SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey welcomed Texas into the Southeastern Conference on Sunday night in front of 30,000 fans at UT's lavish SEC Celebration on the south mall of campus. Here's what various Longhorns head coaches and others had to say about joining the SEC:

∙ Steve Sarkisian (football) on following up last year's CFP season: “That’s the challenge, that level of consistency that is needed. Not having to just get up for a game or two. It’s about playing a brand and a style of football consistently and that starts in the offseason.”

∙ Rodney Terry (men's basketball): “The Big 12 has always been a physical league. Going into the SEC and playing Tennessee the last two years, Rick Barnes’ teams are always going to be physical, but there are going to be several programs that are going to be physical and have that same mindset.”

∙ Vic Schaefer (women's basketball), on what SEC teams should expect from Texas: “If you come into Austin and play any of our teams in any of our sports, you’re going to get a dose. You better be ready. We have elite coaches and elite student-athletes, and our leadership is off the charts.”

∙ Jim Schlossnagle (baseball) on Texas A&M fans' reaction to his departure: “I had an idea it would be nuclear, but I didn’t know it would be apocalyptic.”

∙ Jerritt Elliott (volleyball): “Our big priority for us is to come in there and do some damage early on. It’s the greatest conference in the country. The last three out of four years, the national championship has come out of the SEC with Texas and Kentucky. We're excited to bring our brand and add to it.”

∙ Mike White (softball), on the 2025 season: “We have a lot of people coming back. We lost four players, but we have some good ones coming in too. I like the depth of our program right now. We have a really good coach staff that’s doing some great things.”

∙ Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte: "I’m really proud of our student-athletes and our coaches. We live where our feet are. We decided not to put ‘SEC’ anywhere until today. We’re going to celebrate today and turn the page tomorrow and get to work.”

∙ UT President Jay Hartzell: “We will revive old rivalries and start new ones. And we’re not just coming to compete. We are coming to win.”

∙ SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, on how Texas and Oklahoma will fit in: “I think it’s a match. Today’s turnout is a great indication of that.”

∙ Dave O'Neill (rowing): “For SEC fans, you now have the best rowing conference in the country. We won the national championship and Tennessee finished third.”

∙ UT Board of Regents chairman Kevin Eltife: “We believe the SEC is where we belong. We respect the schools in the SEC, and we’re excited to compete against them.”

∙ Paul Finebaum (ESPN), on Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC: "It’s the singular biggest moment in the history of the SEC.”

∙ Former UT football/track star Marquise Goodwin: “Coming from playing in the Big 12 where we got to beat up on a lot of teams, I think the competition level in the SEC has spoken for itself. Getting into that conference will allow opportunities for these guys to get drafted higher, play against better talent and get seen on bigger games on TV.”

∙ Former UT football/track star Jamaal Charles, on the SEC schedule: “It's crazy because every game is like the NFL. It’s a dogfight every week. Every game is one you want to go to.”

∙ Angela Kelly (soccer) on her recipe for winning in the SEC: “Pursuing the best talent in the country and figuring out each and every day how to make the best talent in the country excel and push them to the highest levels in their career. Every single day, that is a mission for me.”

∙ Stein Metzger (beach volleyball) on why he took the UT job: “I really love the fact they’re about people. They’re about bringing everyone together and they’re about winning championships. It’s just a special place. To see this Longhorn Nation come out like, there’s no place like it.”

∙ Howard Joffe (women's tennis): "In a competitive sense, it’s an excellent marriage to have the top athletic program three of the last four years joining the conference. As a competitive person and as a coach, it’s a challenge and it’s enormously exciting.”

∙ Former Texas football star Quandre Diggs, on the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry: "Wherever I end up (in the NFL), I hope that we have a bye week that week so I can come back to the game. It’s going to be crazy.”

∙ John Fields (men's golf): “I feel like the strength of the SEC is so dominant at the moment with Auburn winning the national championship, Georgia is always outstanding. Alabama. Vanderbilt. There are so many good coaches, players and programs in the SEC.”

∙ Laura Ianello (women's golf) on why she took the UT job: "This is such a great opportunity. University of Texas women’s golf has not won a national championship. Coming here is motivation to me to do great things, to bring a great effort and hopefully help these women have new destiny and start their own legacy.”

∙ Carol Capitani (women's swimming/diving): “We’ve been waiting a long time for this. The Big 12 was great. It was great winning championships. We’re ready to move forward. It’s a lot more competitive. It’s fun. We get to race the best people in the country.”

∙ Matt Scoggin (men's diving) on what he tells recruits about the Olympics: “I tell them a great steppingstone is the NCAAs because you’re just not diving for yourself, but you’re diving for a team. It gets you ready for the Olympics.”

∙ Former UT volleyball star Logan Eggleston: "Bringing in two powerhouses like Texas and Oklahoma is just going to take the SEC to a completely different level.”

∙ UT decathlete, two-time NCAA champion Leo Neugebauer: “Winning all these championships was obviously exciting, but being at practice with all my great teammates and coaches just feels incredible.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: The best quotes from Texas' SEC Celebration event