Texas Recruiting Notes 2024: Bags Don't Beat Bankrolls

billfromlaketravis · February 7

6 minutes ago, MirrOlure said:

IIRC, they moved him to Middle Linebacker because every team ran every play to the opposite side he lined up on at DL. And he had an 81 yard pick-six.

360 pound MLB? Todd Orlando says :

conVINCEd · February 7

2 hours ago, Pimphand said:

Big Leonard broke my friend Cristina's couch by simply sitting in it back in college /csb

He broke a pretty well built bench at our fraternity house.

billfromlaketravis · February 7

Foster signed with Baylor. Highest rated recruit in their abysmal class. They must have offered him a piece of the new Pappadeaux.

I wonder why Texas didn't push. I thought they wanted a developmental piece.

Edited February 7 by billfromlaketravis

Bevo · February 7

1 minute ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Foster signed with Baylor. Highest rated recruit in their abysmal class. They must have offered him a piece of the new Pappadeaux.

I wonder why Texas didn't push. I thought they wanted a developmental piece.

I think the money is there for a transfer, and development pieces usually don't stick around long enough to actually develop. And the new DL coach probably doesn't have a strong enough opinion or voice with Sark yet to make a strong case for Foster. So, the focus is going to be on the next recruiting class after we pick up the transfer.

Laga4 · February 8

4 hours ago, longhornmatt said:

Level of competition is a very valid point when it’s Traylon Shead or Jalin Conyers putting up huge numbers running in straight lines against 2A kids and then clocking 12 seconds plus in the 100m during track season.

When you see a dude making jump cuts that look like CGI effects, it doesn’t really matter what the competition is.

I saw Shead play his Sr. year, he was good, but probably should have played defense in college.

It was obvious that the best player on Cayuga's team that year was Malcolm Kennedy. He went to aggy, was productive and I think made it to the NFL?

Stats will get in the way of good evaluation at times.

ousux · February 8

And Buffalo Gap.

I know that place! Perrini ranch steakhouse, rehab center for celebs who don't like paparazzi and not much else. Steaks are good though.

ousux · February 8

Collect monies; transfer out in 10 months.

I really would like to know what aggy had to promise Bussey to keep him away from LSU.

Napoleon · February 8

6 hours ago, Matuka said:

"Sit on it Potsie."

6 hours ago, Droopy said:

Was supposed to be and extra (“background), “Ghoul #2”, for an episode of some new spooky kids series around the year 2000 (or 2001) and the episode was being directed by Anson Williams… a.k.a. “Potsie”.

I was supposed to be quiet in the scene, but Potsie could tell that it would be stupid for the two ghouls in the scene to be quiet, so he gave me the line “ARRRRRRR!!!!”

That took my one day pay from about $130 to $800. I will always respect him for that.

SIDE NOTE: I had to sit in a chair in the Hair & Make Up trailer for 2-3 hours getting my ghoul face & head professionally done.

During that time, some attractive teen actress popped in to get touched up. She was definitely a “15 will get you 20” age and that was much younger than I was, but I could see in the mirror that “the camera loved her.”

About two years ago, I discovered that that girl was about a 15 year-old Kaley Cuoco. Potsie had an eye for talent.

NorLa Horns · February 8

38 minutes ago, Napoleon said:

Was supposed to be and extra (“background), “Ghoul #2”, for an episode of some new spooky kids series around the year 2000 (or 2001) and the episode was being directed by Anson Williams… a.k.a. “Potsie”.

I was supposed to be quiet in the scene, but Potsie could tell that it would be stupid for the two ghouls in the scene to be quiet, so he gave me the line “ARRRRRRR!!!!”

That took my one day pay from about $130 to $800. I will always respect him for that.

SIDE NOTE: I had to sit in a chair in the Hair & Make Up trailer for 2-3 hours getting my ghoul face & head professionally done.

During that time, some attractive teen actress popped in to get touched up. She was definitely a “15 will get you 20” age and that was much younger than I was, but I could see in the mirror that “the camera loved her.”

About two years ago, I discovered that that girl was about a 15 year-old Kaley Cuoco. Potsie had an eye for talent.

I think this.is the funniest scene in movie history

Edited February 8 by NorLa Horns
Cus

Sgt. Slaughter · February 8

2 hours ago, Napoleon said:

About two years ago, I discovered that that girl was about a 15 year-old Kaley Cuoco. Potsie had an eye for talent.

True visionary being able to spot the talent here.

Tex Pete · February 8

8 hours ago, Napoleon said:

SIDE NOTE: I had to sit in a chair…getting my…head professionally done.

That’s always the best.

Sounds like Potsie really took care of his extras.

BurntOrange&White · February 8

How Bobby ranks each player in our 2024 class:

Quote

2024 Texas Recruits

1. WR, Ryan Wingo

2. Edge, Colin Simmons

3. S, Xavier Filsaime

4. OL, Brandon Baker

5. CB, Wardell Mack

6. OL, Daniel Cruz

7. RB, Christian Clark

8. TE, Jordan Washington

9. Edge, Zina Umeozulu

10. QB, Trey Owens

11. RB, Jerrick Gibson

12. OL, Nate Kibble

13. DL, Alex January

14. LB, Tyanthony Smith

15. CB, Kobe Black

16. WR, Parker Livingstone

17. S, Jordon Johnson-Rubell

18. DL, Melvin Hills

19. WR/ATH, Aaron Butler

20. CB, Santana Wilson

21. P, Michael Kerns

22. WR, Freddie Dubose Jr. (inj.)

Note: I'm interested to see if Dubose heals further from his injury. I would rate him differently if I knew that for sure.

NoName · February 8

OTF Bobby links:

2024 Class: The Superlatives

https://ontexasfootball.com/news/thursday-the-superlatives-r169/

How I Would Rank Them

Quote

I always get asked how I would rank the Texas recruits within the recruiting class. I've been doing this for 20+ years now.

I've gotten some right and some wrong. So don't take what I say or how I rank these players as the gospel. It's just another man's opinion based on what I've seen and what I've been told.

https://ontexasfootball.com/news/how-i-would-rank-them-r165/

spoiler: he is very high on Cruz and Clark

Gerry in the comments on Clark:

Edited February 8 by NoName

Pato del Muerto · February 8

On 2/3/2024 at 1:56 PM, satyanash said:

Is there a specific narrative they are pushing, to have all of Houston metro in one bucket under Houston but break dfw into north Dallas, south Dallas, and ftw/Arlington?

Tylerocks · February 8

Kobe Black at 15/22?

It's just a hunch, but I'm pretty high on Aaron Butler.

Fondren & Main · February 8

20 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Is there a specific narrative they are pushing, to have all of Houston metro in one bucket under Houston but break dfw into north Dallas, south Dallas, and ftw/Arlington?

Conroe is Houston, but FW and Arlington aren't Dallas. LOL

Bevo · February 8

2024 Texas Recruits

1. OL, Brandon Baker

2. Edge, Colin Simmons

3. WR, Ryan Wingo

4. S, Xavier Filsaime

5. CB, Wardell Mack

6. OL, Daniel Cruz

7. RB, Christian Clark

8. CB, Kobe Black

9. CB, Santana Wilson

10. DL, Alex January

11. Edge, Zina Umeozulu

12. WR/ATH, Aaron Butler

13. , DL, Melvin Hills

14. RB, Jerrick Gibson

15. TE, Jordan Washington

16. QB, Trey Owens

17. LB, Tyanthony Smith

18. S, Jordon Johnson-Rubell

19. OL, Nate Kibble

20. WR, Parker Livingstone

21. P, Michael Kerns

22. WR, Freddie Dubose Jr. (inj.)

Actually Kerns should probably move way up because he will start early, but he is a punter so...

Edited February 8 by Bevo

Frank Drebin · February 8

11 hours ago, ousux said:

On 2/5/2024 at 3:44 PM, Bevo said:

And Buffalo Gap.

I know that place! Perrini ranch steakhouse, rehab center for celebs who don't like paparazzi and not much else. Steaks are good though.

Try their Sunday cowboy chuckwagon buffet. Or their burger.

My favorite restaurant in this state.

Park Gothic · February 8

11 hours ago, Napoleon said:

Was supposed to be and extra (“background), “Ghoul #2”, for an episode of some new spooky kids series around the year 2000 (or 2001) and the episode was being directed by Anson Williams… a.k.a. “Potsie”.

I was supposed to be quiet in the scene, but Potsie could tell that it would be stupid for the two ghouls in the scene to be quiet, so he gave me the line “ARRRRRRR!!!!”

That took my one day pay from about $130 to $800. I will always respect him for that.

SIDE NOTE: I had to sit in a chair in the Hair & Make Up trailer for 2-3 hours getting my ghoul face & head professionally done.

During that time, some attractive teen actress popped in to get touched up. She was definitely a “15 will get you 20” age and that was much younger than I was, but I could see in the mirror that “the camera loved her.”

About two years ago, I discovered that that girl was about a 15 year-old Kaley Cuoco. Potsie had an eye for talent.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0661057/?ref_=nm_flmg_eps_tt_1

Only posting this because I'm pretty sure I'm not doxxing you.

PTINS · February 8

8 hours ago, Sgt. Slaughter said:

True visionary being able to spot the talent here.

Like Billy Joel writing "Just The Way You Are" for Christie Brinkley.

PTINS · February 8

31 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

Try their Sunday cowboy chuckwagon buffet. Or their burger.

My favorite restaurant in this state.

I ordered a Prime Rib and they don't serve it w/ Au jus.

Big WTF for me.

Napoleon · February 8

2 hours ago, Park Gothic said:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0661057/?ref_=nm_flmg_eps_tt_1

Only posting this because I'm pretty sure I'm not doxxing you.

Yep, I think that this was the one.

No doxxing, because I would have had to contact IMDB and insert myself in the cast list.

Would say:

[Napoleon]…………Ghoul #2 (Uncredited)

Herbie Hancock · February 8

I ordered a Prime Rib and they don't serve it w/ Au jus.
Big WTF for me.

Well that’s what you get for going to Perini’s and ordering a prime rib. Seriously wtf

ruitxn · February 8

6 hours ago, Frank Drebin said:

Try their Sunday cowboy chuckwagon buffet. Or their burger.

My favorite restaurant in this state.

Or their bone in rib-eye with hominy casserole.

SimkinsMan · February 8

Bevo · February 9

2 hours ago, SimkinsMan said:

Sounds like someone from Silsbee

Hookem10 · February 9

did we just sign this Arnold Schwarzenegger guy or am I in the wrong thread

DixonHur · February 9

44 minutes ago, Hookem10 said:

did we just sign this Arnold Schwarzenegger guy or am I in the wrong thread

Welcome to Surly, new guy.

Edited February 9 by DixonHur

Ricky Butler · February 9

7 hours ago, Napoleon said:

Yep, I think that this was the one.

No doxxing, because I would have had to contact IMDB and insert myself in the cast list.

Would say:

[Napoleon]…………Ghoul #2 (Uncredited)

If you said a line on camera, that’s SAG baby.

billfromlaketravis · February 9

Time to fire this thread down. Good class. Unjustly rated by On3 and 247 'gards repeating the old tired line, Texas doesn't develop talent.

It's never stopped those dickheads from giving Shane Beamer recruits 5 stars.

Napoleon · February 9

2 hours ago, Ricky Butler said:

If you said a line on camera, that’s SAG baby.

Correct!

But I was already SAG after getting SAG Vouchers 2 out of the 4 days I was “Blue Collar Guy with Blue Collar Car” in the big Nicolas Cage jumping a flatbed tow truck by using its ramp up on the bridge over the Port of LA to get away from the cops as he was stealing his last car in “Gone In 60 Seconds” because I offered to keep the cooler of drinks for the extras up on the bridge in the back seat of my car.

Then I got my 3rd voucher by hitting up my high school buddy’s suite mate from sophomore year at Princeton who cast me as an extra in an mental hospital in a scene from the cable show that he and his brother wrote & directed.

Ahhhh… the glamour of Hollywood!

Vertigo · February 10

20 hours ago, Napoleon said:

Correct!

But I was already SAG after getting SAG Vouchers 2 out of the 4 days I was “Blue Collar Guy with Blue Collar Car” in the big Nicolas Cage jumping a flatbed tow truck by using its ramp up on the bridge over the Port of LA to get away from the cops as he was stealing his last car in “Gone In 60 Seconds” because I offered to keep the cooler of drinks for the extras up on the bridge in the back seat of my car.

Then I got my 3rd voucher by hitting up my high school buddy’s suite mate from sophomore year at Princeton who cast me as an extra in an mental hospital in a scene from the cable show that he and his brother wrote & directed.

Ahhhh… the glamour of Hollywood!

Hornius Emeritus · February 10

20 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Time to fire this thread down. Good class. Unjustly rated by On3 and 247 'gards repeating the old tired line, Texas doesn't develop talent.

It's never stopped those dickheads from giving Shane Beamer recruits 5 stars.

All our commits are actually five stars! Okay, not all because we have to be realistic. We'll say 90 percent. If only the man didn't keep us down!

DixonHur · February 10

20 hours ago, Napoleon said:

Correct!

But I was already SAG after getting SAG Vouchers 2 out of the 4 days I was “Blue Collar Guy with Blue Collar Car” in the big Nicolas Cage jumping a flatbed tow truck by using its ramp up on the bridge over the Port of LA to get away from the cops as he was stealing his last car in “Gone In 60 Seconds” because I offered to keep the cooler of drinks for the extras up on the bridge in the back seat of my car.

