Texas Recruiting Notes 2021

[texifornia 56869]

3 minutes ago, Bruh Man said:

This feels worse than a typical transition class for a program of Texas' caliber. We're one or two injuries on the oline from feeling the impact of these misses. 

It's better than the Strong/Herman class - 17th vs 25th - and even has a 5-star.

https://247sports.com/college/texas/Season/2017-Football/Commits/

https://247sports.com/college/texas/Season/2021-Football/Commits/

Edited February 5, 2021 by texifornia

[Bruh Man 3160]

2 minutes ago, texifornia said:

It's better than the Strong/Herman class - 17th vs 25th - and even has a 5-star.

https://247sports.com/college/texas/Season/2017-Football/Commits/

https://247sports.com/college/texas/Season/2021-Football/Commits/

Is it? That's suprising. I guess it feels worse because of the abundance of oline talent in-state that we missed on.

[golfclap 6903]

1 minute ago, Bruh Man said:

This feels worse than a typical transition class for a program of Texas' caliber. We're one or two injuries on the oline from feeling the impact of these misses. 

Stop. 

This class has SEVEN 4* defensive players. It also has some really good players on offense that are takes in any class (Sanders, Alexis, Conner, Lee) and a couple of guys that I think are excellent evals (Juan Davis, Gunnar Helm). This class is assfucked by a terrible OL class. If Herb Hand wasn't a fucking moron it would be a top 10 class, even as a transition class. 

 

 

[Lonestar88 4629]

2017 was only somewhat salvaged because the two 3-star OL, Cosmi and Kerstetter both became valuable contributors. We have to cross our fingers and hope the same happens in this class. Either way, the portal is going to need be worked pretty hard in the future.

Hand fucking sucked. 7 months ago people were still defending that clown. Warehime and Hand were Herman’s two OL coaches, that alone is enough to get fired.

[Dijon Robinson 1511]

5 minutes ago, Lonestar88 said:

2017 was only somewhat salvaged because the two 3-star OL, Cosmi and Kerstetter both became valuable contributors. We have to cross our fingers and hope the same happens in this class. Either way, the portal is going to need be worked pretty hard in the future.

Hand fucking sucked. 7 months ago people were still defending that clown. Warehime and Hand were Herman’s two OL coaches, that alone is enough to get fired.

Graham and Ehlinger were good takes as well. 2017 class is a bit underrated it seems - for a transition class the production was pretty good

[Bevo14 8303]

12 minutes ago, Lonestar88 said:

2017 was only somewhat salvaged because the two 3-star OL, Cosmi and Kerstetter both became valuable contributors. We have to cross our fingers and hope the same happens in this class. Either way, the portal is going to need be worked pretty hard in the future.

Hand fucking sucked. 7 months ago people were still defending that clown. Warehime and Hand were Herman’s two OL coaches, that alone is enough to get fired.

I'll admit I thought Hand was the real deal after that first year where the O-line looked pretty good. I plead ignorance after watching over a decade of mostly terribad o-line play.

Edited February 5, 2021 by Bevo14

[Lonestar88 4629]

5 minutes ago, Dijon Robinson said:

Graham and Ehlinger were good takes as well. 2017 class is a bit underrated it seems - for a transition class the production was pretty good

For sure, but Sam was always considered the gem of the class. I’m just pointing out that the OL overperformed compared to their ranking and we need that to happen again.

[Viper 12104]

1 hour ago, texifornia said:

The mess is in large part what got him fired. Transition classes blow.

 

1 hour ago, Bruh Man said:

This feels worse than a typical transition class for a program of Texas' caliber. We're one or two injuries on the oline from feeling the impact of these misses. 

It's partly because it was kind of a double transition class since pretty much over half the staff was fired after the '19 season so we had to redo relationships with '21 recruits twice.

[Tex Pete 20339]

1 hour ago, golfclap said:

This class is assfucked by a terrible OL class. If Herb Hand wasn't a fucking moron it would be a top 10 class, even as a transition class. 

And more devastating because this was a huge year for OL in Texas, and our recruiting was so bad that it can't even be called a "whiff." We never even swung. I mean it is a golden shower of an OL class for us.

