The Daily Texan 2021-04-09

Students volunteer at COVID vaccination sites

DT VOLUME 121, ISSUE 58 FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

hannah clark

/ the daily texan staff

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By Sheryl Lawrence @sheryl_adelle

L&A Reporters Ikram Mohamed, Grace Robertson News Reporter Katy Nelson

The Senate of College Councils passed legislation Thursday calling on the University to increase the limit of COVID-19 pass/fail exceptions from three to six due to Winter Storm Uri. The legislation was fast-tracked when it was introduced, so it was voted on during the same general assembly meeting, instead of having college representatives take the legislation back to their councils for discussion.

The legislation will be introduced at the Student Government assembly on Tuesday and at the Graduate Student Assembly on Wednesday.

The assemblies have the option to fast-track the legislation similarly to the Senate, but they could decide to wait until the following week to vote on the legislation.

University administration approved a new pass/fail policy in November for undergraduates to request taking up to three classes as pass/ fail across the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters. COVID-19 pass/fail exceptions will still count classes

toward degree requirements under the current policy. This approval came after a joint resolution was passed by all three legislative student organizations and faculty council and a petition gained over 700 signatures.

In February 2021, Texas endured Winter Storm Uri, which affected many students’ access to food, water and power. UT-Austin canceled classes for a week and a half due to the storm. The amount of damage exceeds the amount of Hurricane Harvey, the last natural disaster in Texas, according to The Texas Tribune.

Apoorva Chintala, the author of the legislation, said they plan to release a petition on Monday to gain student support for this change.

Senate President-Elect Steven Ding said he reached out to

Photographers Hannah Clark, Kenny Jones, Nikoo Vafaee, Angela Wang Sports Reporter Emily Schumacher

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Head coach Carol Capitani led women’s swimming and diving to a third-place NCAA finish.

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NEWS OFFICE

New pass/fail legislation fast-tracked to assembly

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Student volunteers at UT’s COVID-19 vaccination sites reflect on their role in the process.

Sports

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Opinion Illustrator Carlyssa Phoon

TODAY Jan. 2

Life&Arts

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A UT-Austin think tank is partnering with UTPB to aid businesses impacted by COVID-19.

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04

UT should expand and diversify the range of minors offered by the College of Fine Arts.

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Contents:

academic advisers, who said it wouldn’t be much more work since the system is already in place for the original pass/fail policy. Ding said the academic advisers are more concerned with students who are on academic probation or are at risk for being on academic probation.

“Most of their concerns were … how (prerequisites) are affected as more students take pass/fails,” said Ding, a management information systems and urban studies junior.

“Some proposals they shared with us are potentially closing the pass/ fail system the day after grades are due for the spring, so that advisers can run checks on students to try to identify students who are at risk and pointing them to resources, and then open up the pass/fail system again.”

(512) 232-2207 news@thedailytexan.com The Texan strives to present all information fairly, accurately and completely. If we have made an error, let us know about it. E-mail managingeditor@thedailytexan.com.

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Editor-In-Chief | @TEXANOPINION FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

COLUMN

OPINION

Diversify fine arts minors UT should support students’ creative interests by expanding minor options in the College of Fine Arts.

By Megan Tran Columnist

ccording to a 2019 poll, 93% of Americans believe anyone can benefit from having a creative outlet regardless of their age. Unfortunately, 70% of those polled indicated they have difficulty prioritizing time to be creative as they get older.

This lack of prioritization of the arts is evident at UT, as the College of Fine Arts offers only three minors: art history minor, minor in arts management and administration and minor in studio art. These minors encompass only a small portion of fine arts disciplines and notably exclude interests such as performing arts and graphic arts.

To foster creative interests in students, the College of Fine Arts must offer a more diverse range of minors.

John Turci-Escobar, associate dean for undergraduate studies in the College of Fine Arts, explained in an email the difficulties GALLERY

charlie hyman

that can arise when the college attempts to implement new academic minors. “(Some) areas of study call for smaller class sizes with more individualized attention,” Turci-Escobar said. “The department may not have the resources to add additional course sections or hire additional faculty to accommodate students outside the major.”

While limited resource availability is always a concern, UT needs to be more proactive in supporting the fine arts among its students and as a field of study. The University has a history of underfunding the arts as a first response to budget cuts, and this must be rectified.

The traditional subsets of the fine arts include literature, visual arts, graphic arts, plastic arts, decorative arts, performing arts, music composition and architecture.

