Sarkisian calls on high school, college coaches to 'corral' Texas in recruiting

AUSTIN (KXAN) — As far as Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is concerned, everyone has a role to keep top talent within the borders of the Lone Star State.

Sarkisian joined other college coaches at the Texas High School Coaches Association's convention and coaching school Sunday in San Antonio, and his message was clear — Texas coaches at all levels, himself included, need to be better at convincing recruits not to leave the state.

"I wish we could corral it a little bit better than we have, and that's going to be a goal of mine over the next 12 to 24 months," he said. "I don't think it's just the University of Texas. I think it's all the schools involved to make that happen. I think there's a responsibility on our end. I think there's responsibility from the high school coaches to do that, because I think we would all love for the players that play high school football in the state of Texas."

To Sarkisian's credit, he's done a pretty good job recruiting Texas recently. He's had a national-best 23 players drafted in the past two seasons, and 19 were from Texas. He admitted that there are so many players in Texas that no matter how hard everyone tries, some will leave for college programs in other states. He understands there are limitations, but that doesn't mean that everyone can't unify in the cause.

"There are a lot of really good schools in our state ... I think as much as people view us and maybe some other schools in our state for recruiting out of the state. I think a lot of schools are recruiting in our state as well, and a lot of players are a lot more apt to leave the state," Sarkisian said. "I'm going to praise all the programs ... There are so many great programs in our state. I don't know that that kids need to leave, but I do think that kids need guidance on why they should stay."

He mentioned Mike Elko at Texas A&M, Rhett Lashlee at SMU, Joey McGuire at Texas Tech, Dave Aranda at Baylor and Willie Fritz at Houston as some of the coaches who are trying to keep local kids around, and those are just some of the big programs. There are plenty of other successful programs at various levels in Texas, too.

He's doing his best to make sure the best Texas has to offer ends up in burnt orange. That's his job, after all. He doesn't let the ones that get away affect his main charge, though.

"I would love not to have to leave our state, but inevitably, you know, history tells me we're not going to sign all the best players every year from the state of Texas," he said. "Some are going to go to other schools within our state. Some are going to leave. I think a few years ago, we were playing from behind with that mindset, we've shifted our focus to be a little bit more aggressive, but that's just the reality of the state of recruiting right now."

That's why big schools have to go outside of the state to get top players, too, Sarkisian said. Some of the best in Texas will be Aggies, Mustangs, Bears, Red Raiders, and so forth. To make up for that, schools have to travel across state lines to get top talent, like Arch Manning from Louisiana, as an example.

"There's a fine line we have to make sure that we're recruiting a roster that can compete for national championships, but at the same token, make sure that we're continually recruiting the best players in the state of Texas, and we don't get to sign them all," he said. "At that point, we then have to, we then have to go, you know, kind of find them in other places."