David Pollack is already seeing things he doesn’t like in Austin. The former Georgia LB knows what life looks like inside a program expected to compete for championships. After all, he was a 2x Consensus All-American and 2x SEC Defensive Player of the Year during his time in Athens. Now, he believes Texas has picked up too much unwanted noise before the season has even started.
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“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” David Pollack said on his See Ball Get Ball show. “There’s a lot of smoke in Austin. That’s not good, man. This is not how you want to start your season.”
His concern isn’t based on one issue, and Ty’Anthony Smith is a big part of it. His exit wasn’t part of the plan. Texas let the third-year LB go last week, with Steve Sarkisian pointing to “conduct detrimental to the team.” Now the Longhorns have to adjust on the fly.
Smith had become a useful piece in 2025, piling up 60 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, and two sacks. Texas has added players through the transfer portal, including Rasheem Biles, but losing an experienced contributor this late in the offseason still creates a hole. And then came the social-media drama.
David Pollack also pointed to a since-deleted post from Hayward Howard Sr., the father of Texas freshman Hayward Howard Jr. Howard Sr. complained about “a lot of bull—-” surrounding the program.
“You also have guys that are freshmen, their parents going on social media and blasting Texas and saying, ‘I’m going to unveil what the heck’s going on,’” he said. “Like, not real excited.”
There is another concern, and this one involves the player who will attract the most attention once Texas takes the field. Arch Manning was limited during spring practice after undergoing minor foot surgery, and Pollack believes the reduced spring workload left him rusty. The QB has already carried plenty of pressure heading into the season, and an offense that hasn’t fully clicked only adds to the questions.
“The offense hasn’t been dialed in,” he added. “Not a good start. I have a little bit of anxiousness in Austin.”
That’s a harsh perspective, especially for a team with this much talent. Texas is still stacked though. Arch Manning showed progress last season after a shaky beginning. The Longhorns added immediate contributors like Hollywood Smothers, Raleek Brown, and Cam Coleman, while Colin Simmons and DC Will Muschamp return to run the defense. That’s why the early issues stand out.
Nobody is questioning whether Texas has enough players to win big. The roster says otherwise. The bigger issue is whether Steve Sarkisian can keep the team focused, get the offense humming, and absorb the distractions without allowing them to become something bigger. The Longhorns won’t have long to figure it out.
Texas opens the season Sept. 5 against Texas State. One week later, Ohio State arrives at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. That’s when the preseason talk gets tested against the Big Ten giant headed by Julian Sayin, Jeremiah Smith, and a handful of elite freshmen who could impact the season.