Then I got my 3rd voucher by hitting up my high school buddy’s suite mate from sophomore year at Princeton who cast me as an extra in an mental hospital in a scene from the cable show that he and his brother wrote & directed.

Ahhhh… the glamour of Hollywood!

Are you still working in Hollywood? I left in 2009 after 7 years working in management/producing. Brutal business filled with egotistical children in adult bodies. Lol

Napoleon · February 10

12 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

Are you still working in Hollywood? I left in 2009 after 7 years working in management/producing. Brutal business filled with egotistical children in adult bodies. Lol

Nope. Got distracted, lost sight of why I wanted to move there in the first place (write sitcoms), had no mentor and no focus and went to Argentina to take Spanish for two months in mid-late 2007.

Seven-and-a-half years later, I moved back to the USA full time after taking Spanish, teaching English, giving city tours, running a small tour company, and picking up 🇦🇷 citizenship among other things.

That said, my roommate on this wedding cruise/yachting trip in the Virgin Islands a few weeks ago was a middle school/high school buddy who is an Academy Award nominated documentarian and was heading back to LA before going to Sundance at the end of the week.

Also on the wedding ship was the college suite mate of the groom who flew in from filming his Netflix (or Amazon?) series that he’s been doing for a few years. And a former roommate/Texas Ex from early in my time in LA has been a script supervisor, predominantly for kids shows, for over 20 years now.

TheRealRonWeaver? · February 10

So…everybody?

Sgt Hulk · February 10

2 hours ago, Napoleon said:

Nope. Got distracted, lost sight of why I wanted to move there in the first place (write sitcoms), had no mentor and no focus and went to Argentina to take Spanish for two months in mid-late 2007.

Seven-and-a-half years later, I moved back to the USA full time after taking Spanish, teaching English, giving city tours, running a small tour company, and picking up 🇦🇷 citizenship among other things.

That said, my roommate on this wedding cruise/yachting trip in the Virgin Islands a few weeks ago was a middle school/high school buddy who is an Academy Award nominated documentarian and was heading back to LA before going to Sundance at the end of the week.

Also on the wedding ship was the college suite mate of the groom who flew in from filming his Netflix (or Amazon?) series that he’s been doing for a few years. And a former roommate/Texas Ex from early in my time in LA has been a script supervisor, predominantly for kids shows, for over 20 years now.

Cool. I live out here too tell em to hit me up if they need an old beefy dude

Redneck Mutha · February 10

15 hours ago, Napoleon said:

Nope. Got distracted, lost sight of why I wanted to move there in the first place (write sitcoms), had no mentor and no focus and went to Argentina to take Spanish for two months in mid-late 2007.

Seven-and-a-half years later, I moved back to the USA full time after taking Spanish, teaching English, giving city tours, running a small tour company, and picking up 🇦🇷 citizenship among other things.

That said, my roommate on this wedding cruise/yachting trip in the Virgin Islands a few weeks ago was a middle school/high school buddy who is an Academy Award nominated documentarian and was heading back to LA before going to Sundance at the end of the week.

Also on the wedding ship was the college suite mate of the groom who flew in from filming his Netflix (or Amazon?) series that he’s been doing for a few years. And a former roommate/Texas Ex from early in my time in LA has been a script supervisor, predominantly for kids shows, for over 20 years now.

Teryor · February 12

Behind the scenes notes on the class from 247 part1

Quote

The 2024 cycle was another successful one for Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns.

On the heels of signing a Top 5 class in his first year on the job, Sarkisian signed the No. 3 class in 2023, and came back strong again and signed the No. 6 class with some of the top talent in the nation. The group was highlighted by winning over the highly-publicized recruitments of Colin Simmons, Kobe Black, Brandon Baker, Xavier Filsaime, and Ryan Wingo among others

Each year at Horns247, we pull back the curtain on several recruitments giving out the information we can’t give during the course of the recruiting cycle. Where did the Texas staff push the right buttons and where did they have their miscues?

In this year’s edition of Behind The Scenes, Horns247’s all-access look into the 2024 class, we discuss how the Longhorns landed some of the top prospects in the country and how they missed out on others.

— Usually there’s a ton of drama when it comes to quarterback recruiting. There was absolutely none with Trey Owens. Owens visited Texas five times before he received his Texas offer, and told the media how he was always trying to “prove I’m your guy” to Steve Sarkisian and AJ Milwee when he would continue visiting campus even though he was leaving without an offer. He eventually received the Texas offer on Nov. 3, 2022 and the Longhorns were the leaders immediately. Owens announced his commitment to Texas on Jan. 11, just a couple days after he called the staff and silently committed. Originally viewed by many (from outside the program) as a bridge take after landing Arch Manning, Owens had a phenomenal senior season and took his game to a new level this past fall as he more than earned his new four-star ranking. Owens has always played with a chip on his shoulder and more than proved himself to be one of the top passers in the nation after receiving a late invite to the All-American Bowl. Owens never came close to wavering from his pledge and was one of the more important pieces in the class as he was a vocal peer recruiter behind the scenes, especially on the offensive side of the ball as he was a tremendous help for each offensive skill player Texas signed. — Scruggs

— Dylan Raiola liked Texas a lot early on and had a great relationship with AJ Milwee but ultimately crossed Texas off the list once the Longhorns landed Arch Manning in the summer of 2022. After an early Texas visit Julian Sayin told media off the record that he’d be ending up at Alabama, Georgia, or Texas but that he would be waiting for Arch Manning to make his decision first. After Manning chose Texas, the Longhorns were cut from Sayin’s list. Many sources have long thought Sayin would’ve ended up at Texas had Manning ended up elsewhere. — Scruggs

Jerrick Gibson (Photo: Jordan Scruggs, 247Sports)
— Around this time last year the feeling was Texas would eventually land four-star running back Jerrick Gibson, with the belief being it could be around or during his official visit to the Forty Acres. Lo and behold Gibson committed to the Longhorns on Instagram Live surrounded by the UT coaches during his official visit weekend in June. And the ties between Gibson and Texas go back to Cedric Baxter’s recruitment, when running backs coach Tashard Choice would make his way out to the Sunshine State. Every time Choice saw Baxter, he’d make a point to go see Gibson. The connection between the two was a significant reason Gibson went on to choose Texas, and stay with Texas. Florida was a school that not only Gibson was committed to at a time, but stayed after the talented rusher until the end. Another program that tried to keep it close late was Miami. However, sources close to Gibson say it was an uphill battle for any school to try and change his mind. — South

— As opposed to Gibson’s recruitment, up to his commitment it was much for of a slugfest for Christian Clark’s services. The four-star ball carrier from Arizona was considering a handful of schools, but it really boiled down to Texas, Georgia, Florida State and Oregon, all four of which were prioritizing the 6-foot, 195-pounder. Texas pulled ahead in the summer, and it was evident it did in that the Bulldogs pivoted and filled at running back once they got wind the Longhorns were in poll position. His official visit to Athens the following weekend was called off, too. Oregon and Florida State hosted him prior to his time on campus in Austin and weren’t able to secure a pledge before he returned home. The bond with Tashard Choice, the family culture, plus the ease in which his family can fly from Phoenix to Austin to see him play all factored into Texas winning out in this recruitment. — South

— Taylor Tatum visited Texas three times in total with the most recent trip being the January Junior Day in 2022. By the time of his junior day visit Texas had pretty much already secured Jerrick Gibson as a member of the class and was weighing different options for who would fit as the second running back in the class. Texas liked Tatum and Tatum seemed to have interest in Texas, but as we got further from the junior day other targets emerged (mainly Christian Clark) and both sides effectively moved on from each other. As far as his recruitment goes, he gave a silent commitment to USC while on his OV only to silently commit to Oklahoma while on his official visit in Norman the next week. That caused for another fun battle between USC and OU on twitter, but ultimately Oklahoma was able to nail him down when he publicly committed a month later in July. Interestingly enough, Michigan was also involved in the summer and was incredibly close to flipping Tatum in the week leading up to early signing day. — Scruggs

— Kedren Young was offered in February and visited campus during the March Junior Day, but that’s about all I’ve ever heard that ties him and Texas together. Notre Dame really zeroed in on Young and made him a priority immediately after offering and the Irish were leaders from that point on. — Scruggs

— Texas offered Caden Durham the day after they offered Kedren Young, and things went about the same with Durham except he never visited. By the time the Longhorns had gotten involved Durham was already favoring Oklahoma and LSU among others and it was simply just too late. With Durham originally hailing from the Sooner state with multiple ties back to the crimson and cream, he grew up rooting for the Sooners and Oklahoma was the main school that had his attention early, but as the spring went on LSU kept getting Durham to return to Baton Rouge and kept chipping away until the Tigers were the leader. Michigan State, UTSA, Oklahoma, and LSU were all schools that got official visits from Durham in the summer, but it was always going to be the Sooners or the Tigers for Durham. Texas liked Durham a lot and liked his fit in the offense with his game breaking speed, but ultimately I think the staff realized pretty quickly after offering that they weren’t going to have a shot and didn’t waste a ton of time after that. Durham announced his commitment to LSU in the same commitment ceremony that Colin Simmons announced his commitment to Texas. — Scruggs

— Early on it looked like James Peoples would end up as one the running backs in Texas’ 2024 class. Texas was one of Peoples’ first offers after he lit it up at the Texas Elite Camp in the summer following his sophomore season. Because of Tashard Choice, the Longhorns were essentially leaders right away and as that fall began it started to seem more and more likely that Peoples and Jerrick Gibson could be the two running back takes for Texas in 2024. However, all of that went out the window once Ohio State offered him on Oct. 16, 2022. While Peoples might’ve originally felt that his best fit would be in Austin with the Forty Acres just a little over an hour away, Ohio State immediately recruited him as the top priority at the position and turned the momentum of the recruitment rather quickly. Ohio State was pushing hard and valuing him as the No. 1 running back on the board, whereas Texas at that point wasn’t recruiting him as hard as they were still in the process of evaluating other backs. Even though he wouldn’t announce his commitment to Ohio State until April, the Buckeyes had been the leader essentially since offering in October. Peoples’ last visit to Texas came during the January Junior Day in 2023. At that point Ohio State was obviously the leader, but I think if enough work was done by Texas that could’ve changed over time. It was similar to Taylor Tatum’s situation where both sides liked each other initially but ultimately the emergence of Christian Clark in the spring basically wiped both Taylor and Peoples from the board. — Scruggs

Ryan Wingo (Photo: Jordan Scruggs, 247Sports)
— Coming out of the summer the Longhorns were trending for Ryan Wingo on the heels of his official visit to Austin. The No. 7 wideout in the country, per the 247Sports Composite, was feeling the love from Texas. He was wide receivers coach Chris Jackson’s first pass catcher to reach out to when he got Texas from the Jacksonville Jaguars last offseason. That meant something to Wingo and his family. On a return unofficial visit to Texas in September for the Wyoming game, Wingo gave the Longhorns a silent commitment. Confidence was at an all-time high in Austin to eventually land the elite prospect. A few weeks went by and home-state Missouri started making some noise in Wingo’s recruitment, led by both their on-field success and the Eli Drinkwitz and staff’s recruiting prowess. Texas wide receivers coach Chris Jackson went up to see Wingo play in October, shortly before Wingo’s announcement as Texas continued its press to get Wingo in the class. Sources remained optimistic that the Longhorns had the inside track. The Mizzou chatter grew louder, though. And it was loud enough that I changed my Crystal Ball prediction in favor of the Tigers. Hindsight is 20/20 but I regret that decision. On the eve of his announcement, with virtually the entire industry prediction Mizzou, buzz around the Longhorns started to grow, so much so that by the morning of his decision, many believed it was UT once again trending. Mizzou kept pushing throughout the afternoon, with plenty of cryptic tweets made. In the end Wingo pledged to the Longhorns, and his recruitment remained relatively drama free until the morning of the Early Signing Period when there was a delay in Wingo’s National Letter of Intent being sent in to Texas. Eventually it was sent in, quelling some of the Burnt Orange hysteria. Wingo told us at the All-American Bowl check-in that he was up late playing video games the night before and simply slept in. He said his phone was blowing up with calls from “everyone.” Wingo said he had no intent of drawing anything out or making anyone nervous though. He’s now enrolled at Texas, and shining early in offseason workouts. — South

— Aaron Butler had a fascinating, whirlwind recruitment. He initially committed to USC as a sophomore when Lincoln Riley was just hired. He backed off and then committed to Colorado in May. Heading in to the Early Signing Period in December, this looked like a two-team race between Arizona and Washington. Texas WR coach Chris Jackson did do a home visit with Butler and his family but at the time, the Longhorns didn’t have a scholarship available. It was obvious Butler loved Texas and the big stage of playing for a traditional power like the Horns in the SEC. He decided to hold off signing the first two days of the Early Period, largely to make sure Texas was a real option for him. Head coach Steve Sarkisian personally offered Butler earlier that week of the Early Period and things moved quickly from there. Butler loved the Sark offense and how WR friendly it was and ended up sealing the deal the final day of the Signing Period. (via 247Sports’ Greg Biggins)

