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Texas Recruiting Notes 2023: Strippers, Monkeys, and 5-Stars


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Stampede:

Spoiler

After a few weeks of heavy activity on campus, recruiting slowed a bit at Texas this weekend. As prospects took visits elsewhere and the Texas staff focused on their annual coaching convention, the updates from being recruiting weekends we’ve become accustomed to over the past few weekends just weren’t there.

That doesn’t mean we weren’t able to dig up anything to report in this space. The Horns247 staff had a substantial scrimmage report, and we were also able to tap some sources to get some information on the coaching clinic and the weekend in Austin. We also spoke with a few sources to get updates on a few key targets in the recruiting class.

In this week’s edition of The Stampede, Horns247’s weekly gathering of recruiting intel, we’ll discuss the feedback we heard from high school coaches in attendance and provide updates on several highly-regarded targets.

HIGH SCHOOL COACHES DESCEND ON AUSTIN
Steve Sarkisian was able to host his first in-person coaching convention since being at Texas. COVID-19 forced Sarkisian and his staff to go online last spring, but this year was a return to a big event for high school coaches to interact with the staff.

The clinic started Thursday night with a "burgers and brats" social and featured presentations from Blake Gideon and AJ Milwee before the entire staff opened up for a chalk talk session. Many of the attendees arrived on Friday where they were able to hear from a wide variety of coaches.

Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun, Florida A&M Willie Simmons, Tulane head coach Willie Fritz and Buffalo head coach Maurice Linguist all made presentations along with a most of the Texas staff. Broadcast personality Joel Klatt also spoke to end the day before the Fish Fry social with the staff.

Saturday was anchored by Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and LA Rams Special Teams Coordinator Joe DeCamillis. After those presentations, the coaches were able to go take in practice and watch the team scrimmage. Feedback we heard singled out Linguist, Quinn and DeCamillis among the presenters that were a big hit. Among the coaching staff, we heard the most positives on Jeff Banks and Brennan Marion. One thing I’ve learned attending these clinics throughout the spring is that coaches love picking up special teams nuggets so guys like Banks are usually a big hit.

Chris Gilbert also earned a ton of praise. One coach we spoke with said the reception was awesome.

“I kinda felt like I was treated like a recruit,” the coach said. “They walked us in from the parking lot and handed you off to another person who asked where you coached and all sorts of questions. They offered to give us a tour. We got to go in the suites and they had pizza and drinks. We got to go pretty much wherever we wanted. Chris Gilbert was super accommodating and ran the whole show.”

Another high school head coach we spoke with echoed the same sentiments.

“The clinic was beneficial for me,” he said. “I learned some things from Maurice Linguist the head coach at Buffalo and coach Marion and coach Choice are the real deal. I felt very welcomed. “Coach Chris Gilbert did an awesome job. I was only there Friday. Coach Terry joseph spent time with the coaches in between session and coach Chjoice invited me to practice later in the week.”

The prevailing sentiment from the coaches we spoke with was how accessible the staff was even in the middle of a busy scrimmage weekend.

“I liked the clinic,” a Dallas head coach told us. “It wasn’t a crazy amount of people and the coaching staff was available most of the whole clinic to talk ball. They were just around to talk in general. The clinic speakers were good and coach Gilbert did a good job hosting.

LONGHORNS HOST SPEEDY RECEIVER
Aldine Eisenhower wideout Ryan Niblett surprised many when he cut Texas from his top schools early in the spring. Niblett added the Longhorns back commenting that it was a simple oversight. Still, we hadn’t heard much regarding Niblett but getting him to campus this weekend for some one-on-one time with Brennan Marion definitely helped.

Niblett doesn’t talk much but we were able to catch up with a source near him who said he really enjoyed his time on campus. There are definitely a few options at the wide receiver position, but if Texas can generate more off of this and add Niblett as a legit option to the board, it will only help diversify the group they could bring in. The next step is getting him back on campus for an official visit.

MARION MAKING PROGRESS WITH OTHER TARGETS

Over the weekend I was able to speak in-depth with four-star Dekaney wide receiver Jonah Wilson and four-star Langham Creek wide receiver Jaquaize Pettaway.

Wilson said he loved the atmosphere and got to see some new stuff about the University. Watching Brennan Marion during practice gave Wilson the opportunity to see how Marion works and said he is who he says he is as far as having fun with his position and also coaching them hard. Wilson plans to return sometime during the summer and is looking at setting up an official visit. He’s also likely to visit Ohio State at some point, but Texas seems to be out in front after the recent trip. Wilson doesn’t have a firm timeline for an announcement but it’s likely one would come before the season.

Pettaway also made the visit last week and told Horns247 that the trip moved Texas up in his eyes. He said the overall energy with the coaches and team and the way they practiced appealed to him. Brennan Marion has been big in this one so far. Pettaway feels Marion is incredibly relatable and he can talk to him about anything. He’s set to see Oklahoma for the spring game on the 23rd and is working on setting up visits in the summer.

He wants to take some time with the process, but he’s targeting a commitment before his senior season after his official visits. Pettaway wants to be used in a few different ways and Texas told him they could move him to several different spots on the field and utilize him. This one feels like it’s shaping up to be a Texas/OU battle as of right now.

Wilson and Pettaway both mentioned the fact that Texas has a definite need at the receiver position moving forward and they both feel they could potentially see the field early on.

