Steve Sarkisian is facing heavy criticism for blowing off Holly Rowe during a postgame interview.
The Texas Longhorns head coach, 50, celebrated his team’s stunning 24-23 comeback victory over No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday night by cutting off the ESPN sideline reporter before she could ask a single question. Texas scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to complete the dramatic win.
As Rowe attempted to begin the on-field interview in the chaotic aftermath, Sarkisian started yelling over her.
“That’s called Texas fight! That’s called Texas fight! Hook ’em!” he shouted, throwing up the horns hand signal and walking away to join his celebrating team before Rowe could get a question out. The broadcast moment left Rowe visibly frustrated on camera.
The incident drew swift condemnation from media figures across sports broadcasting. “Honestly, this is just rude of Sark. Holly is a total pro with a job to do,” ESPN’s Madelyn Burke wrote on X.
“Particularly bad given how much college football coaches are praised en masse by the 4-Letter, let alone the rights fees. Holly Rowe, always a pro,” “Sports Media Podcast” host Richard Deitsch added on the platform.
“Classless move by Sark towards Holly Rowe just now. You know how it is man. Just answer the damn question,” 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Kendra Middleton posted.
“Disrespectful to a legend. Not a good look for Sark… again,” another commenter wrote on X.
“I don’t know what this is about but it’s a bad look. Also Holly Rowe was salty, understandably,” D.C. Sports radio host Grant Paulsen posted.
The postgame snub was not the only tension between Sarkisian and ESPN’s broadcast crew during the game. A similar scene had played out at halftime when technical difficulties delayed an interview with the coach while his team trailed 20-3.
“Alright, we actually just lost Sark because he had to go,” ESPN’s Laura Rutledge explained on the broadcast when the interview fell through. “I’m sorry about that, you guys. He waited for a long time. Credit to him for waiting. We’ll try to get him on the way out of the half.”
Before the second half began, Rutledge clarified the situation for viewers.
“I do want to make sure we clear something up. [Sarkisian] did not decline the interview at the half,” she said. “He had waited a long time, been very patient with some technical issues that we had. He apologized to us. We should be apologizing to him, which we did.”
The Longhorns improved to 2-0 with the victory and will host UTSA on Sept. 19.