Certainly, it would be unreasonable to expect UT to offer minors in every aspect of the arts. However, the three minors currently offered are insufficient to support students interested in more mainstream disciplines such as music, theater and dance.

Roman Panah, a government freshman, expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of a theater minor offered by the College of Fine Arts.

“I wanted (a theater minor) to diversify my experiences as a government major,” Panah said. “I feel like I’m not being encouraged to explore my creativity, like (the University is) pushing me to do something else, and that disappoints me.”

Failing to prioritize fine arts studies at the university level often comes at the expense of a student’s ability to foster interdisciplinary interests and develop crucial creative and innovative skills.

Although STEM fields are often prioritized over the arts, an education that

intersects disciplines from both areas can have clear benefits for students and in their eventual careers.

For instance, the manual dexterity that dentists require can be fostered by a strong background in woodcarving or playing a musical instrument.

Engineers who can sketch are able to create representative 2D drawings of 3D objects.

Students interested in the fine arts may not want to pursue a career in these fields, and that’s understandable. In addition, many students have rigorous course loads that may not allow them the flexibility to take courses that do not advance their degrees.

However, for students who are interested in acquiring experience in a fine arts field without the full commitment of a major, the option of a minor should be available.

Giving students the opportunity to earn a minor in fine arts disciplines that simultaneously develop their interests and cultivate valuable skills must be a priority for the University. Thus, UT must expand the minors offered by the College of Fine Arts to create a more diverse selection for students.

Tran is a Plan II and English freshman from Houston, Texas.

carlyssa phoon

/ the daily texan staff

/ the daily texan staff

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NEWS

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FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

NATION

Biden continues postponement of student loan debt payments

By Sheryl Lawrence @sheryl_adelle

Current students and alumni will not have interest accumulating on their public student loans and alumni can defer payment until at least Sept. 30 due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education announced on March 30.

Kyle Morgenstein, an aerospace engineering graduate student who completed his undergraduate education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he has about $95,000 in student loan debt. He said not having payments with accumulating interest has been helpful since he started his graduate studies during the pandemic.

“Not having to pay that for this period means I can put some money away (or) I can spend on other things,” Morgenstein said. “I just moved to Austin, so there’s moving expenses, so it’s definitely freed up a lot of other things that I wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.”

When students go into graduate school right after completing undergraduate studies, they can continue to defer payments on their public loans until 6 or 9 months after graduating from their studies, depending on the type of loan, according to the federal student aid website.

Morgenstein said he planned to defer his payments until after he completed his graduate degree, but interest would have continued to accumulate without the COVID-19 relief. He said this would have

caused him to pay $30,000 to $40,000 more in interest.

Angel Fletcher, a radio-television-film freshman, said she plans to graduate in three years so she does not have to pay for a fourth year of college.

“I’d love to not rush my schooling and pace myself and make better grades,” Fletcher said. “Instead of having $80,000 in debt, maybe I’ll have $60,000 if I graduate in three years instead of four (years).”

Law professor Mechele Dickerson, who researches consumer protection and civil procedure, said there would be an economic benefit to canceling some student loan debt. She said if graduates constantly work toward paying off the student loans, they are delaying big life events such as buying a house or having children, which in the long run can have large-scale negative consequences for the economy.

According to The Hill, the Biden Administration is considering cancelling some public student debt through Congress.

Dickerson said it is hard to determine how much student loan debt forgiveness would be helpful to both the economy and the borrowers because of the disproportionate effect student loan debt has on low income students, Black students and Latinx students.

“The reality is when you look at the average amount of student loan debt, it’s about $25,000,” Dickerson said. “Most students don’t owe 60, 70 (or) $80,000 in student loan debt.”

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FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

NEWS

OFFBEAT

UT think tank offers courses to small business owners in West Texas

By Katy Nelson @thedailytexan

The IC2 Institute, a UT-Austin think tank, and the University of Texas-Permian Basin are collaborating to aid local entrepreneurs and small business owners who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The program, named Small-biz.XLR8, is a 10-week course offered to small business owners in the Permian Basin region at no charge. The lead instructor, Gregory Pogue, said the program will be asynchronous with 20-minute training sessions and additional homework.

“This allows us now to reach out to not only Midland-Odessa, but Andrews, Big Spring, Pecos, other communities throughout (the region) that are two, three hours away from each other,” said Pogue, the deputy executive director of IC2.

