Texas coach Steve Sarkisian claps back at 'Joe Blow' Desmond Howard

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Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has once again strongly denied that he’ll be leaving the Longhorns after the season is over and had some pointed words directed at ESPN’s Desmond Howard.

Earlier this week, Howard posted a video where he speculated that Sark won’t be the coach at Texas after this season. Howard made the video while he appeared to be taking out his trash.

“Don’t be surprised if that Texas job opens up at the end of the season,” Howard said in the Instagram post. “You guys were shocked when LSU opened up. Imagine how you’re going to feel if that job in Austin pops open. I’m not calling or saying anyone’s going to get fired — maybe a mutual parting of ways, you dig?”

The video was commented on by Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte.

“This is news to me… Thanks for the insight.” – Texas AD Chris Del Conte

Yesterday, Sark addressed the rumors during the weekly SEC coaches teleconference.

“I’d like to comment on something before I get into our team that has been bothering me now over the past few weeks,” Sarkisian said on Wednesday. “That is people reporting that are insinuating that there’s a possibility I could leave the University of Texas, and that is absolutely false and untrue. I’m not going anywhere.”

Now Sark has more directly addressed Howard himself. While he didn’t mention Howard by name, it is obvious who the Texas coach is talking about.

“Maybe for some of the pundits out there that don’t cover me and cover our program on a regular basis, so that they can understand that they can’t just take their trash out and then have a thought to think that, ‘Hey, I think that Texas is going to have a job opening,’ so I don’t know, think about something else when you’re taking your trash out,” Sarkisian said on Thursday.

Sarkisian went onto say that SEC teams are already using the rumors fueled by Howard to negatively recruit against Texas and tamper with current Longhorns players.

“I have a locker room full of players who give me everything they have at the end of the day,” Sarkisian continued. “The last thing I want is for them to feel as though what people are saying about me, outside of our building, is serving as a distraction for them, and or their families. But also, I wanted to say that for Longhorns Nation. Because I don’t want them or anybody here to feel like, ‘Boy, Sark is window shopping or maybe he is trying to go.’ I am not trying to go anywhere.”

This should but the talk and speculation to rest for now. But you can be sure it will pop up again before the NFL coaching carousel is closed later this winter.

As for Howard, it will be really interesting the next time ESPN GameDay is in Austin.

This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Texas coach Steve Sarkisian claps back at Desmond Howard

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