Steve Sarkisian will have his work cut out for him in his inaugural year as the head football coach at Texas. The program faced a ton of scrutiny for their three losses last year.

Former head coach Tom Herman had overstayed his welcome and proved that he wasn’t going to be the guy that would restore Texas to its former glory. The only issue with firing Herman is the large amount of pressure to immediately succeed in Sarkisian’s first year.

The Longhorns lost those three games by a combined 13 points last season, and although they will be ushering in a new culture along with new starters all over the field, this year can certainly be put in the make or break category.

It is safe to say the announcement of Texas heading to the SEC with Oklahoma does them no favors for the amount of pressure that this season will bring.

It will not be an easy task for Sarkisian, and the Longhorns were dealt with one of the toughest schedule’s in the nation according to Bleacher Report.

Texas’ schedule ranked No. 4 in the nation below the likes of Penn State and future conference members Alabama and LSU. Here is their breakdown of the Longhorns schedule in 2021:

Sometimes, a first-year coach receives a little extra forgiveness because of a nightmarish schedule. That’s not entirely the case for Steve Sarkisian’s debut at Texas, but 2021 isn’t kind.

The opener is against Louisiana (Sep. 4), which upset Iowa State last season and returns a strong majority of its roster. The next weekend, the Longhorns head to Arkansas (Sep. 11). Texas will be favored in both games, but they’re not guaranteed wins.

And Texas doesn’t have an overwhelming benefit of the doubt.

TCU, which is 7-2 against the Longhorns since joining the Big 12, hosts the matchup on Oct. 2. Following that game, Texas meets Oklahoma (Oct. 9) at the Cotton Bowl and hosts Oklahoma State (Oct. 16).

The closing stretch has Texas traveling to Baylor (Oct. 30), Iowa State (Nov. 6) and West Virginia (Nov. 20). Plus, the finale opposite Kansas State (Nov. 26) is on short rest. Sarkisian has a complicated itinerary in his first season.