They take football very seriously in Texas, perhaps too seriously, which is why Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian had to apologize on Monday for not singing a song after their game on Saturday.
Texas ended up losing a heartbreaker to the Oklahoma State Cowboys, 41-34, dropping their overall record to 5-3. After the game, some of the players lined up on the field to sing ‘The Eyes of Texas,’ as is tradition. However, Sarkisian went straight for the locker room after the final whistle, which was perhaps noticed by some Longhorn fans.
Texas players and coaches were so distraught after the Oklahoma State loss that only a few hung around for The Eyes of Texas pic.twitter.com/mp4R9RLkIA
— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) October 22, 2022
On Monday, Sarkisian felt the need to give a heartfelt apology for not taking the time to sing the song, which has racist origins and was steeped in controversy two years ago over concerns by coaches and students. Ultimately, the school decided that it would continue the tradition of having student-athletes sing ‘The Eyes of Texas’ though they were no longer required to participate if they didn’t want to.
“I owe an apology to Longhorn Nation,” Sarkisian said, via ESPN. “I made a mistake at the end of the game in not singing ‘The Eyes of Texas’ when the game was done. That was not anything intentional. That was not anything that had to do with our players. I think our players just followed me up the ramp into the locker room, obviously upset by the way the game ended.”
Steve Sarkisian's full opening remarks today on not staying for the Eyes of Texas after the Texas loss at Oklahoma State ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/LB1fsxJQRI
— Noah Gross (@noah_gross27) October 24, 2022
The whole thing is just weird to any outsiders, much like rival Texas A&M’s cringy midnight yell tradition. And there were plenty of reactions to the apology as well as the seriousness that this silly incident seemed to require because everyone involved in Texas college football seems like a huge dork (and also seems to be very committed to singing a racist song).
texas folks should worry more about the bad football team and less about singing a racist song after every game imo https://t.co/gdP79p9DiY
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) October 24, 2022
So happy that I *just* cut off airplane mode to be greeted by a half dozen notifications apprising me of this latest, important development with the flagship program of the state of texas. https://t.co/kpsUcjZ0Qx
— Joel D. Anderson 🆓 (@byjoelanderson) October 24, 2022
Just in case anyone thinks we did not sing the minstrel song on purpose, we want you to know it was a mistake and won't happen again on my watch https://t.co/EOtn7AGzZe
— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) October 24, 2022
Yes, we're still doing this. https://t.co/3yviVkGuRJ
— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) October 24, 2022
the famous sarkisian "culture change" is just being committed to the racist minstrel song https://t.co/hcxGbJ23Uu
— Ali Breland (@alibreland) October 24, 2022
Perhaps more important here is that Sark is now 10-10 in his 2nd season at Texas, a place that notoriously has little patience for coaches who don’t win more than that.
[ESPN, Noah Gross]
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.