When it comes to the SEC, Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian has indeed been a threat. Texas arms him with an enviable war chest. Playcalling? Sarkisian has earned gold stars in that. Recruiting? Sarkisian has led the Longhorns’ 2025 class to the top rank with 25 recruits locked in. Other than this, the head coach has shown a deft hand with quarterbacks.

With Sarkisian at the helm, when it comes to chasing the national title, the fans are no longer finding the answer to ‘if.’ Rather, it’s about ‘when.’ All these combined, Sarkisian has earned himself a spot in ‘SEC football coach rankings from No. 1 to No. 16.’ As the list got published back in April, Sarkisian held the No.2 spot right after Georgia Bulldogs’ head coach Kirby Smart. However, after lifting Sarkisian to the pedestal, it did not take the SEC much time to pull him down to the ground. And they found an interesting way to do so.

The saying goes that everything is bigger in Texas. Turns out that the SEC couldn’t have made a bigger mistake. Sarkisian attended the SEC Media Days in Atlanta on July 14, Tuesday. That’s when the SEC made a thunder-blunder while selecting the song to induct the Longhorns’ head coach to the stage. The 51-year-old Sarkisian strolled up to the podium in his tan suit. That’s when the “Aggie War Hymn” played over the loudspeakers—instead of the official fight song of the Longhorns, “Texas Fight.” And no amount of cover-up would have fixed their mistake, after all, by then the cameras had already recorded the part. And the absolute ‘Oops’ moment started to do the rounds on the internet. As the Nash platform posted the video, and came with a direct attack on Greg Sankey in the caption. 

“The SEC just had the Texas A&M fight song played as Steve Sarkisian walked to the stage, this is DISGUSTING @GregSankey.” Turns out that Sarkisian was too engrossed in his upcoming speech that he did not realize the background music. Or it could also be that the coach didn’t acknowledge it, since it didn’t spur much reaction as he arrived to give his opening address. Sarkisian’s reaction came off as mature and something head coaches should learn about how to tackle embarrassing situations in front of the camera. Now, what’s the hoopla with Texas A&M’s “Aggie War Hymn?”

The hymn that the SEC played during Sarkisian’s entry didn’t include the lyrics. But the college football fans are aware of what it carries if we dive deeper into the second verse of the song. The lyrics go like, “Good-bye to Texas University, so long to the orange and the white” and “So good-bye to Texas University, we’re going to beat you all to Chig-gar-roo-gar-rem, Chig-gar-roo-gar-rem.” And how could the Longhorns fans be okay with the indirect disrespect to Sarkisian and to their team? 

Fans react loudly and clearly after Steve Sarkisian’s SEC Media Days appearance

That’s some trigger on the Lone Star Showdown, as the name goes for the rivalry between Longhorns and the Aggies. The rivalry dates back to a time even before Sarkisian and Mike Elko had taken their head coaching seats. On Thanksgiving in 2011, the fans thought that they saw the end of the Texas-Texas A&M football rivalry. The conference alignment had split Texas and Texas A&M as the Aggies left the Big 12 for the SEC. 13 years later, Sarkisian’s boys faced off against Elko’s squad last year. And the rivalry is still intact, as a fan expressed frustration after Sarkisian’s SEC Media Days hoopla, “Good! Its disrespectful and UT should treat it as such.” It was reminded after the Longhorns handed a 7-17 win to the Aggies last season.

Elko’s rank in the SEC head coach ranking is quite low, at No. 9. So, they, too, are sure how Sarkisian will bring in better success for his team than the Aggies would witness. A fan commented, “That was an abomination, @SEC.  🤡” If it’s not a mistake, then SEC openly supported Elko, whose team fell prey to a four-game losing streak to Power Four opponents. Sarkisian’s Texas leads the series 77–37–5, including a current two-game win streak since the rivalry resumed in 2024. On that note, a fan commented, “SEC should be f- – – – n ashamed …” The last time Elko’s squad came off as more powerful was during the 1984-94 stretch, when they won 10 out of 11 games.

Texas A&M’s offense completely abandoned the defense in the biggest moments. While facing off against Sarkisian’s boys, the Aggies rushed for only 102 yards on 34 carries. Taking reference to their lackluster gameplay, a fan jumped to a conclusion. “They didn’t get to play it when Texas played them since their offense was so bad and couldn’t score.” Outside of quarterback Marcel Reed, the skill position players combined for only 42 yards on 20 attempts.

Sarkisian was 5-7 in his first year in Austin prior to making the four-team CFP in 2023 and the expanded 12-team CFP last season. Even though Mike Elko was better in his first season than Sarkisian, at 8-5, their off-the-field actions turned them into a hate magnet. “Low bull from classless Aggies.” The lyrics of their war hymn are one of the instances of their controversial culture. Will Sarkisian respond to the unexpected jab with silence—or use it as locker room fuel for the season ahead?