Steve Sarkisian gives embarrassing explanation for Texas' College Football Playoff loss: 'We were tired'
Texas Longhorns Head Coach Points to Mental Fatigue Ahead of Pivotal 2026 Season
Austin, TX — With expectations running sky-high around the Texas Longhorns football program, head coach Steve Sarkisian is sounding an alarm that has nothing to do with scheme or talent. Heading into a season many analysts consider a potential College Football Playoff run, Sarkisian says the biggest obstacle standing between his team and a national championship might be something harder to measure than arm strength or speed: mental fatigue.
Speaking on a recent podcast, Sarkisian revisited Texas's loss to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl during the 2024-2025 College Football Playoff, attributing the defeat less to physical exhaustion and more to the mental toll of a grueling schedule.
"I felt like the year we played Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, we were tired, and not necessarily physically tired," Sarkisian said. "We were mentally fatigued as well. That's a long season. We had so many big games. So I think managing it this time around, how we manage their energy level, is as important as how we manage their legs and the physicality."
The comments come at a moment when anticipation around the Longhorns is reaching a fever pitch. Quarterback Arch Manning is set to enter his second year as the starter. Texas finished its 2025 campaign on a high note with wins over Texas A&M and Michigan, and the program brought in a top-six recruiting class. Several talent evaluation services have rated Texas's roster at or near the top of all of college football.
But the road ahead is brutal. The Longhorns' 2026 schedule includes home dates with Ohio State and Ole Miss, a trip to Tennessee, the annual Red River Shootout against Oklahoma, and road games at LSU and Texas A&M. It's a slate that rivals anything in the sport, and one that could test a much-improved team without the season being a failure. A 9-3 record under that schedule would not necessarily indicate a step backward.
That's precisely what makes Sarkisian's focus on mental energy so notable. Every team in college football deals with fatigue late in the season, and managing injuries and conditioning is a fundamental part of coaching. The question of whether the Longhorns can win when they're worn down is essentially the question of whether they can win when it matters most.
Context also matters. Ohio State, the team that beat Texas in that Cotton Bowl matchup, navigated its own punishing path. The Buckeyes played a top-five Indiana team late in the year, faced rival Michigan, knocked off Tennessee in the first round of the playoff, then traveled to Los Angeles to beat top-seeded Oregon before heading to Texas for the semifinal. Both teams were running on fumes by kickoff, yet only one was using the word "tired" as an explanation months later.
Texas, for its part, closed the 2025 season with games close to home or in Atlanta, a more forgiving travel situation that should have helped offset some of the cumulative wear. Even so, the Longhorns needed every bit of fortune to hold off Arizona State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Now, with the toughest stretch of games in recent memory looming, the head coach is signaling that rest and energy management will be as central to the team's preparation as any play call. Whether that translates to fewer live reps in practice, adjusted travel routines, or a shorter mental to-do list each week remains to be seen. What is clear is that Sarkisian believes the difference between a deep playoff run and an early exit could come down to how fresh his players feel in December.
For a program that has invested heavily in talent, facilities, and recruiting, the challenge of the coming season may ultimately be the most human one: keeping a roster of twenty-year-olds sharp, focused, and engaged through sixteen games against some of the sport's heaviest hitters.
The Longhorns open fall camp later this summer. The journey toward proving whether Sarkisian's plan works — or whether his concerns were overblown — will begin soon enough.
