As Desmond Howard was taking out the garbage on Monday, he decided to drop a small bomb on Austin in the process.
In a quick video posted to social media, Howard openly speculated about Steve Sarkisian and Texas—namely, whether the Longhorns job would be the next massive position to open, adding to what is already a historic coaching carousel with Florida, LSU and Penn State all searching for coaches.
The analyst set off the Texas coach in the process, and drew a pointed response, as well as a firm pledge that he isn’t going anywhere (at least, of his own volition).
“Don’t be surprised if that Texas job opens up at the end of the season,” Howard said. “You guys were shocked when LSU opened up, imagine how you’re going to feel if that job in Austin pops open. I’m not calling or saying anyone’s going to get fired. Maybe a mutual parting of ways, you dig?”
It certainly feels like a bold declaration to make, especially when it was the only subject of the video (besides the garbage and the tennis ball in his lawn, of course). One would assume that Howard got sort of tip from a well-informed source to go public with what would be a true bomb shell.
In any event, he certainly got Sarkisian’s attention.
Sarkisian first addressed Howard’s Texas comments during a Wednesday teleconference
Sarkisian went deep on Howard’s comments, without mentioning the ESPN personality specifically, saying the possibility of him leaving is “absolutely false and untrue.”
“I'm not going anywhere. Never do I do this because I never want to be a distraction, so I never address these things. But at this point now, I feel like that is important, that I do do this, because it's important for our team. It's important for our university. I've had no discussions, not with my agent, not with the university, not with any other school, not with any NFL team, about ever going anywhere else,” he said, per ’s Anwar Richardson.
Sarkisian pointed out the impressive success he’s had over the last few years in Austin, both on the field and personally; two of his children are currently enrolled at UT, and he hopes to have a third do the same in the fall.
“If you have a question about my future, call me or call Chris Del Conte, our athletic director, and we can set the record straight for you,” Sarkisian continued. “So if everybody understand, so moving forward, when some Joe Blow decides to put something on social media out there, we all don't run with it like it's the gospel. Can we all agree on that on this call? And if you have a question about my future with the University of Texas, ask me on one of these calls, ask Chris Del Conte, he'll be more than happy to take your call so that we can set the record straight, so we can focus on our football team, which is really what we should be doing. Everybody good with that?”
Sarkisian followed it up on Thursday, pointing more directly to Howard
When asked who the message was directed towards, Sark said it was for “everybody,” with a laugh, adding that “it might have just been for me.” He then explained that he believes he owes it to his players to clear the air. From CJ Vogel of :
“The thing about yesterday was this: at the end of the day, I have a locker room full of players who give me everything they have at the end of the day. The last thing I want is for them to feel as though what people are saying about me, outside of our building, is serving as a distraction for them, and or their families. But also, I wanted to say that for Longhorn Nation. Because I don't want them or anybody here to feel like, . I am not trying to go anywhere.”
He added that he wants to keep opponents “out of our locker room,” before winking directly at Howard.
“And maybe for some of the pundits out there that don't cover me and cover our program on a regular basis. So that they understand they can’t just take their trash out and have a thought to think, . I don't know. Think about something else when you are taking your trash out.”
Even without a name, it doesn’t get more clear than that.
Howard isn’t the first to suggest that Sarkisian could leave Texas this year
Sarkisian’s name popped up in a Saturday morning report by ’s Dianna Russini, which stated that the coach has let those around the NFL that he is interested in a return to the pros, including the open head coaching job with the Titans, who fired Brian Callahan earlier this season. Sarkisian representation at CAA quickly put out a statement denying the story, a relatively uncommon move for a preliminary report of interest like this.
Sark himself railed against the report after the Longhorns’ overtime win against Mississippi State that night.
“It really pisses me off that one person can make a report that in turn, the entire media sports world runs with as factual to the point where my agency and my agents have to put a statement out,” Sarkisian said. “I had to do that to protect my locker room and my team. I thought it was absolutely ridiculous. I thought it was completely unprofessional of that person to put that report out, and the fact that everybody ran with it is borderline embarrassing for the media. I respect what you guys do, I really do, and everybody else, but the fact that everybody ran that as truth is really embarrassing.
“I’ve got a small circle when I make decisions on what I do and what I don’t do, and nobody would speak on my behalf without me knowing.”
While Sarkisian has primarily coached in college, he had a one-year stint as quarterbacks coach under Norv Turner with the Oakland Raiders in 2004, and after his first stint under Nick Saban in Alabama, spent two years as Falcons offensive coordinator in 2017 and ‘18. He was fired at the end of the ‘18 season.
Sarkisian’s coaching career and record
After working as a top assistant to Pete Carroll at USC, Sarkisian took over as the head coach at Washington, going 34–29 with a 24–21 record in Pac-10/12 play over five seasons. He left to take the Trojans head coaching job after Lane Kiffin was fired, and was 12–6 (7–5) before being let go midway through the 2015. Sarkisian, who had been put on a leave of absence the day prior, was fired after a string of alcohol-related incidents that dated back to his time at Washington.
Sarkisian resurfaced at Alabama the year later, the first step in the public rehabilitation of his coaching career that coincided with his personal rehabilitation from alcoholism, and after leading the dynamic 2020 Alabama offense during the Crimson Tide’s final national championship run under Nick Saban, Sarkisian landed the Texas job.
While the 2025 season has been disappointing after the Longhorns began the season at No. 1 in the polls, Sarkisian has been very successful in Austin, going 45–20 with a 28–13 mark in conference play split between the Big 12 and SEC. The Horns won the Big 12 in 2023, their final year in the league, and made the first of back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances. Last season, they reached the SEC title game and the CFP semifinal, falling in a competitive game to eventual national champion Ohio State.
