Average GPA of Texas Longhorns Players Under Steve Sarkisian Turns Heads

Average GPA of Texas Longhorns Players Under Steve Sarkisian Turns Heads originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

From the outside looking in, fans and analysts alike could not fathom how a program like Texas fell off the face of the earth like it did throughout the 2010s.

It's one of the biggest brands in college football, resides in a talent-rich recruiting hotbed and historically is one of the most winningest programs. However, when head coach Steve Sarkisian took over before the 2021 season after Tom Herman was fired, he quickly came to the realization of what was going wrong.

As revealed on "3rd and Longhorn," the former Alabama offensive coordinator only needed the spring to come to the conclusion that Texas had a "culture problem." The team at the time had a 2.33 GPA, zero players drafted into the NFL and went 5-7.

Fast forward to this past season, the Longhorns posted a program record 3.27 GPA and a slew of successes, which Sarkisian highlighted, in addition to surpassing the program's record GPA again.

"Going into this past season, we had a 3.27 team GPA," Sarkisian revealed. "We go 13-3, we're in the SEC Championship game we have 12 guys drafted, three first rounders. This past spring we have a 3.31 team GPA. So it's like amazing how our wins have increased, our draft picks have increased, but our GPA's gone up."

An accomplishment that many fans made sure to applaud the head coach for.

"Saban built him right," wrote one fan.

"Sign Sark to a lifetime contract IDC what it takes," commented a second.

"Thank goodness I'm glad UT is starting to care," said another.

"That's facts how you act off of the field will reflect how you play on the field," implored one commenter.

Certainly quite the step up from Sarkisian's first season, where he revealed the players simply weren't bought in.

"I remember going to the staff saying, 'We have a culture problem.' I said 'We have entitled players who don't take accountability, who are selfish, who don't serve others, couldn't care less about the university itself..."

With the team's GPA rising again, the trend under Sarkisian suggests the Longhorns could be poised for a huge season with new quarterback Arch Manning at the helm. Only time will tell if it continues, but it is clear that the culture shift under Sarkisian has had an enormous impact.

Related: Jon Gruden Sends Strong Arch Manning Message at Manning Passing Academy

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 29, 2025, where it first appeared.