Consider all that stands against Steve Sarkisian on the eve of his second lap with the Texas Longhorns. He opened his stay in Austin with a losing record, a season that concluded with six lo ses in the final seven games. He arrived with a resume that included seven prior seasons at prime Power 5 jobs but none that ended with double-digit victories. He followed two coaches who compiled more impre sive resumes before being hired by UT but lasted only seven seasons between them. He entered a program bound to the Big 12 but Nathan Beaulieu Jersey now hopes still to be in charge when it transitions to the SEC a couple years down the road.He also landed quarterback prospect Arch Manning this summer.Which means the rest of that stuff does not matter.At least for now.Landing Arch, for the fan base anyway, I think has been the most positive sign that this thing is headed in the right direction, Jeff Howe, who writes for Horns247 and hosts a radio show at 104.9 The Horn, told The Sporting News. I think when you get the Manning family stamp of approval, at the very least youre doing something right. Youre on the right track.MORE: Arch Manning is 18 years old, 6-4 and 215 pounds and still two weeks from starting his senior year in high school. But he has that last name, the institutional knowledge of three Pro Bowl quarterbacks in his family tree and an arm that has generated 5,731 yards and 72 touchdowns in three seasons according to MaxPreps. He is ranked the No. 1 college football prospect in the 2023 recruiting cla s by Rivals.com and 247Sports. Alabama and Georgia, who played for the CFP Championship last season, both wanted him. He committed to the Longhorns after visiting all three schools in June.This is how Sarkisian is entering what history tells us should be a pivotal second season at Texas. Fans will want him to win a bunch of games, sure, but he already brought in Arch and last winter got Quinn Ewers, whod been the No. 1 prospect in the 2021 recruiting cla s, to transfer from Ohio State back closer to home. This is what they talk about now, rather than the 3-6 Big 12 record in his first season and the one-score lo ses to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor and Kansas. (Yes, Kansas, which won two other league games in the past five seasons.)The only thing that I can compare Evander Kane Kids Jersey it to, that Ive seen in my time its kind of like when Mack Brown got Chris Simms, Howe said. That came in 1999, and such extraordinary talents as Cedric Benson, Roy Williams, Sloan Thomas and, ultimately, Vince Young would follow.It was: Hey, hes got the Super Bowl MVPs son and the No. 1 recruiting cla s in the country, Howe said. Basically, off that one commitment, you built the core of a team that ran off those 10-win seasons and won a national championship. Its been a long time since Texas has had something like that. I think that one commitment has given this fan base at least from the interactions Ive had more hope than anything on the field.Eventually, perhaps as soon as the Sept. 10 home game against Alabama, Texas fans will want more. It has been a while since they've gotten it. The 2021 defense ranked 100th in yards allowed, 99th in points allowed. The Horns scored a bunch with Casey Thompson at quarterback, but the D gave up more. The final record was 5-7. There was no bowl game, obviously.It was a lousy debut for Sarkisian, hired by UT after hed spent two seasons as offensive coordinator at Alabama. Tom Herman, the man he replaced, had been 7-3 and won the Alamo Bowl the season before. Even Hermans predece sor Charlie Strong, who never had a winning record at UT, won six games his first year.Second-year Texas coachesNameYearRecordTom Herman201810-4Charlie Strong20155-7Mack Brown19999-5Obviously, there would not be much patience for Sarkisian to move this program forward, and he seemed to sense that by emphasizing the teams youth by noting at Big 12 media days the Scott Wilson Kids Jersey Longhorns have 57 freshmen and sophomores among their 85 scholarship players. These no longer are ordinary circumstances, given the impending arrival of Manning, though that could change if these Longhorns do not.Texas has the best collection of skill talent in the conference, college football analyst Gabe Ikard of SiriusXM Big 12 Radio told TSN. You start with Bijan Robinson, who I believe is the best running back in all of college football. I think he would have been the first running back off the board if he had been able to enter the NFL Draft last season.And then Xavier Worthy, he was one of the best players in college football last season that people arent talking a lot about. I think hes the best wide receiver in the Big 12. Its hard to imagine hes not going to have a really big season, especially if Jordan Whittington can stay healthy. When hes been healthy and hes been right, you Jason Kasdorf Kids Jersey can just see the explosivene s and the route-running. Getty Images Someones got to get them the ball, but I am not that concerned about the quarterback position. Whether its Hudson Card or Quinn Ewers, I think theyre going to get an adequate level of play at the quarterback position. They were as highly recruited as they were for a reason.There would appear to be an extreme amount of pre sure on Ewers to win the job and to succeed, given that he already has transferred once and entered college with the expectation he would develop into a first-round pick. With Manning coming next year, wouldnt that make it even more e sential that Ewers become an instant Texas star?I think if Quinn Ewers hits his ceiling youre talking about a guy as naturally talented at quarterback Ive seen come from the state of Texas. Thats Matthew Stafford, Kyler Murray, name the guy -- just in terms of his ability to throw the football, hes as good as any of them, Howe said. If he wins the job and hits his ceiling, hes probably only going to be at Texas two years.I dont think Quinn would have transferred to Texas if he didnt think there was a really good chance he could come in and be the guy.As dreadful as the defense was last season, Sarkisian did not choose to blame it Robin Lehner Kids Jersey on the staff and make an appeasement-based change at coordinator. Pete Kwiatkowski, who previously worked at Washington and Boise State, will remain in charge. What needs to improve, though, may not be entirely rooted in scheme.The most disappointing part of the defense was there was a lot of what people call LOE: Lack of effort, Ikard said. I felt late in a couple games last season, some of those guys on the defensive side of the ball kind of folded the tent. That cant happen.MORE: | Thats why year two under Pete Kwiatkowski they should be more comfortable in the system. I think thats huge. The easiest way to play bad defense is to be thinking too much on the field, not lined up corre