The No. 1 Texas Longhorns are set to open up SEC play in Knoxville on Saturday morning against the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers.
Texas will be looking for its first win over Tennessee since 1968 in what marks just the fourth-ever matchup between the two historic programs.
As if the game was already drawing enough eyes from college football fans, the matchup made national headlines on Wednesday when President Donald Trump announced that he will be in attendance for the game,
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has coached in front of a U.S. President before, and knows how it could potentially impact the Longhorns more than fans realize.
Coach-to-Player Communication Could Be Impacted by Trump’s Presence
While meeting with the media on Thursday, Sarkisian said that the high-level security at Neyland Stadium to accommodate for Trump’s presence could have an impact on coach-to-player communication.
Texas quarterback Arch Manning wears the green dot on offense while linebacker Justin Cryer wears it on defense. If the Longhorns find themselves in a key third down and Trump decides he wants to move for whatever reason, it’s entirely possible Sarkisian’s communication with Manning could be cut off, same with Will Muschamp’s comms to Cryer.
“One thing that we have to 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. “So they cut your headsets. They cut headsets to coaches. They cut headsets to coach to player communication. So you have to have a plan for that, if and or when. And you get no warning, so that just gets cut out.”
“So you have to have a plan for that to adjust if and or when he, you know, if he comes in middle of the first quarter or leaves in the fourth quarter or decides he’s got to use the restroom, whatever that looks like. Like you, you’ve got to be prepared to have no comms that for for a short amount of time.”
Texas fans saw how important this coach-to-player communication through the helmet can be in the Longhorns’ win over Ohio State when Manning found Emmett Mosley V for a fourth-down conversion that helped keep the comeback hopes alive.
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