closetojumping

That all makes sense. My FIL is proudly British (as well as a proud American citizen) and grew up lower middle class and sent off to sea at 15. He still carries dreams and beliefs of the kind in which you reference. After he'd made a pile of money in Houston in the petrochemical space, he decided he was going to get himself a Jaguar, whether his wife wanted him to or not. So he goes down to a Houston dealership and gets them to let him test one out for the weekend. He's a tall, big dude. The climbing in and climbing out, along with the shifting/transmission being really jankity was enough for him to disavow any illusions he'd had of wanting to own a Jag, returning it to the dealer on Monday. Got a Cadillac instead. I hear that story every 6 months when the in-laws fly in. My uncle got rich in tech in Austin when I was a kid. Did the same thing - went out and got himself a badass Jaguar. He had it for less than a year and said it spent more time in the shop than on the road. He's long since passed away, so add another tally to your notion that that demo has mostly died off or will be doing so within the next decade.

You don't have to assume anything or manufacture cause. I already told you what was happening. Don't make it harder than it has to be.

I've dealt with branding and advertising and marketing, and agencies associated to all, so I cannot say that this kind of rebranding silliness is all that surprising, but I do have to admit, I also cannot figure out who in the fuck they are attempting to address here? It looks like a total repudiation of what I've always assumed was their core demographic - macho, or aspiringly macho, well to do men. What am I missing? That shit looks absurd and it is baffling that it made its way into the public eye.

Generally, she's a good journalist who puts in the work to verify claims and sources and facts and wild shit like that. She's even won awards for it. Legacy media and even much of sports media could learn from her on those fronts. As a commentator on XM 84 and elsewhere, she's not normally taking a position as a journalist, and she's a Michigan alum, so for sure she's going to be far less redeeming in that context for us as Texas fans.

All recruitments are equal, but some recruitments are more equal than others. There is often chicanery towards the end of a cycle, as we're seeing now. Should said chicanery involve a "must-have", a final and best offer scenario might play out. See Wingo, Ryan, in the 2024 cycle. To all others, the original agreement will stand and the prospect can make choices accordingly. Reminder that none of this is applicable to recruits who haven't agreed to anything or committed anywhere. Those guys get to do whatever they want and the schools pursuing them understand that. Also a reminder that other programs have their owns codes that they follow in how this is all handled, with nuances, of course. Regarding contracts, those would only be signed by players showing up to campus. If you take Robinson last year, he basically decided he didn't want to come to Texas due to Davis leaving. He dug his feet in, and Texas let him loose even though he'd signed documents. Not exactly NIL related, but similar. Holding someone's feet to the flames due to an NIL agreement is unseemly and likely to wind up in the media somehow. Mostly, if a guy wants to quit and go elsewhere, the player just stops performing their duties under the agreement and stop getting paid. Again, this only applies to people on a campus. Offering and signing NIL contracts ahead of a recruit becoming a player, I believe, is still subject to penalty with the NCAA and schools like Texas will adhere to that requirement.

I don't disagree about anything associated to the points here except that the situation at UNC is different. The UNC boards feel an element of trapped, but they're not actively demanding an alternative. As long as he keeps winning and going to bowls, which he mostly does, they're likely to let him putt around the facilities and bitch and whine as the insecure bitch that we know he is.

Travis Hunter isn't the best CB or the best WR in this cycle. Why would anyone draft him in the top 10 with his frail frame and overuse heading into the league?

I can't figure out which thing is more fucking tedious - the multiple posts displaying the same fucking factoid or the immediate "well ackshually" follow-ups pointing out that UK already played at DKR once, as though that invalidates the point.

Regarding how they balance the locker room, it's unlikely to be the same dynamic. Why? Because everybody is now getting something. Guards aren't living under the impression that they're going to get paid like Tackles, much less QBs and such. So the risk in overpaying, should that occur, is positional. A 4 star starting Edge getting paid $75k because that's where they fit ahead of the season is not going to feel great about an unproven freshman coming in and bragging about getting $500k. That could happen anywhere, happens in the pros, etc. Regarding the general notion of mercenaries, which was a major flaw with the 2022 approach for ATM, that could again be an issue. Part of the evaluation of a recruit these days includes answering some variation of the following question: Would this guy want to come here and would we want them to come here if money wasn't a part of the equation? If that answer isn't firmly "yes, yes", then caution needs to applied and folks need to dig deeper on the evaluation end. There are turds in every cycle. Some of them are 5 star or top 100 turds. That's a tale as old as time in CFB. Some have terrible people around them that make them a turd by extension. The guy who just reclassified at DT or DE/Edge out of NOLA fits firmly into the latter, for instance. These types are always to be avoided unless the HC or his processes are truly elite. Bad character creep is a thing. Headcases are a thing. Herman and staff rightly punted on Umanaliamanlien because he proved himself to be a turd. He went on to middling shit at UF and was a vocal problem in the locker room. Kiffin ignored that, believing they could deal with him in a contract year, and he's been rewarded for that. The same is true regarding Walter Nolen. Bo Davis and Texas had no interest in either guy. Kiffin's risk is Norvellian. Here There Be Dragons when it comes to the portal as a means of wholly rebuilding rosters. So is ATM evaluating this new cycle differently now that they're just throwing big numbers out to whoever takes their calls? I don't know. The likeliest place with ticking timebombs on their roster right now is apparently Miami. Georgia to a lesser degree. Florida looks kind of desperate out of the blue, like ATM, over the last 2-3 weeks. I'm betting on them to continue to have problems inside of their locker room. Sorry Hans, wrong guess. Would you like to go for Double Jeopardy where the scores can really change? See my prior post. You guys are in the business world. Is this how you work with employees, vendors or even clients after a firm deal is already struck? Firm deals don't have to be signed into contract to exist. particularly when the law prevents it.