— Texas put a great first foot forward in Freddie Dubose’s recruitment by being the second school to offer him when they brought him in for the January Junior Day in 2022 and extended the offer before he left. Dubose transferred from Schertz Clemens to Smithson Valley during the spring of his sophomore season. Once he arrived at Smithson Valley he became close friends with Colton Thomasson. Thomasson was a longtime Texas A&M commit, and the Aggies became the school with the most buzz in the early part of the summer after Dubose accompanied Thomasson on an early summer visit. Since it was just the summer between his sophomore and junior year, Dubose had plenty of time left with his recruitment so the Texas A&M surge wasn’t as important as it would’ve been had it come a year later. However the buzz around the Aggies soon died, and relatively quickly. Just hours after Arch Manning committed to Texas in the summer of 2022, Dubose called Hudson Standish to tell him off the record that he would eventually be ending up at Texas. At the time Dubose had no clue of what his timeline would even look like, but he made it very clear with Standish that Texas was where he was going to play his college ball. From that point on it was all Texas. He took visits to Tennessee, UTSA, and Texas A&M again but in total he saw Texas more than all of his other visits combined. In week one of his junior season, Dubose suffered a season-ending knee injury that resulted in plenty of schools hitting the brakes on recruiting Dubose. Texas loved the athlete and the person, and continued recruiting Dubose as if he was in the midst of a 1,000 yard season. Months after giving his commitment he spoke about how Texas’ belief through his injury reinforced that Texas was the place for him as other schools around him started to drop off in contact. Once Brennan Marion left Dubose kept his affinity for Texas due to Steve Sarkisian and the offense run within the program along with other obvious factors like proximity to home. After a few weeks without a receivers coach, Chris Jackson arrived and the transition was practically seamless as Jackson and Dubose hit it off instantly. Texas continued leading and Dubose gave his pledge to the Longhorns in Steve Sarkisian’s office during his exit meeting on the last day of his official visit and went public with the decision hours after. Dubose never wavered after he gave his commitment, but to be honest it felt as if he was committed for several months before he actually decided to pull the trigger. — Scruggs

— Parker Livingstone might’ve had the most straightforward recruitment out of anyone included in this story. Raised in a family of Longhorns, Livingstone grew up dreaming up playing in the burnt orange and Texas was the leader immediately after offering in the summer going into Livingstone’s junior season. While Texas was obviously the leader in his recruitment, he still kept an open mind and wanted to make sure he was making the best decision for himself. Livingstone’s older brother is a student at Arkansas and for a long time the Hogs were thought to be the main competition to the Longhorns. Livingstone scheduled four June official visits to take place four weekends in a row in the order of South Carolina, Arkansas, LSU, and Texas. Livingstone took his first trip to South Carolina, but after returning home from Columbia he canceled the trips to Arkansas and LSU. Livingstone asked for it not to be reported at the time, but told Mike Roach that he canceled the visits because he had his mind made up on Texas and didn’t want to waste the other schools’ time. Livingstone committed to the staff while on the official visit and went public with the decision about a week later on July 1 when he posted one of the most memorable commitment videos I’ve ever seen. Similar to Dubose, Chris Jackson and Livingstone clicked instantly which made the coaching transition that January practically seamless. Even though Livingstone might’ve ended up at Texas regardless of who was coaching in Austin, the relationships he built with the staff was monumental and it was incredibly important that the staff sold him on their vision for him in Steve Sarkisian’s offense. Just like Trey Owens and Freddie Dubose, Livingstone never wavered from his commitment to the Longhorns. — Scruggs

— Had you asked me at any point in the recruiting cycle whether five-star pass catcher Ryan Williams would end up at Texas, I would’ve never saw it coming to fruition. I think the chances would have been better had he stayed in the class of 2025 with his quarterback and Texas commit KJ Lacey, but even then I believe Texas was facing an uphill battle. My belief all along was that if Williams didn’t stick with the Crimson Tide he would flip to Auburn, where his dad played and he visited more than any school not named Alabama. The Tide went on to hold on to the Saraland native, even with Nick Saban retiring, his recruiters leaving the staff, and new head coach Kalen DeBoer coming in. Still, Williams maintained a lot of contact with the Texas staff throughout his recruitment and originally intended to officially visit Austin before taking his official visit to Tuscaloosa, which ultimately shut down his recruitment. There was always a spot for him on the Forty Acres even after the Longhorns landed the wide receiver haul it landed (duh). — South

Micah Hudson (Photo: Jordan Scruggs, 247Sports)
— I could seriously write a book about this recruitment. As crazy as it sounds, even with all of the different twists and turns throughout Hudson’s process, there was never really a time in which Texas Tech or Baylor wasn’t the leader.

Let’s start from the beginning. Hudson grew up without watching much college football, but when he did, it was either Texas or TCU, and he often spoke about how Collin Johnson and Trevone Boykin were his favorite players at a young age. Hudson’s recruitment started in the summer after his freshman season as his freshman film began to make its way across the Lone Star State as every school in Texas hoped to get Hudson to camp. Baylor was the third program to offer Hudson in that summer of 2021, and he immediately hit it off with Joey McGuire among other coaches who were on Baylor’s staff at the time. Baylor was kinda the leader from the jump, and large in part due to the recruiting efforts Joey McGuire was making as the associate head coach for the Bears. That carried through the fall as it’s important to remember that would’ve been the same season Baylor won the Big 12 Championship in 2021.

Joey McGuire was hired to be the Texas Tech head coach that November, and when he left Waco for Lubbock he brought with him several other staffers who had been working with him on recruiting Hudson to Baylor. Hudson was one of, if not the first offer(s) extended in the 2024 class, and from that point on the Red Raiders took the lead and never looked back. Hudson took countless trips to Lubbock throughout his recruitment, but the first trip he took with an offer from the Red Raiders came in mid April of 2022. I took my first trip out to Lake Belton for a spring ball practice at the end of the same month. I remember seeing he had posted some pretty cool photos on social media from the trip, so to break the ice in our first initial conversation I had asked him which photographer he had brought along with him on the visit. He told me he didn’t bring anyone, and that he actually took the photos himself with a self timer after renting a camera and tripod from his Lake Belton photography class. Being someone who originally got into the media world through the sports photography/videography space, I was really impressed with his camera skills and we clicked in our conversations about the creative world as he asked me questions about it and told me that he wanted to have his college major centered around photography and videography. After that initial conversation that lasted about 30ish minutes, we got into the interview and Hudson was incredibly candid, speaking highly of Joey McGuire and the Red Raiders and even naming them as the leader. Although he mentioned that he had barely taken any visits at that point in time, I got the message loud and clear that Texas Tech was going to be very much a contender if not the favorite in the recruitment. During the interview he also mentioned that his stepfather had played football at Texas Tech. When asked how that could effect his recruitment, Hudson spoke on record about how it helps that his family would already be comfortable with the school but made it very clear that he didn’t have a close relationship with his stepfather and that the decision was going to be made by him and not his family. Also of note, I never saw it posted anywhere throughout his recruitment, but because Cale Gundy was there to offer him at practice that day, I asked him how he felt about his new Oklahoma offer to which I learned that his older sister is a student in Norman. I remember asking him about Texas and Brennan Marion since he was the first receiver prospect to receive an offer after Marion took the job earlier that spring, to which Hudson spoke about how they hadn’t been recruiting or talking to him much since he received the offer. At that point in time I found it crazy that a kid of Hudson’s talent and status would be leaning to Texas Tech like he was, but I understood then because of our long conversation that Hudson wasn’t just some regular kid and that there was something unique about him just because of how he spoke about everything compared to other kids. I was just getting my feet wet in the industry at that point and with that being the first interview I ever did with a recruit, I received plenty of feedback calling me crazy from friends in the industry when I made calls on the drive home because I was saying I think the best receiver in Texas is going to end up at Texas Tech.

Through that spring and summer of 2022, Hudson took visits to LSU, Houston, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma. Tech was still the leader, but the Aggies and Longhorns were starting to put themselves in the race. Texas A&M was coming off an offseason in which they signed the highest-rated recruiting class of all time and Jimbo Fisher was getting super involved in the recruitment. The Longhorns were creeping in due to Steve Sarkisian’s offense and pedigree at producing receivers. With both schools being so close to Temple, there was also a proximity advantage for both rivals. During that fall Hudson saw games at Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech but saw more games at DKR than anywhere else. Due to me knowing where his recruitment was at, I remember asking a few times why he’d continue visiting Texas if his heart was leaning towards Tech. While he would talk about him having genuine interest in Texas, there were multiple times the reason I was given was that he and his girlfriend had their weekend open and that Texas was the only school close enough to Temple in which their parents would let them drive to. Hudson also made headlines during the 49-0 TX-OU game that October when he left the Oklahoma recruit section to go sit with his buddies on the Texas side of the stadium. He was also wearing a Texas shirt that day. When I spoke with him after the game he seemed a little annoyed in how that all was released. He told me that he was wearing Texas gear because he had made the trip from Temple to Dallas with a few friends that were Texas fans and that he wouldn’t have had a ride up there without them. He said his move from the Oklahoma visitor section to the Texas section happened because he was sitting by himself while Oklahoma was getting stomped on the field and that he wanted to go sit with his friends he came to the game with. That was the first time he told me how he found it annoying that everyone online was trying to pin him to going to Texas, but it wouldn’t be the last.

Since I met him earlier that April, Hudson and I had grown a close relationship and were talking pretty regularly so when it came time for him to visit Ohio State later that October, I joined him on the visit to create a day in the life video for the weekend long visit. Before the flight left Dallas for Columbus I remember seeing him look somewhat easy. Going into the trip I had already felt like the chances of him going out-of-state were low, but I figured it would be damn near impossible for any school to pull it off once he told me that it was only his second time ever flying. Ohio State laid out the red carpet for Hudson as they treated the two day unofficial like it was an official visit with academic meetings, a campus tour, etc. It was an incredibly cool and eye opening experience for me as I filmed every single moment of the trip except for his meetings with Brian Hartline and Ryan Day in which I got to sit in on. The visit went well with Hudson and he told everyone he’d probably return for an official visit in the summer, but at that point I was already questioning if he’d even take official visits elsewhere with the lead Texas Tech had already built up.

His next big visit came in January when he stopped by Texas a few hours before the Longhorns welcomed in 100+ recruits for the annual January Junior Day. Texas had replaced Brennan Marion with Chris Jackson by that point, but Jackson was still yet to move to Austin and wasn’t on campus that day so Hudson spent the majority of the 2-3 hour visit with Steve Sarkisian. Hudson also spent time around Arch Manning and several other players from the 2023 class that had just moved in. My read was that the visit went about as well as it could’ve for Texas, but that it was still Texas Tech setting the pace in the recruitment and that Texas was going to have to do a lot more damage to actually make the race even. It was really only Texas Tech and Texas at that point as A&M had pretty much fallen out of the picture due to the Aggies’ 5-7 season. It was less of the 5-7 record, but more so of how the Aggies got to the 5-7 record with everything else that was going on in College Station at the time.

Hudson’s next time in Austin came at the end of March when he and Selman Bridges briefly stopped by Texas while on campus for the Texas Relays. Visits after Texas Relays can be tricky due to athletes being drained from running during the meet, and in talking with Hudson during the meet he made it very clear me to me that he did not want to be visiting Texas that day, but that he was kind of being forced by his mother to go on the visit since they had already told Texas they’d be there. I brought up that if he knows he’s going to end up at Texas Tech, why not just go ahead and commit and get it out of the way with. His response was along the lines of not wanting to deal with all of the drawbacks on social media of choosing Texas Tech over all of his other offers, but he knew then that it was going to be like ripping off a band aid and that he’d eventually have to do it, but just gave off the vibe that he wasn’t ready to actually do it yet. By that time Hudson’s mother had been with him to Texas Tech several times and Texas A&M once, but it was going to be her first time ever visiting Texas. Long story short, the visit backfired. Hudson was tired from a day of competing in the Texas Relays and wanted to be at home, and he told me after the visit that him and his mother felt rushed since the visit was on such a time crunch since it came after he finished running in the evening. He wouldn’t return to the Texas campus until the summer.

Hudson scheduled two June official visits to see Texas Tech June 16-18 and Texas June 23-25. Due to Lake Belton playing in the State Championship 7on7 tournament that runs June 23-24, Hudson postponed his official visit to Texas to take place at a later date due to Hudson wanting to help his Lake Belton squad in the tournament. The decision to postpone the Texas visit happened in the early part of the week leading up to his Texas Tech visit. Hudson had long told media he’d be making a decision close to Early Signing Day and said that he’d rescheduling his Texas official to sometime in the fall, but I had known that Hudson was planning on committing to Tech during his official visit so as you can imagine I was incredibly surprised when Hudson called me around midnight the night of June 14 to tell me he would be visiting Texas the next day at 7:00 in the morning. We talked the next morning as he was making the drive from Temple to Austin and the vibe that he gave off made it seem like he had already decided that it would be the last time he visits Texas. On the visit he watched a player-led practice, sat in on receiver room meetings, and of course had sit down meetings with Chris Jackson and Steve Sarkisian. We talked again as he was making the drive home from Austin to Temple and he told me that that was probably the last time he’d see Texas. That same week Hudson had scheduled his Tech official visit to start a day earlier on that Thursday, so when he arrived home from Texas around noon the car from Texas Tech to take him to the airport was already waiting outside his house. While on the official to Tech Hudson silently committed to the staff, but shortly after he gave his pledge his commitment graphic leaked on twitter so he went ahead and decided to postpone the decision as he wanted the announcement to come out of nowhere. When in College Station the next week for the State 7on7 tournament, I grabbed Hudson for an interview between games in which he gave me his Texas Tech commitment quotes for the network. While in town that weekend Hudson also stopped by Texas A&M that weekend, but he made it clear to me that he didn’t want to be there and that he was going mainly because of his mother who attended and graduated from Texas A&M. The trip didn’t go well for either side, and Hudson’s visit to A&M was among many that weekend that were thrown off by the sudden passing of Texas A&M defensive line coach Terry Price. Because of Hudson’s commitment graphic getting leaked in June, he decided to return to Lubbock before the end of the summer to shoot a commitment video. The video was never posted online, but it was essentially a music video with Hudson and a bunch of Tech players throwing the guns up hand signal with plenty of horns down with the video ending by saying he’s committed to Texas Tech. After that a handful of weeks passed and Hudson posted his commitment out of nowhere just minutes after Texas Tech lost to Oregon at home in front of Hudson and plenty of other recruits.

