fold full time... That, that, that flows well... I think is critical for us in June and July so that when August rolls around... it's just, you know, full force ahead and away we go."
  • Despite talent and depth, successful integration of key players will determine Texas’ trajectory entering the 2026 season.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Portal and Team Fit:
  "We really tried to dive into character, more so than we have in years past to say, does his character fit our culture?" – Steve Sarkisian ([04:53])

• On the Defining Nature of Single Plays:
  "You don't know the play that might not just impact that game, but the play that might impact the outcome of a season for this team." – Steve Sarkisian ([08:32])

• On Pressure and Poise:
  "When you start getting rushed, it's like a quarterback when he starts playing rushed and sped up. That's when poor decisions happen." – Steve Sarkisian ([16:05])

• On Coaching for the Modern Athlete:
  "I think that this athlete today wants real. They need it real. They need honesty and they need. Why just do as I say? That idea... I just don't know if the modern athlete, that's the best way to connect with them." – Steve Sarkisian ([37:16])

• On Personal Motivation:
  "If I could go on vacation somewhere, it'd be game day." – Steve Sarkisian ([21:33])

• On Integrating Young Players:
  "We should never neglect the plan because planning is done for a purpose." – Steve Sarkisian ([28:14])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Spring Camp Reflection – [03:00]
• Portal Mentality and Integration – [04:53]
• Game Analysis (Georgia, Ohio State, Florida) – [08:32]
• Training for Moments/Season Impact – [11:26]
• Learning from Other Programs – [13:33]
• Poise & Slow-Down Mentality in Chaos – [16:00]
• Game Day as Happy Place – [21:33]
• Playoff Preparation – Peaking at Right Time – [24:41]
• Developing Young Players vs. Short-Term Risk – [28:14]
• Personal Interests & Coaching Philosophy – [33:52], [35:02], [37:16]
• 2026 Spring Questions & Key Concerns – [39:19]

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Tone and Language

Sarkisian is candid, analytical, and at times philosophical, balancing the joys and burdens of being a high-profile head coach. He’s focused on details, relationships, and the importance of adaptability—not only in scheme, but in culture, motivation, and personal growth.

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This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes pressures and philosophies of elite college football, team-building in a transfer era, and the mindset that pushes programs from good to great.

Transcript

[Podcast Host]

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[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

All right, we're back. No, we're back after spring now, so you've got all the spring in the rearview mirror. So I guess I can ask you how spring go?

[Steve Sarkisian]

It went great for us. You know, spring's always interesting because, you know, when you go to a practice as a head coach and you're. You're praising the offense for great ball security, you're getting on the defense because it didn't create enough turnover, or you're praising the defense for, you know, creating havoc plays and turning the ball over. Well, the offense wasn't protecting the ball, wasn't protecting the quarterback well enough. So it was always a balancing act with it. But I thought we got. We got better as a football team. We got a lot of new faces, and we have 43 new faces this spring, which is a high number for us. So it was learning a lot of players, learning their strengths beyond just what we saw on tape, whether it was a high school kid or a transfer, and then trying to build upon those strengths and then identifying weaknesses and then kind of correcting those weaknesses as we go. But I thought this football team that we have was really intentional this spring. They tried to get better. They competed at a really high level this spring, and they tried to get better. And I felt like we improved in all three phases, and we are not a finished product. We're far from it. But I felt better after practice 15 than I did after practice one. And that's a good thing from a head coach's perspective.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

You've talked about this. A lot of coaches have talked about the difference in the relationship you have with a guy you recruited out of high school versus the really, really quick microwave process of getting a Portal kid. So you probably know the kid who comes out of the Portal far less then you know the high school recruit who you've been on for multiple years. So then you get them on campus. There are three practices, four practices into your spring session. What are some of the indicators you start to look for in Portal guys before in your mind, you start to think, all right, we hit on him, or, I don't know, or, oh, boy.

