David Pollack knows all about lofty expectations while playing for an SEC heavyweight.
The former Georgia linebacker legend was a 2-time Consensus All-American in Athens, and a 2-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Pollack didn’t win any national championships as a Bulldog, but he was part of a prestigious SEC program that annually takes on the burden of great expectations.
Like, for example, the 2026 Texas Longhorns, led by the quarterback with the famous last name. That would be Arch Manning, and after Manning and the Horns fell short of those lofty expectations in 2025, starting with that opening loss to Ohio State, Pollack laid down the gauntlet for what he believes Texas should do this fall (and maybe winter).
And that would be winning and winning some more, with no excuses attached now, as Pollack put it on his See Ball Get Ball podcast on Sunday. For Pollack, last year was last year, and now it’s time for Texas to go win it all with Manning leading a loaded roster.
“There’s no excuses. This team should not be thumped by Georgia,” said Pollack, referencing the Dawgs’ recent domination of the Horns.
Pollack doesn’t believe Texas is overhyped either.
“I think they’re appropriately hyped,” he said.
With all that talent, Pollack knows what this Texas team is supposed to do.
“If you’re asking me to find many rosters outside of Texas football (that are better), there ain’t many I can think of … one, maybe two,” Pollack said. “But that’s how good this roster is. They’re not missing anything.”
Pollack admitted last year’s Longhorns weren’t the real deal that many thought.
“They’re appropriately hyped (this season). Last year, they were overhyped,” he said. “There’s no excuses, man. They’re gonna have more skill than everybody they play.”
Texas will have a ton of expectations as it tries to win it all with Manning at the helm in 2026. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the Longhorns’ chances to put last year behind them and climb to college football’s mountaintop in January:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
