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2020 Texas Offseason Thread: Herman's Hail Mary

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texifornia
texifornia

Jesus, y'all win a title and still have tissue-thin skin to even gentle joking around. Woof.

honolulu horn
honolulu horn

Apex, take it somewhere else. This is a football thread, not a "don't be a pussy, my racist jokes are actually harmless and hilarious" thread.

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texifornia

texifornia 59010

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13 minutes ago, Mother mopar said:

Did we just get a commit? WR transfer from Michigan, some buzz on the twitters

Yup: https://247sports.com/Player/Tarik-Black-61354/

Fast (at least pre-injury) and talented, but held back by a combination of injuries and Michigan's parade of overhyped losers at QB. 

Grad transfer, so immediately eligible.

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texifornia

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IT on Black:

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Tarik Black: 6-3, 215 - Cheshire Academy (Cheshire, CT/Michigan transfer)
Hudl/highlights

How he fits at Texas: Black is a big, talented outside receiver from Connecticut that was long regarded as the most promising talent in the Michigan wide receiver room until multiple injuries derailed his career. He's big and has some speed, the latter point is still there after some injuries and he's now 6-3, 215 pounds with two years of eligibility remaining. At Michigan he fell behind Nico Collins and Ronnie Bell on the wide receiver pecking order in an offense that also regularly targets tight ends, so he's moving on for a fresh opportunity. For Texas he could fit into a lot of roles and was in the regular rotation at a few different spots last year in their new RPO spread offense. His most obvious fit is outside where he knows how to use his size to get to spots on slants and inside routes. He still has some deep ball threat to his game but he's closer to being a possession receiver at this point. He'll likely fit in either as a veteran opposite Brennan Eagles that can be in the right places or a back-up in the X that allows a younger player like Marcus Washington to compete for the second outside receiver starting job. With another year of removal from his injuries, Black could be a punisher for teams that want to try and bracket Eagles. - @Ian Boyd

Coach says: Strengths - Well-built and good height. Body has matured in a college strength and conditioning program. Good lower body explosiveness and first steps are decisive and quick off the line. Acceleration and straight-line speed appear about average. I am guessing +/- 4.6. Has a lot of usage as the field/Z but some boundary/X as well. Has a plan and executes against press coverage. Shows great change of direction and his old, unofficial shuttle times under 4 seconds would confirm this. Has very good lower body explosiveness and this is evident in his route running as he explodes out of his cuts. Not only a great route runner but a very good route seller. Has very nuanced movements to set up the defenders. Uses every bit of his frame against the defender. Available film shows soft hands and a natural catching motion away from his body. Always physical at the point of attack as a blocker and has above average highlights in that regard. Was an ESPN 300 player coming out of high school. Had a lot of athletic accolades at the high school level. Appears to be a good student as well and it’s fair to expect that he’s coming in as a well-spoken and mature upperclassman who can mentor the younger guys like Tre Watson did for the running back room.

Areas for Improvement / Concern - Frankly, he’s a question mark. Had one foot or the other broken in consecutive years and fell quickly down the depth chart that he stood poised to take over even as a freshman. Saw him get successfully harassed by smaller DBs at times. The physical traits are there which just don’t seem to have translated into real results at the college level. He’s a tale of “what could have been” for Michigan fans and it’s just not clear how much of this falls on the player, the QB play or the injuries.

How this affects Texas: UT needs a veteran wideout for 2020's season. They need a guy that's played at a high level of D-1 football and can bring a maturity to the wide receiver room. Frankly, Sam Ehlinger needs him. After LJ Humphrey (2018) and Devin Duvernay (2019) were Ehlinger's go-to guys the last two seasons, the senior signal-caller needs a Tarik Black type that can come in and stabilize a talented, yet relatively inexperienced WR core. As of today, Black is quiet about his future plans, but we've heard from multiple sources that expect Texas to be right in the thick of things when he does ultimately enroll. Remember, it's often difficult for a grad transfer to get accepted at UT, but coach Tom Herman has a penchant for finding those guys, like Calvin Anderson, Tre Watson, and Parker Braun. If Black can be a good percentage of what he used to be, this will help the UT passing attack. - @Justin Wells

 

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TheBryMan81

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6 hours ago, OB3 said:

So 1 or 2 years left? I’ve seen both

He was in the class of 2017 and was given a medical redshirt by the NCAA in his freshman year due to an early season injury.  

