Dawn Staley’s success at South Carolina appears to be extending well past women’s basketball.
After receiving a shoutout from Deion Sanders, Texas Longhorns head football coach Steve Sarkisian is reportedly taking inspiration from her success in the SEC.
“I watched both games. I watched both tournaments, quite frankly,” Sarkisian said, via On3.com. “And I think what coach [Dawn] Staley has done has been obviously very impressive in that she’s assembled talent year after year but she’s got her culture for sure, and it’s in place. She instills it in them.”
“She had a whole new team this year and they went out and won every game. And last year they lose in the semis, they couldn’t get it done,” Coach Sark continued. “So very impressed with what she’s been able to do.”
The Longhorns HC went on to say that his program is always looking at others whose standard is excellence and that applies to other sports too.
“We’re always all striving for that and looking at those great teams that do it at a high, high level,” Sarkisian added. “I’ve been fortunate to be part of some great teams in that era with Pete Carroll, so it’s not a one-time thing. You’ve got to continually work on the things that are important to you to recreate it year after year after year.”
Texas is coming off its first ever College Football Playoff appearance vs. Washington. And while the Horns came up just short against the eventual national championship runner-up their arrow is still very much pointed in the right direction.