[Mdhorn 5947]

48 minutes ago, Lonestar88 said:

2017 was only somewhat salvaged because the two 3-star OL, Cosmi and Kerstetter both became valuable contributors. We have to cross our fingers and hope the same happens in this class. Either way, the portal is going to need be worked pretty hard in the future.

Hand fucking sucked. 7 months ago people were still defending that clown. Warehime and Hand were Herman’s two OL coaches, that alone is enough to get fired.

How Herman didn't have weekly staff meetings and look at Hand and ask--what have you got for me, and then sign off on nothing week in and week out for almost a year is incredible.  I'm not including the two late reaches because they were almost always there and Conner was on board in 2019.  It's difficult to understand how they got this wrong unless there was no effort. There was no effort--not from Hand or Herman.  And Yurich?  Your job too was at stake with no offensive line.  

[maninblack 7974]

12 hours ago, Lhorn said:

BTW, I had to refresh my memory.  How the fuck did we go 8-5 (5-4) last year and Herman kept his job?  Jeeze

Poor AD leadership and timing. We may be better off in the long run if Sark reaches what people believe his potential is.

[UncleSonny 6570]

12 minutes ago, Tex Pete said:

And more devastating because this was a huge year for OL in Texas, and our recruiting was so bad that it can't even be called a "whiff." We never even swung. I mean it is a golden shower of an OL class for us.

I don't have the heart to dredge back into the early pages of this thread but early wish-casting 2021 OL class versus who we actually ended up is fucking insane.

It was a pretty common take to not load up on 2020 OLs because of all the talent in this class that would probably want in. Didn't want to miss out on a high 4 star because we ran out of room.

[Tex Pete 20339]

44 minutes ago, UncleSonny said:

I don't have the heart to dredge back into the early pages of this thread but early wish-casting 2021 OL class versus who we actually ended up is fucking insane.

No doubt. And I am not even thinking about wishcasting, just about the number of good OL who were out there to pursue. I remember Fatheree coming to a basketball game and taking pics with Matthew McConnaughay and the program was really neutral on him. We really didn't pursue many guys, particularly once our first choices were off the table. It's ridiculous.

[PHLaggie 110]

When Herb Hand was hired away from Auburn, I remember folks here generally very gruntled. He was coming over as a savior and was going to turn boys into men. After all, his Auburn OL had just won a bunch of awards and was graded out as one of the best in all of college football.  He was highly regarded. So what happened? I guess he was highly "regarded" and not regarded...? just sucked at recruiting? or became lazy upon landing the coveted job in Austin?

[Machinator 32099]

 

[Tex Pete 20339]

3 minutes ago, PHLaggie said:

When Herb Hand was hired away from Auburn, I remember folks here generally very gruntled. 

Most were, but there were definitely posters who noticed that many at Auburn were glad to see him go.

IMO, he suffered under a HC who is borderline autistic. Early on, we looked good for all the big fish (I mean, why wouldn't Blake Brockermeyer's sons want to play here?) and I think got caught flat-footed by missing on all but Conner. It's obvious our staff was too arrogant about where we really stood. And geez, the way our OL shit all over the field against OU in 2019, I can't imagine anyone would want to play for us. Not sure if that was mostly on Herman or Hand, but it was fucking awful.

At that point, someone should have spoken up and started working on our 2nd choice candidates, but the ball was totally dropped, and I am sure the massive staff changes played a role there. Herman should have stepped up to make sure we had options, but well...

[Viper 12104]

42 minutes ago, PHLaggie said:

When Herb Hand was hired away from Auburn, I remember folks here generally very gruntled. He was coming over as a savior and was going to turn boys into men. After all, his Auburn OL had just won a bunch of awards and was graded out as one of the best in all of college football.  He was highly regarded. So what happened? I guess he was highly "regarded" and not regarded...? just sucked at recruiting? or became lazy upon landing the coveted job in Austin?

 

34 minutes ago, Tex Pete said:

Most were, but there were definitely posters who noticed that many at Auburn were glad to see him go.