Pogue said IC2 started the program after noticing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses owned by women and people from marginalized communities were significantly greater than they were on white, male-owned small businesses.

“We asked the question, ‘How do we set up a program that will help these small business owners be ready to transform their business models so that they can be ready for it in the markets?’”

Pogue said. “Can we do this in a manner that in the ongoing years the same training material will be relevant to them?”

Pogue said the program and mentoring system is based on previous IC2 projects and is designed specifically for the Permian Basin, after the region suffered from an overproduction of shale, a soft, fine-grained rock used in oil and gas, due to the pandemic.

While the program is not initially

open to students, they expect the project to expand in the fall to engage with students. Sophia Hennessy, an undergraduate research assistant at IC2, thinks expanding to students will benefit the project.

“I think getting more students involved that we have at the institute would be really great,” Hennessy said, “Because students have a different perspective on what they want in a community or in a business.”

Taylor Novak, director of Blackstone LaunchPad at UT-Permian Basin, said the team is starting by offering the program to existing small businesses.

“We’re targeting small businesses that are already in operation that either hit a plateau in sales or customers just looking to boost their current customer base and sales,” Novak said. “My hopes are that we can really help these small business owners that are either

struggling or they want to grow their business even more. I really think that’s going to benefit them and then benefit our community in the long run.”

The institute held a similar program called FASTForward in the Austin area in 2017. Lian Amber, CEO of the company BASSBOSS, participated and said the program helped her company expand its customer base for mobile DJs. Valerie Ward, co-founder of Sweet Ritual Vegan Ice Cream, also participated in FASTForward and said she would recommend XLR8 to Permian Basin entrepreneurs.

“I think the perspective that this class offers is applicable to all kinds of businesses in all areas,” Ward said.

“I’m from San Angelo, and I know West Texas has become very creative and industrious and has done really amazing things, and so I’m really excited to see more resources and access move into that area.”

kenny jones

/ the daily texan staff

Small business owners in the Permian Basin are now able to take courses through the IC2 Institute. The UT-Austin think tank and the University of Texas-Permian Basin are collaborating to aid local entrepreneurs and small business owners.

LIFE&ARTS

A I S L I N G AY E R S

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Life&Arts Editor | @TEXANARTS FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

STUDENT LIFE

Students help with COVID-19 vaccinations Student vaccine volunteers share their positive experiences working at Gregory Gym.

By Fiza Kuzhiyil @fiza11k

As the sun beat down on the line outside of Gregory Gym, student volunteers helped guide people to their COVID-19 vaccination appointments.

On the way out, an elderly man stopped to thank volunteer Sara Tran for helping him navigate the process.

“I smiled under my mask … Just knowing that all the volunteers there were contributing to these people’s experiences was super cool,” biology freshman Tran said.

Stephanie Morgan, co-leader of the COVID-19 vaccine operation at UT, said around 2,500 people get vaccinated every day at Gregory Gym. To streamline the process, UT enlisted students to administer vaccines and help patients navigate the vaccination site. Many volunteers are also offered the opportunity to receive a vaccine.

Tran said one of her teaching assistants told her about the opportunity to volunteer and receive the vaccine in March before Texas opened up

vaccination to all adults. After her entire family had received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, Tran said she wanted to get vaccinated, too, so she could feel comfortable seeing them without wearing a mask.

“Even just getting vaccinated, I feel like you’re playing a part in history,” Tran said.

After February’s Winter Storm Uri canceled a week’s worth of appointments, the vaccine lines took two to three hours to get through. Morgan said volunteers who don’t administer the vaccine now try to ensure the whole process only takes 30-45 minutes from standing in line, getting vaccinated and waiting 15 minutes in observation.

“Many people have shared with us (their) relatively positive experience and not a long wait,” Morgan said. “We try to maintain that slow, regular movement all the way through, so there’s never a true long stop at any stage of the vaccination process.”

Public health sophomore Sarang Kim said she volunteered on March 25. At the end of her shift, she received her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

When she got her vaccine card, Kim said it felt surreal.

“I didn’t know when my turn would come to get this vaccine, so having this card in my hand … I feel like it was worth it to stand outside for five hours,” Kim said.

Due to the pandemic and her virtual classes, Kim said she hadn’t met many new people this past year, so she loved working with fellow volunteers and nurses during her shift. She said she got a glimpse into the various facets of public health.

“It motivated me and showed me that there are more (ways) to help kids than being a doctor or a nurse,” Kim said.

“COVID showed me that.”