2017 - redshirt due to early injury

2018 - injured before season, played late in season

2019 - played.

So looks like he's got two years of eligibility remaining.

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Juicy

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You guys just got a good one in Tarik Black. Has had injury issues (broke both feet in different injuries back to back summers)  but is a total stud. Will be rooting for him wearing the burnt orange this year. Having an actual QB to throw him the ball instead of Shea Patterson is going to do wonders for him. 

 

https://www.burntorangenation.com/2020/4/28/21193985/tarik-black-graduate-transfer-texas-longhorns-football-michigan-wolverines

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49989

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10 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

That Herman interview didn’t exactly endear him to the fan base.

Really don't care if fans aren't endeared with Herman right now... (I hated yellow teeth while Horns were winning during his tenure)

Start developing players better, winning B12 Championships, recruiting better, and get players drafted earlier in the NFL Draft and Mensa's bullshit comments will be less regarded...

JUST F'N WIN... 🤘 

 

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NoName

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1 hour ago, texifornia said:

Jahdae Barron (Baylor signee) officially flipped, so @HtownHorn's chart should be fully accurate.

247 article on it: https://247sports.com/college/texas/Article/Texas-Longhorns-Football-Recruiting-Jahdae-Barron-Pflugerville-Connally-Baylor-signee-Texas-commit-Tom-Herman-146648009/

Text below:

Spoiler

 

The 2020 Texas class is growing by one.

After recently asking to be released from his letter of intent, former Baylor signee Jahdae Barron is now a Longhorn. The four-star cornerback from Pflugerville Connally committed to Baylor last June, but he never seemed quite solid to the Bears.

Barron initially put off inking his LOI during the early signing period, but he eventually signed it one day later. The Longhorns were interested in Barron, but he signed before they could move on him. From the time he signed there were rumors surrounding Barron that he was looking to make a move.

Barron had a relationship with Jay Valai going back to Valai’s time at Rutgers when he offered Barron. Texas only signed one cornerback in the 2020 class, and Barron will join four-star John Tyler cornerback Kitan Crawford in the class.

247Sports Midlands Region Recruiting Analyst Gabe Brooks compares Barron to Cleveland Browns defensive back Howard Wilson and describes his game in the following way.

“Possesses the requisite corner build with adequate height and frame potential relative to the position. Plays smoothly and instinctive in coverage. Shows good ball skills for a DB. Flashes encouraging reactive quickness. Consistently stays in-phase with receivers while playing off coverage.

“No verified testing times, but owns a 10.95 100-meter time. Good long speed. Natural corner but could potentially provide position flexibility in college. Willing tackler with solid numbers in that department, but can improve technique and consistency. Needs to continue adding bulk and strength to combat bigger opponents in college. One of the top 2020 corners in Texas who could become multi-year starter with NFL Draft potential.”


Barron was a big riser in the final 247Sports rankings. Though the industry-generated 247Sports Composite rankings disagreed, 247Sports ranked Barron as the No. 9 cornerback in the country and No. 20 overall prospect in Texas.

Barron’s commitment pushes Texas up one spot in the 247Sports team recruiting rankings. The Longhorns received just enough push to jump Florida and come in right behind Auburn.

At 5-foot-11, 175 pounds, Barron is ranked as the No. 24 cornerback in the nation and No. 51 overall prospect in Texas, according to 247Sports Composite.

 

 

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NoName

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The Athletic: The advice Texas’ Tom Herman took from his college coach at Cal Lutheran

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That’s when Squires offered what Herman, now Texas’ coach, called “a really good piece of advice.” Squires told Herman that he’d be good at coaching, but his first gig wouldn’t be at his alma mater.

Initially, Herman was confused. “I’m like, ‘You don’t want me here? You just told me I’d be a good coach,’” Herman recently recalled to The Athletic. “He said, ‘No. It’s for your own good.’”

Part of Squires’ reasoning was that a transition from friendly, fun-loving teammate to coach could prove an awkward dynamic. But, more importantly, he urged Herman to pursue a Division I graduate assistant role. If that wasn’t possible, find a similar way to catch on with a Division II or Division III team.

“Coaching at Cal Lutheran will be the final option for you,” Herman recalled Squires telling him.

 

this was news to me

Quote

But knee troubles limited Herman. He underwent 13 knee surgeries during his career. Doctors once grew cartilage “in like a test tube or a vial of some kind,” Squires recalled. “They stuck it back in his leg.”

