With Texas facing one of its toughest schedules yet, the pressure is on Steve Sarkisian to maximize every dollar of the school’s new $10M athletic fund, with a reported $10 million already invested. However, it also means more pressure because not everyone thinks that more bodies automatically mean better football. A Texas legend, who coached the Longhorns to a national championship in 2005, has warned Sarkisian about it.

“If you take from 85 to 105 and all of them were on scholarship, all of them were pretty good, and all of them want to play, and they’re not going to get to them with a transfer portal, they’re leaving anyway,” Mack Brown said on The Stampede on February 6. 

His message isn’t about anti-spending or anti-growth. In plain terms, he’s warning Steve Sarkisian not to burn money on players who won’t play, won’t wait, and will eventually walk anyway. 

“So don’t put somebody on the back end that’s a good enough player to play,” he added. “But you really don’t need him right now. You need him two years from now… the other thing is if I’ve got 44, I can pay him out of my lump sum a lot higher than if I’m paying 105. So why am I going to waste money on a guy who’s not going to play or probably transfer?”

Brown’s warning about wasting money carries extra weight, given the massive financial commitment Texas is making. With a roster funded at an unprecedented level, the pressure is on Sarkisian to navigate the roster ahead of the next season.

News served to you like never before!

Prefer us on Google, To get latest news on feed

Prefer Us on Google

Texas is going all-in, committing over millions annually to scholarships. According to Kirk Bohls, the school is planning to pour nearly three-quarters of its revenue-sharing money into football. Steve Sarkisian benefits from the lion’s share. Now, he doesn’t need to lose sleep over scholarships, especially in the portal. Texas already has a top-10 portal class with 18 transfer additions, highlighted by Cam Coleman and Hollywood Smothers. For now, the Longhorns just need to fill in for injured players and add to the rotation, and Sarkisian will be under scrutiny with the massive amount of funding.

“Texas will have the first 40-million-dollar roster, no doubt in my mind they are close to that in real salary,” On3’s Rusty Mansell previously shared. “This is an ALL IN season for Sark, literally.”  

The SEC distributed $1.03 billion to its members for 2024-25, and schools received a full share, averaging $72.4 million. Texas didn’t get that full share in its first year, pulling in just $12.1 million as part of its early-entry agreement. The result was a $26.7 million net loss, something AD Chris Del Conte says was planned right from the start, with the full SEC payout arriving in 2025-26. While the money provides a cushion, it doesn’t make the brutal schedule any easier.

Texas AD gets real about Steve Sarkisian’s schedule

If anyone knows what a brutal schedule can do, it’s Steve Sarkisian’s Texas. Missing the playoffs last year was more about how the losses were judged rather than talent. Their season-opening loss to Ohio State sealed their fate. And yet, Chris Del Conte isn’t backing off. 

“I want our fans, Longhorn Nation, to be able to watch Ohio State in this stadium,” he said. “I want fans in Longhorn Nation to be able to watch Michigan, along with our SEC slate. But I had a lot of people say, ‘We need to cancel those games.’ No, we’re going to honor our word.”

Even before joining, Texas was already an advocate for a nine-game SEC schedule. As part of the early entry deal, they only played seven conference games in 2025. This year, they’ll meet Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida, Ole Miss, Missouri, LSU, Arkansas, and Texas A&M. The Longhorns will also meet Ohio State and Michigan in 2026 and 2027, respectively. 

Steve Sarkisian has the resources now, but how will he spend them? Can he manage the money, the portal, and the schedule without something breaking? We’ll know soon enough how a $40M roster performs. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.