Na Jung started volunteering at the UT Family Wellness Center in January, where she got her Moderna vaccine. As a nursing senior, she said she needs to fulfill volunteer hours, but she often picks up more shifts than required.

“I love volunteering,” Jung said. “I just want to go back, despite not having to do it for classes, because I think it’s awesome that people are getting vaccinated, and I want to be a part of that.”

Jung helps administer vaccines at Gregory Gym, where she said she tries to make patients feel comfortable while getting their shot. She said she’s drawn to volunteering because she loves seeing how excited people are to get their vaccines.

I didn’t know when my turn would come to get this vaccine, so having this card in my hand … I feel like it was worth it” SARANG KIM

public health sophomore

“It’s definitely an honor to be a part of it,” Jung said. “It’s still so shocking that it’s been ongoing, and (it’s) sometimes so surreal for me, but it’s definitely something I will remember forever.”

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FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

LIFE&ARTS

FEATURE

How students’ love languages changed during pandemic

By Ikram Mohamed @ikramxmoham

Separated by 180 miles and the COVID-19 pandemic, Jazmine Necessary and her partner sit together on FaceTime almost every night.

“Sometimes (FaceTiming) feels like another screen to look at,” government junior Necessary said. “I really enjoy quality time with them, (but) I wish it was in person. I have to remind myself to put in the effort … (for) that quality time.”

Quality time, words of affirmation, gift giving, physical touch and acts of service are the five main love languages. In the current culture of social distancing and isolation, some students have had to adapt their love languages, or the ways they give love to others and receive love in return.

Necessary said she primarily expresses her love to others through acts of service, such as running errands. When she was separated from her partner and friends during quarantine last March, her love language changed.

“It transformed into gift-giving … and words of affirmation,” Necessary said. “I would send (gifts) from Amazon or Etsy because I still wanted to do (things) for them even though I couldn’t do it in person.”

Biology freshman Tamara Rodriguez said she has also had to find other ways to express her love to others because of social distancing.

“I’m a hugger,” Rodriguez said.

“If it wasn’t for the pandemic, I (still) would (be). But I don’t know what (people) have been doing. I could catch (COVID-19).”

Rodriguez said although she can’t act on her love language of physical touch, she has found joy in writing letters to her friends and family.

“If you receive a letter from me, that means I consider you someone very close to my heart,” Rodriguez said. “I indulge myself within the letter. I think writing letters is such a sweet, simple gesture.”

Not a fan of texting, Rodriguez said writing letters and FaceTime have allowed her to remain connected to family and friends.

Sarah Jarrett said FaceTime also became a tool for her during quarantine, though it made her want to be in person with loved ones even more.

“It didn’t feel the same,” psychology junior Jarrett said. “It felt impersonal because they weren’t physically there.”

Jarrett said her love languages are quality time and physical touch.

The COVID-19 pandemic has denied her both, so she said she quarantined multiple times within the past year to meet with loved ones.

“There were periods where I would be isolated for so long,” Jarrett said. “Then I’d see someone for one day, and I’d be like, ‘You know what, this is worth it.’”

After Jarrett hadn’t seen her

sophia solomon

grandmother for 10 months, she said she felt as if she was missing a parental figure in her life. She decided to quarantine for two weeks just to spend Easter with her.

“I grew up having a very constant relationship with my grandmother,” Jarrett said. “(I felt) deprived of that time with someone who means a lot to (me).”

On Easter, Jarrett, along with

/ the daily texan staff

her mother and sister, safely reunited with her grandmother over lunch after the family had been fully vaccinated.

“I got in the car with my mom (on the way there) and just started crying,” Jarrett said. “Then I cried on the way back because I was able to give (my grandmother) a hug without any fear. We’re getting back to doing things that we’d normally do.”

I really enjoy quality time with them, (but) I wish it was in person. I have to remind myself to put in the effort … (for) that quality time.”

JAZMINE NECESSARY

government junior

LIFE&ARTS

9

FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

FEATURE

Pop art Etsy shop ‘Marvelous Mashups’ serves as creative outlet for UT professor

nikoo vafaee

/ the daily texan staff

Sociology professor Robert Reece finds a creative outlet through his Etsy shop “Marvelous Mashups.” The shop sells a variety of hybrids from his favorite TV show characters and Marvel superheroes.

By Grace Robertson @gracearobertson

In “The Simpsons,” Maggie Simpson is just a baby who loves TV. But with Robert Reece’s artistic vision, she becomes Marvel’s Venom atop a Spider Pig hybrid as if it’s a horse, her pacifier whipping through the air on the end of a lasso.