 

Spoiler

 

The advice Texas’ Tom Herman took from his college coach at Cal Lutheran


By Kaelen Jones 6h ago 
In the empty bleachers of California Lutheran University’s Mt. Clef Stadium, Tom Herman brought up his plan to Scott Squires. Herman had just finished his three-year career as a wide receiver for Squires’ NCAA Division III program, and he next wanted to enter coaching. He wanted to work for Squires.

That’s when Squires offered what Herman, now Texas’ coach, called “a really good piece of advice.” Squires told Herman that he’d be good at coaching, but his first gig wouldn’t be at his alma mater.

Initially, Herman was confused. “I’m like, ‘You don’t want me here? You just told me I’d be a good coach,’” Herman recently recalled to The Athletic. “He said, ‘No. It’s for your own good.’”

Part of Squires’ reasoning was that a transition from friendly, fun-loving teammate to coach could prove an awkward dynamic. But, more importantly, he urged Herman to pursue a Division I graduate assistant role. If that wasn’t possible, find a similar way to catch on with a Division II or Division III team.

“Coaching at Cal Lutheran will be the final option for you,” Herman recalled Squires telling him.


Tom Herman was an all-conference wide receiver under Scott Squires at Cal Lutheran, but his career was marked by multiple injuries. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Herman took Squires’ advice. In 1998, at 23, he wound up at Texas Lutheran in Seguin, Texas, where he coached receivers for an annual salary of $5,000. He took a graduate assistant role at UT the next season. Eighteen years later, he returned as the Longhorns’ head coach, and he’s now entering his fourth season.

Earlier this month, Herman, sporting a camouflage Cal Lutheran ballcap, spoke with the current roster of Kingsmen players. “Leadership doesn’t have an age limit,” he said.

Herman is one of a handful of Squires’ former Kingsmen who’ve gone on to star in the coaching realm. Dave Aranda, Herman’s former teammate, became Baylor’s head coach in January after guiding the LSU defense during its national championship run. Current Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Cory Undlin played and coached under Squires, too.

Squires coached football for more than 25 years, going 55-44 at Cal Lutheran from 1996-2006 before moving on as an assistant in the CFL. He’s since retired from coaching and launched a real estate career. Squires said the coaches he’s helped produce could be his lasting legacy at Cal Lutheran, the school in Thousand Oaks, Calif., with a student population just north of 4,000.

“If you look at the pedigree of the coaches we had and who’s come out of there during my time and prior to me,” Squires said, “for a small school … from a football perspective, it’s pretty impressive.”

Squires, 55, grew up in Seattle where his parents were school teachers and his father coached at a high school. Squires’ older brothers played quarterback and center, while he served as waterboy.

“That was my orientation,” he said. “Our family meal discussions usually revolved around football, so I gleaned a lot of information from just being around that.”

Squires went on to play at Washington Pacific Lutheran, a Division III school in Tacoma, Wash., where he played for Frosty Westering, a College Football Hall of Famer who recorded 305 career wins. Squires completed a communications degree and started a job with a Los Angeles news magazine, but he missed football.

So he found a way back in. Cal Lutheran had recruited Squires out of high school. He’d already been familiar with it because as a kid, his godfather, Bob Ward, was a strength and conditioning coach with the Dallas Cowboys. Squires’ family would make trips down to Cal Lutheran, where the Cowboys held training camp from 1962-89.

Squires kept bumping into Bob Shoup, the Kingsmen’s head coach, at Sunday church services. One June morning, Squires approached him and explained he wanted to help in any capacity. Instead, he was interviewed and hired as a defensive line coach. “I got paid not a lot,” Squires recalled. “But I got paid.”

This was Squires’ first stint with Cal Lutheran. He left for a grad assistant gig with UNLV after one year, then returned as the offensive line coach under Cal Lutheran’s second coach, Joe Harper. Squires was elevated to be the offensive coordinator prior to rejoining UNLV as a receivers coach.

In 1996, he returned to Cal Lutheran as the third head coach in school history. He laughed thinking about his first facility, based on what he called “the chicken coops” as he explained the campus was on what used to be a ranch. Even the field was a bit wonky, with one end zone not being completely square and cutting off around 9 1/2 feet.

“At one end,” Squires joked, “you could try catching a corner route in the end zone and run into the snack shack and pick up a breakfast sandwich.”

