Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has a specific recruiting pitch to players from Louisiana

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian has a specific recruiting pitch when it comes to players from Louisiana.

The former Alabama assistant knows how much talent resides in Louisiana — he saw it up close during his time with the Crimson Tide.

And Sarkisian would obviously love to have some of that talent at Texas, where he just took over as the Longhorns’ head coach.

But pulling elite talent out of Louisiana isn’t easy. Ed Orgeron and the Tigers do a great job of keeping in-state talent from leaving.

Steve Sarkisian’s recruiting pitch to players from Louisiana

2022 four-star wide receiver Shazz Preston, a Louisiana native who is one of LSU’s top recruiting targets, recently spoke to 247Sports about his recruitment.

Preston noted that Sarkisian is working hard to get the talented wide receiver to Texas.

“He (Sarkisian) said he needs that one Louisiana kid he always had at Bama that is just different from everyone else,” said Preston. “He said I would be that one Louisiana kid.”

Sarkisian knows that players from Louisiana are just…different.

The former USC head coach saw it first hand during his two years in Tuscaloosa.

Wide receiver DeVonta Smith is a Louisiana native who signed with Alabama over LSU.

Smith was absolutely electric during his time at Alabama. He won the Heisman Trophy as a senior and ended up being the No. 10 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft (by the Philadelphia Eagles).

Sarkisian likely knows it’s a longshot that Preston will eschew LSU for Texas. But that doesn’t change that Sarkisian desperately wants the 6-foot wide receiver playing for the Longhorns.

Fortunately for LSU, it appears that the Tigers are out in front in this recruiting battle. Preston has a great relationship with Orgeron and wide receivers coach Mickey Joseph. I’d be shocked if Texas somehow manages to land the talented wide receiver.