“Drawing offers infinite flexibility with personal expression,” sociology assistant professor Reece said. “Anything that comes into your brain, you can put on the page.”

Reece sells digital pop art as prints on his Etsy shop, which he opened in 2019. Much of his art is a hybrid of his favorite TV show characters and Marvel superheroes, so he dubbed the shop “Marvelous Mashups.”

In his Etsy gallery, customers can

find everything from the Grinch with the Infinity Gauntlet to Maggie Simpson as Iron Man. “Some of the stuff is just, ‘Hey, this’ll make me laugh,’” Reece said.

“Wouldn’t it be funny if Maggie Simpson had the Venom symbiote and killed Mr. Burns?”

As a child, Reece liked to draw his favorite animals, but he put down his sketchbook while earning his Ph.D. in sociology from Duke University in 2017. After he graduated, he picked up digital drawing as a fun and therapeutic hobby.

Reece started sketching on the back of envelopes with ballpoint pens, then eventually turned to digital art. Reece said he uses the Etsy shop as a way to give his art purpose.

“I like sharing art with people,” Reece said. “It’s encouraging, and it helps me keep going and stay upbeat about

it even when things aren’t necessarily going how I want them to.”

The first time a stranger bought art from Reece’s shop, he said it caught him off guard. He said it was encouraging to know people display his art to express themselves.

“They’re saying … ‘I’ll use this as a representation of who I am,’” Reece said. “It reminds me that my art is impacting people.”

Reece’s friend Kellyn Platek bought and framed a pop art style piece from his shop. She said his art style inspires her to continue to draw herself.

“I have really bad perfectionism tendencies that tend to keep me from jumping into projects,” Platek said.

“One thing that he said to me that really helps me is, ‘Remember that what you’re creating is your interpretation of something … and that’s the beauty of art.’”

Reece said drawing helps him cope with the pressure of his research and classes.

“I study inequality, so it can be draining to deal with that type of stuff habitually,” Reece said. “Art gives me a reprieve.”

Allison Hutt, a UT integrative biology researcher and Reece’s friend, said she understands how busy Reece’s life is and admires his commitment to his art.

“He puts a lot of himself into it and a lot of joy into it,” Hutt said. “I’m excited to see him improve and do different things with his art.”

While he loves creating art for customers, Reece said he will continue to draw no matter where “Marvelous Mashups” goes.

“The Etsy shop is cool, but ultimately, I still make art for me,” Reece said.

“I just like sharing art with people.”

C A R T E R YAT E S

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Sports Editor | @TEXANSPORTS

FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

WOMEN’S SWIMMING

SPORTS

rewarded for resilience Texas women’s swimming and diving places third in NCAA championship meet.

By Emily Schumacher @emilyschu71

arol Capitani has a specific word to describe her team over the past year: resilient.

As the Texas women’s swimming and diving head coach, Capitani knows firsthand the 2020-2021 season was anything but ordinary for the Longhorns.

The COVID-19 pandemic prevented the team from participating in most of their usual meets. Often, Texas would compete in time trials by themselves.

Even then, players lost time due to quarantine, according to Capitani. She said the season was a really rough time as the athletes would go from team building and daily training to isolation.

“Our team was just really resilient,” Capitani said. “A lot of times we were just swimming with ourselves (at meets), which is almost like normal practice.”

Despite facing countless challenges due to COVID-19, Capitani led the Longhorns naturally to a third-place finish in the NCAA

Championship meet, which marked the best showing by a Longhorn team since 2001.

Texas also claimed a ninth-straight Big 12 title, continuing the championship streak Capitani started in her first year as head coach in 2013.

This year more than ever, swimming provided an outlet for socializing and competing in a world of social distancing, Capitani said.

The Longhorns fostered a community among themselves this season. The team found ways to keep things light-hearted by earning stickers to put on the walls of the locker room when accomplishing certain swimming feats, such as achieving the best time in Texas, or receiving individual dog tags when reaching certain time goals.

“Most of the world couldn’t go anywhere (due to the pandemic), and they have the opportunity to get out and train with their best friends,” Capitani said. “I think it was kind of a blessing and a great opportunity for them. Training was very therapeutic for them during this time.”