Herman was part of Squires’ first team. Raised in nearby Simi Valley, Calif., Herman, who transferred in from UC Davis, played outside receiver in Squires’ West Coast-style offense. Squires remembered Herman as being one of the smartest players on the team and a people person who could energize a group.

“Tom was kind of one of those guys where he was so smart about the game and about breaking down film and watching other people — defensive backs in particular,” Squires said. “He knew our offense inside-out. So he could play inside, outside, wherever we wanted him to go. Because of his smarts, we used him up and down the line a bit.”

But knee troubles limited Herman. He underwent 13 knee surgeries during his career. Doctors once grew cartilage “in like a test tube or a vial of some kind,” Squires recalled. “They stuck it back in his leg.”

During a game against the University of San Diego, Squires remembered Herman cutting infield on a dig route and injuring his leg. As the trainer went out to gauge the situation, Squires recalled him exclaiming gleefully that it was Herman’s other knee that gave out and not the one that had the cartilage replacement.

“That was a common thing for him and his athletic career, which was a bummer,” Squires said of the injuries.

Regardless, Herman, named all-conference as a senior, enjoyed how much Squires stressed the mental aspect of the game.

“He taught us a lot about that,” Herman said. “And not just the X’s and O’s mental side, but the teamwork and camaraderie, and working together and sacrifice. All of that is something that I’ll certainly always remember from our time together.”

Squires led the Kingsmen to eight winning seasons and two Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles. He then left to become the special-teams coordinator for the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos. A year later, he was hired to the same position with the Montreal Alouettes, who were coached by Marc Trestman.

The Alouettes reached three consecutive Grey Cups prior to Trestman accepting a head coaching role with the NFL’s Chicago Bears. That’s when Squires said he decided it was time to retire.

Squires, who owns a real estate company, said he misses football and remains “as involved as people will let me.” Aranda recently reached out to Squires, asking questions about serving as a head coach.

Being away from the game has given Squires a chance to admire how far his former players have gone. In addition to Herman, Aranda and Undlin, a handful of high school coaches within Southern California played or coached under him while at Cal Lutheran.

Their success is noteworthy. And although Squires doesn’t claim it as his own, he takes pride in having had a part in their path, including Herman.

“I’m just really happy,” Squires said. “I’m proud of him for everything that he’s doing.”

 

 

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49989

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Old film at end of the Longhorn Tailgate video, has Willie Nelson singing "Good Hearted Woman" and "Whiskey River" at a private party with DKR.... Just Awesome!!

Willie with short hair, and DKR drinking Budweiser...  CLASSIC!!  🤘  

 

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LTtxfan

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22 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Old film at end of the Longhorn Tailgate video, has Willie Nelson singing "Good Hearted Woman" and "Whiskey River" at a private party with DKR.... Just Awesome!!  Willie with short hair, and DKR drinking Budweiser...  CLASSIC!!  🤘  

 

1 hour ago, LTtxfan said:

 

Texas Tailgate Video... 🤘

 

(DKR and Willie Nelson clip starts at the 1:26:00 mark at end of video)

 

 

Edited by LTtxfan
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Goodman

Goodman 3280

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6 hours ago, Matuka said:

Is that Lee Corso on the left side of couch at 1:27:10 mark?

Dunno but I'm guessing no, not enough curls in the fro. I know if I were in this video i'd be the guy sitting indian style over Willie's left shoulder, giddy and ruining everyones time by singing.

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Goodman

Goodman 3280

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28 minutes ago, Tex Long said:

Half a July and alla August? Boys oughta gotta little bit manly by then. Not too many get hurt, oughta be ready to play.

Between Herman and our sweet indoor facility, it's a good year to be a walk-on if you dreamed of actually suiting up. At least we're no longer teaching spearing in order to tackle.

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49989

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Think he did have surgery for a partially torn ACL.

It's mentioned in a couple articles below...

https://www.dallasnews.com/high-school-sports/football/2019/12/22/duncanville-qb-jaquinden-jackson-only-partially-tore-acl-likely-expediting-his-recovery-ahead-of-joining-texas/

"The doctor who gave Jackson the first opinion said the quarterback fully tore his ACL, Samples said, but a specialist who received the disc with the MRI later Wednesday — the doctor Samples said will likely perform Jackson’s surgery — offered the more positive outlook."

