Jeff Howe

Everyone has heard Nick Saban talk for years about the process. For Sark, it’s about falling in love “with the habits that bring you success.”

Sark: “We have totally created an environment that’s a want-to mentality, not a have-to.”

A lot of what Sark believes in resilience and positive energy when dealing with adversity comes from studying Kobe Bryant.

Sark on the importance of responding positively to adversity: “We don’t succumb to what the surrounding temperature is supposed to be. We set our own temperate. We’re not thermometers. We’re thermostats. I think that’s why we’re so good on the road.”

Sark on the importance of self-reflection and growth within the program: “Who you were last year won’t be good enough this year.”

Sark: “Don’t be upset with the result you didn’t get from the work you didn’t do.”

Sark said he listened to what Arch Manning, Michael Taaffe and Anthony Hill said at SEC Media Days. He heard himself in each of them, which lets him know that his messaging and the program’s messaging from the top down is consistent.

For Sark, consistency and discipline are critical to how the program operates. Consistency in expectations on and off the field and discipline in daily routines.

This talk is giving me a pretty good picture on why Texas has been a team that can be described as coach-fed and player-led.

Sark currently hammering home the importance of consistency in leadership.

Those tools help build trust, but Sark wants his coaches and players to feel love. He wants everybody in the building to feel valued. ”If I can create an atmosphere of love in our locker room,” he said, “how cool is that?”

Sark on leadership: “You’ve got to have authenticity and you’ve got to be transparent.”

On the first Culture Wednesday of every season, Sark gives his story to the players unfiltered. He said there’s a lot of tears and some tough days he has to relive, but he feels vulnerability is one of the things that makes him an effective leader.

Sark: “Leadership to me means stepping into challenges and being vulnerable.”

Sark on how Texas operates: “This is not a dictatorship. Everyone has a role.”

Sark running down the correlation between the team GPA and success on the field. Team GPA at the end of the spring was 3.13. It was a 2.32 at the end of Sark’s first spring.

Sark is now getting into the culture problem Texas had during his first season.

Sark: “Who you are some of the time is who you are all of the time.”

Attitude is such a key piece of the Texas culture and how Sark leads.

Sark: “There’s no filter or photoshop for energy.”

One quote Sark lives by is something Sean McVay told him a few years ago: “Are the habits you have today on par with the dreams you have for tomorrow?”

Sark: “If I try to be one of those two guys, I’m going to fail.”

Sark said he was 33 years old when he got the Washington job, “and I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.”

Sark: “You have to fail and you have to learn from your failures.”