Stephen A. Smith and Paul Finebaum lay into Steve Sarkisian for shrugging off Holly Rowe

Steve Sarkisian had himself quite a dramatic Saturday, with his Texas Longhorns rallying for 21 points in the fourth quarter against No. 1 Ohio State to secure the biggest win of the college football season thus far.

But after the game, when the winning coach would normally speak with a sideline reporter to talk about the big win, Sarkisian appeared to rebuff ESPN’s Holly Rowe and go to celebrate with his team.

“That’s called Texas fight,” Sark yelled to the camera as Rowe attempted to open the interview. He then threw up the horns with a “Hook ’em!” and walked away. Rowe gave the camera a frustrated look before leaving the frame.

The Steve Sarkisian postgame interview with Holly Rowe was quite brief. https://t.co/TWV6JrA9Ro pic.twitter.com/xo0z8oidMN

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 13, 2026

ESPN previously missed interviewing Sarkisian heading into halftime, saying the Texas coach waited with them for a period before joining his team in the locker room. ESPN apologized on air for the issue. On Monday, a Texas spokesperson told The Athletic that “technical difficulties arose once again…which played a role in Sarkisian’s demeanor with Rowe.”

Still, many commentators online criticized Sarkisian for his perceived dismissal of Rowe. On Monday, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and Paul Finebaum joined the chorus calling out Sark for his behavior.

“The only downside for me, Paul, believe it or not, was Steve Sarkisian. After the game, you’ve got Holly there. You do the damn interview,” Smith said on First Take. “You’re a grown-ass man. You’re a damn good coach; you’re a grown-up. If it was a player, we would have called out the player, Paul. We would’ve called out the player, even in a moment like that. Sarkisian, you’re the head coach of the damn school. You’re the head coach. Do the interview.”

“I appreciate you saying that about Holly Rowe, because there’s nobody better in the industry, and he treated her like trash,” Finebaum agreed. “She has done more for this sport than Steve Sarkisian, I promise you that.”

Stephen A. Smith and Paul Finebaum were not impressed with Steve Sarkisian skipping out on Holly Rowe’s postgame interview.

“There’s nobody better in the industry, and he treated her like trash.” pic.twitter.com/gCORyStCFA

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 14, 2026

Whether Sarkisian was frustrated by repeated technical issues, or simply over the idea of a postgame interview, or somewhere in between, it feels like there’s a pretty easy way to rectify this. Texas is now the No. 1 team in the country and will have plenty more games played on ESPN, likely with a few in primetime.

Next time, Sark, don’t skip the interview.