Steve Sarkisian likes what he’s seen from Laurence Seymore in the lineman’s short time in Austin

Late in the Texas Longhorn transfer process, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian knew he had to address the left guard spot on his offensive line after a disastrous 2025 at the position. [Sign up for Inside Texas for $1 then get 50% off your first year!] The Longhorns opted for a fairly unfamiliar name to some, Western Kentucky transfer Laurence Seymore. He was not on many fans’ radar for a few reasons. Firstly, Seymore had run out of eligibility and would need external help to be able to play in 2026. Secondly, Seymore was far from a household name in college football, playing nearly 80% of his career snaps in the G6 ranks. That didn’t stop him from earning FWAA All-America Second Team honors in 2025 with Western Kentucky, flashing dominance against LSU and as a pass blocker at the left guard position, allowing just one sack and eight total pressures in over 500 pass-blocking snaps. Texas worked through the legal aspects of this transfer commitment in the spring, but Seymore was not set to join the program until the summer, opting to finish his degree at Western Kentucky in the spring before heading to Austin as a summer enrollee. In the age of NIL and the modern day of college football, the heavy majority of players make their way to campus for the spring semester, transfer or high school recruit alike. It left more questions than Texas fans might’ve been hoping for with the apparent solution at left guard. It’s hard to feel confident with an offensive line that struggled in 2025 and doesn’t have a projected starter on campus until the summer. But as we near the end of July and approach fall camp, Steve Sarkisian has already seen positive development from the guard, who has now made his way to the 40 Acres. “I think Laurence has done really well,” Sarkisian said at the Texas High School Coaches Association convention in Houston Sunday. “I’ve been impressed with him, and his body’s changed already, which is big.” Sarkisian said all the right things for Longhorn fans who had been waiting for any news, positive or negative, about the man responsible for protecting star QB Arch Manning. “Our style of summer conditioning and what that looks like, I think that he’s really responded well to that, and you know the connectivity with the other offensive linemen and the fundamental work that we get to do,” Sarkisian said. “With linemen, it’s difficult in the summertime when they’re in underwear. We’re not aware of what it’s really going to look like. We’ll find out a lot in training camp, especially when we get into the second week, when we’re really in full pads and we’re getting going. But so far, so good with him.” Seymore will compete heavily throughout August to overtake guard options like Jaydon Chatman, Andre Cojoe and Dylan Sikorski and assert himself between returning veterans like Trevor Goosby and Connor Robertson.