In the last four years of college football, nobody has been more ambitious than Steve Sarkisian. Not even remotely close. His Texas team became the first to beat Nick Saban by double digits at Tuscaloosa in a long time and went on to become the only team to make back-to-back playoff semifinals in the last three years. Despite the efforts and investments, the Longhorns have always fallen short in spectacular fashion. The word is the head honcho is going ‘all-in’ again on his natty dream, this time with $75 million in might.

On February 18th, college football insider Zach Barnett hopped onto his X handle and shared the Longhorns’ diabolical financial commitment to their football coaching staff.

“Texas will pay Steve Sarkisian + his senior staff a hair shy of $25 million for an “All In” 2026 season.”

The school is essentially betting the house that paying premium prices for coaching will finally bring that elusive national title trophy back home for first since the Vince Young era. Sark is the big winner here, set to pocket a guaranteed $10.9 million in 2026 alone. After he got that massive contract extension through 2031, his paycheck has been climbing every single year.

But it takes a village to run a powerhouse, and the rest of the $25 million goes to his senior staff. The pool for the 10 full-time assistant coaches has been hiked to around $10.5 million to $11 million. Five of his assistants will make over $1 million, with a sixth joining them in 2027. They even went as far as giving around a 60% hike to GM (Brandon Harris), whose take-home payday is $1 million.

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However, the biggest chunk of their $75 million budget is a record-breaking $40 million dedicated just to the roster. While Coach Sarkisian has called some of these specific numbers “irresponsible” in the past, reports show Texas leading the nation in transfer portal and retention spending. The big name on the payroll has to be quarterback Arch Manning. His NIL is said to be around $6.8 million for 2026.

Not only that, the Longhorns spent $23 million on the transfer portal, beating the likes of Ohio State ($20 million) and Oregon ($19 million). According to reports, the Longhorns might have $3 million to lock-in the No. 1 wide receiver in the portal in Cam Coleman out of Auburn. On top of that, they are also investing $10 million into the future through expanded scholarships.

With new NCAA rules increasing roster limits to 105 players, the school is fully funding these extra spots to make sure they have depth at every position for rainy days. All in all, it comes down to $75 million. That’s the price the Longhorns are paying to power Steve Sarkisian’s obsession.

“I came here to win a championship and then if I can get one I want to get two,” Sarkisian said. “I’m borderline obsessed with it at this point.….I know how close we were and I can’t wait to get back and hopefully, that’s what our team really starts to exude is this obsession with being the best.”

The head honcho has already fallen short of his obsession for the fifth time. The question is: will the sixth finally be his lucky charm?

Texas Longhorns natty chances and what do the experts say

Texas is sitting in a great spot for the 2026 season, with most experts and betting sites ranking them as one of the top three favorites to take home the trophy. After their 10-3 finish last year and an impressive win in the Citrus Bowl, the Longhorns are currently seeing odds around +700 to +750. Some statistical models like ESPN’s Football Power Index are bullish on the Longhorns. They recently gave them a 24% chance of winning it all.

Some analysts across the country are basically obsessed with the “Arch Manning era” finally clicking. After that second half of the season, a solid number of folks think he’s going to be a total game-changer after seeing him put up over 3,000 yards and 29 touchdowns. Based on the talent on the team, especially on offense, there should be no reason he shouldn’t break Colt McCoy’s single-season passing touchdown record (34) this year.

However, there are two big things that could trip them up. The offensive line and the schedule. Texas has to replace several starters on the line, and how they handle a big Week 2 home game against Ohio State will tell us everything. If the line holds up and the defense stays healthy, then Texas is the team to beat in 2026.