IMO, he suffered under a HC who is borderline autistic. Early on, we looked good for all the big fish (I mean, why wouldn't Blake Brockermeyer's sons want to play here?) and I think got caught flat-footed by missing on all but Conner. It's obvious our staff was too arrogant about where we really stood. And geez, the way our OL shit all over the field against OU in 2019, I can't imagine anyone would want to play for us. Not sure if that was mostly on Herman or Hand, but it was fucking awful.

At that point, someone should have spoken up and started working on our 2nd choice candidates, but the ball was totally dropped, and I am sure the massive staff changes played a role there. Herman should have stepped up to make sure we had options, but well...

I also saw it suggested that Hand's recruiting style just did not carry over into a world of facetime/zoom meetings. I seem to remember the knock at Auburn was that he didn't teach advanced pass blocking very well (picking up stunts, delayed blitzs, etc) which was bourn out by the OU games.

[Ryno 127]

53 minutes ago, PHLaggie said:

When Herb Hand was hired away from Auburn, I remember folks here generally very gruntled. He was coming over as a savior and was going to turn boys into men. After all, his Auburn OL had just won a bunch of awards and was graded out as one of the best in all of college football.  He was highly regarded. So what happened? I guess he was highly "regarded" and not regarded...? just sucked at recruiting? or became lazy upon landing the coveted job in Austin?

His final OL at Auburn gave up more sacks than anyone else in the nation. Most posters here were quick to point out numerous deficiencies in addition to that if I remember correctly. 
We were gruntled that our OL coach was no longer most well known for taking a literal, maybe figurative, shit. The bar has been pretty damn low.

[6th Street 6390]

Just another example of Herman being incapable of identifying competent assistant coaches 

[maninblack 7974]

1 minute ago, 6th Street said:

Just another example of Herman being incapable 

full stop

[tokamak 6395]

1 hour ago, longhornmatt said:

I remember a year ago when Fatheree was supposedly beneath us.   Fast forward 7 months later, and we’re chasing every private school offensive lineman in the state who has to shop at Big & Tall for his debutante ball tuxedo.  And then we couldn’t even close most of those guys.

I think Herb Hand could bring peace to the Middle East if you told him his objective was to sell the Israelis and Palestinians on hating each other. 

That's the really frustrating part. Jackson and Foster were never coming to Texas - fine, shit happens. The Brocks wanted to rub Texas's nose in it which is a problem but not specifically recruiting-related. Finally, I'm not gonna get too mad about not pulling random 4-stars out of Arizona.

But then after all that we struck out with basically the entire 2nd and 3rd tier. Absolutely unacceptable.

[Lonestar88 4629]

18 minutes ago, tokamak said:

That's the really frustrating part. Jackson and Foster were never coming to Texas - fine, shit happens. The Brocks wanted to rub Texas's nose in it which is a problem but not specifically recruiting-related. Finally, I'm not gonna get too mad about not pulling random 4-stars out of Arizona.

But then after all that we struck out with basically the entire 2nd and 3rd tier. Absolutely unacceptable.

One of those 4-stars out of Arizona wasn’t that random. He was Bijan’s teammate and we absolutely could’ve landed him if we had just bothered to push for him.

[pacman 7355]

3 hours ago, Ryno said:

His final OL at Auburn gave up more sacks than anyone else in the nation. Most posters here were quick to point out numerous deficiencies in addition to that if I remember correctly. 
We were gruntled that our OL coach was no longer most well known for taking a literal, maybe figurative, shit. The bar has been pretty damn low.

The 2018 online performance, to include the Sugar Bowl, for Hand was encouraging.

Guess he took his 2019 raise and mailed it in, just like the rest of the staff...

[TexasRenegade 2435]

On 8/22/2020 at 10:15 AM, SydneyCarton said:

Not sure where to post this,  but @closetojumping update:

 

He’s alive and...alive. I’m not sure we can say well. This motherfucker played the entire round of golf masked up like he was about to rob a liquor store. When we paused to let other people play through our group he made a point several times of busting out of the bushes to scare the fuck out of other golfers and field marshals. He takes his virtue signaling up to 11. Anyway, he said he hasn’t been able to engage mentally in football because of the uncertainty of everything, and unless he can get 100% invested it just doesn’t hold his interest. He’s stopped watching the astros too. I suspect he’ll be back after a couple of games are played. Or he’ll be dead because he walked into a fucking gas station like that.

