Steve Sarkisian sends a bold message to Texas’ dual-sport star Jonah Williams following thrilling Florida win

Coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns are busy preparing for the 2025 college football season. However, few people have a busier sporting schedule than Texas' Jonah Williams, a dual-sport star for the Longhorns football and baseball teams.

Williams joined the Longhorns as part of the 2025 recruiting class. According to ESPN, the safety is the No. 9-ranked player in his class and a five-star recruit. The Texas baseball team posted a video of him on base during a game Saturday with the caption, "Swagger."

On Sunday, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian reposted the video on his Instagram story with a bold message for Williams. The message came after the Florida Gators defeated the Texas Longhorns 8-2 on Saturday.

"Be at your best when your best is needed!" Sarkisian said.

Image via Steve Sarkisian's Instagram story.

This post comes after Williams was criticized for his actions during the game. During an at-bat while his team was down 8-1, Williams was trash-talking the pitcher heavily and eventually earned a walk.

After the walk, Williams exchanged heated words with the Florida pitcher, which led to first-base coach Michael Cantu intervening.

Texas Longhorns baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle speaks about the Jonah Williams incident after the game

After the game, the story Jonah Williams' behavior while his team was losing 8-1. Head coach Jim Schlossnagle spoke about how, while he likes Williams, he needs to understand the unwritten rules of the game.

"Jonah’s awesome, man. His energy and his competitiveness and his will to win is if I’m a Texas fan, which I am, I would want that," Schlossnagle said. "He’s just got to understand that baseball’s a little different, and there’s unwritten rules in the way you play the game."

"He knows that. He’s just trying to win, he’s not doing anything to show anybody up. He really wants to win that bad. When I say win, it’s not just the game, it’s the pitch, it’s the at-bat, it’s the play."

Trash-talking is much more taboo on the baseball field than on the football field, so this will likely not be as much of an issue when he joins coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns football team.

It will be interesting to see how Williams handles being a two-sport athlete and whether he sticks with both football and baseball throughout his college career.