Steve Sarkisian calls out salary cap problem in college football’s new era: ‘Someone’s going to get punished

Backed by one of college football’s most expensive rosters, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian understands the importance of wealth management entering the 2025 season. The only program leader who’s led his team to consecutive appearances in the playoff semifinals, Sarkisian’s chief responsibility is game planning and ensuring his players execute with precision.

All the other intricate details in the game’s new era of staggering NIL deal and player payments falls on others within his organization, namely general manager Brandon Harris. The former LSU quarterback has helped oversee an impressive run of talent acquisition and retention since taking over the role in 2024.

With a cap expected at $20 million through revenue sharing this season around college football, Sarkisian believes the financial part of the equation will soon be enforced and significantly policed by the NCAA.

“Somewhere down the road, I don’t know if it’s tomorrow, next week or next year, but someone’s going to get punished going over the cap,” Sarkisian said Sunday at the Texas High School Coaches Convention. “I surely don’t want to be the school that gets punished for doing that because I like coaching and I like the salary the University of Texas pays me to coach, let’s be frank.”

2025 Preseason All-SEC football teams: Texas leads with 13 selections as Alabama, Georgia trail just behind
Will Backus
2025 Preseason All-SEC football teams: Texas leads with 13 selections as Alabama, Georgia trail just behind
The financial part of the equation — like a front office and ownership’s job within the NFL — is to make sure the numbers fit and your two-deep payroll makes sense.

“You have a cap you’re trying to operate within and how do you manage that cap? That cap pertains to really three layers to your team,” Sarkisian said Sunday at the Texas High School Coaches Convention. “There’s a recruitment cap. Call it like it is — players are getting paid to go to school. How much do you allocate to that area in your cap and how do you divvy up that money per position per player? Then, there’s the current roster and then there’s retention of your roster.”