College football week 7 overreactions: Big changes needed at Texas with former No. 1 Longhorns in freefall

Steve Sarkisian must overhaul an anemic offense, surrender play-calling duties and decide whether Arch Manning is truly the right quarterback to salvage a fading playoff run

Oct 17, 2026 at 5:37 pm ET • 4 min read

Changes are needed in Austin. 

Short-term and long-term. Some could be temporary and others permanent. 

But after a second consecutive embarrassing loss for Steve Sarkisian and his Texas Longhorns program -- this one a 27-24 loss to unranked Florida -- it's time to look in the mirror and realize the current operation isn't working. 

The play-calling isn't good enough. The quarterback play isn't good enough. The much-ballyhooed roster construction isn't good enough. 

For one of the most expensive rosters in the sport led by one of the highest-paid coaches, that is completely unacceptable. Sarkisian was given the keys to a Lamborghini this season, and he drove it into a ditch. On Saturday, Texas became the first top-10 team since 2003 to blow a double-digit lead in consecutive weeks to an unranked opponent. The Longhorns looked in command with a 17-3 first-half lead only to let Florida slowly come back and capitalize on Texas' anemic offense. 

Texas is now 4-2 with remaining games against No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 16 Mississippi State, at No. 13 Missouri and at No. 22 LSU. Its playoff odds dropped to 43 percent, according to CBS Sports' projections, following the loss to an unranked and reeling Florida team that had lost its last two games by more than 20 points and was playing its backup quarterback. Missing the 12-team playoff for the second consecutive season, given all the investment in this program, would be egregious for Sarkisian. 

In the short term, Sarkisian has to take a real look at his offense's deficiencies. Arch Manning looks closer to being benched than a No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick the way some predicted before the season started. He's still capable of a 'wow' play here and there, usually when the odds are the most stacked against him, but his confidence looks shaken and his play is holding back an offense that should be considerably more explosive with players like Ryan Wingo, Cam Coleman and Hollywood Smothers. Manning does not look capable of guiding Texas to its preseason goal of a national championship. 

"Arch, you don't know what you're going to get," an SEC head coach told CBS Sports. "Whether it's good Arch or Dazed and Confused Arch." 

A salty Sarkisian said after the game everything would be evaluated, including even the quarterback position. 

"We're going to evaluate everything," Sarkisian said. "I don't know how many times I need to say it. We're going to evaluate everything from an offensive perspective. Part of that is play-calling."

Will Sarkisian give up the offensive play-calling? He should given the results. Entering Saturday's loss to Florida, Texas managed just 3.66 yards per carry (117th best in the country) and had the worst three-and-out offensive series rate in the SEC at nearly 29 percent. Sarkisian has a reputation as one of the nation's elite offensive minds, but this year's lackluster on-field results don't match the hype. 

But the bigger question, particularly for this season, is who do you really trust on the coaching staff to do better? Quarterbacks coach A.J. Milwee? Offensive line coach/offensive-coordinator-in-name-only Kyle Flood? Those guys feel like a big part of the problem and not any potential solution. As I wrote earlier in the week, Sark's loyalty to long-tenured assistants like Milwee, Flood and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks has been an impediment. All of their respective units have been concerns, and it is staggering Texas cannot develop two QB recruits 

Frankly, Texas needs to clean out its offensive coaching staff and bring in some new ideas and energy to help the offense evolve. That's an offseason change, however, and should be a demand Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte makes if Sarkisian wants to remain the Longhorns' head coach (Sarkisian's buyout of $50 million is doable enough, especially at a school like Texas, that Del Conte has the leverage to make such an ultimatum). There need to be material changes in how the roster is put together, developed and coached. There need to be changes in how Sark holds himself and his team accountable, too. It was clear with Del Conte's strongly-worded statement earlier this season that's already an area he is keeping a close eye on. 

If Sarkisian is willing to actually change his ways and bring in a real offensive coordinator he empowers to be successful, there's a path to success in 2027. If the stubborn coach instead doubles down and doesn't want to fire his friends, Del Conte needs to think long and hard about whether Sark's the right man to finally carry this program over the mountaintop.