To wrap it up, Joey McGuire and Co. essentially ran this recruitment from start to finish. While a head coach being involved in a recruitment as much as McGuire was in Hudson’s tends to fare well for the school involved, Tech was also successful because of the work of the entire staff in the recruitment. From top to bottom, there wasn’t a staff in the country that made more of an effort to recruit and talk to Hudson then Tech did throughout the process. The Red Raiders made it a point to recruit Hudson every single day, and he felt a genuine connection with everyone that represented the Tech program. I think the main reason so many had Hudson pinned to Texas happened to be due to fans and other analysts seeing Texas Tech as the main competition and thinking that since Texas tends to win about 99 out of every 100 recruiting battles with Tech, that Texas will win over Hudson. Hudson didn’t like that people were trying to pencil him into playing at Texas, and I think that was the main reason for most of his trolling of Texas fans that took place on Twitter. After he gave his commitment to Tech, Hudson also found it funny how many said that the main reason it happened was due to him being a legacy when him and his stepfather had never had a particularly close relationship and the decision was always Micah’s to make. I really think the main reason it took people so long to understand that Tech wasn’t just a contender but the favorite was because they didn’t understand how different Hudson is from other recruits. He was always very much a beat of his own drum type of guy, and it was always very clear to me even early on that he was going to be unafraid to go against the grain. NIL was never something that caught his mind either. A rare mindset for a five-star recruit in today's day and age, Hudson always spoke about not needing the money and the real goal being the money that comes with making it to the NFL. All in all I think Texas could’ve had a better chance if they made more an effort or did more to match the effort Texas Tech was making, but ultimately Texas and every other school involved was facing an uphill battle in the fact that the Red Raiders could offer to build their whole program around Hudson whereas other schools could offer to build their offense around Hudson at the very most. Besides Chris Jackson, all contact from Texas stopped in the summer once the Longhorns saw Hudson's commitment video that was never posted. After committing to Tech, Hudson only took one visit elsewhere with the trip being an official visit to Texas A&M in which the Aggies bombed, but that's a story for another day. I briefly spoke with Hudson a couple days ahead of early signing day in which he told me that if the decision wasn't Texas Tech, it would've been Texas. — Scruggs

— The staff loved the speed and fit of Gatlin Bair in the Longhorns’ offense but there isn’t much else to talk about with Bair. He included Texas in his top five schools but never made it in for a visit. He was in town for the Texas Relays in the spring of 2023, and while it had been reported that Bair visited Texas, Horns247 never confirmed that with sources in Austin. — Scruggs

— By the time Texas had offered Bryant Wesco on Feb. 1, 2023 he was already pretty locked into going to Oklahoma. His sister was on the Sooners’ Women's Soccer team, and he had spent a ton of time over the last few years visiting her in Norman with family. Oklahoma was also his third offer, and the Sooners’ early belief in Wesco meant a lot to him. The Sooners were clear leaders when the Texas offer came in and so at that point it felt like the Longhorns weren’t going to have a real shot in the race. Texas did make an effort in the recruitment multiple times in the spring but it was too much of a hot and cold approach and honestly I don’t think a different approach would’ve produced a different end result. Clemson got Wesco on campus and started gaining steam as the gap with the Sooners shrinked as we got further into the spring, but the Tigers really stole momentum when Wesco’s sister decided to leave Oklahoma via the transfer portal. TCU was also heavily involved at that time, but after his sister left Oklahoma it was all Clemson, and the Tigers sealed the deal on his official visit. Wesco went public with his commitment just two days after leaving his Clemson official. There’s an argument to be made that Texas not having a receivers coach during most of the month of January in 2023 is one of the main factors in why this recruitment went the way it did for Texas, but in my eyes it always seemed like it was unwinnable from the jump. — Scruggs

— Early on it looked like Drelon Miller would eventually end up in the Longhorns’ 2024 class. Miller grew up pulling for the Longhorns and dreaming of playing at Texas, and in turn the Texas staff loved Miller early on when he was viewed as an athlete prospect. Led by Bo Davis who was the primary recruiter due to Davis being the area recruiter for Southeast Texas, the Longhorns pushed for an early commitment in which Miller wasn’t ready to give. Then as time went on and Miller went from being viewed as an athlete to more of a wide receiver prospect, Texas eventually pulled back on their pursuit. The Longhorns wanted Miller at safety, and they weren’t alone as plenty of other programs within Miller’s 44 offers preferred Miller at safety rather than receiver. With Miller and Texas going different ways, schools like Texas A&M, USC, LSU, and Miami began to gain steam in his recruitment and he gave a commitment to the Aggies in the summer. Around the time Miller decommitted from Texas A&M in October, Texas was considering a fourth receiver addition in the 2024 class and decided to reevaluate Miller as a wide receiver. The Longhorns ended up sticking to their original evaluation, and decided not to pursue Miller, who ended up at Colorado. In turn, Texas remained patient in filling the fourth receiver spot and ended up getting Aaron Butler at the buzzer on Early Signing Day. Many sources around the recruitment have long thought Miller would’ve been a Longhorn had Texas pursued Miller at receiver. Those same sources believe Texas could’ve landed a commitment from Miller had they pursued him at receiver following his decommitment from Texas A&M. — Scruggs

— Texas was quite literally the 29th of 29 schools to offer Jelani Watkins and it was simply just too late for the Longhorns to have a shot. Even with Watkins being cousins with Jaydon Blue, he was pretty much already locked in on going to LSU or Texas A&M by the time Texas offered in May. I’m not sure what it was but something ended up happening and the Aggies fell off and Watkins only ended up taking one official to LSU before committing to the Tigers in August. — Scruggs

— There wasn’t much to Gekyle Baker’s recruitment. Texas offered him in the fall of his junior season and he came down for three separate visits. He tried to commit a couple different times, and each time was told the staff wasn’t ready to take him yet. Eventually both sides went their ways, and Baker ended up choosing TCU over Oklahoma State and Kansas State. — Scruggs

— Until Ryan Wingo pledged to the Longhorns, Texas only had two receivers committed in Freddie Dubose and Parker Livingstone. And in a cycle that receiver was a must, Izaiah Williams popped up as a potential prospect of interest in the fall while committed to Florida. Of course Texas went on to land Wingo, along with Aaron Butler and a Transfer Portal haul the envy of any program in America, so not pressing for the Texas native in Williams wasn’t a big deal in hindsight. Williams ultimately flipped to Texas A&M and will play alongside his cousin Solomon Williams, who was also a big edge target of UT’s. — South

— On Apr. 29 I drove down to Houston to see an exposure clinic that had about 50 kids from all over the Houston area. Upon arriving I immediately noticed Jordan Washington who stood out because of his size, and because I recognized him from about a month earlier when he took a visit to Texas for the Junior Day at the end of March. He was easily the best player on the day and at the time he only had a couple of power five offers, so I wanted to make sure to talk to him after since I was covering Baylor at the time and Baylor was wide open at tight end. In talking with him after he said that he was probably going to end up committing to Utah by the end of the summer if no other schools came along and entered the mix. Since I had seen him at Texas, I of course asked him how he felt about the Longhorns. He said Texas was his dream school and that that’s where he’d go if they ever offered, but that he hadn’t heard from them since he visited a month earlier for the March Junior Day. Well that was on a Saturday, and just a couple days later on that Tuesday, Texas offered out of nowhere. Following the offer, I reached out to Washington to check base to make sure everything was still the same, and the next day Hudson Standish and I entered in crystal balls in favor of Texas. In May Washington scheduled five official visits that would take place in June in the order of Texas A&M, UTSA, Arizona State, Texas and Utah. Washington made it to all of the visits except for Utah, as he ended up canceling the trip after he committed to Texas during his official visit to the Forty Acres. The only schools that really made it competitive for Texas was A&M and Alabama, but ultimately the dream school factor was too much to overcome, especially after Texas crushed his OV. Washington spent a ton of time around JT Sanders on the OV and when it came time to get commitment quotes from Washington it seemed he had practically fallen in love with Jeff Banks as Washington raved about how their personality types are perfect matches for a player and a coach. While he didn’t officially tell Texas he was committing till his official visit to Texas on June 16, he told me later on that he had 100% made up his mind about where he was going when he was flying back home from his Arizona State official visit on June 11. Washington never wavered from his Texas pledge after giving his commitment on the Fourth of July. — Scruggs

— Texas was working its way in on Elija Lofton this fall, and was likely in line to get the Bishop Gorman standout in on a visit. A trip was tentatively set at one point for the Kansas State game. Talking to sources, it’s fair to assume that Miami was able to talk Lofton out of that trip to Austin in favor of staying firm with the Hurricanes. Miami also had a unique pitch to Lofton in that former Bishop Gorman tight end Brevin Jordan played his college ball in Coral Gables before going onto a successful NFL career. That vision was pitched to the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Lofton. — South

— Davon Mitchell locked onto Alabama and Oklahoma pretty quickly and never looked back. Originally from outside the Tuscaloosa area, Mitchell had family near the Alabama campus and grew up rooting for the Tide. Oklahoma on the other hand was recruiting Mitchell amongst several other kids at Allen and just did a phenomenal job in the recruitments of Mitchell and his best friend and quarterback Michael Hawkins. Around Mitchell’s sophomore year the Sooners took the lead and they never looked back, even after Mitchell moved to California so he could reclassify from the 2025 class from the 2024 class. Throughout his recruitment Mitchell posted several top schools lists that included a Longhorn logo but Horns247 was always adamant Texas wasn’t a true contender. — Scruggs

Texas hosted Ryner Swanson on a solo official visit at the beginning of the summer. And while that trip went well and had the Longhorns under serious consideration, BYU had the family connections as well as the fact that Swanson is a member of the LDS Church and plans to take a mission after his first year in college. That’s something most programs would cater to, but it’s something BYU specializes in due to it religious affiliation. — South

Brandon Baker (Photo: Texas Athletics)
— Texas had to rally to land Brandon Baker and probably wasn’t even in his top five before he first visited for the Longhorns’ spring game in April. At the time, Ohio State and Georgia probably led and Oregon was always hanging around. A year ago at this time, the Ducks were heavy leaders but that was largely due to his relationship with former Oregon OL coach Adrian Klemm. Once Klemm left, it was a wide open race and Texas OL coach Kyle Flood did a great job here and head coach Steve Sarkisian was heavily involved as well. Baker didn’t have a great visit to Georgia, just not a great vibe and the Dawgs slipped a bit and it essentially came down to Texas and Ohio State with Nebraska making a late run as well. In the end, he said the big difference maker for him was just overall comfort level with the school and coaching staff. He said having a former teammate (Spencer Shannon) share with him how easily it was to get acclimated to living in Austin also played a role. His comfort level in a big city like that reminded him more of home and helped seal the deal. (via 247Sports’ Greg Biggins)

— Kyle Flood fell in love with Daniel Cruz early on and from that point on it was basically Flood’s race to lose. From the first time Flood evaluated him, he viewed Cruz as one of the best offensive lineman not just in the state, but in the whole country. Cruz reciprocated the interest early on and he and Kyle Flood were locked in from then on. Flood and Texas viewed Cruz as the center of the future and made sure they were going to land him no matter what. — Scruggs

— The staff liked Nate Kibble early on but as we moved further into the cycle more offensive line targets appeared and as Kibble found himself lower on the board, the two sides started talking less. A lot of time passed where there was little to no contact, then in the midst of official visit season, Texas reached out to Kibble and got him to campus on an official visit just days later. Kibble showed up and measured incredibly well, and the staff quickly decided they were going to push to get his commitment before he left the OV to go back to Houston. Well that’s exactly what happened, as Kibble silently committed to the staff and went public with the decision on the last day of his Texas official visit. — Scruggs

— Visits to Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee and Texas following his June 2 official visit to Georgia proved unfruitful for the quartet of programs for Daniel Calhoun. We were told the Georgia standout gave the Bulldogs a silent commitment on his trip Athens, along with another Longhorns OL target in Marques Easley. Still the other schools took a swing, Texas included. Georgia, like Texas, will keep guys they want in state more often than not with their continued success on the field. — South

— Texas probably could have been more involved for Bennett Warren had it chosen to be. The Longhorns staff was hot and cold on contact with the Fort Bend Christian standout. The lapse in communication opened the door for Tennessee to get more involved with the 6-foot-7.5, 324-pounder, along with Michigan. The two programs made up his finalists and once he committed Warren shut the door on any other school. He only hosted Vols coaches on in-home visits and signed in December. — South

