National Football League

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian focused on improved depth, leadership ahead of Michigan game

Updated Sep. 4, 2024 7:51 p.m. ET

When No. 3 Texas heads to Ann Arbor to take on No. 10 Michigan on Saturday (noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), the Longhorns hope to solidify themselves as national championship contenders and make a huge step toward reaching the College Football Playoff for the second straight season.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian believes he has the roster equipped to do that, as he told Colin Cowherd during an appearance Wednesday on "The Herd."

"A lot of these players have been here for two, three and four years now and have really grown up in the culture and understand what we're about," Sarkisian said. "We've got great leadership, but I also think we've got great depth. The one thing about this year's team is that we definitely have more depth than we've had in any of our other years. Our two deep, sometimes you can't tell the difference between our [No.] 1s and our [No.] 2s. That's great for us. That's great for us right now early in the season. We can play a lot of players, especially when we're at home, but also for the longevity of the season.

"We kicked off on Aug. 31 and we're hoping to play on Jan. 20. So, we're going to need all the depth that we have."

Even after losing 11 players to the NFL in the offseason, the talent rankings would back up Sarkisian's claim. Texas ranks sixth in the nation in 247 Sports' talent composite. It also had the fifth-best transfer portal class this past offseason, per 247 Sports.

Despite all the change, Texas retained arguably the most important player from its 2023 team: Quinn Ewers, who chose to return to Austin instead of entering the NFL Draft. Before Ewers began his third season as the Longhorns' starting quarterback, Sarkisian had a message for him: "This is your team, go lead them."

Steve Sarkisian on coaching Texas and preparing for Michigan

"It was about leadership," Sarkisian said. "We knew we were going to have to replace all those pieces and we knew were going to have to bring in some transfers. We knew we were going to have to rely on some young players on the perimeter. It was going to take Quinn leading them. It was going to take Quinn getting the rapport with those receivers and the tight end. It was going to take Quinn stepping up into that leadership role that Jordan Whittington, Jaylan Ford and those guys have moved on from.

"That's been our focus and he's done a tremendous job of that."

Ewers' leadership was on display in Texas' 52-0 win over Colorado State in its season opener. Ewers threw for 260 yards, three touchdowns and an interception in the win, with his day ending in the third quarter. He got a pair of Texas' key transfers involved in the action, too. He threw two touchdown passes to receiver Matthew Golden and another to receiver Isaiah Bond.

"What I liked about the way we played Saturday was the efficiency we played with offensively," Sarkisian said. "I think there's a nice blend of new faces on our offensive of the ball. We have some transfers at receiver and tight end, but we also have some true freshmen that have stepped up. We also have some guys who waited their turn last year. I think the most important thing is that we've got a veteran offensive line, we're returning four of our five starters on the offensive front, to go with a third-year starting quarterback.

"We showed the explosiveness, we showed the speed in space. We showed the physicality that we'd like to play with."

Texas HC Steve Sarkisian opens up about his sobriety journey

Now, all of that will be put to the test when Texas takes on Michigan. The defending national champs don't have many of the same faces that led the program last year. Sherrone Moore took over as head coach after Jim Harbaugh left for a second NFL head coaching stint. J.J. McCarthy's early decision to go pro has caused the Wolverines many question marks at quarterback.

Sarkisian admitted that the change in Ann Arbor makes it a bit difficult to prepare for Michigan, but he's eager for the challenge.

"This is a great program," Sarkisian said. "As much as it is about this current team they have, it's about the program and the development that they've done. The harder part for us isn't about the quality of the opponent, it's about the new faces. Naturally, from a staff perspective, Wink Martindale is their defensive coordinator. We've only got a one-game sample size of him as the defensive coordinator at Michigan. So, some of those things can be a little bit more difficult.

"But at the end of the day, it's a great opportunity."

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]