 

Ketch Warning -- enter at your own risk:

https://texas.forums.rivals.com/threads/ketchs-10-thoughts-from-the-weekend-when-herman-is-100-percent-humanized.467421/

* Jackson's own injury questions coming off the knee surgery that ended his high school career.

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49989

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Seeing that Eagles highlight reminded me of how Sam still struggled at times to connect on long passes during the 2019 season.  Recently I stumbled on to a little tidbit about Sam. 
Ketch Warning -- enter at your own risk:

Quote

No. 2 - Just one more thing about Sam's rib injury  
No, I'm not going to dive back into that subject matter head first because I don't want to give it the dead mule treatment, however .... I do want you to look at two sets of numbers.

Here's a look at the game efficiency ratings for Ehlinger through the first four weeks of the season heading into the team's bye week:
vs. La Tech: 169.4
vs. LSU: 165.7
vs. Rice: 208.6
vs. Oklahoma State: 195.7

Those aren't Joe Burrow numbers, but they aren't far off, either. What's important to know about the timeline with Ehlinger's rib injury is that when he first injured it, it wasn't treated as a serious injury by anyone in the program. It wasn't until the next game until Ehlinger was injured enough that the injury evolved into a situation that needed to be managed. By the time Texas got to the bye week and Ehlinger was able to rest the injury without the luxury of not having to play a game that week, it had turned into a problem.

Now, let's take a look at the next four games following the bye week:
at West Virginia: 122.2
vs. Oklahoma: 114.8
vs. Kansas: 172.1
at TCU: 99.1

It wasn't until the final two games of the season against Texas Tech and Utah that Ehlinger posted a single game rating that was as high as any that he had posted in the first four game of the season outside of the Kansas game in week seven. Every other performance in weeks No. 5-11 fell below the marks established in games No. 1-4.

I'm not telling you that this all points to the ribs as much as I'm reminding you that there were some clear marker lines on the Texas schedule a year ago when Ehlinger's performance started to slow and it coincides right after Ehlinger was bothered enough by the injury to miss practice, if even just a little.

 

https://texas.forums.rivals.com/threads/ketchs-10-thoughts-from-the-weekend-when-herman-is-100-percent-humanized.467421/

 

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satyanash

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(Chip Brown) Eyes of Texas: The players stepping up during pandemic

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LET’S TALK FOOTBALL!!!

Before we throw ourselves into football, including news of a good ol’-fashioned, ass-chewin' - Zoom style - by one of the new coaches, let’s quickly recap some important pandemic updates. As I’ve reported in the Eyes previously, Texas wants to have decisions about what the fall is going to look like as a university as well as in athletics by July 1. The ideal ramp up to football season would be eight weeks, but six weeks would suffice in the eyes of administrators across the Power Five.

When football season could start remains a mystery. But the latest next season could start is March, according to athletic directors I’ve talked to from three different Power Five leagues. As for Texas, if you listened to our video interview with athletic director Chris Del Conte on Tuesday, he has four committees looking into every kind of what-if scenario. (Del Conte also told us a vote by the NCAA DI Council on the one-time transfer rule will be pushed from May 20 to January 2021 - in large part because of the pandemic and the more than 3,000 student-athletes - men and women - who are currently in the portal.)

According to sources, the what-if scenarios being studied by Del Conte's committees include everything from requiring all Texas players to move back onto campus, into the Jester dormitory, where they can be quarantined together, to studying socially distanced seating possibilities for fans within DKR. In the meantime, the Texas football team continues to prepare for the 2020 season on-line, long-distance and relying on Zoom to receive coaching, academic support and to bond with teammates.

In talking to several team sources this week, the consensus is “85 to 90 percent” of the guys are doing what they need to be doing in terms of eating right, working out and staying on top of their academics. But word got around pretty quickly about a Zoom meeting new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich had with the offense last week - ripping into the entire offense to hold each other accountable.

“Yurcich basically said it’s on the players to know what each other is doing and to be communicating constantly to make sure everyone is investing in the team’s success by taking no shortcuts,” one team source said. “Except it was much more colorful than that. I think it definitely got everyone’s attention - but in a good way. We never had Tim Beck talking like that. Yurcich is much more take-charge, much more assertive with the players. I know the veteran guys on offense really like it.”