— Similar to DeAndre Carter, Blake Ivy was an offensive lineman that had a spot in the Longhorns’ 2024 class throughout the fall. In fact, Texas stayed after the League City standout deep into the season, maintaining contact in the event he had a change of heart. The Longhorns finished just behind the Aggies with LSU in a recruitment that wasn’t decided on until the night before his decision back in August. Ivy didn’t tell any coaches where he would be choosing ahead of his decision, which led to speculation that each of the three programs could end up with the talented four-star. Ivy ultimately stayed with Texas A&M through all the coaching turnover, signing in December. — South

Texas liked Michael Uini despite the fact that he’s a raw talent. The Copperas Cove native seemed more infatuated with going out of state early in his recruitment and never gave the in-state programs much of a look before pledging to and signing with Georgia. — South

— Texas didn’t offer Weston Davis until Aug 3 of his senior year and by that time he had already been committed to Texas A&M since June 26. For some reason Davis never posted the offer on Twitter, so it was pretty much unknown that Texas and him were communicating until news broke that he had scheduled an official visit to Texas for the weekend of the Kansas game on Sept. 30. Once news got out about the Texas visit being in the works, Texas A&M was able to get Davis to cancel the visit, and pretty much everyone you spoke to around Davis said that the recruitment was finished and that Davis would be signing with the Aggies. However just weeks later LSU started gaining buzz out of nowhere and successfully flipped Davis on Oct. 26. The Tigers were able to capitalize off A&M’s poor season and had a much longer and deeper relationship with Davis as LSU originally finished in second place when Davis gave his original commitment to Texas A&M. — Scruggs

— Blake Frazier’s father played offensive line for the Wolverines in the nineties and raised his son as a Michigan fan so the story was essentially written as soon as Michigan offered him. A lot of schools loved Frazier as a prospect but began to put their foot on the brakes after realizing how hard it’d be to keep him away from Michigan. Frazier visited Texas just once for the January Junior Day where he picked up his Texas offer but never returned. — Scruggs

— Nyier Daniels was scheduled to come in on an official visit in the summer but ended up canceling the trip after he committed to Georgia on his OV to Athens the weekend prior. That would’ve been his first and only trip to Texas during his recruitment. Daniels was really quiet throughout the recruiting process but I was able to speak with him in January at the All-American Bowl. He said he really felt like he connected with Flood over the phone and when Flood would visit him at his school, but ultimately he was comfortable with his commitment to Georgia and wasn’t a fan of the recruiting process and wanted to end it as soon as he could so he went ahead and canceled the Texas visit. — Scruggs

Texas targeted taking four offensive linemen in 2024, more specifically two interior guys and two tackles. The staff ended up with three prospects total and never dipped into the Transfer Portal despite the numbers. As we’ve reported, the Longhorns would only go after a transfer offensive linemen if they considered them a can’t-miss type of talent. The only guy that registered as such was Alabama tackle Kadyn Proctor, who elected to transfer back home to Iowa. Ory Williams, who ended up with LSU, was on Texas’ radar but we never saw the staff really press for the local talent. Perhaps things would have ended up differently had Texas decided to make a push. The Longhorns have a lot of young depth along the offensive line. — South

— Oklahoma signee Eugene Brooks was at one point a Texas lean before ending up in Oklahoma’s class. The Longhorns hosted the California native on an official visit in June and it appeared as a matter of when and not if Brooks would eventually join UT’s 2024 class. Fast forward a few weeks, Texas added Atascocita interior lineman Nate Kibble, to go with top center target Daniel Cruz, and it became a question of whether the Longhorns aspired to add one more interior lineman. The pause opened the door for the Sooners to step in and land the Top100 recruit. — South

— While there was debate in the summer as to whether Texas would take three interior guys, Deandre Carter was an exception. The 6-foot-3.5, 357-pound All-American was a “take” for the Longhorns staff. Carter, while committed to Auburn, officially visited UT for the Kansas game back in September. And by all accounts, Texas gave the California native plenty to think about. Carter also had an in-house recruiter in Texas commit Brandon Baker at home. There was positive buzz in favor of Texas throughout the month of October. But the four-star lineman thought things over and ultimately decided to stick with Auburn in early November. He never looked back from there. — South

— Another offensive line recruitment we were tracking closely last summer, there was interest in Makai Saina on Texas’ end. The staff brought the Arlington Martin product in on an official visit the last weekend of June. By that point he had seen Texas A&M and USC as well. But by that point it might have been a little too late. With Texas offering a tad later in the process (March of 2023) it was too much ground to catch up on USC, which had offered almost a year prior. And while UT liked Saina, he didn’t exactly fit the bill for the kind of prospect Kyle Flood typically recruits along the offensive line. — South

247Sports National Recruiting Analyst Mike Roach and 247Sports National Scouting Analyst Hudson Standish contributed to this report.

closetojumping · February 12

44 minutes ago, Teryor said:

Behind the scenes notes on the class from 247 part1

Boy, those guys think we care a lot more about Micah Hudson than any of us do. That guy said he could write a book about that recruitment, and I think he just did. Geez. I stopped reading that section in order to avoid nap time. Otherwise, there were some interesting snippets. I'll add some more color to a few of the names:

-Texas would have had their pick of any QB in the 2024 cycle had they not landed Manning in the 2023 cycle. I think it worked out better for Texas. Manning is a better prospect than any of the guys in the 2024 cycle and Owens is a damned good recruit for this cycle and the QB room.

-Once Texas felt like Clark was a legitimate candidate for the class, their work was done with TB and they effectively stopped trying to do much with the in-state guys.

-Missouri tried all kinds of shit to land Wingo, from guilt, to lying about NIL capabilities, you name it. That family absolutely made it interesting in the end, no matter what the 247 guys are saying.

-Livingstone is the guy that visited an ATM practice and then spent time with the players and saw all of the guys, led by Stewart, smoking weed and skipping classes while the coaches openly fought on the field.

-Calhoun was a legitimate target for Texas and Georgia shut that down before the visit by playing the old school bag game. The one spot where it can still win out is when someone puts 6 figures into a gym bag and hands it to the family or handler and says "take it now and shut things down or we're giving this to someone else". Doesn't work in every recruitment, it's illegal as hell, and there's only so much of that to go around, but Georgia still will do with a local and Auburn seems like that's they're preferred approach.

-The story I told about Kibble at the time is refreshingly straightforward in their report. Texas basically said "take this spot or we need to part ways" and the dude locked in.

-Carter thought he should have the same NIL outlook as his teammate, Baker, and ultimately only Auburn was valuing IOL that way.

HenryJames · February 12

38 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

-Livingstone is the guy that visited an ATM practice and then spent time with the players and saw all of the guys, led by Stewart, smoking weed and skipping classes while the coaches openly fought on the field.

Bevo · February 12

38 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

-Carter thought he should have the same NIL outlook as his teammate, Baker, and ultimately only Auburn was valuing IOL that way.

I get that from all sides. I assume Carter thinks he is as good as Baker. Baker is an OT and Carter is a guard, though, and tackles are more highly sought after.

Teryor · February 12

53 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Boy, those guys think we care a lot more about Micah Hudson than any of us do. That guy said he could write a book about that recruitment, and I think he just did. Geez. I stopped reading that section in order to avoid nap time. Otherwise, there were some interesting snippets. I'll add some more color to a few of the names:

-Texas would have had their pick of any QB in the 2024 cycle had they not landed Manning in the 2023 cycle. I think it worked out better for Texas. Manning is a better prospect than any of the guys in the 2024 cycle and Owens is a damned good recruit for this cycle and the QB room.

Eh I think you're downplaying how much angst there was around the Hudson recruitment at the time (and I don't browse the 247 forums but I imagine it was even worse there). And now they're outright saying that it wasn't about the legacy aspect at all, really burning that bridge entirely down. Plus didn't he lie to Gerry (maybe more 9.95ers as well) which caused a whole flip on how they reported the recruitment?

Agree on the QB situation, if Ewers had entered the draft this year we would have been talking ourselves into Cam Ward, Will Howard, or a true freshman best case. Always take the guy in an earlier class if it's remotely close.

Edited February 12 by Teryor

Teryor · February 12

247 Behind the Scenes Part 2

Quote

The 2024 cycle was another successful one for Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns.

On the heels of signing a Top 5 class in his first year on the job, Sarkisian signed the No. 3 class in 2023, and came back strong again and signed the No. 6 class with some of the top talent in the nation. The group was highlighted by winning over the highly-publicized recruitments of Colin Simmons, Kobe Black, Brandon Baker, Xavier Filsaime, and Ryan Wingo among others

Each year at Horns247, we pull back the curtain on several recruitments giving out the information we can’t give during the course of the recruiting cycle. Where did the Texas staff push the right buttons and where did they have their miscues?

In this year’s edition of Behind The Scenes, Horns247’s all-access look into the 2024 class, we discuss how the Longhorns landed some of the top prospects in the country and how they missed out on others.

— As soon as Texas offered Alex January, everyone around his recruitment immediately knew it was over. It was well documented that January's father, Mike, played defensive line at Texas before raising his son to cheer for the burnt orange as a fan of the Longhorns. Throughout the process January took visits to plenty of schools but ultimately he and everyone around him always knew where he was going to end up. Funny enough, during an interview in the spring January brought up how his father would ask at every visit that wasn't Texas why he and Alex were there if they were going to go to end up at Texas. January was locked into Texas from the day they offered and had a drama free recruitment where he silently committed on his official visit before going public with the announcement on July 1. — Scruggs

— It came down to Texas and Ole Miss for Melvin Hills who had one of the more productive senior seasons of any defensive recruit in the country. Amassing 14.5 sacks on the year, Hills flashed and displayed the kind of talent the Longhorns envisioned he can be. Steve Sarkisian and Bo Davis prioritized the Bayou State D-tackle and Hills took notice. He says Sark made a point to catch up with him one-on-one every time he visited, which meant something to Hills and his family. After choosing UT his recruitment was all but shut down. Obviously Bo Davis leaving had an impact. He was another big reason as to why Hills chose Texas. And while he could have taken the same path as D’antre Robinson and ask out of his National Letter of Intent, Hills opted to be patient and see who Texas hired. He’s a big fan of new defensive line coach Kenny Baker. Hills will enroll at Texas in the summer. — South

— A lot of defensive line recruitments will have mention of former D-line coach Bo Davis and for good reason. Dominick McKinley was another example. Texas positioned itself nicely coming out of the summer for the elite defensive lineman after greatly impressing his camp on the final official visit of June. To that point, LSU hadn’t generated much momentum with McKinley or his family, and it really boiled down to Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma. A few weeks went by and the Aggies were able to swing things in their favor in early September, securing a commitment. Contact with Steve Sarkisian and Bo Davis never stopped, though. McKinley’s mother was speaking with at least one Texas coach once a week, if not more. That kept the door open for the Longhorns when Jimbo Fisher was let go in College Station, and then the final nail in the coffin for the Aggies’ chances of holding onto McKinley when D-line coach Elijah Robinson left for Syracuse. McKinley was lining up visits in January to check out other programs. While Texas wasn’t one of the intended January visits, he was already extremely familiar with the program. McKinley jumped the gun a bit and opted to commit to LSU on New Year’s Eve. A little over a week later Bo Davis left Texas for LSU and the rest is history. McKinley gets to stay home and play for arguably his favorite position coach in the country. — South

Joseph Jonah-Ajonye (Photo: Jordan Scruggs, 247Sports)
— Early on it looked like Texas was going to be the eventual landing spot for Joseph Jonah-Ajonye. Texas offered during the 2023 January Junior Day and afterwards when speaking to the media JJA talked about he grew up being family friends and Joseph Ossai and his family that his whole life he's looked up to Ossai as a role model, even going into detail how he and others in the Nigerian community in Conroe used to get together on Saturday's to watch Ossai play for the Longhorns. Even with all of those early factors going for Texas, the Longhorns decided to prioritize other players at the position and right as the contact with Texas was beginning to drop, Georgia was just starting to gain momentum. The Dawgs flipped the recruitment upside pretty quickly, and within weeks of offering were clear cut leaders for both JJA and his five-star teammate Justin Williams. Texas must've realized the miss on the eval later on when Texas tried to come back around in the spring, but by then JJA was pretty set on going to Georgia and wasn't a huge fan of the hot and cold approach Texas used. Had Texas treated JJA like a priority from offering, it's likely he'd be on the Texas roster right now. — Scruggs

— The Early Signing Period was an eventful stretch for Dealyn Evans. A Texas A&M commit, both Texas and Florida were pressing to flip the Top100 defensive line, with the Longhorns generating a bit more buzz in the latter stages. UT was lining up an official visit for Evans in January, assuming he held off on signing early, which was the original intent entering the Early Signing Period window. However, on Thursday of that week, Evans announced he planned to make a decision on Friday, the last day he could sign. He was giving reporters indications that he would pick Texas, but as we checked with sources throughout the day it was clear that the Aggies were in line to keep him in the fold. And that’s what eventually transpired on Friday evening. Much ado about nothing. — South

