Steve Sarkisian
Texas Longhorns 2026 Preview
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Entering year three in the SEC, most are becoming comfortable with the Texas Longhorns and the SEC being in the same sentence.
Texas has racked up a 23-6 record as a member of the Southeastern conference the past two seasons, and year three looks to be much more of the same as the Longhorns were picked 4th in the preseason coaches poll.
If there has been a knock against the burnt orange, it’s been the performances when the lights are the brightest.
Last season, two of the three losses came against Georgia in a dominant 35-10 Bulldog victory and a 41-27 shortcoming at the hands of the Michigan Wolverines in the Citrus Bowl.
2024 was more of the same. It was a pair of missteps against Georgia that accounted for two of the three losses for the Longhorns.
One of those Georgia matchups was a highly built-up regular season matchup in Austin where the Bulldogs out physical-ed Texas to the tune of 30-15, with the other coming in the SEC Championship with Georgia edging the Longhorns 22-19 on a late Gunnar Stockton touchdown.
2024 was a magical season for Texas with the run to the Cotton Bowl in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff and the folks in Austin are hoping (and expecting) a repeat of that in 2026.
The name Arch Manning has been talked about in the lone-star state since what feels like Texas was still in the SouthWEST Conference, but the now fourth-year quarterback is poised to take the next step leading the Longhorns.
Manning has racked up a 12-3 record as the starter for Texas with over 4,100 yards through the air and 49 total touchdowns.
There has been so much scrutiny on Manning (some because of the name, some because of what he did in his high school career) but most of that has been from the national media.
Locally in Austin, it’s been the trajectory that was expected from the now junior. Manning played two games in his true freshman season then split time with Quinn Ewers in 2024 as the redshirt freshman. Last year took over in a hugely productive season, now looks to take the next step into dominance under center.
Much of the excitement heading into the season revolves around some key transfers, especially on the offensive side of the ball. In the backfield along Manning will be NC State transfer Hollywood Smothers. Smothers averaged 6.1 yards per carry in 2 years with the Wolfpack and was one of the most heralded transfers in the class.
The receiver’s room has been retooled with the addition of Sterlig Berkhalter from Wake Forest, and Emmett Mosley from Stanford along with the premier transfer Cam Coleman from Auburn.
All that talent couples with 2nd team All-SEC wide-out Ryan Wingo returning.
On the defensive side, the biggest addition may be one wearing a headset as Steve Sarkisian hired longtime defensive guru Will Muschamp as the defensive coordinator.
The former head coach at South Carolina and Florida has spent the past five years as various positions on staff for Georgia returns to Austin after leading some of the toughest Texas defenses from 2008-2010.
Sixth year head coach Steve Sarkisian has rebuilt the Texas football brand into a national power and looks to take the next step this season and reach the pinnacle of college football.
There is a lot of buzz around this Texas program and well warranted. The Longhorns have quickly become a perennial pick to be in Atlanta the first weekend of December for the SEC Championship (while it still exists), but that just scratches the surface of what could be coming home to Bevo this year in Austin.
Falcons To Soar
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The only team from the NFC South that has made the playoffs the last two seasons, the Falcons are locked and loaded to make another run at that elusive Super Bowl victory.
They will face plenty of challenges from the rest of the improved division but they have the tools to be a force in 2018.
They have some questions as well. With training camp rapidly approaching, let’s take a look at where the Falcons stand now.
First off, the biggest news of the offseason was Matt Ryan’s massive contract extension. Matty Ice inked the richest contract in the history of the NFL to the tune of $150 million. That kind of contract tends to come with an added level of pressure.
However, as his nickname suggests, Ryan will likely be able to go about his business without it weighing too heavily on him. He’s still the elite quarterback the Falcons need to lead their charge.
On less sturdy ground at the moment is Julio Jones. He has been a no-show at all of Atlanta’s offseason preparation events so far in 2018, due to an ongoing contract dispute.
While there is no real reason to doubt that this will be an issue that blows up to the point that Jones ends up in a different jersey, there might be cause for concern with all the time he’s missing.
He may be the best wide receiver in the NFL right now but he also had a year in which he only scored three times and that was after missing significant offseason time with an injury.
A player of his caliber might not necessarily need the practice reps to be good to go for the season but you have to wonder how well he’ll be used if he’s not around to train.
From that we come to Steve Sarkisian. Sark was the scapegoat for a lot of people who saw the Falcons underperform the year after a Super Bowl appearance and it is certainly true that the record-breaking 2016 offense took a step backward.
Despite a lot of noise calling for his head, Sark is going to get another chance to move the stellar offensive pieces he has at his disposal into position in which they can win.
Coaches, and especially offensive coordinators, can get too much blame when things go badly and too much praise when things go well. Sark has got too much talent on his hands to not be overly praised for their success in 2018.
Something to keep an eye on at training camp and the season draw closer is the health of Devonta Freeman. Two concussions and an injury to his knee took their toll on him last season and to put a cherry on top he tore his MCL and PCL in the last game before going into the playoffs.
All signs point to him healing quickly and being ready for the start of the season but having such an injury-plagued campaign in 2017 is concerning and something to be monitored.
On the other side of the ball, drafting Calvin Ridley did not shore up the defense, and the lack of depth at linebacker is still a concern.
De’Vondre Campbell and Deion Jones are a strong duo but beyond the two of them are question marks on question marks.
Duke Riley will likely start the season’s early games and he showed last year that he was still a work in progress.
The defensive side of the Falcons’ game as been a concern for a while now and while the offense can shoulder a lot, the issues of stopping the other teams will likely continue.
There is plenty to be excited about as the end of July nears, especially for a Falcons team that expects and should be expected to make the playoffs a third consecutive time.
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