Donald Trump’s visit to Texas-Tennessee could temporarily shut down team communications, forcing Steve Sarkisian to prepare the Longhorns for anything.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian already knows Neyland Stadium will be loud Saturday.
Now the No. 1 Longhorns have another communication problem to prepare for ... one that has nothing to do with Tennessee’s crowd.
President Donald Trump is expected to attend Texas’ showdown with No. 14 Tennessee, and Sarkisian says the security procedures surrounding a presidential visit can suddenly eliminate electronic communication between coaches and players.
There’s no countdown. There’s no sideline warning.
The headsets can simply go dead.
“The one thing that you have to be aware of when the president goes to any game is that anytime he enters the stadium, or leaves the stadium or changes locations within the stadium, they cut all communication,” Sarkisian said.
That includes communication between coaches upstairs and those on the sideline, along with the coach-to-player technology college football teams now use to relay information directly to designated players on the field.
“So you have to have a plan for that, if and or when it happens, and you get no warning,” Sarkisian said.
For Texas, that means Saturday’s preparation needs to include an old-school contingency plan.
If communication disappears during a possession, players may have to rely more heavily on hand signals, sideline communication and previously established procedures until the electronic systems return.
Sarkisian has at least experienced the situation before.
He was Alabama’s offensive coordinator in 2019 when Trump attended the Crimson Tide’s game against LSU in Tuscaloosa. That gives Sarkisian some firsthand knowledge of how presidential security can affect a football operation in real time.
“This will actually be my second time,” Sarkisian said.
The additional security won’t be limited to the teams.
Tennessee is urging fans to arrive significantly earlier than normal for the noon ET kickoff. Neyland Stadium gates will open at 9 a.m., with enhanced Secret Service screening expected to create longer entry times.
Inside the stadium, Texas will already be dealing with one of college football’s most hostile environments. Neyland holds more than 100,000 fans, and communication was going to be a major emphasis for Sarkisian’s offense regardless of who attended.
Trump’s presence simply adds another unpredictable variable.
Sarkisian’s response has been straightforward: prepare for the technology to disappear and make sure the Longhorns can function without it.
Because on Saturday, Texas might not just have trouble hearing its coaches. For brief stretches, it might not be able to hear them at all.
