Steve Sarkisian‘s Texas isn’t ducking’ the smoke anymore. After coming up short in the playoff semis to Ohio State, the vibes in Austin have been a little off. Quinn Ewers and key players on offense like Kelvin Banks Jr., Matthew Golden, Isaiah Bond and Gunner Helm? All off to the NFL. The Longhorns are heading into a new era of football with Arch Manning. But it isn’t all rainbows and sunshine over at Austin. It’s more curiosity and questions. Let’s start with that wideout room. It has names, sure, but new chemistry. Tight end? That joint was empty. Offensive line? Swiss cheese status. And while everybody was trying to act like the house wasn’t on fire, one Texas legend stepped up and said what everybody else was too scared to: this offense might have star power, but it’s walking on glass.

It was on the “On Texas Football” podcast that Rod Babers pulled the curtain back. He doesn’t sugarcoat it. “I’m just curious,” he said, “But the biggest question I think is really for me, and I don’t know if you’ll get a lot of the answers to it, is about the jelling of the offensive line and how that will, um, translate to the running game.” Translation? Sark’s play-calling doesn’t mean a damn thing if the O-line doesn’t get it together. Pass pro? Cool. Arch has legs—he isn’t taking the sacks as Quinn did. But this run game? It’s on shaky ground, and Babers made it clear: it’s time for a new identity up front.

See, Texas lost FOUR out of five starting O-linemen. That’s not just a gap—that’s a damn crater. DJ Campbell and Cole Hutson have to hold it down now, but Trevor Goosby and Brandon Baker? They are fresh meat. If that front five don’t mesh, Arch Manning’s welcome party might turn into a horror show. And we haven’t even hit Week 1 yet.

The run game? Deep. Like, stupid deep. Cedric Baxter Jr. and Jerrick Gibson? They’re bringing smoke. Texas got thunder, lightning, third-down juice—you name it. But here’s the catch: without a cohesive O-line, all that backfield talent isn’t hitting max volume. The rotation’s cool and all, but if nobody establishes themselves as that dude? That rhythm dies really quickly.

Now let’s talk tight end—a flat-out crisis before spring. We all know Steve Sarkisian loves tight ends. Rod Babers kept it buck “And I feel like Sark and the staff, via the transfer portal, uh, brought in a lot of possibilities. And now I’m just more curious how it’s going to look. Tight end—that was my number one question going into the spring. It’s like, “What the hell are they going to do at tight end?” Like, they really had nothing at tight end.” Gunnar Helm? Off to Titan. Amari Niblack? Hit the transfer highway. Who’s left? A group of guys with zero catches last year. Sark wasn’t going to trust Arch’s breakout season to some invisible tight ends. So what’d he do? He went portal-diving and pulled out a damn gem: Jack Endries from Cal.

The former Cal tight end put up 623 yards and 56 catches last season. Quiet assassin type. Sark isn’t even trying to play it off: “The one room that we probably have our biggest question mark in is the tight end room.” That’s coach speak for “We were desperate.” But now? With Endries in the fold, there’s a legitimate weapon at TE1. The question now is, who’s TE2? Spencer Shannon? Jordan Washington? Whoever wants that spot better learn to block like it’s their job—‘cause it literally is.

This offensive reset isn’t a rebuild—it’s a straight-up remix. New O-line, reshuffled WR depth, portal-patched TE room, and a fresh QB1 in Arch. Chemistry will be the key to success. Sark’s got weapons, but it’s all about how they cook together.

Adam Breneman backs Sark’s call to ride with Quinn Ewers over Arch Manning

Now let’s address the spicy stuff. Arch Manning’s season is finally here. But not without some folks doing that revisionist history thing. Since Quinn Ewers took a nosedive in the NFL Draft, a bunch of fans started playing’ hindsight heroes—“Should Arch have been QB1 last year?”

In an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, Adam Breneman shut that noise down quickly. “I don’t think Arch was held back — Quinn was playing high-level football,” he said. “You don’t make a change when your QB is leading you to a Big 12 title and a playoff spot.” And he isn’t wrong. Ewers might’ve slid in the draft, but that doesn’t erase what he did in burnt orange. Back-to-back CFP appearances? That isn’t anything to sneeze at.

Still, the Manning truthers got ammo. When Arch stepped in for Quinn’s injury? Manning Boy won both games. Showed Peyton’s arm, grand pop Manning’s legs, and flashed that zip on the ball. Sark even sprinkled him in on some third-down scheming. You could feel it—like the future was tapping on the glass, saying, “Let me in.” But Sark held steady. Loyalty or logic? Maybe both.

The twist here is wild: no matter what Arch does in 2025, Sark’s in a weird spot. If Arch goes off, folks will ask why he wasn’t unleashed sooner. If he struggles, they’ll say he isn’t ready. It’s a lose-lose for the coach unless the Longhorns hit the natty. Breneman gets it, though: “Arch is the future, and the experience he got last year behind the scenes will only help him. Sark handled it the right way — now Arch gets his shot to shine.”

Fair. And now? It’s go-time. The excuses are gone, the spotlight’s cooking, and Arch Manning’s name isn’t just a legacy—it’s the new headline. And Sark? He better hope all those puzzle pieces snap into place, or it’s going to be a long, loud fall in Austin.