 

@closetojumping

 

Your welcome

[SydneyCarton 48065]

6 minutes ago, TexasRenegade said:

 

@closetojumping

 

Your welcome

*you’re

[Ricky's one-hitter 9084]

4 minutes ago, TexasRenegade said:

 

@closetojumping

 

Your welcome

[Darth Tron 1122]

10 hours ago, Machinator said:

IT 2021 cycle recap

  Hide contents

By: Eric, Justin, and Gerry

When going behind the scenes at how the 2021 class came together for the Texas Longhorns, you end up covering how it unraveled.

This 2021 group showed signs of promise two summers ago when Katy Tompkins QB Jalen Milroe committed. That commitment, in combination with the dormant 2020 class waking up, created a groundswell of interest from some of the elite prospects in the state.

#Milroe gave the program a much needed shot in the arm before things came undone on the field. Besides on-field play, another issue this class faced was organization behind the scenes. When the new coaches arrived, they pretty much did their own thing and the personnel department was undercut. Consequently we started to see really poor processes across the board.

Breakdown (in order of composite ranking):

OL Donovan Jackson, Bellaire Episcopal (Ohio State): Texas had his attention early on and then even more after Jalen Milroe’s commitment. There was a budding consensus behind the scenes and Jackson’s future was fairly well laid out: spring official visits with the UT visit being last followed by a Texas commitment. But he watched OU sack Sam Ehlinger 9 times and justifiably lost interest in Texas. Ohio State talked him off his timeline and he committed earlier than he originally intended to.

OT Tommy Brockermeyer, Fort Worth All Saints (Alabama) and James Brockermeyer (Alabama): Offering James later than some other schools didn’t scuttle this recruitment, the overall feeling Tom Herman wasn’t the guy was the number one impediment to the whole thing. The second issue was Herb Hand was seen to be lacking both tactically and technically. The Brockermeyers were right on both Herman and Hand. If UT’s academics took a big slide would you sacrifice your kids to the school or send them somewhere more proven? They made the correct call with the information they had. On the bright side, we know they’re very high on Kyle Flood and Steve Sarkisian.

SDE Ja’Tavion Sanders, Denton Ryan (Texas): Getting the state's top athlete from Denton Ryan was a priority that actually got prioritized. Herman was personally involved in this recruitment at an early stage. Sanders committed early in the process, and despite teammate Billy Bowman's flip to OU, Sanders stayed committed. Oklahoma pushed really hard. Evidently Alabama pushed very hard as Sarkisian acknowledged he knew Ja’Tavion well. Sanders was never a big fan of the recruiting process and that early commitment was a big deal. Texas told JTS the same thing when they accepted his pledge and when he signed last week — you can play where you want. That's really all the DE/TE wanted to hear.

ATH Billy Bowman, Denton Ryan (Oklahoma): Billy Badass was one of UT’s first commits in the 2021 class. That lasted over a year, until the Sooners began whispering sweet nothings in his ear. He flipped from Texas to Oklahoma right around the RRS to add insult to injury. His girlfriend playing softball for the Sooners played a role, as did his intentions to play offense and preferring Lincoln Riley to Tom Herman. One thing that was never understood about Bowman's recruitment, he grew up a big fan of the Sooners. While Oklahoma offered late in the process, the flip only happened when Texas didn't perform on the field giving way for Oklahoma to make the flip.

RB LJ Johnson, Cy-Fair (Texas A&M): LJ looked sharp at the SFA Mega Camp two years ago. Corby Meekins followed Johnson around like a puppy dog after he ran a 4.5 (hand timed) at 200 pounds. He was firmly on the UT radar and eventually offered during the Summer of Milroe. He would have committed that September but Texas didn’t push for it. What could have been over very early didn’t finish until NSD2 when he selected A&M. The pressure around Cy-Fair High was always to attend Texas A&M, so the Longhorns had to perform on the field to overcome that pressure. Johnson showed some lack of confidence in his own abilities late in the process with both the Texas and Texas A&M staffs, asking the same questions over and over again about depth chart, expectations, and plan. The new staff questioned his confidence and competitiveness.

