Steve Sarkisian explains why he’s releasing Longhorns for Christmas to ‘go home and drink eggnog with their mom’
Players will return on Dec. 26. Sark: ‘If I can’t trust them now, then when can I trust them?’
This sounds crazy at face value. Texas (12-2) could have three more college football games left this season. Such is life in the 12-team College Football Playoffs format.
This time of year, it’s imperative that coaches give their players a chance to rest after each playoff round.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has talked openly about giving his players both physical and mental breaks along the journey this season. Remember, the season started in late July with training camp and could stretch all the way to Jan. 20.
With Christmas on deck, Sarkisian turned the players loose after Monday’s workout and doesn’t expect them back until Thursday morning to really dig into Arizona State.
The Peach Bowl is New Year's Day at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The winner advances to the Cotton Bowl to face the Ohio State-Oregon winner in the College Football Playoffs semifinals.
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“If I can't trust them now, then when can I trust them?,” Sarkisian said. “There are eight teams left, and we’re one of the eight. If I can’t trust our guys for a couple days to go home and drink eggnog with their mom, then when am I going to trust them? They'll be ready to go on the 26th.”
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Texas had a full week between the SEC championship game against Georgia and the first-round playoff game against Clemson. Sarkisian gave his players multiple days off early in the bye week. When the team returned, Sarkisian said the players were practically “giddy” on a Thursday and he challenged them to come back Friday with a better mindset.
The Horns were clearly ready. Texas beat Clemson 38-24 at Royal-Memorial Stadium.
“We felt like the formula worked pretty good,” Sarkisian said. “We felt fast. We felt physical. I thought the guys had a good grasp of the game plan.
“So coming out of this week's game (against Clemson), coming back to work Sunday and Monday and then giving everybody a couple days for Christmas felt like the right thing to do. We'll get everybody back the 26th and we'll go to work.
“Part of this is we’re in year four, and this is year two, back-to-back years of being in the College Football Playoff,” Sarkisian added. “I think we’ve got people in our organization and players on our team who came here for reasons that this is part of the reason why they came was to be in these moments.”
When the Horns return from Christmas break, they plan on having a normal work-week schedule. It’s just their normal “Monday” will be Friday, Dec. 27.
The team has specific practice and routines based on the day of the week. They’ll keep things are normal as possible leading up to kickoff on Jan. 1.
