Texas football's Steve Sarkisian explains Ole Miss basket weaving dig, apologizes
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OXFORD — Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian clarified his "basket weaving" comments around Ole Miss' academic standards.
Sarkisian shared his thoughts on "inequitable" transfer standards in college football May 12. He used Ole Miss as an example, saying it made it easier for the Rebels to recruit players because all they need is to take one "basket weaving class" to get a degree. At Texas they need to take 60 credit hours to get a UT degree.
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Sarkisian clarified those comments in a press conference May 21 at the Touchdown Club, the Houston chapter of the National Football Foundation.
Sarkisian coached with former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin and current Ole Miss coach Pete Golding in his career.
"The only reason the Ole Miss thing came up is because two of my best friends were there, in Lane Kiffin and Pete Golding," Sarkisian said. "And so I know, when we would compete with them, that they were able to take kids and they would be able to graduate. I probably shouldn't have used basket weaving as my example for the class. Macroeconomics. I don't give a damn. Whatever the class is. Yoga. We have yoga at UT. The class part of it was irrelevant."
Sarkisian said he apologized if he offended anyone at Ole Miss.
"Ole Miss is a fine institution," Sarkisian said. "They have great degrees there."
Sarkisian said his broader point is that college football is not the NFL, where there is a standardized set of rules for all teams to follow. Colleges operate under different state laws and school policies. He pointed out other areas where non-uniformity can impact the game, like in local judicial decisions in eligibility disputes.
"We're not governed by one thing," Sarkisian said. "That's one of the major issues, and why we're striving so hard for federal intervention that we're struggling so hard to get. So we can police these things that we have in place."
Ole Miss football plays at Texas on Oct. 24.
Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at [email protected] or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Steve Sarkisian apologizes to Ole Miss football over basket weaving dig