LB Clayton Smith, Texas High (Oklahoma): UT was on Smith before anyone. He visited Junior Day two years ago with barely any offers. Texas and Derek Warehime built a strong foundation for this pursuit, but the staff inexplicably ran hot and cold on him. Warehime was let go and it seems they were doing The Who’s on First routine while OU stepped in and stole home. This should have been a Giles layup.

WR Cody Jackson, Richmond Foster (Oklahoma): This would have been a UT layup as well, even with CeeDee Lamb having gone to Foster. Texas was late even though they weren’t all that late according to the calendar. But what we say every year is, a player’s calendar is decided by who is pursuing them when, not what month it is.

SDE Shemar Turner, Desoto (Texas A&M): UT had the lead early on in this recruitment, and Turner has a good amount of ‘Texas kid’ to him, but fell victim to negative recruiting (we never got clarity on what that was over, DeSoto coaches wouldn’t embellish). You know when negative recruiting works? When relationships aren’t strong enough. Texas did end up making up for lost time. Turner’s uncle is a fixture in the community and knew Tom Herman from Herman’s pursuit of Dontrel Wilson in the 2013 class. The staff started to attack this recruitment with a plan and it was working, but it came undone during the season. We left the uncle’s barbershop in August and Gerry looked over and said Mack Brown would have this kid committed in February. Yep.

RB Camar Wheaton, Lakeview Centennial (Alabama): The other top tailback in-state for this cycle had a quiet recruitment on the surface, but lots of mystery behind the scenes. There were times in this pursuit where Texas was close to a verbal pledge, most notably in the spring of his sophomore year then the summer before his senior season. Texas slow-played him in favor of LJ Johnson. It would have worked if they would have won. The networks and star-gazers are way higher on Wheaton than the coaching community.

WR JoJo Earle, Aledo (Alabama). Remember when Texas was one of his only offers? Good times. This set up well early on. The Vaughns’, one of UT’s most vocal sponsors at the time, were close to the Earles. Herman used slot like NFL. JoJo liked the school. But the product on the field trumped everything and Earle flipped from LSU’s record setting receiver group to Bama’s record setting receiver group just before NSD. That Sark can recruit!

OL Savion Byrd, Duncanville (Oklahoma). At one point it was believed by some that Byrd would follow JQJ to wherever he played but Texas struggled to gain traction throughout the process. They were still trying to get him on campus for a student visit this season when even SMU had a better chance. The coaches never had a realistic understanding of where they were with offensive lineman in the class which is why you saw repeated late offers to guys who should have been locks. Just a total breakdown in process.

SDE Tunmise Adeleye, Katy Tompkins (Texas A&M). He’s a big-time prospect with a big personality, for better or worse. After Junior Day 2019, it always felt like other schools were higher priorities to Tunmise. He’d flirt with UT, but the former Ohio State commit was usually whispering negative thoughts about Texas. This would have been another Mack Brown layup.

QB Jalen Milroe, Katy Tompkins (Alabama): Alabama was on him early and he was getting close to committing but Bama took Drake Maye instead. (Maye would later flip to UNC) Then Milroe started looking at A&M but Jimbo Fisher surprisingly took Eli Stowers. Meanwhile, Texas was growing a little peeved by the inability to get “five-star” Preston Stone into the class. Tim Beck was interested in Milroe and visited with him one on one. We believe Herman wasn’t there so he could stall the offer but it was conveyed to Herman they could lock Milroe up and get a boost in recruiting. Herman agreed to the offer and Beck sealed this one up. At the time Stone still wasn’t entirely off the board. Meanwhile, it quickly became Jalen Milroe’s class but he was undone by Texas twice, first on the field, then by Mike Yurcich and the failing recruiting process. Yurcich came in and offered Garrett Nussmeier and Sawyer Robertson, two fine quarterbacks to be sure, but it displayed a very poor understanding of the situation on Yurcich’s part. Milroe didn’t pout he just wanted to understand how they felt about him as a quarterback. He never became comfortable with Yurcich and chose to play for Steve Sarkisian. Given what you know of Sarkisian, how do you blame him?

