This weekend, President Trump is expected to attend the UT vs. Tennessee game on Saturday.
The head coach for the Longhorns, Steve Sarkisian, was asked what he thought about Trump's attendance. Sarkisian shared his worries about headphone reception when the President is in attendance.
Apparently, when Trump moves around the stadium, all transmissions are jammed. Sarkisian claimed this affected the National Championship game between the University of Miami and Indiana.
Steve Sarkisian told @BobbyBurtonOTF that Donald Trump’s departure from the national title game disrupted Miami’s headset communications.
— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) September 24, 2026
Here’s what happened — and what Miami experienced during the 4th quarter, via @bmarcello, @JTalty and me. https://t.co/jUJvJam2W3
Did President Donald Trump impact the final drive of the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship?
According to what started as a game of telephone between two former Nick Saban acolytes: yes.
Ahead of President Trump's expected appearance at Saturday's No. 1 Texas at No. 14 Tennessee game, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian was asked about the impact of having the president in attendance. Sarkisian went through it when Trump attended a 2019 Alabama vs. LSU game in Tuscaloosa that the Tigers won 46-41. He revealed that when President Trump moves within the stadium, all communication is killed, including the headsets that coaches use to signal plays. Then Sarkisian told a never-before-heard anecdote about last year's national championship, which Indiana won 27-21 over Miami.
Others challenged his facts.
As a Hurricane fan who was at the game, I’d love to blame anyone but Beck & the coaches
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) September 24, 2026
But …
WH reports show POTUS left Hard Rock w/about 8m left on the clock at 10:47 pm & arrived at North Perry Airport 2.7 miles away at 10:54 pm
Beck threw an INT c. 11:15 pm
1/2 https://t.co/uk5NI1rysD
In other words, the President was long gone by the time Beck threw the final interception leading to the loss. Folks love to blame Trump for everything, but it's not his fault this time.
2/2 I would be remiss in not blaming the refs for missing egregious holds by Indiana, esp on Mendoza’s 4th & goal score
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) September 24, 2026
But Beck was the culprit here
Below are the pool reports documenting the times (note: POTUS flew out on Marine 1 at 11:57 pm, well after the game ended) pic.twitter.com/F8VCrZPC4s
More
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) September 24, 2026
👇 https://t.co/eXiKSO9Gtt
So, it appears Sarkisian's friend, Coach Cristobal was just coping. That's easy to do after a hard loss. It happens.
WTF!!!?!? Are you telling me that Trump cost Miami in the final drive? Is that what Sark is saying? I went into a bit of sports media blackout post Miamj loss in that game but was this widely reported post game? https://t.co/5SbO5almxn
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) September 24, 2026
Of course, 'journalist' Chuck Todd bought it hook, line and sinker without any fact-checking. The usual for him.
Waiting 8 months to make excuses 😭😭😭 https://t.co/mebBc7jwZP
— Hoosier “Wheel Route” Bison #Archives (@HoosiersBison) September 24, 2026
It's lame behavior.