Steve Sarkisian Explains Why Texas' Most Explosive Offensive Fix Isn't So Simple

The Texas offense has not been what most of us expected it to be.

Thus far, the Longhorns offense ranks 88th in the country in rushing, 62nd in passing, 80th in total offense, and 59th in scoring offense. They also rank 88th in the country in plays of 10 yards or more, and 126th out of 136 teams at the FBS level in plays of 20 yards or more.

Those are not national championship-contending numbers - particularly in the explosive play department. And given the level of talent at the skill positions they have invested in, it is unacceptable to most fans and a red flag for analysts and media.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, of course, doesn't put any stock in to what they outside world thinks.

"The opinions of others do not dictate the way I think or the way we operate or the way we perform," Sarkisian said on Thursday. "We look at everything internally and we try to do the best job that we can do to put our players in the best position to be successful."

Obviously, there is one thing that many have pointed to, especially after the Oklahoma Loss: the 10 Personnel package, which has been the most explosive personnel grouping in the Texas offense.

What is 10 Personnel?

If aren't familiar with football personnel packages, they is easy enough to understand.

In layman's terms. The numbers are based on the number of running backs and tight ends assigned in each package, with the running back being the first number.

11 personnel is the personnel package Texas runs the most often. It consists of one tight end and one running back, with three wide receivers on the outside. Texas runs this package over 50 percent of the time.

12 personnel, which Texas runs over 30 percent of the time, is one running back and two tight ends, while 21 personnel is two running backs and one tight end, and 20 personnel is two running backs, zero tight ends and three wideouts. There is also 00 personnel, which is five wideouts and no backs or tight ends.

The concept of 10 personnel, which seems to be what people want to see Texas run far more of, is one running back, no tight ends, and four wide receivers. Texas only runs it 6.8 percent of the time.

There are multiple reasons why the package is appealing and why people want Texas to run it more often.

Is 10 personnel the answer?

The biggest benefits of the 10-personnel package are that it creates a lot of spacing for wide receivers and running backs to operate. It can create mismatches or, in some cases, confusion in the event of a bunch formation.

Or, my personal favorite reason, is that 10 personnel gets Jermaine Bishop on the field. And putting Bishop's explosive ability on the field alongside Ryan Wingo, Cam Coleman and Emmett Mosley V is a scary thing for opposing defenses.

There is a small sample size of Texas running this type of personnel in 2026, but what we have seen, has largely worked.

Per CJ Vogel of OnTexasFootball, Texas has run 15 snaps out of 117 total offensive plays against SEC Competition, and those 15 plays alone have accounted for 25% of the Longhorns' yardage through those games. Six of those 15 snaps have also resulted in explosive or borderline explosive plays.

Texas is also averaging 8.3 yards per play without a tight end on the field, with three of their 14 offensive touchdowns also coming out of the 10 personnel package, per NashTalksTexas.

A great example of that is this 35-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Wingo.

Or this touchdown pass to Bishop.

From an outside glance, it seems like that could be the answer.

But its not that simple.

Why Texas Doesn't Run 10-personnel More Often

According to Sarkisian, the package does not come without its own risks.

Chief among those, being the protection of the quarterback.

"Well, you're limited protection-wise, right? At that point, you have five, maximum six, pass protectors. Well, really good defensive coordinators like the ones we play against. If they know that that's all you're going to do, I promise you we're going to get schemed up. And so you have to be able to change gears, switch gears, do different things, or we can stand back there in five- and six-man protection, and guys are going to be running free in Arch's face."

"Don't get me wrong, our 10 personnel is really good to us, and it's grown as the season's gone on, and it's been effective. But you have layers to that. Your run game can get limited, your pass protections can get limited, so you have to have other things to offset that if people are trying to attack that aspect of your game."

All of that makes perfect sense.

Texas needs to be able to protect its quarterback. It also needs to find balance in the running game.

The Longhorns simply shifting to 10 personnel, spreading things out and airing out the football for the majority of the game, wouldn't solve their problems. It would simply create new ones they aren't having right now.

Now, that's not to say that Texas shouldn't the package more often either.

The stats bear out the theory that it is Texas' most explosive package, though it also comes at a cost and must be utilized in the proper amount.

In other words, Texas should absolutely run more four wide receiver sets throughout out their games.

But instead of jumping to running 10 personnel from six percent to 50-plus percent of the time, maybe that number cuts into the 12 personnel packages usage instead, and jumps up to somewhere around 12-15 percent.

If that happens, more explosive plays will follow, and the offense will start to look more like fans and media expected it to before the season began.

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