— Nigel Smith was a frequent visitor to the Forty Acres early on in his recruitment, and while some might have thought the trips were representation of his interest level, Smith actually happened to be one of the most traveled recruits in the nation when it came to visits. Never at any point did it feel like he was leaning towards the Longhorns, and as we got further into the summer Texas decided to cancel Smith's long planned official visit that was scheduled for one of the early home games. Texas liked Smith early on, but as other prospects emerge he fell down the board and both sides went their ways. — Scruggs

— Jayden Jackson, an Indiana native, officially visited Austin at the end of June, the Longhorns appeared to be surging. In fact, we had a story ready in the event he committed in the days following his return home. The 6-foot-2, 290-pounder spent time with Alfred Collins, connected with Bo Davis and Steve Sarkisian, overall having a great time in Austin. It was his last visit before the Dead Period kicked back in and UT rolled out the red carpet. Jackson let visit highs calm down a bit in the few weeks after his slate of trips to Texas, Oklahoma, Miami, Florida, and Ohio State. It was a nearly cancelled visit to Norman just days prior to Texas that won things over for Jackson. He had a strong connection with Todd Bates and Brent Venables and felt the most at home at OU. In hindsight, Jackson could be seen as one ot the few misses in this cycle that stings, just in terms of going to the rival school in a year the Longhorns needed to load up on the defensive line. — South

— Texas was in the mix heavy for Alex Foster down the stretch after offering the Baylor commit in the fall. Bo Davis set the Longhorns up in solid position to potentially flip the Mississippi native. After an official visit to the Forty Acres in December, it appeared as though a flip might be imminent. Foster, however, held off on making anything official, opting to take his recruitment to National Signing Day in February. Of course, Davis leaving impacted things greatly in terms of Foster’s interest in the Longhorns and the staff’s pursuit. Had Davis remained on the staff we probably would have been monitoring things closely last Wednesday when the 6-foot-5, 250-pounder put pen to paper. — South

— Another Alabama native, Malik Blocton had very high interest in Texas before opting for Auburn. The Longhorns likely finished second for the Pike Road standout. He took an official visit to Texas in June and loved every minute of it. Two things played in Auburn’s favor — the distance. While his family had no problem driving and that didn’t prohibit him from choosing Texas, it was still a nearly 12-hour drive to Austin compared to an hour drive to Auburn. Also, Blocton’s brother, Marcus Harris, plays defensive tackle for the Tigers. — South

A one-time Utah commit, Isaia Faga ultimately flipped to and signed with Alabama, his in-state school. Texas hosted the 6-foot-2, 275-pounder for an official visit in June, but it was the home-state appeal and the original intent to play under Nick Saban that won it out for the Crimson Tide. Faga is from a military family that has moved all over the country. Alabama was where they considered “home” which his father said was a big deal in his decision-making process. — South

Another Mississippi native Texas was in the mix for late, the Longhorns were able to get Terrance Hibbler on campus for an official visit in the summer after he had already committed to Mississippi State. Nothing really came of that trip and Hibbler went largely unmentioned when it came to Texas targets in the months to follow. Former D-line coach Bo Davis stayed on Hibbler, though. And it was enough to keep an eye on things as Early Signing Day approached. “Texas was definitely an option,” one source close to Hibbler’s recruitment said. But as is the case with many top Magnolia State prospects, they typically stay home at Ole Miss or Mississippi State, assuming one of the in-state programs wants them. Hibbler was no exception. — South

— This one is pretty cut and dry, at least how things ended. A large part of D'Antre Robinson’s decision to sign with Texas rested on former D-line coach Bo Davis being the defensive line coach at Texas. When Davis left, Robinson asked out of his National Letter of Intent and enrolled at Florida, his original second place school. However, leading up to his original pledge there certainly was some misdirection. There was confidence on the Florida end, but Robinson was telling reporters Texas indeed led and would be the pick. True to his word, Robinson pledged to Texas. The interest in Florida never let up, though. And it was mutual. The Gators stayed in the conversation and welcomed Robinson with open arms when he was released from his LOI. Obviously it wasn’t an ideal situation for Texas, but as one source put it: Sark wants guys that want to be at Texas. — South

— Texas finished a close second behind Auburn for TJ Lindsey, who said he felt just a bit more comfortable with the Tigers when all was said and done. The IMG Academy standout — by way of Arkansas — pledge do the Tigers in August, at which point communication with the Longhorns ceased for the most part. Texas circled back and made an attempt at getting back into the picture later in the fall. Lindsey set plans to attend the Big 12 Championship Game in Arlington in early December (he had already used an official visit to Austin in the summer). However, a trip back to the Plains for the Iron Bowl sealed his recruitment to War Eagle. Still, the Longhorns gave Lindsey plenty to think about and were at times a legitimate flip threat for the Top247 defensive lineman. — South

TyAnthony Smith (Photo: Jordan Scruggs, 247Sports)
— Tyanthony Smith’s recruitment was every bit of a rollercoaster. He earned his Texas offer after coming for the Texas Elite Camp in the summer heading into his junior season and returned once more that fall and twice the following spring for the January and March Junior Days. In May I drove out to Jasper to go see Smith in spring ball practice, and to my surprise upon showing up I was greeted by Smith who was out of practice that day due to an injury. Smith and I ended up talking off the record for about an hour and a half that day, and I came away from the conversation really thinking he would eventually end up at Texas. Texas was the leader at the time and it wasn’t really close at all, and in large part due to Smith’s bond with Jeff Choate that had really grown that spring. On the drive from Jasper to the next spring ball practice stop I exchanged texts with a source at Texas who was happy to hear that Smith spoke so highly of Texas. That same source also said that they felt Smith was their recruitment to lose, and that they were anticipating landing him on their official visit. That’s when things took a huge left turn. Smith scheduled four official visits to happen in the order of Texas A&M, USC, Oklahoma, and Texas. All four visits were pretty much back to back as Smith had a wedding to attend during one of those June weekends and his family was scheduled to go on a week-long cruise starting on the 23rd. While on his official visit to Texas A&M, Smith silently committed to the Aggies. A&M wasn’t expecting it, but of course they took his commitment. A couple days later Smith was in Los Angeles before he decided to silently commit to USC while also being silently committed to Texas A&M. Originally scheduled to fly from Los Angeles straight to Oklahoma to begin his official visit with the Sooners, Oklahoma canceled their official visit with Smith after they took a commitment from someone else while Smith was at his official in LA. Because of that, Smith flew straight home instead of the original plans of being in Norman for two days before flying to Austin to start his Texas official visit before leaving Austin for Galveston on that Friday the 23rd. As Smith was on his way home from Los Angeles to Jasper he decided to cancel his official visit to Texas. Then out of nowhere on Thursday June 22, Smith showed up at Texas A&M unannounced as he made the trip up to College Station with his good friend Drelon Miller who was playing in the state 7on7 tournament taking place that weekend. Smith reaffirmed his commitment to the Aggies as the two sides buttoned everything up on the visit before Smith left the next day to start his cruise. Smith announced his commitment to A&M just a few days after he got back from his cruise on June 30. After that a couple months went by before buzz of Smith scheduling an official visit to Texas started to surface. In October I started hearing from sources about the staff working to get Smith on campus for an official visit during a game weekend, but each time I’d reach out to Smith he’d downplay as if he was barely interested. Multiple times an official was scheduled and days before it’d fall apart. That continued throughout the majority of the regular season, and Texas and Smith were never able to make it work. Then Jimbo Fisher got fired, and the small window for Texas to flip Smith started to increase. Smith said all the right things about Texas A&M in interviews during the coaching search and shortly after Mike Elko was announced, but behind the scenes Texas and Smith were growing closer and closer to actually getting an official visit figured out. About a week before signing day, news broke again that Smith would be coming in on an official visit the weekend before signing day. Smith denied the report to any and everyone that asked him to confirm, and those in Smith’s circle began going off the radar as info became increasingly hard to come by. Then Friday Dec. 15 came and Smith showed up at Texas for his rumored official visit and committed before driving back home to Jasper a few days later. We’ll obviously never know what would’ve happened had Jimbo Fisher not been fired, but it’s just another chapter to add to the story of linebacker recruiting battles in the rivalry between Texas and Texas A&M. — Scruggs

— Justin Williams and Jeff Choate seemed to connect pretty well early on but as time went on it became evident that other national powers were building lots of steam whereas Texas was falling back in the race. Originally from the Chicago area, Williams didn’t have any ties to any programs in the region and was as open as you could possibly be as a recruit in the state of Texas. To my knowledge Williams only ever made it to Texas twice with one visit being for a game in 2022 and the other being for the January Junior Day in 2023. From early on it always seemed like he had his mind set on going to either Oregon or Georgia, and as we got into the spring there started to be week-long stretches where Texas couldn’t get in contact with Williams due to Williams ignoring the staff. Jeff Choate never threw in the towel and was relentless in his pursuit as he recruited Williams through the whistle, but ultimately it always seemed like no matter what Texas wasn’t going to be a legitimate contender. Also of note, I was always told from a trusted source in Houston that Williams was not a fan of the city of Austin. — Scruggs

— Because Texas thought they were going to land Tyanthony Smith on his original official visit that was scheduled for June 21-23 that Smith canceled, Texas went ahead and canceled the official visits of Kamar Mothudi and Montay Weedon. Both were scheduled to come in over the summer and both were reported without details, and instead just as trips being canceled out of respect for the kids, but now that we're past signing day I'm more comfortable with reporting it was Texas who canceled the trips. — Scruggs

— Texas thought about canceling Khmori House's official visit as well but they ended up letting him visit. Since the staff knew House was going to try to commit on the visit, Texas had a sit-down conversation with House on the first day of the visit where they explained that they couldn't take his commitment right then but that they wanted to keep recruiting him. If you can't read the tea leaves, Texas was essentially stashing House as a backup plan until he decided to commit to Washington a day after his official visit to Seattle. — Scruggs

— Payton Pierce and had Texas both had major mutual interest early on, but as his recruiting process continued he began to trend more and more towards programs in the midwest like Ohio State and Notre Dame. Texas was involved at various points throughout the recruitment, but I'd be lying if I said I ever felt like Texas was close to landing his commitment. I've never asked anyone about it, but I do have some speculation that Texas' loaded linebacker haul in 2023 hurt them in this recruitment. — Scruggs

Colin Simmons (Photo: Jordan Scruggs, 247Sports)
— If there was ever anyone in the 2024 recruiting cycle that the Texas staff labeled as someone they can’t miss out on, it was Colin Simmons. Early on Simmons was targeted as the can’t miss guy and the recruitment was essentially treated in the same way as Arch Manning’s from the previous cycle before. Texas was in desperate need of a game changing pass rusher after going two full cycles without signing one, and with the best pass rushing prospect to come through the Lone Star State in recent memory up the road in Duncanville, the Longhorns were going to do everything in their power to bring Simmons home. The early part of Simmons’ recruitment was relatively straightforward when compared with the final stretch. He took visits to just about every program in the nation, but even early on the two schools with the most buzz were always LSU and Texas. As we got into the summer of 2023, Simmons scheduled official visits to see Alabama, Miami, SMU, and Texas with an official trip to see LSU to come later on in the fall as Simmons didn’t have a planned timeline at the time. By that point in time it was known that it was going to LSU or Texas, and just about everyone you talked to tended to lean towards the Longhorns but with prospects of the status of Simmons you always have to be extremely careful before entering any predictions. That said, the recruiting industry was largely waiting on what lay ahead in the form of his Texas OV and potential LSU OV during the summer. Depending on who you talk to, some will say Simmons silently committed to Texas during his official visit. I was told that by a source while the visit was happening, and went ahead and put in a crystal in favor of the Longhorns before Simmons had left campus. There was a lot of confidence on the Texas side coming out of the trip, but all parties involved knew a rollercoaster lied ahead and that anything could happen with Simmons between then and when it came time for him to commit. That’s when things started to get tricky. A few weeks before his commitment, Simmons announced his commitment date of Aug. 10. Between the time of announcing the date and the actual date itself, Simmons told all three of his finalists of Texas, LSU, and Miami that he would be playing college football at their school. That caused for mass confusion amongst the recruiting industry as team site reporters for Texas, LSU, and Miami all wrote in confidence that Simmons was trending towards their school before it was realized what was actually taking place. As the recruitment hit its home stretch in the last week and NIL really started getting talked about, it got even hairier. Multiple times a day there’d be new updates from sources, but with Simmons telling all three schools he was coming it was always hard to filter what was actually true and what wasn’t. Interestingly enough, for the majority of the last week the second highest offer on the table happened to be from SMU who seemingly came out of nowhere to make a late run for Simmons right at the buzzer. Then just two days before he was set to commit, LSU made a late push, but it was still behind what Texas was coming with. Hours after that happened, I got a call from a source in Dallas who told me the decision had been made and that it would be Texas. The same source said that while LSU did make it interesting, the decision was always going to be for Texas, and no matter the circumstances, Simmons was always going to be a Longhorn. The source told me Simmons was going to continue playing the game and telling multiple schools he would be picking up their hat at the ceremony, but he swore up and down and promised me it would be Texas. As soon as that happened I quickly typed up a like it, love it, leave it story and wrote how much I loved my crystal ball for Simmons to end up at Texas. Two days later, Simmons committed in a ceremony at Duncanville’s basketball gym. When his commitment first went public, there was plenty of hesitation by Texas fans and writers due to the LSU official visit still being available. However, from the point Simmons gave his commitment to when he signed, he never wavered or took visits elsewhere and remained true to his pledge to Steve Sarkisian and Co. — Scruggs

