Sarkisian blasts Ole Miss academics: 'All you have to do is take basket weaving'

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian took aim at Ole Miss, accusing the school of lowering its academic standards to attract recruits.

"At Texas, we will only take 50% of a player's academic credit hours," Sarkisian told USA Today's Matt Hayes. "You may be a semester from graduating, but you're going all the way back to 50% if you play here and want a degree. But at Ole Miss, they can take you. All you have to do is take basket weaving, and you can get an Ole Miss degree."

Sarkisian pointed out that Ole Miss is among several FBS programs lowering academic requirements to lure prospects. He also noted that California accepted 32 players from the transfer portal this offseason despite being one of the country's most academically renowned public schools.

"It's like we've forgotten about academics, yet less than 5% of these guys will play in the NFL," Sarkisian said.

A Texas athletic department spokesperson told ESPN that Sarkisian's comments were part of a larger conversation around tampering.

However, new Florida head coach Jon Sumrall joined the conversation Tuesday, taking a jab at Sarkisian's remarks.

Tuesday marks the second consecutive day that Ole Miss has come under fire from an SEC coach. On Monday, former Rebels coach Lane Kiffin delivered controversial remarks in a Vanity Fair interview, comparing recruiting at Ole Miss to his new school, LSU.