By the time Longhorn Nation returned to work Monday, fans had a full weekend to digest the Cotton Bowl and Texas’ stunning end in the College Football Playoffs.

Hopefully they realize what an incredible journey the 2024 truly was.

Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns enjoyed a terrific season. Texas not only moved into the SEC, but it proved it belonged by reaching the league’s championship game. There was a huge road win at Michigan. UT went 3-0 against rivals Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas A&M. And the Horns went back to the CFP semifinals for the second straight year.

Don’t take a 13-3 season for granted. After all, the Horns aren’t that far removed from 5-7, no bowls and two losses to Kansas.

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“I'm very proud,” Sarkisian said after the Cotton Bowl. “I told these guys in the locker room, they need to hold their heads high. There's nothing to be ashamed of for what they did this season, the work that they put in, the challenges that we were faced with. Everybody's got their own unique challenges. We had ours.

“But never did anyone complain, we never got the poor-mes. They just worked. They came back to work. As a coach, that makes you proud.”

The Longhorns had some great individual performances. Kelvin Banks Jr. won both the Outland and Lombardi Trophies and will be a top-five NFL Draft pick this spring. Jahdae Barron won the Jim Thorpe Award and could be a late first- or early second-round pick.

Quinn Ewers cemented himself as the third-best quarterback in school history. He leaves UT having won a Big 12 title, a SEC runner-up and two CFP semifinal appearances.

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The Longhorns are projected to have as many as 13 players drafted this spring. That would be a new school record. Not only that, the team’s 3.27 GPA this fall was a new program record.

“But what I do know is I think that every player that leaves our program is a better man,” Sarkisian said. “And for these two guys right here, Jahdae was here when I got here. Quinn coming in and trusting us. That permeates throughout our locker room. When you have trust from your leaders, then you get trust from the other players in that locker room.

“We’ve got a great deal of pride,” Sarkisian continued. “We've got a great deal of pride in this helmet. We've got a great deal of pride in being Longhorns and playing the game of football the right way. I think we do that. I think we win with class, and I think we lost with class tonight. That's something that you learn in life.”

Going forward, the Longhorns have a bright 2025 ahead with Arch Manning taking over at quarterback. Running back CJ Baxter is expected to return from injury. The offensive and defensive line will have to be rebuilt, but there’s a full pipeline of players on the way. The Horns are also going after specific defensive line pieces in the transfer portal.

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There’s nothing to think Texas can’t be a major CFP contender again next season.

“Life’s not always going to go your way,” Sarkisian said. “But if you can do it the right way and you show some resolve and some resiliency and you be a man about it and you be accountable for your actions, you can get on the other side of that adversity and keep going forward.

“And that's what these two guys will do,” the coach said, sitting next to Ewers and Barron, “and that's what the other 120 guys in that locker room will do.”