[Steve Sarkisian]

Yeah. Well, I think one thing we did this year in the Portal was we really dove into character. The film was the film, right? You can watch the tape, and you're like, man, this guy's dynamic. He's electric, he's physical. What all the attributes you're looking for. And you've been covering us long enough to know culture matters here and so we really tried to dive into character, more so than we have in years past to say, does his character fit our culture? Because that was then going to help the transition process. Because like anything, the other part of it was any of us, when we take a new job outside of you, because you just get to go wherever you want when you move and you pick your family up and you move and you buy a new house and you move into a neighborhood and you've got new neighbors, your kids go to a new school as a coach, you've got new staff members. That process of getting acclimated to your environment is different for everybody. Some people can dive right in. They're great. They've got good relationships already. They've got a good relationship with the position coach. Some guys take a little time, you know, they kind of tap their toe in the water a little bit and then, okay, well how do we get them more comfortable throughout the process? And so I felt like we did a much better job this year. One, in the, in the, in the portal of identifying those players. Two, culturally, in winter, I think winter was, was really an effective time for us of getting players more acclimated us learning the players personalities so that when spring rolled around and practice one, two and three happened, we could have conversations with those transfers kind of more immediately rather than letting it draw out 7, 8, 9, 10 practices and then trying to address the issues. And so even with the players we brought in and I felt like we did a tremendous job in the portal this year. Like I'm more excited about this portal class than I've been and we've had some good ones in the past of I think we identified the right types of players, we identified the right types of personalities and the strengths that those players had came out sooner to where we say, okay, that, that one's right and or hey, you know what? We knew this was an issue. Let's fix this issue in his game and then he's going to be a more complete player for So I think it's been the process of it all that allowed us to coach the portal player sooner to where they don't feel, they feel part of that. They know where you know that where we're coming from is a place of, hey, we want you to become the best player you can become and here's why. And here's where we think you can, we can get you better. I think so many times we get lost in the portal. They're still developmental players. If they weren't developmental players, they'd Be in the draft.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

Yeah.

[Steve Sarkisian]

Right. And so we haven't lost sight of that. And we're trying to develop our transfers just like we're trying to develop our high school players.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

The last few years when I've been here, some of the best stuff I've ever heard you say is talking about how you analyze games different than how a normal person would analyze a game. And so I wanted to ask you about this because I was thinking about this on the way over here. If I think back about a Texas game from last year, I just think in terms of like snapshots, the Georgia game, the whatever game. And I think like a couple of plays. There's like one sentence in my mind that describes the game and that's it. That's how most people think about a game. When you think back on a game, you can pick whichever one you want to. How does your mind remember a game?

[Steve Sarkisian]

I remember it in probably three to six plays that changed the outcome of the game. Like you hit the Georgia game. I think about the two fourth down conversions they have at the end of the third quarter. Right before we start the fourth quarter. We had just cut that lead that that game was 14 to 10. We kick off and we have them stopped and they have a fourth and two, I believe on their own 33 yard line. And Kirby decides to go for it. After they measure and they get it, we stop them again. They have a fourth and five on right around midfield. They are acting like they're going to go for it. They hard count us, we jump off sides, they extend the drive again. They inevitably go down and score on that drive. Then they onside kick and they get the ball and they score again. Well, like if you just think about that sequencing right, right there in and of itself, the snapshot of it all. What would have happened if we would have got that stop and the momentum of that game. Now most people look at the score. Well, we got beat 35 to 10, which we did. You are, you are what the scoreboard says you are. But what if we get that stop and what if we get the ball on the 33 yard line going in down 14 to 10 and we score and it's 17 14. What does that game look like? And so I think about that game, I always think about the losses. It's unfortunate for me. I think about the 2 4th downs inside the 10 yard line at Ohio State when we didn't play our best. We were a young football team. We didn't play great. Thought we did some things well in that game. But, you know, we don't convert a fourth down, a ball to Parker Livingstone that falls incomplete, a quarterback sneak by a bad call by me that we get stopped on what. How that game, the complexion of that game could have. Could have changed. I mean, lose 147 at Ohio State in Week 1. But I also think about the impact big picture on the rest of the season, because, as you know, I was the biggest advocate of. I felt like we should have been a playoff team a year ago. I felt like we were playing as good as anybody in the country, and if we would have gotten into that tournament, you know, what kind of noise could we have made? But those plays in those games impacted the bigger picture, the outcome of a season where, hey, we end up going to the Citrus Bowl. We play well, we get a win, we win 10 games. But one play here, there, in one of those two games, not to mention in the Florida game, the impact of those, that those plays specifically had on the outcome of our season, and that's what I'm trying to impress upon this team this year, is like, you don't know the play that might not just impact that game, but the play that might impact the outcome of a season for this team. And so. And I think that's why we've had the competitive spirit that we had this past spring and the way these guys have attacked each day.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

