Texas football is leaning harder than anyone in the SEC’s recent change. Football scholarships are moving from 85 to 105, finally matching the rest of the P4 after the House settlement cleared the path. Steve Sarkisian now has more scholarships and more flexibility. But it could also mean more pressure because not everyone thinks more bodies automatically means better football. Especially not a certain Texas legend who coached the Longhorns to a national championship in 2005.

“If you take from 85 to 105 and all of them were on scholarship, all of them were pretty good, and all of them want to play, and they’re not going to get to them with a transfer portal, they’re leaving anyway,” Mack Brown said on The Stampede on February 6. 

His message isn’t about anti-spending or anti-growth. In plain terms, he’s warning Steve Sarkisian not to burn money on players who won’t play, won’t wait, and will eventually walk anyway. 

“So don’t put somebody on the back end that’s a good enough player to play,” he added. “But you really don’t need him right now. You need him two years from now… the other thing is if I’ve got 44 I can pay him out of my lump sum a lot higher than if I’m. So why am I going to waste money on a guy who’s not going to play or probably transfer?”

The ultimatum is implied. If Texas is going all-in financially, Steve Sarkisian best needs a plan behind every dollar spent. 

Texas is fully funding scholarships across its entire athletic department. Every athlete is on scholarship which alone is a $10 million annual commitment. If you combine it with other allocations, the scholarship piece totals $30.5 million. Now, this isn’t linked to the $20.5 million revenue-sharing cap, meaning it all comes from the school. According to Kirk Bohls, the school plans to push roughly 75% of its $20.5 million revenue-sharing pool toward their football program. 

Steve Sarkisian benefits from the lion’s share. He doesn’t have to be as selective with scholarships, especially in the portal. Texas already has 18 transfer additions and a top-10 portal class led by Cam Coleman and Hollywood Smothers. For now, it’s depth that matters more as injuries happen and rotations become a necessity. But with better allocation comes greater expectations. 

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On3’s Rusty Mansell shared that Texas is flirting with a $40 million roster when you combine revenue-sharing and NIL. 

“This is an ALL IN season for Sark, literally,” he wrote. 

The SEC distributed $1.03 billion to its members for 2024-25 and schools received a full-share averaging $72.4 million. Texas didn’t get that full share in its first year, pulling in just $12.1 million as part of its early-entry agreement. The result was a $26.7 million net loss, something AD Chris Del Conte says was planned right from the start. The full SEC payout arrives in 2025-26. The money helps, sure, but it doesn’t soften opponents and schedules. 

Texas AD gets real on Steve Sarkisian’s schedule

Steve Sarkisian’s Texas already knows what a brutal resume can do. Missing the playoff last year was more about how the losses were judged rather than talent. Their season opening loss to Ohio State sealed their fate. And yet, Chris Del Conte isn’t backing off. 

“I want our fans, Longhorn Nation, to be able to watch Ohio State in this stadium,” he said. “I want fans in Longhorn Nation to be able to watch Michigan along with our SEC slate. But I had a lot of people say, ‘We need to cancel those games.’ No, we’re going to honor our word.”

Even before joining, Texas pushed for a nine-game SEC schedule aiming for balance. As part of the early entry deal, it took multiple non-conference road games. Now it wants the payoff. Ohio State and Michigan check the non-conference box in 2026 and 2027, respectively. But they also stacked the conference risk. In 2026, Texas will cycle through Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida, Ole Miss, Missouri, LSU, Arkansas, and Texas A&M. 

Texas is spending like a program with no excuses left. A deeper roster helps but it also raises expectations internally and externally. This is where Mack Brown’s warning lands. Steve Sarkisian has the resources now. The question is whether he can manage the money, the portal, and the schedule without something breaking.