Texas coach Steve Sarkisian took an unprompted shot at one of his SEC rivals in an interview on Tuesday.
Sarkisian was bragging about the high academic standards at Texas, and seized upon the opportunity to contrast them with what he thinks of Ole Miss’ standards. The Texas coach said, in contrast to his school, that taking “basket weaving” is sufficient to earn a degree from Ole Miss.
“At Texas, we will only take 50% of a player’s academic credit hours,” Sarkisian told Matt Hayes of USA Today. “You may be a semester from graduating, but you’re going all the way back to 50% if you play here and want a degree. But at Ole Miss, they can take you. All you have to do is take basket weaving, and you can get an Ole Miss degree.
“It’s like we’ve forgotten about academics, yet less than 5% of these guys will play in the NFL.”
New Florida head coach Jon Sumrall got in on the action, joking that he was “grateful to coach at a top 10 public university that also offers advanced basket weaving!”
Grateful to coach at a top 10 public university that also offers advanced basket weaving! 🐊 https://t.co/eGhYWkETAx
— Jon Sumrall (@CoachJonSumrall) May 12, 2026
Ole Miss do not appear to be terribly popular among their peers. Another high-profile coach openly accused them of tampering in January. In 2024, they even had to issue a public statement after fans and rivals suggested their players were faking injuries during games. Even their former coach is taking shots at them, even if they weren’t meant to be.
Sarkisian has never been shy about sticking up for his program, even if that means being critical of other teams. He’s certainly ensuring that future matchups between the Longhorns and Rebels will be a bit spicy.