Another source said, “Yurcich already has buy-in across the board with the players. Last week wasn’t the first time he’s chewed their ass. He’s not going after any one player. He’s going after all of them to make sure there isn’t that one player who keeps needing an ass-chewing.” A third source said, “Yurcich is definitely a lot like Herman. I think they’ve even butted heads a couple times with Yurcich saying stuff like, ‘That’s why you brought me here. I got this.’ It’s good, healthy ball coachin’.”

A fourth source said, “All the quarterbacks connect with Yurcich. They like the changes in route concepts he’s brought in to help get guys open. The guy fits the scheme to the talent instead of trying to jam guys into roles that don’t really suit them. That sounds like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised. The guy has 10 different concepts in the red zone and is super detail-oriented. He’s all ball all the time. Sam (Ehlinger), Casey (Thompson) and the young quarterbacks will definitely be better for working with him.”

As far as the 10 to 15 percent who may lack the self-discipline to stay on top of all their responsibilities without coaches and academic support staff members meeting with them in person every day - one source said: “There are definitely going to be a few in the two-deep who will need additional work to get where they need to be. But the guys who need to be coming through the most right now are doing that.”

***

WHERE’S THE LEADERSHIP COMING FROM?

In talking to team sources, I asked who was really standing out from a leadership standpoint in doing the right things and holding teammates accountable during the pandemic? Here are the names I heard the most:

OLB/DE Joseph Ossai … Not a shock to hear his name. But sources said Ossai has maintained his relentless work ethic, is sending in great body-mass indexes (reflecting intense conditioning) while also holding teammates accountable. Ossai definitely seems to be in that oh-so rare category of “most talented/hardest worker.” When your most talented players are your hardest workers, that’s when the magic happens - ask the 2005 team and most of the teams in the first decade of the 2000s.

DT Ta'Quon Graham … Either Graham has everyone fooled, or this guy is set to have a long-awaited breakthrough/breakout season as a three-technique defensive tackle. Or he’s simply a guy who works his ass off, is a weight room freak, and definitely has the respect of his teammates as a vocal leader. More than one source said with Graham moving out of the 4i defensive end in Todd Orlando’s 3-4 and moving to the three-technique in Chris Ash's 4-3, people are going to see Graham's weight room freakiness combined with improved use of his hands to finally make the kind of plays he’s wanted to make (but was restrained by eating up double teams in the 4i or slanting into a gap to help set up a blitz).

QB Sam Ehlinger … I'm told Ehlinger is approaching every day with "in-season urgency." Everything he’s done up to this point - all the grind through seven-win, 10-win and eight-win seasons - will be remembered/defined by what happens this season. He approaches every day like that and knows there are no days or nights off from being an unquestioned team leader and face of the program. As was stated earlier in the Eyes by a team source, there is a strong sense - because of their chemistry thus far - that Mike Yurcich and Ehlinger are a great fit, and Yurcich will put Ehlinger in positions to elevate and have his best season yet. I believe we were the first to report (weeks and weeks ago) that Yurcich has said privately he wants to do for Ehlinger what Joe Brady did for Joe Burrow last year at LSU. (That’s confidence!!)

S Chris Brown … I’ve been talking up my man Chris Brown since he got here. So it puts a smile on my face hearing his name repeatedly as one of the team’s most-important leaders right now. NFL scouts like Brown. They’re high on his ability to diagnose and close, and I’m hearing Chris Ash liked Brown’s film at safety from last year more than any other returning safety on the roster. Combine that with very real leadership qualities and don’t be surprised to see No. 15 on the field as a starter. (You can say you heard it here first if that plays out!)

C Derek Kerstetter … Some might find it interesting to see Kerstetter’s name considered one of the team’s most-important leaders right now instead of potential 2021 first-round pick LT Samuel Cosmi. But those inside the locker room know Kerstetter is much more of a vocal leader than Cosmi, who is more of a lead-by-example guy. Kerstetter’s reputation as a selfless, versatile grinder has helped him earn the respect of the locker room. In fact, you could argue Kerstetter’s role as the center - in addition to having played every position on the line - makes him the team’s most indispensable lineman.

HONORABLE MENTION: Sophomores NT Keondre Coburn, OG Junior Angilau and DE/DT Moro Ojomo also got mentions from sources as leaders on the rise who are doing a good job of holding teammates accountable during the pandemic. “Those guys (Coburn, Angilau and Ojomo) could all be captains before they leave,” said one team source. “In fact, I’ll be surprised if they’re not all captains before they leave.”

 

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