Texas coach Steve Sarkisian focused on improved depth, leadership ahead of Michigan game

When No. 3 Texas heads to Ann Arbor to take on No. 10 Michigan on Saturday (noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), the Longhorns hope to solidify themselves as national championship contenders and make a huge step toward reaching the College Football Playoff for the second straight season.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian believes he has the roster equipped to do that, as he told Colin Cowherd during an appearance Wednesday on "The Herd." 

"A lot of these players have been here for two, three and four years now and have really grown up in the culture and understand what we're about," Sarkisian said. "We've got great leadership, but I also think we've got great depth. The one thing about this year's team is that we definitely have more depth than we've had in any of our other years. Our two deep, sometimes you can't tell the difference between our [No.] 1s and our [No.] 2s. That's great for us. That's great for us right now early in the season. We can play a lot of players, especially when we're at home, but also for the longevity of the season. 

"We kicked off on Aug. 31 and we're hoping to play on Jan. 20. So, we're going to need all the depth that we have."

Even after losing 11 players to the NFL in the offseason, the talent rankings would back up Sarkisian's claim. Texas ranks sixth in the nation in 247 Sports' talent composite. It also had the fifth-best transfer portal class this past offseason, per 247 Sports. 

Despite all the change, Texas retained arguably the most important player from its 2023 team: Quinn Ewers, who chose to return to Austin instead of entering the NFL Draft. Before Ewers began his third season as the Longhorns' starting quarterback, Sarkisian had a message for him: "This is your team, go lead