— Zina Umeozulu is up there with Alex January for easiest recruitments to cover out of anyone in the 2024 recruiting class. After his brother signed to Texas in 2022, Zina essentially signed too. Umeozulu always kept his recruitment open throughout the early parts of his process and schools like Oklahoma and Texas A&M were involved, but it became more and more evident that he would be ending up at Texas with his brother the longer Neto spent in Austin. — Scruggs

— Ranked as the No. 1 edge rusher in the country, per 247Sports, Jordan Ross had extremely high interest in Texas. An Alabama native, Ross made his way out to Austin in the summer for an official visit, spending time with fellow Yellowhammer State native Justice Finkley on the visit. Ross came away extremely impressed with the program and fully intended to return for a game in the fall. Ultimately he chose Tennessee later in the summer, but there’s no question the Longhorns finished runner-up for Ross, and gave the elite edge rusher plenty to think about ahead of his decision. — South

— Deshawn Warner was a really interesting recruitment to look back on. A mid to high three-star recruit at the time, Warner scheduled four official visits for Kansas, Oregon State, Texas, and Washington. Going into the summer, Texas' goal was to land three of their top four edge targets. Those four targets were Colin Simmons, Jordan Ross, Zina Umeozulu, and Danny Okoye, and in that specific order. The staff liked Warner, but ultimately they weren't going to take his commitment until it was final that they wouldn't be able to get three out of the previous four names mentioned. In almost the exact same scenario as Khmori House, the staff sat down with Warner on the first day of his official to Texas to lay out that they liked him and wanted to keep recruiting him with the caveat that they weren't going to be able to take him right then. Warner understood, and continued going about his recruitment as he had before by taking his last two officials to Washington and Kansas. Kansas was able to land him over Washington, and a huge part of it was because Kansas already held commitments from two of Warner's high school teammates and close friends. Funny enough, the day before he was supposed to commit, he called Texas to tell them he appreciated them recruiting him but that he was going to commit to Washington the next day. Texas sources passed that on to me, I went ahead and put in a crystal ball prediction in favor of Washington. The next day when he went to commit he shocked me and the Texas staff by obviously choosing Kansas, and that's now one of my three crystal ball predictions I've gotten wrong. As a senior, Warner took his game to a new level as he eclipsed 20 sacks on the year and Michigan and Ohio State both offered in October as the two rivals did everything they could to flip him from his Kansas pledge. When I reached out to Warner to see if he had heard anything from Texas when he was in the midst of his stellar season, he said he hadn't heard anything since the summer. I have no idea how, but Kansas ended up holding on to him through the fall as he continued to rise up the rankings, finishing as our No. 67 overall prospect and the highest-rated Kansas signee of all time. — Scruggs

— Out of Texas, Oregon, Alabama, and Texas A&M, you could make the argument for all four programs being the favorite at one point or another for Solomon Williams. Texas was working on loading up at edge this cycle, and Williams was part of their vision. Of course Colin Simmons was the top target at the position in the cycle, but there was always high interest in Williams. The Longhorns got him on campus twice, including an official visit for the Kansas game. While both trips went well, it never felt like Texas surged ahead once we reached the fall. Factor in his cousin Izaiah Williams flipping to Texas A&M from Florida, and it was the Aggies that did enough in the end. Texas is more than happy with the additional edge rusher it was able to bring in though the Transfer Portal in UTSA’s Trey Moore. — South

— If Kolaj Cobbins didn't end up at LSU, he'd be a Texas Longhorn right now. LSU made it an emphasis to sign as many prospects ranked inside Louisiana's top 10 prospects in 2024, and to kick it off they landed Cobbins' commitment. Originally wanting to until later on in the summer to make a decision, LSU was able to land Cobbins after telling him his offer to LSU wouldn't be committable if he was to take any longer with his recruitment. Cobbins went ahead and shut his recruitment down right then and there and never took anymore visits unless they were to Baton Rouge. — Scruggs

— Outside of Aeryn Hampton, Danny Okoye was likely the biggest wild card of the 2024 cycle. During the spring, no one had a clue as to where Okoye was leaning, but it was well known then that no matter what Oklahoma would not be recruiting him any longer. I never got the full story as to what actually happened, but I was told something happened with Okoye and his mother while on an unofficial visit in Norman earlier in the spring that turned the Sooners off of recruiting him. With that in mind, I remember asking a source what they had heard about Okoye after Texas seemingly came out nowhere and scheduled an official visit with him. I was told Texas was aware, but that they wanted to go into the OV with an open mind as that would've been Okoye's first time in Austin. They knew he'd fit as a player, but wanted to of course make sure he fit into the culture of the program before deciding exactly how much to pursue. Texas felt the visit went well and that he checked the boxes that needed checking, but there was definitely a weird vibe going on as Okoye didn't make the trip with any family and instead only brought one of his friends. After the Texas trip, Okoye took visits to LSU and Tennessee before the dead period closed at the end of June. After that he went off the radar for the majority of July before showing up out of nowhere at Oklahoma for the Sooners' annual end of July barbecue. The Sooners changed how they felt about Okoye, and a little over a month later he returned for an official visit during the Sooners' home opener in which he silently committed on the visit before going public with the announcement three weeks later. As far as Okoye and Texas, it never felt like the Longhorns or quite frankly anyone else was ever close to actually landing Okoye. — Scruggs

Kobe Black (Photo: Texas Athletics)
— Kobe Black showed high interest in Texas from the jump but the recruitment was relatively quiet for the most part. Texas always felt good about their chances but they really started to feel dangerous after they signed two of Black’s closest friends in Tre Wisner and Jelani McDonald as part of the Longhorns’ 2023 recruiting class. From that point on Texas truly set the pace in the recruitment. I remember talking with Hudson Standish after the 2023 January Junior Day when he mentioned the staff had quite quiet confidence behind the scenes at the time and that sources had asked him and Mike not to enter any crystal balls out of sake of potentially ruining what was going on. From that point forward things went relatively smooth for Texas, and while he didn’t commit on his official visit like many thought he did, he ended up silently committing to the staff over a facetime call during the middle of a fall camp practice in August. While Black wouldn’t go public with his commitment until exactly one week before signing day, it felt as if he had been committed to Texas for almost a year. Even though he took unofficial and official visits all over the nation, it was always Texas with the most buzz and it never seemed necessarily close. The Longhorns led the whole way and there was essentially zero drama. — Scruggs

— Wardell Mack may be one of Texas’ most underrated commitments. He’s a four-star recruit but in a group that includes guys like Kobe Black and Xavier Filsaime, Mack’s name goes overlooked. Texas considered the 5-foot-11, 170-pounder a must-get type of target, and recruited him as such. After his official visit to Austin in the summer I placed a Crystal Ball prediction in favor of the Longhorns to land the Bayou State standout, and felt really good about that prediction at the time. Mack took a late July trip to Florida and committed to the Gators shortly after. Texas didn’t stop there. In fact, the Longhorns just recruited Mack harder. Throughout the fall, there was still optimism from sources that Texas could and would eventually flip the Top247 prospect. Led by Terry Joseph, a fellow New Orleans native, the Longhorns’ recruiting efforts paid off in the form a flip in November. Mack never looked back before signing and enrolling early on the Forty Acres. — South

— Very little drama when it came to the four-star NFL legacy Santana Wilson. Wilson, the son of former All-Pro safety Adrian Wilson, pledged to Texas in the summer and never looked back. Texas A&M tried to make a run at the Arizona native, but Wilson never gave it much thought, which was evident to the Aggies staff. Wilson credits the Texas coaches for the environment they have created in Austin and making him feel commutable. Like Mack, he could be one of the sneaky underrated defensive signees in this 2024 class when all is said and done. — South

— Oftentimes when recruits transfer to IMG Academy, they gain a more national profile and start considering other programs more seriously besides schools closer to home. That wasn’t the case for the four-star Jordon Johnson-Rubell who transferred to the prep powerhouse from Fort Worth Brewer. In fact it was really always Texas that held a special spot in his recruitment, in large part due to the connection he had with safeties coach Blake Gideon. Hometown TCU obviously sat high for him as well, but couldn’t really compete with Texas once the Longhorns locked in on the hard-hitting DB. — South

Selman Bridges (Photo: Jordan Scruggs, 247Sports)
— Texas actually led for the majority of the spring for Selman Bridges. The staff treated Bridges like a priority immediately upon offering, and he started reciprocating the interest fairly quickly. Since Bridges didn't really start collecting offers until January of 2023, he decided to narrow things down rather quickly and by the end of February it was clear he was going to end up at either Arkansas, TCU, Texas, or USC. Bridges brought his whole family and his girlfriend to his first ever Texas visit when he came down for the March Junior Day and they fell in love with the school instantly. Bridges' parents preferred Bridges go to Texas, but ultimately they were going to let the decision be his as they made sure to make both things known by their son. Bridges returned to campus exactly a week later when he ran with Micah Hudson at the Texas Relays, and the trip went much better for Bridges. Texas continued setting the pace in the recruitment, and in the weeks following both visits Bridges would go on the record saying Texas is his favorite school. There wasn't a school treating Bridges like more of a priority than Arkansas however, and the Hogs began gaining ground quickly towards the back of the spring as they went all in on Bridges. After going up to Fayetteville for an unofficial visit, the Hogs had done enough damage in the recruitment to even it with Texas in a tie for first place as we got into the summer. By that time Bridges was still maintaining the same top four schools, but it was clear the decision was going to be for Arkansas or Texas. USC never really had a legit shot, but the Trojans would soon drop from the race after they handled a situation very poorly with a player that Bridges had spent a lot of time with and shared trainers with. The Arkansas official visit came and went, and the Hogs crushed it. Arkansas had taken full control of the momentum in the recruitment with their all in approach, and an impressive NIL deal didn't hurt either. The following week Bridges was set to officially visit Texas the weekend of June 23-25. Unlike Micah Hudson however, Bridges decided to make his official visit to Texas work with the state 7on7 tournament and got into Austin late Friday night on the 23. That's when things went sideways for Texas. It had been a long time since Horns247 had heard of a recruit feeling lost in the shuffle in the midst of large recruiting events, and Bridges was the only official visitor we heard who felt that way. While Bridges spent the whole trip with then cornerbacks analyst Joey Thomas, he told me he felt like he got noticeably less FaceTime with Terry Joseph and Steve Sarkisian than other cornerbacks who were at Texas that weekend. While Bridges' family enjoyed their time being hosted by Ryan Watts, they were still confused as to why their host wasn't Jahdae Barron when both Bridges and Barron had knew each other quite well through having the same trainer, with Barron even having been someone Bridges looked up to during his process. The visit experience left a blemish on how the Bridges family viewed Texas, and going forward it was all Arkansas for Bridges the rest of the way, even after Texas came with a number that topped Arkansas'. Even with that in mind Bridges felt more comfortable going to Arkansas and the Hogs had a lot more early playing time to offer. Even though the OV experience soured the taste of Texas in their mouths, Bridges' family still would've preferred if Bridges chose to be an hour and a half down the road instead of in Fayetteville, but again the decision was always going to be Bridges' to make. After he gave his commitment, Bridges wouldn't waver until we got into November. Around that time there was significant buzz that Sam Pittman wouldn't be coaching Arkansas next season, and those around Bridges advised him to start picking up the phone and responding to texts when schools would hit him up attempting to flip him. Bridges did just that, and although nothing actually happened, Bridges came very close to officially visiting both Ole Miss and Oregon. Texas reached out as well, but the interest level from both sides wasn't as strong as it had been before and it died down about as soon as it started up. As the person that found Bridges, had a close relationship with him, and shot his commitment video, I do think things would've gone differently had Bridges official visit to Texas not went the way it did. — Scruggs

— Early on it looked like Corian Gipson would end up at Texas with his former high school head coach Chris Gilbert on staff as Texas’ director of high school relations. Gipson kept his recruitment open for the large majority of it, but as we got into the spring of 2023 it was clear that he was going to end up at either Clemson or Texas. Clemson got involved once they got Gipson on campus and sold him on their on and off the field development, as well as the culture within the Tigers’ program. Texas was in it because of Chris Gilbert originally, but after he left for a job at UNT other staffers stepped up and Gipson built his own genuine connection to the staff. Even though Gilbert wasn’t in Austin anymore, there was still plenty of familiarity to the Texas team through Gipson’s DFW connections. Development was always the most important thing for Gipson in his recruitment, and according to a source he believed his chance at development was greater at Clemson than at Texas. The same source told me Gipson made up his mind about his college decision being Clemson while in the middle of a presentation during his official visit to Texas. There was a ton of confusion the last few weeks of Gipson’s recruitment, and probably because Texas thought they were going to land Gipson. Meanwhile, Gipson gave Clemson commitment quotes to 247Sports over a week before the announcement was made. Gipson always mentioned it wouldn’t effect his recruitment, but he did often bring up in interviews that those in his family preferred he leaves the state of Texas for college. — Scruggs

