Steve Sarkisian - Texas 'on a mission' in last Big 12 season - ESPN

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said on Tuesday that while Big 12 teams might have revenge on their minds in the Longhorns' last season the league, Texas' locker room does too.

«I think this team is on a mission, they've taken this mindset of being on a mission. They've kind of adopted the John Wick mentality,» Sarkisian said at a news conference. «I think that they've kind of assumed this mentality of, 'Embrace the hate.' We get it. We're the University of Texas, we get it. This is our last year in the Big 12. We can sit there and be a punching bag or we can go attack the people that we're going to play. And I think that they've assumed that responsibility to say, hey, we're gonna go after everybody else too. I think that that's the right mentality to have.»

For the first time since 2009, Texas was picked in the media poll to win the league. Sarkisian spoke of the optimism around Austin and feels like he has a deep roster capable of winning games in a variety of ways.

«There's definitely a lot of excitement,» he said. «When you look at the season ticket sales in June, being sold out in June, over 68,000 season tickets… I know our student tickets are on a record pace right now of what's to be sold. So, I think there's a lot of excitement in the air.… Now it's time to put in the work.»

One reason for optimism is the continued offseason buzz around quarterback Quinn Ewers, who Sarkisian said naturally has a better grasp of the offense in his second season and has shown he's willing to put in the work to improve.

«You see the dedication the guy's put in to his overall body composition, he really has bought into his diet. He's bought into the workouts,» Sarkisian said. «That takes a lot of discipline and dedication and focus. I