DE Landon Jackson, Pleasant Grove (LSU): Process-wise, Texas did a good job here. They got in relatively early after Jackson’s first official offer from A&M his freshman year. He visited Austin multiple times, and almost committed to the Horns. But the combination of negative recruiting + LSU pushing 24 hours after they had 14 players selected in the NFL Draft was all Jackson needed. He was never a fan of the recruiting process, and his started at a young age. He’s currently on campus in Baton Rouge.

OL Reuben Fatheree, Richmond Foster (Texas A&M): Again, Texas over-estimated its standing with other offensive linemen and ran far too hot and cold on Fatheree. It really was the worst I’ve ever seen a position group recruited. Ever. No hyperbole.

OL Bryce Foster, Katy Taylor (Texas A&M): He grew up in an A&M household but he liked UT and had a good relationship with Herb Hand. Texas worked the track angle about as well as they could, though their last chance efforts to have him visit for track were done in by Covid. The only way to make up ground was to win and that didn’t happen. Foster was an OU lean for months but A&M put together a good season bolstered by good o-line play and it made sense for him. By the way, his senior year looked like it was supposed to all along. Our rankings must have lit a fire!

DL Marcus Burris, Pleasant Grove (Texas A&M): When Burris visited Texas for the first time, accompanying Landon Jackson, the staff virtually ignored him. It wasn’t until Oscar Giles asserted himself, or more likely, introduced himself, that this recruitment even had a chance. Burris felt most comfortable with Terry Price and the Aggies. Both Pleasant Grove DL really liked Oscar Giles. While Jackson and Texas were close, the staff was never all in on Burris. If Jackson had signed with the Horns, Texas had a shot, though.

QB Preston Stone, Parish Episcopal (SMU): The four-star signal-caller tried to commit to Texas a few times during the cycle, including Junior Day in 2019. UT had him as QB1 for a long time and Stone wanted to commit again in the summer of 2019, but again was held up. The staff shifted its focus and Jalen Milroe became ‘the guy’. Stone then committed/signed with SMU, exactly how his father wanted it all along.

WR Ketron Jackson, Royse City (Arkansas): The athletic Jackson and Texas got real close to a commitment. He even shot a video. But even after his unofficial ‘visit’ to Austin in early summer, Texas couldn’t overcome his relationships with the Arkansas staff. They were late.

QB Garrett Nussmeier, Flower Mound Marcus (LSU): He really liked Yurcich but had connections to the LSU staff that weren’t going to be overcome.

WR Quay Davis, Dallas Skyline (Kansas): The one-time SMU, Texas, and USC commit has off the field issues that didn’t project well to his future decision making. He’s probably thankful KU let him sign. He made some highlight-reel catches in 7v7, but the hype ended there. It’s not often we tell you a kid is a ‘no-go’.

S Andrew Mukuba, LBJ Austin (Clemson): Before Covid shut things down, Texas brought him in the same weekend as Denver Harris and Bobby Taylor. Chris Ash and whoever else then proceeded to give most of their attention to the 2022 guys instead of the 2021 guy. Great process, gang! It was an uphill climb from there. Texas was his emergency school but he didn’t need it. As OU pulled back, Clemson started to pursue. This one should have been a layup.

QB Sawyer Robertson, Lubbock Coronado (Mississippi State): One of the three 2021 QB offers for Mike Yurcich. Robertson, the Lubbock kid, liked Yurcich but loved Leach. That’s going to be fun to watch.

CB Deuce Harmon, Denton Guyer (Texas A&M): Bad process alert! After Texas slow played him with the previous staff, the same thing continued with the new staff. Most egregious, Harmon was a pupil of Jay Valai’s when Valai was a trainer in DFW. How did he not have the pulse of that recruitment? Even if they size queened him as a corner, Harmon could clearly become a nickel or safety. This should have been one of the biggest layups in the class. Credit to A&M.

S JD Coffey, Kennedale (Texas): The old staff went cold on Coffey and then the new staff was slow to turn the heat back up. Ash eventually changed course, pushed, and nabbed the four-star from Kennedale. Before and after the staff changes, Coffey kept his eyes on Oregon. He almost flipped to the Ducks a couple weeks before NSD1.