I just named a few. This isn't how it works and recruits and their agents have gotten fucked by trying that in the past. Programs and supporters, for the most part, are not stupid or naïve. There's largely a foundations set and processes in place to prevent the "forever negotiation" bullshit at most programs. Agents would like to be able to tell clients that they can negotiate on their behalf to any program. If they fuck blue blood programs, those programs will let prospects know that they're not going to recruit them if they're working with a bad actor. That's already happened and it has cost shitheads money, if not their lot in the whole process. Whoops. That's one way in which the bullshit is prevented. There are others as well. A new offer has to really be something to make the juice worth the squeeze for a recruit to flip due to NIL alone. The bottom line is that a recruit with a strong NIL deal at the place they really want to play is unlikely to flip after the cards are played. However, if a recruitment was close, or the player wanted to go somewhere else all along, they are candidates to head elsewhere with a bigger NIL deal promised. The Townsend recruitment was close. That's one with non-mercenary issues if the deal is ridiculous. Whatever winds up happening, this board needs to remove its illusions that seem to be defaulted to around how this shit works. There are few straight-up clowns just letting recruits and agents constantly renegotiate.

ATM NIL interest is a rollercoaster just like the rest of their program. Suddenly they’re letting Elko offer gobs of money above and beyond what they’d previously proposed to recruits. It functions off of the emotional swings of the traders backing everything for them over the past 7 seasons. That means that Charles, Fasusi and Townsend, among others, are being given new offers that are straight-up fucking dumb, just like 2022. Same people and forces at play, including Elko, and only sans Fisher. We’ll see how things wind up. These are camps that already had agreed to good terms with other players and they’re now trying to renegotiate.

As you know, we have an abundance of idiots on this board. In the hierarchy of imbeciles running amok on Surly, that dude has progressed his way in rapid fashion into like at least Colonel Buffoon or higher. It’s been a meteoric rise.

I appreciate mocking Mack Brown's behavior at the end of his time at Texas as much as the next guy. That said, North Carolina isn't Texas. They have nowhere near the expectations for their football program that Texas has. Nor should they. Outside of inventing the forward pass and Lawrence Taylor, Mack Brown is about the best thing UNC can claim in terms of breathing life into their program. UNC isn't even complete shit this season. They're 6-4, above their historic mean, and they close out with 5-5 BC and 5-5 NC State plus a middling bowl. They could finish 6-7, but they could also finish 9-4. Anything near the latter and their fans are happy. He could eclipse 300 next season. He has 3 more games to coach this season and then a full and weak schedule in 2025. In the OOC, they host TCU, at Charlotte, Richmond, at UCF. That's anywhere between 2-2 and 4-0 with the latter being as likely as anything. In conference is Charmin soft, with only hosting Clemson being a visible, top of the ACC challenge. It's not hard to see them going 10-4/9-4 if they figure out QB. UNC is recruiting better than anyone in the ACC besides the top 3-4 teams.

Regarding Zion Williams, that one is just about marking territory for Texas. Williams isn’t a difference maker. I’m hoping he sticks with LSU.

The LB went down against Tenn and is a big loss. If they don’t have Walker either, that’s 2 key players on defense. This thing could be a hideous blowout.

Indiana is easily the worst team in the P4 from a historic perspective. If there is any program undeserving of a benefit of the doubt in this CFP shitshow, it is Indiana. They also haven't played any of the top 7 Big 10 teams, and backed out of an OOC game against Louisville. They're being questioned justifiably, and that's even considering the amazing job Cignetti has done and the way in which IU has pummeled most opponents. All they have to do is beat Ohio State and the questioning goes away. I'm cheering for it.

Negged for abject stupidity and thread-shitting. Umanamanamanalien Filsaime Robinson Mack Gibson Baxter More to come and more before. Negged for ignorance and thread-shitting.

