The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
02.08.2021 | Forty Acres Insider
Important news happening in and around Texas Athletics compiled by Vice President and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte. [<a href="http://texassports.com/archives.aspx?path=forty_acres_insider">Forty Acres Insider archives</a>]
Longhorn Nation,
Here's to hoping everyone's New Year is off to a productive first month and you're on the road to knocking off some of those resolutions. January is in the rearview mirror, Super Bowl Sunday is behind us, and we're off to a fast start to 2021 here on the Forty Acres. Our student-athletes are back on campus, the spring semester of school is in full swing, and many of our teams are in action with championship competitions on the horizon. It's been a New Year filled with many successes thus far, there's so much more to come in the days, weeks and months ahead, and it's just a great time to be a Longhorn!
Before we get into the updates, it's important to note that February is Black History Month. Please join us and our entire campus community as we share content across all of our platforms throughout to honor, pay tribute and celebrate this truly special month of recognition.
Excitement, enthusiasm and energy are certainly in the air with the launch of the Steve Sarkisian era of Texas Football. Ever since Coach Sark arrived in Austin, fresh off his offensive game-plan and play-calling masterpiece in helping Alabama win the National Championship, it's been all gas and no brakes! We rolled out the orange carpet as he and his wife, Loreal, arrived in town on very little sleep, but full of vigor and joy on January 12. They were greeted at the Red McCombs Red Zone by our spectacular and recently unveiled Julius Whittier statue, visited the Frank Denius Family University of Texas Athletics Hall of Fame, strolled on Campbell-Williams Field at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, met BEVO and had the chance to fire Smokey. We officially introduced him in a virtual press conference on day one, he met with many Longhorn greats that day and more times in the days since, and enjoyed the opportunity to visit with many of you on Zoom calls in recent weeks, as well. It's just been full speed ahead from day one for a new era of Texas Football!
Of course the team has been a huge priority, and Coach Sark is knee-deep in preparations for the spring season while getting to know everyone in our talented and promising group. And how about the assistant coaching staff he pulled together to help build his program?! Talk about an impressive, star-studded collection of coaches, I'll echo his comments in putting this staff up against anyone in the country. Whether it's players development, X's and O's, recruiting, you name it, every one of our assistant coaches check all the boxes. They came from far and wide and all have superb resumes, many with deep connections in Texas and about a combined 100 years of recruiting ties to our great state! If you're looking for just the facts, all totaled among our 10 assistant coaches and director of football performance , there are a combined 234 years of coaching experience, including 200 years in collegiate coaching, 101 bowl games, 11 CFP playoff games and seven National Championship Games, and they have won six of those. That'll get your attention!
The pedal is to the metal as the assistant coaches are all here, meeting, planning, building camaraderie and getting after it as we speak. Director of Football Performance Torre Becton and his four new staff members are putting their strength and conditioning program in place with off-season workouts well underway. Of course, we just finished the February National Signing Day, and Coach Sark and the staff have been working the phones, building bonds and connecting with prospects and high school coaches in short order, as recruiting continues to commence for the class of 2022 and beyond. This is a tremendous staff of recruiters that combines their tremendous experience in our state with relationships from coast to coast, so prospects be ready, Texas is coming! Our spring football season will start a little later this year, kicking off with the first practice on March 23, and we'll get you all the details on that and the Spring Game very soon. We're looking at Saturday, April 24 for the Spring Game and you'll definitely want to plan to be in Austin for that one! And, don't miss out on making that Football season ticket deposit either!
There's plenty more going on across our sports programs these days, too. Golf, Swimming and Diving, Tennis and Track and Field are doing great things week in and week out. We see ya Tripp, breaking the reigning Olympic Gold Medalist Ryan Crouser's indoor school record and posting the second-best throw indoors in NCAA history! We celebrated Senior Day for our Men's and Women's Swimmers and Divers at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center last week, and No. 3 Women's Tennis advanced all the way to the Championship Match of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Stillwater. Only an oh-so-close 4-3 loss to No. 1 North Carolina separated Coach Joffe and the squad from the national title. I couldn't be prouder of their effort and enjoyed cheering them on, and all of our spring sports teams are going to be so much fun to follow and watch this year!
Rowing will be taking to the water soon, and our unique spring championship seasons for Soccer and Volleyball are just around the corner, as well, with their schedules announced last week. Softball's first pitch is this Thursday against Arizona in the Texas Classic, a four-day tournament we'll host at Red & Charline McCombs Field that also includes Alabama, Colorado State and Sam Houston State. No. 9 Baseball will get its season underway next weekend with three games against Top 10 opponents (No. 7 Mississippi State, No. 8 Arkansas and No. 6 Ole Miss) at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
No. 13 Men's Basketball went through some COVID-19 challenges in recent weeks, including Coach Smart missing a game, and after some tough, tightly-contested losses, will look to get back on the winning track this week. They travel to Kansas State on Tuesday (7 p.m. CT/ESPN+) and return home to face TCU at the Erwin Center on Saturday (1 p.m. CT/LHN). Coach Schaefer and Women's Basketball look to bounce back this week, as well, hosting Oklahoma State Wednesday (7 p.m. CT/LHN) and traveling to seventh-ranked and Big 12-leading Baylor on Valentine's Day (4 p.m. CT/ESPN2). After more than a month of games without our awesome fans in attendance, it was great to see y'all at the Erwin Center last week, albeit still at a reduced capacity due to health and safety protocols. We're all awaiting the day when we can pack our stadiums and arenas to cheer together once again!
