Texas coach Steve Sarkisian offered a lengthy explanation to the dramatic pair of interviews that have drawn headlines from the Longhorns’ come-from-behind win over Ohio State, plus star quarterback Arch Manning laughing about an AI video showcasing Sarkisian slapping Rowe.
Sarkisian has come under fire for giving Rowe, following the 24-23 win, a 10-word remark and running away before she even finished her first question.
“As as it pertains to after the ball game, again there was a delay after I greeted Coach Day in the middle of the field,” Sarkisian said, per On Texas Football. “There was a delay in the moment, you know, through that delay, I wanted to go celebrate with our team. We just had a 21-point fourth-quarter comeback against the No. 1 team in the country. If hindsight’s 20/20, if I could do it all over again, I would have exuded more patience in that moment and and and sat through and waited for the interview with Holly. Obviously, we have a ton of respect for ESPN and Holly. Holly and I go way back to even to my days of playing at BYU, and we’ve got a great relationship. ESPN is a great partner of ours. We know we’re going to have more opportunities with that crew covering us, and we’re looking forward to those opportunities. So, could have definitely handled that situation better with a little bit more patience in the moment.”
That interaction went viral and someone created an AI version in which Sarkisian slapped Rowe.
Manning mentioned that he had seen a few AI edits, and specifically brought up “him slapping Holly Rowe” and describing it as hilarious.
He later apologized.
“Obviously Arch recognizes he made a mistake, and it’s an unfortunate one,” Sarkisian said. “Nowhere do we condone domestic violence or violence against women. Nothing in our program says that nor Arch individually. I think if he could take it back, he would. But he has since apologized to Holly. He’s made a public apology, and you know our goal is that we can move forward and him be the guy that that we all know that he is and what he represents. So those are the two house cleaning things I wanted to make sure I address with with all of you on this call, and then get into the football side of things.”
Sarkisian also dived into him missing his scheduled halftime interview with ESPN’s Laura Rutledge, although she previously explaining that he had attempted to wait.
“ESPN was having technical difficulties, and I had to make a had to make a in in-moment decision to say wait on the interview or try to get with our team and try to make the proper adjustments to come out and play as good as we could in the second half,” he said. “I let Laura know that, and I think she said that on air. And then I had an opportunity to visit with Laura when we came back out of the locker room to let her know where where our thoughts were as a team and what we needed to do in the second half of that game.”