You were talking about competitive spirit, and like, your. Your mentality is as if you're always on edge and your antenna is always up because you really never know where in the defining moments are going to come, which is very atypical. Normal people don't operate that way. You don't want a program full of normal people. So that works out. But it's also why when you and I were talking right before we started filming, we said you should never dismiss any prediction because if you were to have predicted what college football looked like five years ago, you would have sounded crazy.

[Steve Sarkisian]

Right.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

Well, even if we were sitting here last year and I would have predicted that exact sequence of events at Georgia, you would have been like, how could you possibly know that's coming? But yet it plays out that way? And that's why it's so different than just saying, well, Texas got these players or I've got that position group graded as number one in the country. That's all. It's paper versus half a dozen to a dozen moments that you really know stand between you and 12 and oh, versus eight and four.

[Steve Sarkisian]

Yeah, I mean, it's. It's really incredible to Think, and you can. We're not the anomaly. I mean, you could look at probably 20 to 25 teams and look at it that way, of those moments that each team has throughout a season that are defining moments and plays that impact a season and where a season goes and ultimately what it could look like for a ball club, you know, not to take anything away from Notre Dame. I think about the last play against A and M and what a play by Marcel Reed and hits the tight end, and that changed the trajectory of A and M season, but it surely impacted the season for Notre Dame. Right. And it comes back to the sequencing of events that occurred prior to, you know, and the poor kid, they drop a snap on an extra point or that game's probably going to overtime. Who would have thought that that one play could have impacted the whole season? And so we take nothing for granted. We take nothing lightly, and we don't do it with closed fists and white knuckles. We do it with confidence and with joy. But at the same token, there's a level of intensity that needs to go into every day and every drill and everything that we do.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

So you're talking about a game that you weren't involved in there, but you have a memory of a recollection of. Everyone watched Indiana make this incredible run last year.

[Steve Sarkisian]

Yeah, I mean, you're going to see

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

many things any given year. How much do you learn or how much do you take away from watching others, whether it's success or failure in your line of work and whatnot that you directly apply to your own life?

[Steve Sarkisian]

Well, I think I'm a lot like you. First of all, I'm a fan of college football, and I'm an advocate of our game. I love watching college football, and when the opportunities arise, that's a little bit more difficult when you're in it. But, man, I try to watch all these games because I do think there's a lot to take away. There's situational stuff that comes up in every game that. Man, I didn't think of that. We need to practice out on a Friday walkthrough, because that could come up. Or, you know, I sit there sometimes and put myself in the other head coach's shoes, like, ooh, I'd take the time out here, or I'd go for it here, or I'd punt it here, or whatever that looks like. Or I'd challenge this call because I think that's a catch, you know, and so I try to play the game with them, and I inevitably respect guys more and more. As I watch them coach in certain games, or the way they have their teams ready to play, or their willingness to take the chance to go forward on a fourth L, or their willingness to put their pride aside and punt the ball and pin the team deep and make the right decision. And so all those things I try to take in because you never know when you're going to be in that situation. And I don't agree all the time with everybody, but I have respect for guys that are in those situations that have to make those decisions.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

So in our world, I know there's a big difference. If I'm watching a show, a broadcast studio show on TV and I've got my opinion on it versus you're on the show and you know, things are moving a million miles an hour, you got traffic in your ear and everything and you mispronounce a name and then you go back and watch the replay and you're like, I would have criticized someone for doing that if I was sitting on the couch.

