On Saturday evening, Texas football head coach Steve Sarkisian generated some controversy when he ditched a postgame interview with ESPN's Holly Rowe following the team's win over Ohio State. Later in the week, Texas quarterback Arch Manning made headlines when he laughed at an AI-generated video of Sarkisian slapping Rowe, for which he has since apologized.

Now, Sarkisian has broken his silence on the incident.

“If I could do it over again, I would have exuded more patience in that moment and sat through and waited to do the interview with Holly,” he said, per Tyler Horka of Inside Texas on X, formerly Twitter.

Horka also reported that “Texas coach Steve Sarkisian says there was nothing malicious about Arch Manning's reaction to the AI video of Sark slapping Holly Rowe. He says he'd take laughing at it back if he could, but there was not any ill will toward Rowe. The two have a solid relationship.”

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Rowe has accepted Manning's apology and also indicated that the two spoke privately about the matter.

The controversy in some ways overshadowed what was a thrilling win by Texas against Ohio State, rallying back from three possessions down to win the game in the final moments and avenging their loss to the Buckeyes to open up last season.

“Steve Sarkisian says the situation with Arch Manning and the AI Holly Rowe video should not take away from the game Manning played against then-No. 1 Ohio State and what the now-No. 1 Longhorns have going for them at the moment,” reported Horka.

Texas will next hit the field on Saturday evening at home vs UTSA.