Paul Finebaum Talks Weaponizing a Sarkisian Hire to Help Hogs 

Paul Finebaum, Steve Sarkisian, SEC Network, ESPN, Texas football
photo credit: Twitter/Paul Finebaum / Texas Athletics

A couple days in, the initial shock has pretty much settled. For now, at least, SEC football has taken a national backseat as the Southeastern Conference will not have a participant in the national championship game for the second straight season.

That’s a relief to most Arkansas fans considering the Texas Longhorns, in their inaugural year in the league, were the last chance on Friday night in the Cotton Bowl national playoff semifinals at AT&T Stadium – home of the Dallas Cowboys and nicknamed Jerry World after their Arkansan owner. They had their shot against Ohio State, but choked it away late in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie the game at 21.

After having first-and-goal at the Ohio State 1-yard line, the Longhorns went backwards and ultimately Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers fumbled on fourth-and-goal and his former Buckeye teammate, Jack Sawyer, picked it up and ran it back all the way to the house to seal a 28-14 victory. That play will come to haunt the Texas football fanbase in the same way that Clint Stoerner’s “Stumble and Fumble” against another orange-clad team still makes Hog fans go to dark, dark places today.

Clint Stoerner Foresaw Shrinking from Texas Football

Stoerner, the former Hogs quarterback more known for captaining Arkansas to many great wins in the 1998 and 1999 seasons, grew up in Baytown, Texas.

The football talk swirling around him in that Houston suburb might have leaned more to Texas A&M or Houston, but the Longhorns have always ruled the roost in the Lone Star State.

Stoerner actually ended up marrying a Longhorn, so it’s safe to say that he’s at least somewhat tolerant of them now even though he ended his collegiate career with a dominant victory over Texas in the Cotton Bowl on the first day of the new millennium. 

On Friday’s episode of The Zone on 103.7 the Buzz in Little Rock, Stoerner was asked about how he thought the playoff semifinal would go between the Buckeyes and Longhorns.

“I was on Texas earlier in the year, but it seems like now Ohio State is peaking at the right time and Texas seems to be shrinking in the big moments,” Stoerner said. “Yeah, they’re winning, but it just seems like they’re not who we thought they were in terms of production and scoring points.”

He then told them about his nuptials and that he better be smart about what he’s saying on the airwaves when it comes to the Mrs.’ rooting interest.

Stoerner then went on to say that Ewers and head coach Steve Sarkisian needed to have their best night of the year if they were going to beat the Buckeyes.

Tale of the tape on that: Ewers went 23 of 39 for 283 yards and two touchdowns, but threw an interception and had the game-costing fumble late, all the while taking four sacks. 

Sarkisian’s offense also mustered only 58 yards on 29 carries, a 2-yard average, compared to their 4.5 during the season. That won’t beat most anyone in major college football, much less an established brand like Ohio State that has been playing with its hair on fire since the playoffs started.

Steve Sarkisian to the NFL?

With his Cowboys not in the playoffs for the first time since the 2020 campaign, native Arkansan and 1964 national champion Jerry Jones got to start his offseason a little earlier than normal.

Fans reminded him of that on Friday night during the showdown, but he may have also been seeing what kind of a candidate Sarkisian would be as a head coach.

Of course, Sarkisian has NFL experience as quarterbacks coach with the Raiders in 2004, along with being the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator in 2017 and 2018 in between stints at Alabama under Nick Saban.

Jones will most likely move forward with contract negotiations with current head coach Mike McCarthy, but that negotiation could break down. If he then decides to move on from McCarthy, Sarkisian wouldn’t be a bad fallback option.

(UPDATE: According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, it now appears that McCarthy is not expected to return to Dallas. That means Jerry Jones and the Cowboys will be in the market for a new head coach.)

Sarkisian’s contract with Texas would make him the eighth-highest paid head coach in the NFL, but Jones has infamously said that his hand doesn’t get cramps writing checks.

Paul Finebaum actually went on the Matt Barrie Show the other day and hinted at this same type of deal.

“In being an Arkansas man, (Jerry will) love nothing more than to screw Texas over,” said Finebaum, perhaps the most famous SEC football-centered sports show host. “My guess is Sark will come back, and I think I’m not saying he’s only coming back for Arch Manning. I mean that’s the conclusion some would have…turning the Cowboys down is (a) fairly (big deal).”

Maybe Arkansas Does Hate Texas More Than It Loves Itself

Last summer, Sarkisian jokingly said “When you go to Arkansas, I feel at times that they hate Texas more than they like themselves.” Jones hiring Sarkisian would be quite the manifestation of that sentiment. Such a move, as improbable as it seems now, would be the best possible outcome for Arkansas football fans.

By simultaneously weakening the Longhorns in the interim, it has the chance to potentially strengthen the Cowboys (who have a hearty following in the Natural State).

There’s also the chance Sarkisian and Texas are tired of each other after multiple playoff failures and he elects to go to another NFL team that is currently without a head coach, such as the Bears or Jets.

It’s unlikely, however, that Texas is going to eat Sark’s buyout, which sits at $45.4 million currently. Both sides are going to come together surely and try to run it back next year in Austin. Maybe the third time will be the charm playoff-wise, especially if they redo the seeding and depending on how they handle the byes.

Still, the idea of Jerry Jones swiping Sarkisian from a Texas team that added Brad Spence this offseason has to be enticing for Arkansas fans. It couldn’t come at a better time given the Razorbacks’ daunting 2025 schedule, which includes a late-season trip to Austin.

It was hard to imagine Texas beating Ohio State in the state of Texas even with Sarkisian. Without Jones pulling an all-timer, it’s even harder to imagine Arkansas doing the same to Texas come Nov. 22.

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The Arkansas vs Texas Rivalry

The Razorbacks and Longhorns first met on the gridiron way back in 1894, which just so happened to be the first year of Arkansas football. Since then, Texas leads the all-time series 57-23 (.713). However, since Arkansas left the Southwest Conference, it’s been much more competitive, with Arkansas actually winning four of the seven matchups:

  • Jan. 1, 2000 – No. 24 Arkansas 27, No. 14 Texas 6 (Cotton Bowl)
  • Sept. 13, 2003 – Arkansas 38, No. 6 Texas 28 (Austin)
  • Sept. 11, 2004 – No. 7 Texas 22, Arkansas 20 (Fayetteville)
  • Sept. 27, 2008 – No. 7 Texas 52, Arkansas 10 (Austin)
  • Dec. 29, 2014 – Arkansas 31, Texas 7 (Texas Bowl)
  • Sept. 11, 2021 – Arkansas 40, No. 15 Texas 21 (Fayetteville)
  • Nov. 16, 2024 – No. 3 Texas 20, Arkansas 10 (Fayetteville)

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More from Finebaum on Jerry Jones, Arkansas and Sarkisian starting at :45 here:

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