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[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

it's moving really slow. When you're watching a game versus then you're in one and you're calling plays and you got the headset on, what's the difference in the speed your mind's moving at?

[Steve Sarkisian]

I mean, it's going fast, but I've been doing it a long time. I'm 25 years into this thing now. It's just crazy to think. I think I'm like the second oldest head coach in our conference.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

Wait, that's true.

[Steve Sarkisian]

I really believe so. And I think Venables is the oldest and that guy looks like he's 35.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

Yeah.

[Steve Sarkisian]

You know, and so when you think about the time spent in doing it, I think it has slowed down for me over the years and I do think I can get into a space that is calm on game day and thinking clear minded and try to not be emotional in the moment because I do think we make better decisions. Clear minded, non emotional decisions. I think we, you know, we use a lot of time with the players. Trust your training. We do the work throughout the week to put ourselves in position to make good decisions on game day. I think I've surrounded myself with really good people and continue to try to do that to where I rely on the expertise of, you know, Kyle Flood or now Will Muschamp or a Jeff Banks and these guys who can help provide information. And you know, I don't just decide to go for it on fourth down by myself. Every time we have analytics I trust the gut of those around me and I take in the information, then I ultimately make that decision. But man, you've got to rely on the people that you trust too. But you can slow it all down and not feel rushed because I think when the moment you start getting rushed, it's like a quarterback when he starts playing rushed and sped up. That's when poor decisions happen. So we try to slow things down, we try to remain calm and we talk a lot about poise and composure with the players. I think we got have poise and composure as a staff too.

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[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

easily. One of the best pictures of last year, even though it was before a game you lost, was that picture in Athens. You're sitting outside the locker room, you just got the laminated sheet in front of you and it looks so peaceful, even though you know there's 95,000 people in there. It's about to be insane. And so you're talking about blocking out noise or making it quiet, slowing your mind down, going into an environment that a normal person would have total sensory overload in. I do. And all I have to do stand there. And I always, I've talked to you about this before, but I always love touching on this with you because you have the added element of I'm going to call plays here too. Yeah, I'm not just going to CEO this thing. Like I'm calling a side of the ball. And yet you look so calm. I have no way to know what's going on in here, but you look so calm now. A lot of it is you've done it for a long time. I didn't quite realize that long. But like you've done it for a long time, but how hard is it or maybe how natural has it become to you to just be able to wipe all that other stuff out? Because you could have a million things on your mind leading up to 60 minutes, 30 minutes, 10 minutes before a game. How much effort does it take to just block all that out? And be focused.

[Steve Sarkisian]

You know, when people, like, they'll say, hey, where do you like to go to vacation? Or what do you do in the off season? Like, and what's your happy place? Whatever you want to call it, like, game day is my happy place, man. If I could go on vacation somewhere, it'd be game day. Like, all that we do, right? All that we do for the other 350 days of the year are for those hopefully 15, 16 game days that you get. Like, that's when I'm in my happiest place. I don't really have anxiety in those moments because I think we put forth the work. I love game day. I love playing in dkr. I love playing in front of our fans and with our players and watching our guys compete. I love going on the road. I love those environments. And again, I've been fortunate enough to coach in some great games, some big moments, some critical plays, critical downs. But, like, that's why we do what we do. And if we can't enjoy that, then what the heck are we doing all this other stuff for, right? Why am I calling recruits every night? Or why am I going to talk to donors? Or why are we doing all that we do? It's for those moments. And so if I can't enjoy that, then what are we doing? So really, when I get into those environments that are hostile, of course, when you're on the road, I love it, you know, I really do. And the fact that there's that much passion and energy around college football as a coach, that's why we're involved in what we get to do. But in the same token, man, the moment the silence hits, gosh, that's a good feeling, too, because, man, I'm impacting 100,000 people with a play call or the way our guys are playing the game or the execution of a call, those are great. And the roar of the crowd when they make that play, okay, how do we. How do we reverse that momentum? And so I enjoy it. I love all of that of game day. And part of that is the buildup, too, of how do I get myself in the right frame of mind to go do my job to the best of my ability, but yet, in the same token, make sure I'm motivating our team and that they're in the right frame of mind where they can go out and execute at a high level.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

