Sarkisian Wife
Steve Sarkisian’s wife is Loreal Sarkisian, an American fashion stylist and former collegiate track and field coach known to Texas Longhorns fans as the “First Lady of Texas Football.” Steve Sarkisian is the head football coach of the University of Texas at Austin, with previous head coaching stops at USC and Washington and a run as offensive coordinator at Alabama. This article covers everything publicly known about Loreal Sarkisian — her background, her styling career, how she and Steve met, their marriage, and their growing family.
Her exact date and place of birth have not been officially confirmed, and any specific figures floating around online (including precise net worth numbers) should be treated as estimates rather than verified fact. What is well documented is her athletic career, her styling business, and her very public role at Texas home games.
Who Is Loreal Sarkisian?
Loreal Sarkisian, formerly known as Loreal Smith, grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, where she played softball and ran track from a young age. Her athletic talent carried into college, where she competed for the North Carolina A&T State University track and field team, specializing in sprint hurdles. Several outlets report she trained with Olympic qualification in mind during her competitive years, though her exact college graduation year and degree details are not consistently confirmed across sources.
After her competitive running career wound down, she moved into coaching, taking assistant track and field coaching roles that eventually brought her to the University of Southern California — the same period Steve Sarkisian was USC’s head football coach. She later also coached at the University of Florida. Unlike many partners of high-profile coaches, Loreal built a career of her own well before she became publicly associated with Steve, first as an athlete and coach, and later as an entrepreneur.
Loreal Sarkisian’s Career & Professional Life
Loreal eventually stepped away from coaching to build a career in fashion styling. In a 2022 interview with Fox 7 Austin, she described the shift half-jokingly, saying two coaches in one household made room for a different passion: fashion.
She launched her own styling business — reported under names including Loreal Luciana and later Styled by Loreal — working with a client list that reportedly spans entertainers, athletes, and executives. Her guiding philosophy, as she’s put it in interviews, centers on helping clients look good so they feel good.
Since Steve became Texas’s head coach in 2021, Loreal has become known for her elaborate, Texas-orange-infused gameday outfits, which have drawn national sports-media attention on their own. She’s also taken part in Austin philanthropic and community events, including fundraisers alongside other coaches’ spouses. Beyond styling, she’s been linked to a possible baby-clothing line, though details on that venture remain limited. Reported net worth estimates for Loreal vary widely — from roughly $400,000 to $2 million — and should be treated as rough guesses rather than confirmed figures, since neither she nor Steve has publicly disclosed her finances.
How Did Steve and Loreal Meet?
Steve and Loreal met while both were working at USC in the mid-2010s: Steve as the Trojans’ head football coach (2013–2015) and Loreal as an assistant track and field coach. The exact circumstances of their first meeting haven’t been detailed publicly, but their overlapping years on USC’s athletics staff are well documented.
Their relationship developed after Steve’s first marriage, to Stephanie Sarkisian, ended — that divorce was finalized in 2016 following nearly two decades together and three children. Steve has spoken in the past about a period of personal difficulty around that time, including addressing struggles with alcohol, and has credited his later personal life, including his relationship with Loreal, as part of a more stable chapter.
Public details of their dating timeline and engagement are limited, since the couple has generally kept that part of their story private. What is known is that the relationship grew steadily through Steve’s coaching stops after USC, including his time as Alabama’s offensive coordinator, before he returned to a head coaching role at Texas.
Marriage & Wedding Details
Steve and Loreal married in 2020, before Steve took the Texas job. Reporting on the exact wedding date and venue is inconsistent, and the couple hasn’t shared extensive public details about the ceremony itself, consistent with how privately they’ve generally handled their relationship milestones.
Their marriage has had a public bump: in July 2024, reports surfaced that the couple had filed for divorce. By December 2024, they had reconciled, and multiple entertainment and sports outlets confirmed they were back together and expecting a child. The couple has not spoken extensively in public about the circumstances of the split or reconciliation.
Children & Family Life
Loreal is stepmother to Steve’s three children from his first marriage — daughters Ashley and Taylor, and son Brady, who has followed his father into college football. In April 2025, Steve and Loreal welcomed their first child together, a son. Loreal announced the birth on Instagram with a photo captioned simply with the baby’s name, Xolo.
Loreal has talked publicly about balancing her styling career and public gameday presence with new motherhood, returning to public appearances within weeks of giving birth, including at an Austin charity fundraiser in May 2025. The family tends to keep day-to-day home life private, with Loreal’s public visibility concentrated around Texas football games and styling-related events rather than personal family content.
Loreal Sarkisian on Social Media
Loreal is active on Instagram, where she’s built a following largely around her gameday fashion at Texas Longhorns games, styling work, and glimpses of family life. Her follower count has grown significantly since Steve’s 2021 hire at Texas put her outfits in the national sports-media spotlight. Her feed mixes styling content, event appearances, and posts about her son, and she’s been dubbed by fans and media as the “First Lady of Texas Football” largely because of her social media presence on game days.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Loreal Sarkisian (née Smith) |
| Date of Birth | Not publicly confirmed |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Fashion stylist; former track and field coach |
| Married to | Steve Sarkisian, head football coach, Texas Longhorns |
| Marriage Year | 2020 |
| Children | Stepmother to three (Ashley, Taylor, Brady); one son with Steve, born April 2025 |
| Net Worth | Unconfirmed; estimates vary widely online |
FAQ Section
Q: What is Steve Sarkisian’s wife’s name? A: His wife is Loreal Sarkisian, a fashion stylist and former collegiate track and field coach. She’s often referred to as the “First Lady of Texas Football.”
Q: How old is Loreal Sarkisian? A: Her exact birth date hasn’t been publicly confirmed, so a precise age can’t be verified from reliable sources.
Q: What does Loreal Sarkisian do for a living? A: She works as a professional fashion stylist after an earlier career as a track and field athlete and collegiate coach.
Q: When did Steve and Loreal Sarkisian get married? A: They married in 2020, before Steve became Texas’s head coach. They briefly filed for divorce in July 2024 before reconciling by the end of that year.
Q: How many kids do Steve and Loreal Sarkisian have? A: They have one son together, born in April 2025. Loreal is also stepmother to Steve’s three children — Ashley, Taylor, and Brady — from his first marriage.
Conclusion
Loreal Sarkisian is far more than a footnote in her husband’s coaching career. She built her own path first as a competitive athlete and coach, then as a fashion entrepreneur, before becoming known nationally as Steve Sarkisian’s wife and a fixture at Texas Longhorns games. Between a brief 2024 divorce filing and their reconciliation and the arrival of their son, the couple’s recent years have been eventful — and, by all public accounts, they’ve come through it together. As Steve Sarkisian’s coaching profile keeps growing, so does interest in the woman standing beside him.