MONITORING DEFENSIVE LINE MOVEMENT
We’ve been keeping an eye on the shifting numbers along the defensive line. One name we’ve been asked quite a bit about is Ashton Porter. The four-star defensive lineman from Cy-Ranch visited Baylor over the weekend, but he's been pretty quiet recently. I’m trying to set up something with Porter, who will be back in Austin for the spring game in a few weeks, to talk about his recruitment.

A source I spoke with indicated Porter could ultimately be pushing his timeline out throughout the season. He’s been a big target for Texas and at times he’s been a guy we’ve felt could be close to pulling the trigger. The extended timeline could complicate things as the Longhorns pursue other targets. As numbers are added to the class it takes spots away in what will already be a tight class numbers-wise.

 

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17 minutes ago, texifornia said:

Every time I look, this guy's ranking has dropped a point. Still, attending a Rivals camp is a great way to keep the composite up in the bluechip zone.

https://247sports.com/player/tj-shanahan-46101254/

This 100%. He and Ashton Porter are twitter and camp 5 star champions, but not nearly the talent their ranking would have you believe.  These Rivals camps these days are a joke.  

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1 minute ago, Enchubben said:

This 100%. He and Ashton Porter are twitter and camp 5 star champions, but not nearly the talent their ranking would have you believe.  These Rivals camps these days are a joke.  

I think Dylan Spencer may have taken Porter's spot.  Not sure if he's ever attended any camps and don't see much social media from him.  Rated pretty high on ESPN and Rivals, but 247 has him a 3*??

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3 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

This 100%. He and Ashton Porter are twitter and camp 5 star champions, but not nearly the talent their ranking would have you believe.  These Rivals camps these days are a joke.  

Also, Burrell was LB MVP and the last camp he was at 247 guys were raving about him, yet those two sites still have him a 3*.

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45 minutes ago, Elmer_Fudd said:

Also, Burrell was LB MVP and the last camp he was at 247 guys were raving about him, yet those two sites still have him a 3*.

He will get a BOMC bump his Sr year so long as he plays like he has at the camps and stays healthy. 

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1 hour ago, Enchubben said:

Apparently this giant mfer dominated the rivals Dallas camp. Goes by Bubba. 380 lbs in high school lol. 

 

Where’s the gif from Madagascar and the hippo waking to lyrics “I like’em big, I like’em juicy” followed by coach flood edited onto face of banderas gif from original sin.

 

c’mon man. Thought there’s enough of youse guys with video edit skillz on the surly.

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On 4/9/2022 at 5:37 PM, Hornlover said:

Yeah, but what if he has glorious locks of golden hair that he refuses to cut until we win a Big 12 championship?

Speaking of that, I just checked up on Breckyn Hager. He said he wishes there were NIL deals when he played. He thinks Mane and Tail shampoo would have signed him. 
 

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4 hours ago, Enchubben said:

Apparently this giant mfer dominated the rivals Dallas camp. Goes by Bubba. 380 lbs in high school lol. 

 

"My given name is Benjamin Buford Blue Brione Ramsey-Brooks, but people call me Bubba. Just like one of them ol' redneck boys. Can you believe that?"

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Bubba's HUDL

https://www.hudl.com/video/3/13812068/6163cddf96768a0de4714cd5

He's a mean, mauling, road grading SOB. Just look at him. Even if the play is blown dead, he's getting a shot on some poor defender. He punishes through the whistle. There's one play where he picked up a defender streaking into the backfield on a delayed blitz and totally redirects him 90 degrees with a light shove. He blocked some poor DB all the way through the back of the end zone. 

Can you imagine a scenario where the two behemoths, Bubba and Cam (Williams) were on the R side of the OL? 

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18 minutes ago, UDontKnow said:

Bubba's HUDL

https://www.hudl.com/video/3/13812068/6163cddf96768a0de4714cd5

He's a mean, mauling, road grading SOB. Just look at him. Even if the play is blown dead, he's getting a shot on some poor defender. He punishes through the whistle. There's one play where he picked up a defender streaking into the backfield on a delayed blitz and totally redirects him 90 degrees with a light shove. He blocked some poor DB all the way through the back of the end zone. 

Can you imagine a scenario where the two behemoths, Bubba and Cam (Williams) were on the R side of the OL? 

Wow he's truly a mean sob

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10 hours ago, victory88 said:

Herman and company took way too many small/light OL and way too man big slow WRs.  
 

Sark and company are looking for big dudes all around on the OL and D and speed at skill positions.  

So Herman kept recruiting WRs that were close to being TE size and OL that were more like TE size and yet through all of his time here, couldn’t recruit TE for shit?  
 

It’s like we were in bizarro world with this wanna recruit something close to TE size and then never play them at actual TE….

 

Fuck you Turtle Tom

Edited by Laxtonto
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10 hours ago, UDontKnow said:

Bubba's HUDL

https://www.hudl.com/video/3/13812068/6163cddf96768a0de4714cd5

He's a mean, mauling, road grading SOB. Just look at him. Even if the play is blown dead, he's getting a shot on some poor defender. He punishes through the whistle. There's one play where he picked up a defender streaking into the backfield on a delayed blitz and totally redirects him 90 degrees with a light shove. He blocked some poor DB all the way through the back of the end zone. 

Can you imagine a scenario where the two behemoths, Bubba and Cam (Williams) were on the R side of the OL? 

Put him through the Todd Wright body transformation program, and he's probably a pretty legit P5 starter.

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