So you're mentioning the length of a season there, hopefully 15, six, however many games we play now. But hopefully it's more than just the 12 that you're guaranteed. Two years ago, we watched Ohio State lose two regular season games. But they peak at the right time.

[Steve Sarkisian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

And they go on a run and they win it. Miami almost did the same thing last year. After losing two in the regular season, Indiana goes on to win the thing. But we've seen examples recently in the expanded playoff era.

[Steve Sarkisian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

Of teams that had stumbles. Expanded playoff lets them regain their footing, and then they peak at the right time.

[Steve Sarkisian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

So when you're looking at your schedule you got coming up, you'd love to just play at a level 10 every week.

[Steve Sarkisian]

Sure.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

But you also, you've done this a long time and you understand the realities of things, and that is that you hope to have a couple of more peaks than valleys in the season. But when you're trying to peak at the right time, fundamentally, like as granularly as you can get, how do you prepare to do that? Or do you just prepare the best way you know how and hope it works out that way?

[Steve Sarkisian]

Yeah. You know, it's interesting. A year ago when we expanded to 12, I did a deep dive into the NFL. Why was Bill Belichick so successful? Why has Andy Reid been so successful? Why year in and year out is. Are the 49ers and Kyle Shanahan always there or the rams with Sean McMahon? Like, it seems like there's a common. Common teams. And so I started drilling into those guys, and I think one of the things that they made a reference to is to your point, you want to be playing your best by Thanksgiving in the NFL, and then that needs to continue to grow, and your best players need to be available post Thanksgiving. And so that's not to discount the front end of the season, you know, because clearly you need to stack wins to get yourself into the playoff. And their formula is a little bit different than ours. You know, they've got 32 teams, and what is it, 14 of them make the playoffs. So nearly half the NFL makes the playoffs. Ours is a little bit more challenging. Right. When you're thinking about nearly 70 Power4Schools and only 11 of those get a spot with the 1P5. So our margin for error is smaller. But how do we build towards being at our best Thanksgiving and post Thanksgiving, I actually thought we did a good job of that last year. I felt like we were playing our best football into November and then into December. Unfortunately, we didn't handle our business at the front end of the season. And so the point being is I don't think that we have to recreate the wheel here. I just think we need to be better in the front end and build towards what we know is going to be the most challenging portion of the season. If you're trying to win the whole thing, surely you better be at your best in November, December and January, especially in the Southeastern Conference. But that's not the takeaway. Shoot. I know our opener in the SEC is at Neyland Stadium, so we better buckle up in September for that. We better buckle up the second week of the season when Ohio State comes here, of the magnitude of that game and again, the impact. That game is great for college football on the front end, but it's going to impact our season in the back end. And so you've got to prepare for the moments as you go. I also know if you're going to play 16 games, you better have your depth ready. And so some of our younger players, you have to play them earlier in the season. You can't wait till an injury occurs in October or November and then throw a guy in, expect him to play well. You're going to have to go through some of the growing pains in the front end of the season, maybe the inconsistencies, the mental errors, try to get those rectified to get that young man ready for October, November, December, January. And so it's a process. And again, you want to be at your best when your best is needed, and your best is probably needed every Saturday at some way, shape or form. But clearly when you get into the playoffs and the quality of opponents starts to go up, your best is probably going to be needed for four quarters, not for two drives. That maybe some games you can get away with a drive or two early in the season, late in the season, your best is going to be needed for four quarters.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

