The Texas Longhorns signed former Auburn Tigers receiver Cam Coleman to a $3-3.5 million deal on Sunday, the same day they flipped former NC State Wolf Pack running back Hollywood Smothers from the Alabama Crimson Tide. The two, along with quarterback Arch Manning, receiver Ryan Wingo, EDGE Colin Simmons, and the rest of the roster, will earn an upwards of $40 million in rev-share and NIL payouts.
DawgsHQ's Rusy Mansell claimed all this spending as Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian's last chance to make this work in Austin. Mansell labeled the gaudy spending as an "ALL IN" season for the 51-year-old.
"Texas will have the first 40 million dollar roster, no doubt in my mind they are close to that in real salary.. This is an ALL IN season for Sark, literally," Mansell wrote.
Steve Sarkisian departure rumors began this past season
Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde implied Sark could be part of this past coaching cycle musical chairs this past October, floating the idea of him joining his alma mater, the BYU Cougars. Kalani Sitake ended up staying at BYU and turning down the Penn State Nittany Lions because of Crumbl Cookie's CEO, so Sarkisian becoming a Cougar again looks to be out of the question.
Still, the idea of Sark leaving was out there. Longhorns legend Jamaal Charles told me there was nothing to those rumors when I caught up with the retired running back at the Cotton Bowl for the Red River Rivalry.
He did mention the "politics" of the Texas job, though. Clearly, those politics dictate that Sark's survival in Central Texas hinges on what happens after bringing in elite talent to build around a supposedly generational Heisman Trophy frontrunner.
Based on what happened in Auburn over the past two seasons, it may be dangerous to rely on Coleman if he remains unengaged in practice like he was with the Tigers. Then again, maybe that was just a Hugh Freeze problem. Sarkisian has engineered several deep CFP runs and was one of Nick Saban's greatest offensive minds on the Alabama Crimson Tide throughout his coaching tenure. He's more qualified to make it work than Freeze was.