An introduction to the wild and wooly Southeastern Conference is less scary when you’ve already been there, especially as a coach.

For Steve Sarkisian and many others of his new league colleagues, those experiences are an invaluable piece of work when it comes to what they will face this fall.

Sarkisian rarely passes up an opportunity to show reverence to mentors Pete Carroll and Nick Saban, and he started his Wednesday address at SEC media days in Dallas with a personal shoutout to the retired Saban, ESPN’s most decorated college football analyst, who was seated on the SEC Network set at the back of the main ballroom.

More: Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers has what it takes to lead Longhorns to SEC success | Golden

"I would not be standing here today without you and what you've meant to my career, to my life, and I can't thank you enough, and the impact that you've had on our game has been second to none, and I just can't thank you enough,” Sarkisian said to his former boss. "I want to be able to publicly do that to you, Coach. Thank you very, very much.”

Sark helped orchestrate the USC offensive juggernaut that would have three-peated in 2005 if not for Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns, but his career looked to be in jeopardy after personal issues cost him the head coaching job for the Trojans. He got a new lease on his coaching life when Saban hired him as an offensive analyst in 2016. He then worked two seasons with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons before he returned to Tuscaloosa as Saban's offensive coordinator for two seasons. In 2020, the Tide won what turned out to be Saban's final national championship and wideout DeVonta Smith won the Heisman Trophy.

More: Already the talk of the town, Texas takes center stage at 2024 SEC media days

Sarkisian’s three seasons coaching in the SEC along with a pair of matchups against his former boss in 2022 and 2023 at Texas are the type of on-the-job experience that has him suitably prepared for arguably the most anticipated of his 11 seasons as a head coach, as he was always coaching and recruiting at Texas in the old SEC way. Bigger human beings with depth are a priority, particularly across both lines. Saban taught him well.

More: South Sudan basketball gets the Royal (Ivey) Longhorn treatment

To that end, I asked Sark on Wednesday why his time in the SEC can help push this thing even higher after a breakout 12-2 season, a Big 12 championship and the program’s first appearance in the College Football Playoff.

It comes down to one word, he said: trust.

"I think where we will benefit is I think our players will trust my experience,” Sarkisian said. “Having been in this league for three years, that when I speak on what is needed in this league, I think that at this point our players now are going to trust what I’m telling no differently than when we were getting ready to have to play Alabama and what it would be like going into Bryant-Denny Stadium.”

Sarkisian, Mississippi State's Jeff Lebby, Texas A&M's Mike Elko and Oklahoma's Brent Venables will be in their first years as head coaches in this minefield of a conference. Yes, this is the big time, and the newbies and veterans alike understand a trampling can happen if they don’t bring their A game week to week.

Once conference play starts, there are few gimmes on these schedules. It’s actually a season of attrition, and the teams that can best deal with the roller coaster will be the ones playing in the sweetest bowl games.

More: Why Kelvin Banks Jr. repped Texas football at SEC Media Days: Steve Sarkisian explains.

Sarkisian tells his players not to think about whom they’re playing and instead to treat the other team like a faceless opponent. It’s about Texas, not the team Texas is playing.

“You have to look at it that way because everybody is capable of beating anybody any Saturday (with) the quality of coaching and the quality of players and the environments that you have to go in and play,” Sarkisian said. “You really have to fall back on what do we need to do and let's focus on what we need to do. And that's going to be a process to make sure that we focus on that and not get caught looking at the decal on the helmet.”

SEC experience is the best training ground

A quick glance at the SEC's roster of head coaches reveals that being an assistant in this league has often become a steppingstone to the big office. Twelve SEC head coaches spent multiple seasons as an assistant at other SEC programs, most notably Kirby Smart, who started as a graduate assistant at Georgia before assistant coaching stints at Georgia, LSU and Alabama. He's built Georgia into the juggernaut that’s won two of the last three national championships.

Only Venables, Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, LSU’s Brian Kelly and Kentucky’s Mark Stoops never coached in the SEC before landing head coaching jobs.

The West Texan Lebby took a circuitous route to becoming a Power Five head coach. The Andrews product was an all-state offensive lineman who had a bright college future until an old back injury at OU ended his playing career. He transitioned to the role of student manager under Sooners coach Bob Stoops, spent time at Baylor as an assistant for father-in-law Art Briles and put in two seasons at Central Florida, but he counts the 2020 and 2021 seasons as Lane Kiffin’s offensive coordinator at Ole Miss for giving a great understanding of what it will take to win in this league.

“It's not Weeks 3, 4 and 5,” Lebby said. “It is truly Weeks 8 through 12 and understanding the lines of scrimmage; the depth that you have to find a way to develop through the season to create depth at all positions, but most importantly at the lines of scrimmage, is something that is to me an advantage because of living it.”

The football carnage will start soon. People like us who have gotten a taste of the SEC but not the full meal are about to find out if the Longhorns and Sooners stack up.

They do, but words don’t win in this league.

The Horns have been told that numerous times by now.

After a great season, the fan base is looking for some good follow-up.

So what’s next, Sark?

“We have to get right back to work,” he said.

Sounds like a plan.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Golden: Sarkisian will use SEC tenure with Nick Saban to aid Longhorns