— After hearing of Xavier Filsaime’s strong distaste of Texas for not offering, I figured the Longhorns would have little to no shot when they offered Filsaime the morning of the TX-OU game this past fall. Boy was I wrong. Having to work from behind with less than three months until early signing day, the Longhorns went to work quickly on building relationships and making Filsaime their biggest priority at the highschool level. Texas got Filsaime to campus on a secret visit a little over a month after offering when Filsaime and his dad made it down on an unofficial on Nov. 21. The visit was kept a secret until after it had concluded, and it went extremely well as both sides left that day with the goal of working out an official visit. The best possible news Texas could have received came six days later on Nov. 27 when news broke that Florida would be letting go of defensive backs coach Corey Raymond. Raymond was Filsaime’s primary recruiter for the Gators, and without him it’s unlikely Filsaime would’ve committed to Florida in the first place. Per a trusted source, within an hour of the Raymond news breaking, Filsaime’s mother called the Texas staff and told them her son would be playing college football at Texas. With the information we were told we were asked to hold off on putting in any predictions, but the deal was done and the flip was complete. A few days later Filsaime scheduled his Texas official visit for Dec. 8-10 before later rescheduling it for Dec. 15-17. Just a day after the visit and two days before signing day on Dec. 18, Filsaime went public with the decision. While it might’ve been a rocky way to start the recruitment, the Longhorns still ended up with the prospect at the end of the day as Filsaime’s recruitment process looks to be another feather in Steve Sarkisian’s recruiting hat. — Scruggs

— At one point Texas was seen as the team to beat for Myles Davis, assuming the staff pressed. Davis’ lone Crystal Ball even favored the Longhorns. He chose the Aggies in the summer, but maintained contact with safeties coach Blake Gideon throughout the fall. Texas was set to host Davis for the Texas Tech game late in the season, but by that point UT was all in on at-the-time-Florida-commit Xavier Filsaime. The Texas staff never honed in on Davis and he stuck with the Aggies. — South

— Joshua Lair was one of the most interesting recruitments to follow. Lair seemingly came out of nowhere when he first burst onto the scene as a Junior and maintained one of the quietest recruitments the whole way through. Early on in the spring, it was clear Lair was ending up at either Baylor, LSU, Texas, or Washington after he booked official visits to see all four schools. LSU filled up at DB and stopped recruiting him, which made Texas the favorite overnight. The problem is, depending on who you talked to, you'd be told Lair was or wasn't a take by Texas. That continued throughout the summer, and by the time it came time for him to commit in the early fall it was more than concrete that he wasn't a take, and a few weeks later he chose Washington. — Scruggs

Terry Bussey
Terry Bussey (Photo: Jordan Scruggs, 247Sports)
— Texas didn’t put a good first foot forward with Terry Bussey, and it had lasting effects on the recruitment. After being on the Longhorns’ radar for quite some time, Bussey showed up to the Texas Elite Camp and worked out at defensive back before leaving without an offer. With Texas extending a handful of offers to other defensive backs who were in attendance, Bussey went home feeling somewhat jaded at the Longhorns. A lot of time passed where neither side was in contact, but in January of 2023 Sark flew the helicopter out to East Texas to stop by Timpson where Bussey picked up his long awaited Texas offer. Because of how the offer was given and the manner in which the offer was given of Sark going all the way out to Timpson to offer him in person, the offer meant a lot to Bussey. But at the end of the day, there was still some resentment as Texas was late to the party when compared to just about every other FBS program in the state. Bussey returned to campus in March for an unofficial and again in June for his official visit. Texas had made up ground but it was clear the Longhorns were still far behind LSU, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma. As we hit the late part of the summer, Texas began to pick up steam in the recruitment but it remained clear they still weren’t in first place. Just as things looked like they could really be turning in a positive direction for Texas, things took a left turn. Bussey was scheduled to be at Alabama on an official visit the weekend the Crimson Tide hosted Texas in Tuscaloosa. The Friday before the Alabama-Texas game, Bussey told Mike Roach that he would be visiting Texas for the Wyoming game the next weekend if Texas was to beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa that coming weekend. Texas obviously took down Alabama in Tuscaloosa, but Bussey never made it to Austin for the Wyoming game the following weekend. Instead, Bussey decided to go to College Station that weekend as he later told 247Sports the reason he didn’t make it to Austin was because he never received an invitation to the game. The timing of it all was incredibly important too, as the date of the Wyoming game was Sept. 16 with Bussey’s long-planned commitment date of Sept. 28 set to fall just 12 days later. From that point on the door on Texas was pretty much shut by Bussey and we never heard much else tying the two sides together. — Scruggs

— I don't know if I've ever seen more of a wild card in recruiting than that of Aeryn Hampton. After committing to Baylor in December of 2021, Texas went out to Daingerfield to go see Hampton in a regular school visit. To start it off, Hampton told the staff members at Daingerfield that day that Texas was his favorite school just weeks after he committed to Baylor. That was an obvious red flag to Texas, but they absolutely loved the prospect Hampton is and continued treating him as the priority he was. Less than a month after Hampton committed to Baylor, he announced his decommitment. Then about a month and a half passed before he committed to Texas. Keep in mind this is in February of his sophomore year in 2022. Upon receiving the commitment Texas knew what they were dealing with and that they'd have to continue recruiting Hampton all the way up until signing day. That said, there wasn't a single person in Austin that found it surprising when Hampton decommitted from Texas on Nov. 9. Even though he was backing away from the program with his decommitment, sources in Austin made it very clear that they felt they'd still have a better chance than anyone else down the stretch. Once we got into the spring it became evident that Hampton was either going to end up back at Texas or playing for Nick Saban at Alabama, and after taking officials to Austin and Tuscaloosa on back to back weekends Hampton decided to shut it down again and recommit to Texas on July 7. Even then Texas knew it was never truly over with Hampton, and they were right, again. From the time he gave his second commitment to Texas until November, it was relatively smooth sailing. Then in mid November I got a text from my most trusted source in East Texas telling me to be on the lookout for Hampton to announce a flip to Alabama in a few days. I passed it on to Texas who seemed to smooth things over for the most part and soon enough it was back to smooth sailing. Then about a week before signing day I got a text from the same East Texas source who told me Alabama had successfully pulled off the flip, and a few days later Hampton went public with the announcement on Early Signing Day. — Scruggs

ousux · February 12

Are you still working in Hollywood? I left in 2009 after 7 years working in management/producing. Brutal business filled with egotistical children in adult bodies. Lol

Sounds a lot like the NFL if we're honest. At least CFB has the excuse of most of the players less than 2 years removed from HS.

ousux · February 12

Nope. Got distracted, lost sight of why I wanted to move there in the first place (write sitcoms), had no mentor and no focus and went to Argentina to take Spanish for two months in mid-late 2007.
Seven-and-a-half years later, I moved back to the USA full time after taking Spanish, teaching English, giving city tours, running a small tour company, and picking up citizenship among other things.
That said, my roommate on this wedding cruise/yachting trip in the Virgin Islands a few weeks ago was a middle school/high school buddy who is an Academy Award nominated documentarian and was heading back to LA before going to Sundance at the end of the week.
Also on the wedding ship was the college suite mate of the groom who flew in from filming his Netflix (or Amazon?) series that he’s been doing for a few years. And a former roommate/Texas Ex from early in my time in LA has been a script supervisor, predominantly for kids shows, for over 20 years now.

Don't have to live there to write these days. A coworker has a cousin who recently moved back to Texas with her screenwriter husband, and they seem to be doing quite well in spite of my coworkers cousin not really having a job or much income that anyone can tell. They only lived in an apartment for 6 months before buying a decently nice house in the area and are now shopping in the Indianapolis area for another so they'll have their own place when they visit his parents. He's still actively screenwriting remotely (between strikes) and only flies to LA when he needs to a few times a year. Like everyone else that moved they got fed up with the taxes, cost of housing and ever increasing crime. They had an older Honda Accord when they arrived (windows replaced several times) and immediately bought a new BMW EV once they arrived and got settled.

closetojumping · February 12

1 hour ago, Teryor said:

247 Behind the Scenes Part 2

Good stuff.

-Bo Davis really wasn't super excited about McKinley. Both of those guys winding up at LSU will be interesting. I hope Bo doesn't yell too much.

-Jayden Jackson's agent told people that he was a $600k guy early on. No one confirmed that for him. Ultimately, OU decided they had to have him and went in with a presentation that both Ohio State and Texas heard about and said "yeah, you should go there if that's their offer" and never looked back.

-The story isn't that dissimilar to the TJ Lindsey-to-Auburn recruitment.

-Texas felt like they were fine letting Becton head elsewhere.

-Okoye was a home school guy and folks who met him referenced a "weird vibe" about the guy. It will be interesting to see how he works out for the sooners.

-The entire Selman Bridges paragraph could be summed up like this: "He wanted to be the main priority at CB and he was going to be like the 5th DB in the class for Texas. He would rather go to a program that is in free fall because of the promise for early playing time was more important than being developed at Texas."

-Gipson had a bad knee injury this year. Clemson is going to have to develop that absolute shit out of that guy. Good luck to both sides. I'm glad he did not wind up in UT's class. One of the more hilarious misses by Nahlin in a long line of misses. His meltdown on that one was gold.

-You can see these guys really squinting to try to see why Texas didn't land Bussey. Other than Sarkisian being a little bit of a starfucker, Texas never made a strong push and liked other players better.

-Aeryn Hampton profiles as a predictable bust.

This was a class in which Texas really did have many solid options and in many instances, decided to punt. Obviously some of those guys will work out. I'm interested in seeing how well it goes for everyone, because I think Texas got a lot of things right in this cycle.

TheBryMan81 · February 12

1 hour ago, Teryor said:

Then in mid November I got a text from my most trusted source in East Texas telling me to be on the lookout for Hampton to announce a flip to Alabama in a few days. I passed it on to Texas who seemed to smooth things over for the most part and soon enough it was back to smooth sailing.

Obviously this happens and 9.95ers pass things (or try to at least) back to the staff through their sources. But I find it interesting he's willing to straight up put that out there that he passed info to the staff to help them keep a recruit.

Vertigo · February 12

8 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Good stuff.

-Bo Davis really wasn't super excited about McKinley. Both of those guys winding up at LSU will be interesting. I hope Bo doesn't yell too much.

-Jayden Jackson's agent told people that he was a $600k guy early on. No one confirmed that for him. Ultimately, OU decided they had to have him and went in with a presentation that both Ohio State and Texas heard about and said "yeah, you should go there if that's their offer" and never looked back.

-The story isn't that dissimilar to the TJ Lindsey-to-Auburn recruitment.

-Texas felt like they were fine letting Becton head elsewhere.

-Okoye was a home school guy and folks who met him referenced a "weird vibe" about the guy. It will be interesting to see how he works out for the sooners.

-The entire Selman Bridges paragraph could be summed up like this: "He wanted to be the main priority at CB and he was going to be like the 5th DB in the class for Texas. He would rather go to a program that is in free fall because of the promise for early playing time was more important than being developed at Texas."

-Gipson had a bad knee injury this year. Clemson is going to have to develop that absolute shit out of that guy. Good luck to both sides. I'm glad he did not wind up in UT's class. One of the more hilarious misses by Nahlin in a long line of misses. His meltdown on that one was gold.

-You can see these guys really squinting to try to see why Texas didn't land Bussey. Other than Sarkisian being a little bit of a starfucker, Texas never made a strong push and liked other players better.

-Aeryn Hampton profiles as a predictable bust.

This was a class in which Texas really did have many solid options and in many instances, decided to punt. Obviously some of those guys will work out. I'm interested in seeing how well it goes for everyone, because I think Texas got a lot of things right in this cycle.

Okoye is honestly a bit perplexing. Measurables check out, and his highlights kind of check out until you realize he is abusing future accountants and eSports "athletes". Is he a D1 player? Probably, but I think he is more likely to be the second coming of Trey Metoyer than to be an on field menace in the SEC.

BornAndRaised · February 12

14 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Good stuff.

-Bo Davis really wasn't super excited about McKinley. Both of those guys winding up at LSU will be interesting. I hope Bo doesn't yell too much.

-Jayden Jackson's agent told people that he was a $600k guy early on. No one confirmed that for him. Ultimately, OU decided they had to have him and went in with a presentation that both Ohio State and Texas heard about and said "yeah, you should go there if that's their offer" and never looked back.

-The story isn't that dissimilar to the TJ Lindsey-to-Auburn recruitment.

-Texas felt like they were fine letting Becton head elsewhere.

-Okoye was a home school guy and folks who met him referenced a "weird vibe" about the guy. It will be interesting to see how he works out for the sooners.

-The entire Selman Bridges paragraph could be summed up like this: "He wanted to be the main priority at CB and he was going to be like the 5th DB in the class for Texas. He would rather go to a program that is in free fall because of the promise for early playing time was more important than being developed at Texas."

-Gipson had a bad knee injury this year. Clemson is going to have to develop that absolute shit out of that guy. Good luck to both sides. I'm glad he did not wind up in UT's class. One of the more hilarious misses by Nahlin in a long line of misses. His meltdown on that one was gold.

-You can see these guys really squinting to try to see why Texas didn't land Bussey. Other than Sarkisian being a little bit of a starfucker, Texas never made a strong push and liked other players better.

-Aeryn Hampton profiles as a predictable bust.

This was a class in which Texas really did have many solid options and in many instances, decided to punt. Obviously some of those guys will work out. I'm interested in seeing how well it goes for everyone, because I think Texas got a lot of things right in this cycle.

Do you have any insight into the late signing of Butler? was that due to Hampton flipping? Felt like literally no one knew about him till he had a commitment ceremony.

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