Texas AD mad about report alleging Steve Sarkisian NFL flirtation

Texas vice president and athletics director Chris Del Conte blasted the report that stated Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian had interest in potential NFL head coaching jobs, saying it had “no truth” and acknowledging that Sarkisian was upset by it during an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Friday.

“For me, I was just frustrated because we were walking on the field before Mississippi State with our entire team when that story broke and you’re trying to play a game that evening, and a story that had no merit,” Del Conte said during his interview, according to On3.com. “Then, when it’s ‘retracted’ by saying, ‘I didn’t hear it from his agent’ or ‘I didn’t hear it from Steve, but I heard it from somebody,’ that’s just the world we live in today.

“If you have a great relationship with your coach, you have a great relationship with your student-athletes and you start to have these discussions, it is fine. But today, the noise becomes amplified because it’s played out on social media and every outlet.”

Sarkisian’s name has been involved in NFL rumors before, and after guiding Texas to a second consecutive appearance in the College Football Playoff semifinals last year, he received an extension from the university to temporarily quiet everything.

He also previously coached in the NFL, too — serving as the Raiders’ quarterbacks coach under Norv Turner in 2004 and then as the Falcons’ offense coordinator for two seasons in 2017 and ‘18.

But amid No. 20 the Longhorns’ 7-2 start to the season, The Athletic reported that Sarkisian had interest in jobs that could open up, but Jimmy Sexton and Ed Marynowitz — his agents at Creative Artists Agency — put out a statement calling the report “patently false and wildly inaccurate.”

Del Conte called it “flattering that NFL teams would be talking about him,” but Sarkisian, after the Longhorns defeated Mississippi State, said it “really pisses me off” — and added he needed to “protect my locker room and my team,” according to Awful Announcing.

“I thought it was completely unprofessional of that person to put that report out,” Sarkisian said in his postgame press conference last week. “And the fact that everybody ran with it is borderline embarrassing for the media. And I respect what you guys do. I really do, and everybody else. But the fact that everybody ran that is truth is really embarrassing.” 

“So, I’ve got a small circle when I make decisions on what I do and what I don’t do, and nobody would speak on my behalf without me knowing. And so, where that report came from, I’d love to talk to that person because it’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Texas defeated No. 9 Vanderbilt, 34-31, on Saturday behind Arch Manning’s 328 passing yards and three touchdowns, and they’ll travel to face No. 5 Georgia on Nov. 15.