Longhorn Nation, we can't thank you enough for your patience, understanding and awesome support during these unprecedented and very challenging times. We're so fortunate to be putting health and safety protocols in place that continue to allow our teams to compete, but look forward to the brighter days ahead when we can all be together again, cheering, high-fiving and celebrating our student-athletes, teams and great university in the ways we are accustomed to. Those days will come, but in the meantime, thank you, thank you, thank you! Keep your horns up, bring that passion, pride, spirit and Texas Fight, and as our Coach Sark says, let's all be all gas and no brakes in everything we do!
Chris Del Conte
P.S. – Nice digs Coach!
HEADLINES
2021 Football season ticket deposits on sale now
Join Coach Sark TODAY and guarantee your spot at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.
Football National Signing Day Central
Keep up with the Longhorns' February 2021 signees as they become official.
Kenneth Sims Selected for Induction into College Football Hall of Fame
The Longhorn Legend will be inducted into the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame in December.
Longtime Texas benefactor Marian Dozier passes away
A treasured and loyal friend of Texas Athletics, Dozier was 88.
Del Conte named to College Football Playoff Selection Committee
UT Vice President and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte has been appointed as one of five new members to the committee.
Track and Field's Piperi breaks indoor shot put school record
The senior thrower broke Ryan Crouser's school record and moved to No. 2 in NCAA history on Saturday.
No. 11/5 Track and Field shines at Charlie Thomas Invitational
Led by Tripp Piperi's school-record shot put showing, the Longhorns posted impressive marks in College Station Saturday.
Track and Field earns pair of top-10 rankings
Both the Texas men (No. 9) and women (No. 4) were ranked in the top 10 of the USTFCCCA Rankings on Monday.
Track and Field: A look at the 2020 signing class
Forty-one members of the Longhorns' 2020 signing class are currently competing on the Forty Acres.
Collier named to Lisa Leslie Award Top 10 watch list
The junior is one of three Big 12 student-athletes to make the cut on Friday.
Charli Collier Named to Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List
The junior forward/center is averaging 21.4 points and 12.9 rebounds per game this season.
Women's Basketball knocks off Oklahoma, 69-58
Charli Collier's second-straight 30-point double-double powered Texas past the Sooners on Wednesday.
No. 3 Texas Women's Tennis drops 4-3 heartbreaker to No. 1 North Carolina
The Longhorns take the Tar Heels to the wire in the ITA National Indoors championship match.
Stearns named Big 12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week
UT freshman delivered the clinching point with a three-set victory on court 1 singles at Oklahoma on Saturday.
Softball to Face Challenging 2021 Spring Schedule
Texas will play 23 total games against 10 teams currently ranked or receiving votes in the NFCA poll
No. 6 Softball's Jefferson & Burke named D1Softball Preseason All-Americans
Jefferson & Burke were two of just 34 total players lauded by the organization over two All-American teams
2021 Big 12 Baseball Schedule Announced
The Longhorns will host Oklahoma, K-State, Texas Tech and West Virginia in Big 12 play.
No. 1 Men's Swimming and Diving tops SMU, 170-115
The Longhorns celebrate nine senior student-athletes in final home dual meet of the year.
No. 1 Women's Swimming and Diving defeats SMU, 188-104
The Longhorns honor four senior student-athletes in final home dual meet of the year.
Video: Baseball media availability
The Longhorns had their first official team practice of the 2021 season on Friday, January 29.
Soccer's Julia Grosso named to 2020-21 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List
The junior midfielder was one of 54 student-athletes to make the cut for award consideration.
No. 2 Volleyball announces spring slate
The Longhorns will play a total of nine matches, including four at the Frank Erwin Center.
Volleyball announces the addition of Malual and Parra
Talented international athletes Adhu Malual and Melanie Parra have joined the Longhorns' roster.
Texas Athletics implements health and safety guidelines for fan attendance at Texas Tennis matches
Attendance will be at a reduced seating capacity for the 2021 season.
Men's Basketball's Greg Brown named one of 10 finalists for 2021 Karl Malone Award
Annual honor recognizes the top power forward in Division I men's college basketball.
Video: Steve Sarkisian Welcome to Austin Virtual Press Conference
On his first day in Austin, Steve Sarkisian is introduced to Longhorn Nation and the media in a virtual press conference.
Video: Steve Sarkisian with Scott Van Pelt [ESPN]
The Football head coach joined ESPN's Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter.
Video: Steve Sarkisian media availability
The Longhorns head coach announced nine assistant coaches and a Director of Football Performance on Friday, Jan. 22.
Football was represented by Alex Okafor in Super Bowl LV
Texas has had at least one representative in each of the last 16 Super Bowls.
Gatorade lures new CMO from Nike
Former NFL player (and Longhorn) Kalen Thornton takes the helm at the PepsiCo-owned sports drink behemoth.
