AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas Football tradition will not happen this spring.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian recently confirmed the Longhorns will not play an Orange-White game this year. Spring games require teams to temporarily pause conditioning to reintroduce football for one or two months.
Instead, they’ll go to more of an NFL offseason model, focusing on conditioning and then shifting to football drills and practice later in the summer.
However, Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte said a fan event will be held in place of the spring game that will include a meet-and-greet with Texas players.
“I know people are disappointed about a traditional game, but the ultimate goal is to win a championship and the health and wellness of our student-athletes is most important,” Del Conte told On Texas Football. “It’s unusual, playing a 16-game schedule, but every year, we want to play that 17th game. I applaud Steve for his thinking. I understood it. I understand the disappointment, but you have to look at it in its totality.”
The Longhorns will also spend the extra time on young player development, after 25 players were sent to the NFL combine over the past two years.
With two College Football Playoff runs the past two seasons, the Longhorns played 14 games in 2023-24 and 16 in 2024-25.