LB Morice Blackwell, Arlington Martin (Texas): Morice delivered a Mother’s Day commitment. It was a pleasant surprise after it was thought Blackwell was leaning to Baylor or Arkansas and it occurred on the heels of UT missing on South Oak Cliff’s Jaydon Williams.

OL Ezra Dotson-Oyetade, Lakeview Centennial (Arizona State): This boiled down to the coaches having him evaluated as a center and preferring Michael Myslinksi. That’s a questionable evaluation because the big man could surely play guard.

DT Albert Regis, LaPorte (Texas A&M): The former Minnesota commit caught fire last summer, and turned into a Horns-Aggies fight. He was seen as a slight UT lead throughout the summer but A&M turned up the heat at just the right time. At the end of the day, despite the strong effort from Mark Hagen, Texas A&M won out because of program stability. Regis has a very high ceiling and a very low floor.

DE Jordon Thomas, PA Memorial (Texas): One of the earliest entrants to the 2021 class, Thomas was smitten with early advances from UT, LSU, and Texas A&M. The more Giles and the UT staff pushed, the closer to becoming a Longhorn he became.

DT Byron Murphy, Desoto (Texas): The replacement for Regis has a much higher floor. He was committed to Baylor but wasn’t going to turn down Texas if the coaches were genuinely interested. He was a take regardless of Shemar Turner’s intentions, but they were hoping it would help. It would have if the on-field product wouldn’t have failed them.

CB Ishmael Ibraheem, Dallas Kimball (Texas): Jason Washington was on Ibraheem early and Jay Valai picked up where Washington left off. Ibraheem was destined to stay closer to home despite national interest. Both staffs did a good job on this recruitment, and both staffs stuck by him through his legal issues. Those legal issues are universally viewed as an outlier.

OL Austin Uke, Parish Episcopal (Stanford): A Herb Hand special: miss on higher targets, contact the backup plan months later after hemming and hawing about size, and then have to make up a lot of ground. Kyle Flood made a credible push but couldn’t overcome Stanford. The mom has now won out on all of her kids college decisions. She was all USC until Stanford offered, then Austin's recruitment was virtually over in her mind. The mom actually preferred Stanford and Northwestern over Texas.

RB Jonathon Brooks, Hallettsville (Texas): Texas offered early and raced away from the pack before Brooks’ recruitment could even get started. A&M pushed late, though we’re not sure how hard. There are college coaches, not at Texas, who believe he’s the best back in the 2021 instate crop.

WR Hal Presley, Mansfield Summit (Auburn): Interest in Presley arrived too late, but at least he had an offer. *Looks in the general direction of J. Michael Sturdivant*. When Texas finally offered Presley, they failed to ever truly make him a priority. That will be looked back upon unfavorably.

OL Matthew Wykoff, Magnolia (Texas A&M): He was A&M’s if they wanted him. They were unsure at first, then looked around the state, and decided to push. Good process.

LB Terrence Cooks, Shadow Creek (Texas): Texas was in on Cooks early, and it paid dividends. The offer in December, followed by an unofficial visit to Austin in January set the foundation for this commitment. He was basically a lock and wanted to commit a couple of times in the process. He was talked out of it twice because there were concerns about program stability. He visited LSU as a favor which created a bit of a stir, but he had little to no interest in the Tigers.

OL Jonah Miller, Tucson (AZ) Salpointe Catholic (Oregon): At one time, Texas looked good for the Arizona native. The Bijan Robinson buzz seemed to boost the Horns’ favor. Then they didn’t push hard while Oregon did.

TE Lake McRee, Lake Travis (USC): The one-time Texas pledge was briefly a rising prospect, but a mutually parting of the ways occurred early in 2020. He flipped to USC, who had staffers familiar with the tight end’s potential.

TE Landen King, Humble Atascocita (Auburn): The briefest of pledges, King was committed to Texas for almost a month, but flipped to Auburn after North Shore’s Dematrius Davis committed to the Tigers.

 

 

[satyanash 14478]

Horns247 Staff: Which 2021 signees are you most excited to see at Texas?