You're talking about something, I don't want to just gloss over that, about getting young players experience, even if it may in the very, very short term put you at a slight disadvantage in a moment. Now, that's not something I know you're deciding on the fly. Like that's something where we're going into a game, we want to do this. When the moment arrives, though, it's a one possession game, maybe how much do you have to fight your instinct as a competitor to say, well, I don't

[Steve Sarkisian]

want to disadvantage us right now, no question. You know, because we have that meeting the day of the game, right? How we're going to play the players and talking about rep counts, we're talking about, you know, whether it's, you know, every third series, so and so is going to get in the game and it always sounds good. Saturday morning in the hotel and everybody's getting, you know, clear minded and focused and to your point, inevitably you get into that drive and maybe the position coach is hesitant to put that player in. And as a head coach, I got to remind them to play them or as the head coach, they've got him in the game. And I'm thinking to myself, we need to get so and so back in the game because they're in the red area now. We need to get this stop. And I think that's part of being fluid and that's part of making decisions in the moment that are in the best interest of the team, of what the team needs and not losing sight of that. But again, I think we all have those moments where you have a plan to play players and how you want to play the players and you got this young player and you want to get them 10 to 15 snaps in the game. And we show up Sunday morning and we're reviewing the ball game and you look up and that kid we were supposed to play 10 to 15 snaps didn't play well. That's when I start to feel bad like we didn't follow the plan. You're going to have games where that kid plays seven or eight plays. I get it. You're going to have games where maybe he plays 20 to 25. I get that too. But we should never neglect the plan because planning is done for a purpose. And then the ability to, you know, dive into the contingency plans along the way I think is important too.

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[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

You don't get a lot of free time. Whatever limited free time you have. What's the consumption pattern? What are you watching? What are you listening to? What are you filling that time with?

[Steve Sarkisian]

Well, I'm definitely a binge watcher. I'll watch a show. If there's a good show out there, I'm going to watch it. And I don't sleep a lot, unfortunately, and I don't need a lot of sleep. And so I can watch a show in about a day, day and a half. And I rip right through it because I know I might not have the time to. Later. That's the first thing. Secondly, I listen to all genres of music. Like I listen to everything. And if I find a good artist, I'm probably going to try to go watch them perform. You know, I had a chance last year to go see Morgan Wallen in concert. I loved it. I went with my daughter. It was just her and I, we had a blast doing that. And so I try to do things like that, that when you have a moment in time, to capture that moment in time. I'm terrible at planning. I'm not one of these guys that says, hey, a year from now I'm going on this two week vacation in Europe and we're going to hit all the. I'm awful at that. I'm kind of like spur of the moment, let's go do this and let's go make it happen.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

How often are you reaching out to people for advice and when you're reaching out to them, what do you find yourself most frequently seeking advice on?

[Steve Sarkisian]

Oh, it varies, you know. You know me well enough to know, like culture matters to me. How I motivate our players matters to me. Putting them in a frame of mind where they're a cohesive, they're operating as one. Not in silos by position, group or size of the ball or individual players, but literally as one. And how do we do that? You know, how do we tap into the modern day athlete in a way to do that? How do we, how do we tap into the modern day team? Because we've evolved. You know, everyone said we've evolved since 20, 25 years ago. There's no doubt we've evolved in the last five years like this. This thing has changed so much. These guys we're recruiting now were in the seventh, eighth grade when NIL started. Well, this is all they know. And so the perspective has changed. You know, these high school kids have agents. Well, how do we still motivate these guys to understand the value of teams? And with team success comes the individual accolades, awards and honors. And that's constantly what I'm mostly diving into now. I love the X's and O's aspect of it, and I've got a lot of great friends that I try to tap into and meet with in the month of May. That's a lot of what I do with guys in the NFL. And it might be one play, you know, that I'm going to go visit Sean McVeigh about or a Kyle Shanahan or a Brian Schottenheimer or, you know. But I think that part's important because I just don't ever want to get stale at what we do. I want to forever be evolving, and I don't ever want to feel like the players show up to meetings and, oh, here's the same messaging again. Like, I'm always trying to find a theme for them to kind of perk their interest in something that they can hold onto and rally around. And so those are the types of things that I'm kind of researching kind of throughout an off season. And he really. Even in season, for that matter.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