Eight of the 24 members in the Texas program this year were freshmen, and the newcomers handled an already daunting transition to collegiate competition in the

angela wang

/ the daily texan file

Head coach Carol Capitani coaches one of her swimmers in a 2018 meet. Capitani led the women’s swimming and diving team to a ninth-straight Big 12 title in 2021.

face of a pandemic. Moreover, the freshmen had to adjust their mindset from the individual focus perpetuated on high school club teams to a team-oriented attitude that is necessary for winning national titles in college.

“Sometimes the atmosphere and the environment of a college team trumps almost any club team, because you’re really working towards something pretty special with your best friends,” Capitani said.

While the season didn’t live up to the expectations that the freshmen had for their first year of college, they remained competitive and hungry in the face of high pressure at the championship meets.

A select few of them, such as freshmen Olivia Bray and Emma Sticklen, even had their first taste of national

success. Bray received All-American honors at the NCAA Championships for her efforts in four events, including a runner-up effort in the 200-yard butterfly, and Sticklen earned the same for a seventh-place finish in the 200 fly.

“This season, the time together after a hard year was the reward itself,” Capitani said.

They have the opportunity to get out and train with their best friends.”

CAROL CAPITANI

swimming and diving coach

COMICS

B A R B D A LY & R O C K Y H I G I N E

Comics Editors | @TEXANCOMICS FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

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FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

SPORTS

FOOTBALL

eddie gaspar

/ the daily texan file

Junior defensive lineman Keondre Coburn rushes the passer in a 2019 game against TCU. The veteran Coburn is one of many players adapting to a new coaching staff, including defensive tackles coach Bo Davis.

Sarkisian’s coaching staff makes strides with veteran players in spring practice

By Carter Yates @Carter_Yates16

The Texas football program entered spring practice with 12 total coaches on staff. Ten of them, including head coach Steve Sarkisian, were not with the team last year.

The Longhorns braced for massive growing pains with conflicting styles of teaching and playing between almost an entirely new coaching staff and a locker room chock-full of veteran players. Instead, the players have recognized the elite track record of each position coach and have chosen to take the criticism.

No pair exemplifies this relationship more than junior

defensive lineman Keondre Coburn and defensive tackles coach Bo Davis. As a veteran leader in the locker room and one of the most productive members of Texas’ defense, Coburn has made tweaks to his game when asked instead of relying on his instincts. Davis’ coaching history with the Miami Dolphins and Alabama Crimson Tide garners respect from the players, Coburn said.

“We got a lot of coaches coming from winning programs and winning situations,” Coburn said. “Instead of just trying to talk back and think we know what’s better, (we realize) they know better. Coach Davis knows more than me. He was in the NFL.” When the new coaching staff came aboard, everyone became

freshmen in his eyes, Coburn said.

That’s why Coburn and the rest of the upperclassmen have taken a leadership role while simultaneously accepting input from other players.

“I have tried to be that leader and that person in front to help out more people,” Coburn said.

“But at the same time, I’m learning myself. I don’t want to be that person like, ‘I’m the captain.

I’m the leader. Listen to me.’ No, everybody listens to each other because that’s how you win.”

Perhaps no one has experienced more turnover at Texas than senior tight end Cade Brewer, who was one of a select few seniors to use their free year of eligibility from the COVID-19 pandemic and return for a fifth season. After all the different

coaching styles he’s seen, Brewer said he’s enjoyed Sarkisian and his staff’s approach thus far.

“It’s definitely a better vibe in the building. You can feel the energy that the coaches bring every day,” Brewer said. “I know the whole team is excited to play Louisiana in September, and we’re just getting after it right now.”

The Longhorns’ tight end room, recently a thin position, has satisfactory depth heading into the 2021 season. Juniors Jared Wiley and Malcolm Epps, as well as Brewer, provide a stable presence of experience, while young freshmen such as Gunnar Helm and Juan Davis adjust to the speed of the game.

The depth at tight ends bodes well for Texas because Sarkisian

loves to utilize the position in the run game and passing game, Brewer said.

“There’s a big learning curve (and) a lot of new terminology in the offense,” Brewer said. “There’s a lot on our plates, especially at tight end, so we got to know a lot of stuff because tight ends do a lot in this offense.”

The difference between previous coaching staffs and Sarkisian’s group is brutal honesty, according to Coburn. And that’s what Texas needs if they want to win their first Big 12 Championship since 2009.

“The thing about this coaching staff, they tell (it to) you straightforward,” Coburn said. “They’re not going to sugarcoat … I like honesty. I don’t like nobody trying to sugarcoat.”