From a players' standpoint, it was running back Bijan Robinson who helped usher a rudderless Texas program into the Steve Sarkisian era. He ran for 1,100 yards in 2021 as the Longhorns weathered a 5–7 year of transition, and ran for 1,500 yards on a better-than-its-record 8–5 team in 2022.
However, Robinson just missed the quarterback already being talked about as the crown jewel of Sarkisian's reign—Arch Manning. Manning's freshman year at Texas came during Robinson's rookie year in the NFL, but according to the latter, the two players have still gotten to know each other in recent years.
