Texas HC Steve Sarkisian Addresses Cam Coleman Issue

Texas landed one of the top candidates in the transfer portal this season when head coach Steve Sarkisian convinced Cam Coleman to move to Austin.

Coleman had a breakout season in 2025, catching 56 passes for 708 yards and five touchdowns for Auburn. The six-foot-three, 204-pound receiver was expected to be the leading target for quarterback Arch Manning.

Through their first five games, Coleman is the leading receiver for the Longhorns, with 318 yards and five touchdowns. However, he has just 17 total receptions. He caught only one pass in Texas' 20-17 win over Tennessee on Sept. 26.

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Sarkisian told reporters this week that he's not surprised Coleman's number of receptions isn't high at this point in the season, noting it can take several games for a transfer to get completely comfortable with the offense. He thinks Coleman will have more opportunities in the second half of the season.

“For Cam, it's kind of not so uncommon at this stage as a transfer coming in to not have 40 catches in our offense," Sarkisian said, via Michael Shapiro of the Austin American-Statesman. "Now, can that start to elevate?

"I think we saw that with AD Mitchell, we saw that with Matthew Golden in their transformation in their first year in the system, how it started to take off in the second half of the season. Cam is playing good for us. I think, obviously, he's got nicked up there. In the one game he has one catch [at Tennessee], he hurt his tailbone and the opportunities weren't quite there.”

Even without a high number of receptions, Coleman has been a big presence for Texas. He caught five passes for 110 yards and one touchdown in the Longhorns' 27-24 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday. His average per reception leads the team with 18.7 yards per catch. He could be poised for better numbers in Week 7 against a porous Florida secondary.

Junior receiver Ryan Wingo leads Texas in receptions, with 21 catches for 318 yards and three touchdowns.

For more on the NCAA, head to Newsweek Sports.