10
Loading video...
By Cameron Kiszla
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
In an era of transfers and name, image and likeness payments, the line between college and pro sports has never been thinner.
Based on what Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday, though, the difference between the two might be more of a perception than anything substantive.
'Strategic' Thinking Leads to Roster Turnover
Sarkisian sat down with "The Paul Finebaum Show" during SEC Media Days and explained that finances were a major factor in some of the big names they brought in — and some of the players who left, as detailed by Daniel Hager of On3.
Read More on NCAA
“I think in this day and age of the [Transfer] Portal and high school, you’ve got to have the ability to be strategic,” Sarkisian said. “To make the moves we make, to bring in a Cam Coleman, to bring in a Hollywood Smothers, to bring in a Raleek Brown, to bring in a Mike Masunas at tight end; we had to let DeAndre Moore go. We had to let Parker Livingstone go. We had to let Tre Wisner go. We had to let CJ Baxter go."
...
Such turnover isn't abnormal in college football. After all, there's only so much playing time to go around, especially at top-tier programs like Texas, and players often leave for other opportunities when a new star arrives.
But Sarkisian continued his thoughts, indicating that it wasn't as if those players left only for playing time.
It seems that, even in college, there's a salary cap.
To be fair, it's not a hard, publicly known cap like those in the NFL and other sports. Rather, it seems in this situation, there's just a maximum budget for paying players.
Even at Texas, money is finite, and it sounds like some new stars got paid at the expense of other guys on the roster.
“This wasn’t like we kept acquiring … We had to let some pretty good players leave to create the cap space to bring those guys in," Sarkisan said. "I think strategically, there were some tough decisions to make. But, we made them. I think we all can agree that we’re probably better around Arch [Manning] today than we were a year ago at this time.”
That's surely good news for Texas fans, as the preseason No. 1 Longhorns didn't make the College Football Playoff last year.
Perhaps being "strategic" will be the difference this season and give the Longhorns a shot at their first national title since the Vince Young-led team of 2005.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines