Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, himself a former Nick Saban assistant at Alabama, is curious about what Tommy Rees, one of the newest Crimson Tide assistants, will bring to the table next Saturday night.

During Sunday night’s ESPN Florida State-LSU halftime show, the network decided to preview its primetime Week 2 game early and brought Sarkisian on for a short interview. The Texas head coach noted how his own No. 11 Longhorns can learn from last season’s 20-19 loss while also wondering what wrinkles Rees has added to the playbook after coming over from Notre Dame.

“The play-caller controls a lot of that kind of style in which he wants to call the game. I know that they’re a physical unit,” Sarkisian said. ” … “(Jalen Milroe’s) got arm talent, he’s got leg talent, he’s a great competitor and leader. They’ve got good runners, they utilize the tight ends well and they’ve got good speed on the perimeter. Ultimately for us, if it’s a ground-and-pound game, we’ve gotta defend that. If it’s a (scenario where) try to create space and get the ball on the perimeter with their speed, you’ve gotta defend that. If it’s utilizing the quarterback run… I know Tommy’s done in his past of utilizing the quarterback run and the option things, so you’ve gotta prepare for that.”

He called Milroe a “fantastic player at quarterback.” Sarkisian recruited Milroe to Tuscaloosa and watched as the native of Katy, Tx., originally picked the Longhorns before flipping to the Crimson Tide in 2020.

Milroe’s record-setting five touchdowns against Middle Tennessee answered some pressing off-season questions about what the Tide offense would look like. Yet, as Saban noted after No. 4 Alabama won 56-7, the competition will be tougher moving forward. Just like a year ago, when the Tide blanked Utah State 55-0 and then nearly set a team record for penalties at Texas.

Sarkisian, who was an analyst in 2016 and an offensive coordinator in 2019-20, is known for his playcalling prowess. He appeared to be rolling with Quinn Ewers in last year’s game before the quarterback injured his shoulder in the first quarter. But backup Hudson Card, now at Purdue, extended hopes of an upset into the final minutes before some late-game Bryce Young heroics.

Texas and Ewers started slowly against Rice on Saturday. They scored points on one of its first three possessions and Ewers ate a few big hits, eventually rolling into a 37-10 victory.

“Schematics are schematics and you find out a little bit more about personnel, whether it’s your own or theirs, and how you can match up. In the end, every game takes on a life of its own and we’ve gotta play better than we did a year ago,” Sarkisian said.

Sarkisian was almost the third former assistant to beat Saban, two points away from joining Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher and Georgia’s Kirby Smart. Instead, Saban would eventually improve his record against his past employees to 28-2.

When ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi asked him about that high mark, Sarkisian jokingly asked what the record for all the non-former assistants against Saban.

Overall, Saban will enter Bryant-Denny Stadium for the 6 p.m. kickoff with a 195-27 Alabama record.

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Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].