Well, that's what I'm wondering. Like the action items, the stuff you want to address between the 2025 season and the 2026 season, is it the kind of thing where you'll realize one of them in October and one of them second week in November, and it just all goes into this bucket of. That's what I want to focus on when I have time in May. Or is it just you wake up one morning and you say, I think I'm going to hit on this this week?

[Steve Sarkisian]

It's more like that. Yeah, you know, I'm. It's like calling plays. Okay. Like, we put together a game plan, right, every week and we've got a blank slate. Here's the call sheet. The thing's empty on a Sunday. And as we start filling in the base game plan and third down and red area and there's all these specific calls, I jokingly say to my wife, you could call the game, you know, just here, I'll tell you the. Down the distance, just put your finger on something and call it. But calling plays isn't so scientific as the game planning. The game planning, that's where the science comes in. And they're this technique, that technique. I always say calling plays is like, it's like being an artist, right? It's, it's. How do I want to paint this and what do I want it to look like? I think dealing with your team is the same way. If you're so rigid, you're going to miss the temperature of the team, you're going to miss the feel and the flow of the team. And I think there's certain, certain times that you need to be light hearted with your team. I think there's certain times where I got to come in with this size 12 and I got to put my foot up their butt, you know, and they need that in that moment. But if you're so rigid, you're going to miss those moments to where it's real. Because I think that this athlete today wants real. They need it real. They need honesty and they need. Why just do as I say. That idea. I just don't know if the modern athlete, that's the best way to connect with them. And so I do think having a feel for your team, getting connected to your team, understanding the flow of the team, of what's needed, when and why is really, really important. And that's again that's. But you got to know them, you know. And so that's why I try so hard to get to know these players and meet with them individually, meet with them by position group, meet with them collectively. And they need to know me too. And they need to know what, why my buttons get pushed a certain way so that they can act in accordance to, you know, putting the best team on the field every Saturday.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

All right, let's wrap on this. There are certain things that are questions coming out every spring for every team. As team specific as you can get with this year's group. What are some of the biggest like areas that remain to be seen to you coming out of spring ball?

[Steve Sarkisian]

Yeah, you know we obviously coming out of the season of 2025, we had a fair amount of offse season injuries that required surgery which not uncommon but ours just happened to be on really high level players. You know, Arch Trevor Goosby, shoot. Xavier Filsamy, you know we had some pretty high level, you know, Ty, Anthony Smith, some pretty, you know, Ryan Wingo, Emmett Mosley, some pretty high level players. So my biggest key for us is when we get back going here in June that, that continuity of those guys being back in the fold full time. With the rest of the team. That, that, that flows well of those guys getting back kind of interjected into the team and it not just being about them, but still being about the team and those guys being back involved. Because I do think we're a talented football team. I do think we've got great leadership. I do think we've got really good depth. I feel like we're, we're good kind of horizontally as well as we're good vertically. But that, that continuity of all those pieces kind of coming together I think is critical for us in June and July so that when August rolls around, like we don't even think about it. It's just, you know, full force ahead and away we go.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

Steve Sir Keesen, we appreciate it, man.

[Steve Sarkisian]

Appreciate you.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

Yes, sir.

[Steve Sarkisian]

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[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

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[Steve Sarkisian]

But how we handle these distractions can be a matter of life or death.

[Interviewer / Sports Journalist]

Before you get on the road for your next road trip, please put your phone to on silent and take a mental note to focus on driving.

[Steve Sarkisian]

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[Podcast Host]

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