Holding it down: Sarkisian, Longhorns athletics closes out Texas Fight Tour in Houston

HOUSTON — Perhaps Texas fans in the state’s largest city aren’t quite as rowdy as the burnt-orange faithful in San Antonio. Maybe they’re not all well-heeled like the fans in Dallas, and they may seem less eager than Longhorns followers in Fort Worth.

But Houston, Tuesday night's fourth and final stop on the annual Texas Fight Tour that serves as a gathering of the alumni troops, holds a special spot in the hearts of UT fans as well as several coaches.

“This is the home of Vincent Young, right?” Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian said to an enthusiastic crowd of about 300 fans and followers on the outdoor patio at J-Bar-M Barbecue, an upscale barbecue joint and beer garden about 12 miles north of Madison High School, where Young first came to football prominence.

The line was meant to draw some pops from the crowd, and it did just that. Young, the quarterback raised on the south side of Houston, led Texas to the 2005 national championship. That remains the Horns’ only national title in the past 52 years, and Young’s status as a hero remains highest in his hometown.

More: Texas' Steve Sarkisian, other coaches preach to the faithful on annual Texas Fight Tour

Another line that Sarkisian used when referring to Texas’ 2023 game on the University of Houston campus in October garnered more cheers. That game “will be the first of two we play here,” he said with a grin as those in the know roared their approval. The College Football Playoff championship game will take place Jan. 8 at NRG Stadium, much to the excitement of the most optimistic fans in Houston.

Texas fandom a birthright for some

Those fans include 11-year-old Asher Wilson, a fifth-grader at Randolph Elementary in Katy, just west of Houston. Asher has been a Longhorns fan “since the day I was born,” he said with pride. He lugged a football around J-Bar-M, getting autographs from Sarkisian, head men’s basketball coach Rodney Terry, head women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer and head women’s soccer coach Angela Kelly.

Asher’s aunt, Nicole Yogi, is a board member for the Houston chapter of the Texas Exes. She hopes her nephew will one day become part of the third generation of her family to attend Texas, and events like the Texas Fight Tour offer a chance to soak in all things burnt orange.

“We just wanted to come here and share with him that Texas spirit,” Yogi said. “He’s been a fan since he was born, and we also wanted to share in the generational traditions that our family has.”

Hopefully Asher tracked down Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte, who spent much of the evening shaking hands and catching up with the Bayou City boosters and all the Texas Exes members who filled the restaurant. Del Conte appears on pace to hoist a third consecutive Division I Director’s Cup, which honors the best top athletic program in the NCAA.

“All of our sports are competing at the highest level and that's all you can ask for,” Del Conte said. “Being in contention right now, that's fantastic. But we have a lot of work to do.”

Sarkisian understands his team will have to do some work to match the sky-high expectations that started soaring following an impressive spring. Texas, which went 8-5 a year ago, came out of spring workouts relatively unscathed, and several impressive newcomers bolster an already veteran lineup.

All of that means Texas will certainly land a top-10 spot when the various preseason rankings start to trickle in during the summer.

“I'm definitely one of those coaches that I don't not address the elephant in the room,” Sarkisian said, referring to those rankings. “And so we'll talk about expectations like we do every year, internal expectations and external expectations.”

But like every veteran coach, Sarkisian also knows how to mine motivation even for the most trumpeted teams.

“And not everybody thinks Texas is going to be really good,” he said. “Some people do, some people don't. Our guys will be sure to hear both sides.”

Hometown hoops heroes 'taking care of business'

Terry and Schaefer both heard plenty from the Houston crowd, which was particularly prideful of the two coaches with tight local ties. Schaefer was born in Austin but spent much of his childhood in Houston “a $1.37 cab ride from Hobby Airport,” he told the crowd. Terry grew up in Angleton, about an hour south of downtown Houston, and said he spent plenty of time in Houston, especially in high school while competing for the Angleton Wildcats.

“We were always coming up here for games, and we were always taking care of our business,” Terry said with a laugh.

More: On Texas Fight Tour, Rodney Terry says the core is in place for UT men's basketball team

Terry seemed in a good mood at the event, and why not? Hired as the full-time coach after leading Texas to a 29-9 record and an appearance in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament, he has slowly rebuilt a roster decimated by graduation, transfers, recruiting decommitments and possible NBA defections. His program has welcomed four new players via the transfer in recent weeks, and Terry told the American-Statesman on Tuesday that “we’ll probably be getting some more good news real soon.”

Schaefer hasn’t had nearly as much turnover as Terry, but he’s certainly dealt with similar issues during his tenure at Texas.

“That was me last year,” Schaefer said, referring to the changes for the men’s team. “It's hard, boy. It's hard to live that life and do those things. But, you know, he (Terry) is navigating it right now like I knew he would, and he's got him a heck of a team ready to come at it again.

“Coach Terry had a tremendous season. What he was able to do holding that group together really speaks well for him and his staff. And so, it's an exciting time at Texas. We're glad to be a part of it.”

Even though classes are out for the spring and the fall semester remains few months away, don’t expect the Texas coaches or Del Conte to spend much time away from the game. Schaefer hopes to escape to his farm in Mississippi for a few days while Terry plans to keep grinding away on the recruiting trail and in the portal.

“There’s no down time,” he said.

Sarkisian says he’ll happily stay home for the summer.

“Austin's a great place to live, my wife and I love it,” he said. “So we’ll just kind of be-bop around Austin a little bit and enjoy our time.”

Del Conte has too much to check on to ever completely check out, he said, especially considering Texas has just started the process of building its new practice facility south of Royal-Memorial Stadium.

“We're trying to get that football facility done with indoor and outdoor fields and everything else,” he said. “My wife will try and figure out something to do, but unfortunately, my pastime is my work.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian closed out the Texas Fight tour