Gerry on what it would take to land the #1 class, posted below. It appears that Justus Terry is a potential swing candidate for winning the title of #1. Georgia's almost certainly landing him unless Auburn goes fucking nuts, which they might. Texas has never done an NIL deal for a true freshmen in the 7 figures range. Terry is allegedly going to get around that and Auburn is rumored to be offering something absurd. Auburn and Hugh Freeze are an easy combo to despise. Gerry: It's time!!!: Path to the No. 1 recruiting class now in play All you guys and gals have been waiting on this story, and now you've got it! The Texas Longhorns officially have a path to the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the 2025 cycle. With the news that Oklahoma 5-star OT verbal Michael Fasusi and current LSU verbal Kade Phillips are scheduled to visit this weekend, the Longhorns have a clear path to challenge for the top class for the first time since the 2002 cycle. Texas currently sits at 23 commitments with a signing class of 29 now in play. OnTexasFootball provides the path to the No. 1 class: Texas currently sits at No. 4/5 Texas is current ranked anywhere from 4 to 6 in the industry, so let's call it No. 5 for now. Texas jumps to No. 3 in this scenario... A win in the San Antonio area of a top 50 ranked prospect. That's all Texas needs to solidify the No. 3 ranking. Michael Terry II, ATH, San Antonio (Texas) Alamo Heights OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star++ The recruitment: Texas leads Nebraska, and Oregon. Texas is solid No. 2, and challenges for No. 1 in this scenario... Should this scenario play out, Texas would have at least 26 prospects in the class. Javion Hilson, EDGE, Cocoa (Fla.) High OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star++ The recruitment: Texas vs. Texas A&M with a decision December 4. Kade Phillips, CB/S, Missouri City (Texas) Hightower - *Current LSU verbal OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star++ Michael Terry II, ATH, San Antonio (Texas) Alamo Heights OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star++ Texas' would add solid depth to class and solidify No. 2 or ascend to No. 1 in this scenario ... These two guys would help Texas ascend to the No. 1 ranked class. Joseph Mbatchou, DL, Loganville (Ga.) Grayson OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star+ The recruitment: Texas in best position with Florida, Auburn and Tennessee in play. Tennessee scheduled to receive OV this weekend. Kellen Wiley, LB, Seffner (Fla.) Armwood OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star The recruitment: Texas leads Miami headed into OV to Coral Gables. Texas would finish with the No. 1 class in either of these scenarios ... Texas is the No. 1 class with either of these upset victories. Michael Fasusi, OT, Lewisville (Texas) High - Oklahoma commit Industry ranking: 5-star Justus Terry, DL, Manchester (Ga.) High Industry ranking: 5-star The recruitment: Georgia leads Texas, Alabama and Auburn. The wildcard ... Texas has the long shot possibility to add another top 300 ranked prospect to the class. Zion Williams, DL, Lufkin (Texas) High - *LSU commitment OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star The recruitment: Texas scheduled to receive OV this weekend.

Don’t get me started on the micks. Apparently, while we all absolutely despise the guy, he’s a blast at parties. I can see it.

With Tom Herman currently unemployed, who are the biggest asshole HCs in CFB? I’m not talking about doichebags like Riley. I mean real assholes. Brian Kelly seems like easily the biggest one. He’s killed a guy, he’s permanently condescending, he screams constantly at everyone on the sidelines. How could anyone look forward to playing for that dickhead? He’s really easy to dislike and root against.

Your question reminds me of the discussion I had with my buddies before we went to Vegas a month ago. We weighed trying the Golden Steer after all these years but instead went to Don’s Prime in The Fountainebleau. We just kind of wanted to see the new hotel and casino and had heard good things about the dining there. I highly recommend it as an alternative. The clientele in the common area around the games and in the bars were a sight to behold. It was a mix hillbillies, euros, hipsters, and strippers/escorts. Deeper cuts of each of those groups than the rest of the strip. The steakhouse was also excellent. You can get a lobster mac at any good steakhouse but their presentation, and the dish itself, was next level.

Yeah, that is some weird sidetalk about whatever is going on. Either the wife left him or there's some issue with a kid and she's gone with the kid for treatment of some sort.

They plan on working with Terry in the backfield quite a bit, plus the other 2 TB signees, plus Gibson, plus Baxter coming back and Wisner being an experienced starter. Unless there's a chance to land a proven badass for cheap in the portal, the portal focus is going to be elsewhere. Specifically, DT, WR, and STs. Targets of opportunity at any position will be a part of the mix.

Does anyone know what is going on with Chris Klieman personally? I've seen mentions of something troubling on Twitter, but I haven't heard much anywhere else.

His stats aren't eyepopping, but I think he's pretty damned good and has decent measurables. Is he just not getting any kind of draft buzz? I haven't followed the 2025 draft cycle any further than reading the stuff a few guys post on the 2025 thread and that's usually just top 50 lists. Whittington came back for what equaled a 7th round payout and then he bettered his stock and had the money too. If Golden is getting a 7th/UFA grade, that could be solved. If he's getting 4th-5th round grades, that's a tougher row to hoe.