Tramel's ScissorTales: Can Texas, Kansas match great expectations in Big 12 football?
The Big 12 has been a crazy football conference in recent years. A Baylor-OSU title game in 2021. A Kansas State-Texas Christian title game in 2022. None of those teams picked higher than fourth in the preseason. Two picked lower than sixth. All in a 10-team league.
Who knows if 2023 will follow suit? But the craziness extends to the 2023 preseason.
Check this out. Texas and Kansas share a similar burden.
Great expectations.
Texas, for the first time since 2009, is picked to win the Big 12 title.
2009 was a landmark year for Kansas, the start of a 12-year odyssey in which the Jayhawks won eight conference games total. Since 2009, KU has been an annual pick for last place in the league ― until now. The Jayhawks are picked ninth in the 14-team conference.
So it was a different brand of Longhorns and a different breed of Jayhawks walking around JerryWorld during Big 12 Media Days on Wednesday.
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“You want expectations,” said KU coach Lance Leipold, a miracle worker who took the Jayhawks to a 6-7 season in 2022, counting an epic, 55-53 overtime loss to Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl. “This program hasn't had many expectations of late, so embracing those but keeping them in balance.
“But I think any program at any state, you have to focus on where you're at the moment and making sure you don't get too far ahead of yourself, and no offense to anyone, we can't spend a lot of time reading all the positive things you're going to say because all of a sudden we're not staying focused on what we need to at the moment to get better.”
It’s a little different at Texas. The Longhorns always have great expectations. Even when unwarranted.
In his third season at UT, coach Steve Sarkisian is 13-12 ― 8-5 in 2022, 5-7 in 2021. Such wrestling with mediocrity has been the Longhorn standard since that 2009 season.
Sarkisian knows the pressure his team faces. He says he embraces it.
“I chose to be the head coach of the University of Texas, and our players chose to come to the University of Texas,” Sarkisian said. “With that comes the responsibility and the expectations that come with that.
“We don't shy away from that. We accept it. We have to acknowledge it. Then we push it to the side, and then we get back to the daily grind of what we need to do.”
There are solid reasons to pick Texas. UT has a variety of standout players. Five Longhorns were named to the all-Big 12 preseason team: defensive lineman Byron Murphy II, linebacker Jaylan Ford, wide receiver Xavier Worthy, tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders and offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. And at some point, the roulette wheel has to land on the Longhorns, right?
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“Something that in my opinion we've got now going into Year 3 is I think we've got really quality competitive depth on our roster across the board,” Sarkisian said.
“I love what we bring back on the offensive line … all starting five offensive linemen. We've recruited the position well over the last two years, and it's a highly competitive room.”
The Longhorns play at Alabama on September 9, and next summer, Texas will be in the Southeastern Conference. Seems like this could be a year that’s more about the ‘Horns in the SEC than the ‘Horns in the Big 12.
“I know there's been so much talk about the SEC and what's happening in 2024, but I think one thing that I love about this team is their focus on 2023 and this opportunity we have here in the Big 12,” Sarkisian said. “It's going to be a heck of a season, great competition.
“It won't be awkward for us. I can't speak for anybody else. It won't be awkward for us. We've got a roster full of players who quite frankly came to the University of Texas to try to win a Big 12 championship, and we've got one more opportunity to do that, and I think our guys are focused on that.”
Kansas is most assuredly not going into the SEC. But the Jayhawks also are not going into this season as the team void of hope, at a school that even in July has had to count down the days until basketball season starts.
KU football went 8-106 in the Big 12 from 2009-21. But the Jayhawks beat Houston, West Virginia, Iowa State and OSU last season.
Now the Jayhawks have four players on the preseason all-Big 12 first team, including quarterback Jalon Daniels.
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“I just think finally we've been able to build some routine and trust, first of all, within our program,” Leipold said. “Our young men had gone through a lot of transition. I think the daily process of getting better and really holistic development has been a key for us as a program.”
The Jayhawks roared to a 5-0 start last season, reaching 19th in The Associated Press poll.
“I think when we went on the road to Morgantown (West Virginia) and then went down to Houston and battled back from deficits and found a way to win on the road, the confidence and belief started to really take even a larger step and kind of built on the momentum that we had early,” Leipold said.
“We talk about it. I think everybody does, but our locker room and leadership from our upperclassmen and people I think have allowed us to take that step.”
Former OU assistant coach Cale Gundy said Leipold’s staff has upgraded the talent and done a great job implementing schemes around Daniels.
Three other Jayhawks were on the preseason all-conference teams: tailback Devin Neal, offensive lineman Mike Novitsky and defensive back Cobee Bryant.
This isn’t the same Kansas we saw year after year. This is a Kansas that can compete in a parity-driven Big 12. Just like this is a Texas team that might end the Longhorns’ title drought. And both bear great expectations.
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TCU's Sonny Dykes takes chance on Kendal Briles
Texas Christian has a new offensive coordinator ― Kendal Briles, hired away from Arkansas.
Briles is the son of former Baylor head coach Art Briles and the brother-in-law of OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby. Art Briles built Baylor into a national power a decade ago, but his program crashed in the wake of a sexual-assault coverup scandal.
Kendal Briles (and Lebby) were part of the Baylor staff at the time. They have rebuilt their careers, though Art Briles has not.
When TCU offensive coordinator Garrett Riley ― brother of Lincoln Riley; college football can be a dynastic organism ― left for Clemson, Sonny Dykes settled on Kendal Briles.
"I was a young head coach when those things were happening” at Baylor, said the 53-year-old Dykes, “and so I followed it. I had worked with Art prior at Texas Tech as an assistant and knew him a long time as a high school coach.
“The thing that I always try to do is learn from situations. So when all that happened at Baylor, the thing I tried to do was, OK, let's make sure this never happens in my program, and how can I go about doing that, how can I learn from mistakes that were made.
“I think that we all want to do that. I think that colleges across the board, whether it's Title IX, reporting, everything has gotten better because of what occurred there.”
Dykes said many of the same things that Brent Venables said when hiring Lebby 19 months ago.
“I did a lot of homework, and I talked to a lot of people that were directly involved in that situation to learn from it, and that was a number of years ago, and then had a chance to see guys move on from there and see how they did, if they had any issues that plagued them moving forward,” Dykes said.
“Certainly all of those things were things I considered when I hired Kendal. I knew it was going to be an unpopular hire in some ways because of some things that had happened, but at the same time, I was very confident from knowing Kendal from the time he was 13 years old and just talking to people that were directly involved in that situation.”
The Briles offense from Baylor is replicated to some degree at OU and apparently will be at TCU, too. Call it an extreme spread. Receivers often stationed near the sidelines, with the goal of creating running lanes inside.
“What he does fits what I believe in, and so I think we're really aligned in terms of what we believe allows you to go out and have a chance to win on Saturday,” Dykes said. “At the end of the day, I don't care if we're running triple option, I don't care if we're throwing the ball 60 times a game, I don't care if we have to win 55-48 or you win 3-0. My goal is to try to win football games.”
Dykes is coming off TCU’s ascension to the national championship game. A 52-46 Fiesta Bowl victory over Michigan in the national semifinals gave Dykes plenty of runway to make unpopular decisions. Like hiring Kendal Briles.
“I feel really good about the hire,” Dykes said.
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Baylor football has eight home games
Baylor hosts Texas State, Utah and Long Island in the non-conference. Then the Bears host Texas, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Houston and West Virginia in the Big 12.
Count ‘em up. That’s eight home games. On occasion, a team in the SEC or the Atlantic Coast Conference gets eight home games. Rarely has it happened in the Big 12.
“Excited for the eight home games and excited for our schedule,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda said. “Way appreciative of it. I'm looking forward to playing our best ball when we're at home.
“McLane Stadium is very special when a team has earned the right for folks to come in and watch, and we're totally aiming to do that.”
The Bears have a difficult road schedule ― Central Florida, Cincinnati, Kansas State and TCU. The latter two are back-to-back, November 11 and 18. Two road games before mid-November. That’s a schedule any coach in America would take.
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The List: Big 12 football coaches entertainment value
Ranking the seven Big 12 coaches who took the podium Wednesday at Media Days, based on entertainment value.
1. Mike Gundy, OSU: Oklahomans have grown accustomed to Gundy’s shoot-from-the-hip delivery and his raw assessment of the state of college football. But other Big 12 media never get enough of Gundy.
2. Sonny Dykes, TCU: Folksy and Texan, without too much of a filter, makes for a good interview.
3. Kalani Sitake, Brigham Young: Humble and affable, Sitake will grow even more popular as more Big 12 media get to know him.
4. Dana Holgorsen, Houston: Also not much of a filter and doesn’t seem to mind speaking the truth.
5. Lance Leipold, Kansas: Heck of a coach, but fairly benign.
6. Steve Sarkisian, Texas: Sark has an emotional side ― you've seen the video of him lambasting a security guard during a game last season? ― but it doesn’t come across in interviews. Rather staid.
7. Dave Aranda, Baylor: Dry, serious, cerebral. A studious med student would do well with Aranda as a professor, but football-centric folks, not so much.
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Mailbag: Big 12 football appeal
A few days ago, I ranked all 105 Big 12 games, based on importance and entertainment. It hit home for at least one fan.
Bill: “Your column ranking this season’s Big 12 games speaks volumes about all the talk in some circles about super leagues and the appeal of rooting for local teams. I love Big 12 football. I guess I’m a dumbass (an OSU grad; the same thing?), but I’d rather watch the Kansas-Kansas State game than Alabama-Auburn.”
Tramel: Well, not me. No offense to the Sunflower Series, but that’s been a mess for more than a decade. Maybe Leipold and the Jayhawks change that.
But William shows that there indeed are Big 12 football fans. Just not as many as, say, SEC fans. It’s nothing personal. It’s just business.
The Big 12 the last two years has been college football’s most entertaining league. More competitive games, more who-saw-that-coming results.
But that doesn’t mean Big Ten fans will flock to the Big 12 games. Doesn’t mean SEC fans will set their schedule around TCU-Texas Tech.
That’s why the Big Ten gets a bigger television payout than does even the SEC. More eyeballs.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Big 12 football media days: Texas, Kansas both have great expectations