Quote

Each week the Horns247 staff tackles the Question of the Week, where we dive in to some of the most pressing topics surrounding the University of Texas. Steve Sarkisian just wrapped up his first National Signing Day since he was hired as head coach, and added three high school signees to the future in four-star cornerback Ishmael Ibraheem, three-star defensive end David Abiara and three-star wide receiver Keithron Lee. In addition to the high school recruits, Sarkisian and his staff has also found success in the transfer portal, adding LSU transfer linebacker Ray Thornton and Notre Dame defensive end Ovie Oghoufo to the 2021 class.

Upon completion of signing day, the Longhorns ranked No. 17 nationally in the 2021 recruiting class and second in the Big 12. With that said, the Question of the Week is … What 2021 Longhorn signee are you most excited about?

Chip Brown, Columnist

Look, I'm all about some of the high school recruits in this 2021 signing class. I mean, what's not to love about thumper Morice Blackwell at linebacker, early enrollee safety JD Coffey, two-way player Ja'Tavion "Not To Be Confused With Deion" Sanders, 6-foot-1 corner Ishmael Ibraheem and even early enrollee quarterback Charles Wright. But, are you kidding me? Texas landed LSU graduate transfer linebacker Ray Thornton, who played in 32 games with four starts and was part of a national championship season two years ago.

Thornton has speed — speed that helped him post two sacks and a forced fumble last season at LSU in limited action. He's immediately a leading contender to replace Joseph Ossai as a pass-rushing outside linebacker. Don't blame Thornton for getting stuck behind a dude like K'Lavon Chaisson (in 2019) and then moving to inside linebacker in Bo Pelini's failed scheme in 2020. Just watch Thornton on film, note the speed (Pete Kwiatkowski did), and then consider that Thornton brings veteran leadership to UT's locker room and knows what it takes to win a national title.

(And don't confuse me twice referring to Thornton being a part of a natty at LSU for me thinking he could help make that happen in 2021. Frankly, Texas fans should be happy if Thornton can help make sure Texas gets wins its first two games - against Billy Napier's Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns and at Arkansas.) I think Thornton is a great pickup from an instant impact standpoint, and, thus, he gets the largest amount of my excitement among the 2021 Longhorns' newcomers just signed.

Jeff Howe, Senior writer

The easiest answers are Jonathon Brooks and Ja'Tavion Sanders, so I’ll refrain from picking either of them. For me, it’s Morice Blackwell because I feel like he’s putting Texas on the right path to recruiting the right kind of the every-down linebackers who can thrive in the current Big 12.

The 240-plus-pound thumper in the middle of the defense has been a liability in the conference for a while, unless the player is a rare breed like Malik Jefferson who had elite speed at that size. Recruiting and NFL draft data both suggest the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Blackwell is the kind of linebacker the Longhorns need to land out of high school in order to develop him into a product player who can become a high draft pick.

Inside linebacker is one position where the number of recruiting misses Texas has endured over the years is something those who’ve follow the program over the last 20 years would find staggering. The reason is because the Big 12 continues to evolve so quickly as an offensive league to the point where in 2021, for example, there won’t be near as much Air Raid influence across the conference as there was even three years ago with the likes of Dana Holgorsen and Kliff Kingsbury long gone.

Gary Patterson’s TCU defenses have survived the continually changing offensive landscape by recruiting linebackers like Blackwell. If Texas can truly get that position figured out under Pete Kwiatkowski, the Longhorns can avoid seasons like they could potentially face in 2022 when the defense falls off of a cliff, which is usually related to drastic changes from one season to the next at the second level.

Taylor Estes, Managing editor

This one is a toss up for me. There are a number of guys that I’m intrigued to see in person once they start practice at Texas, but who I’m most ‘excited’ to see is a toss-up between Ray Thornton and JD Coffey. Obviously, Thornton has the college experience and played for a National Championship team, but I also like the versatility he brings to the linebacker position, having played both outside and inside LB at LSU. As for Coffey, I’m interested to see how/if he can make an early impact in the secondary following the departures of Caden Sterns and Chris Brown. Coffey is already on campus and will have spring football to help prove himself early-on to the new staff.

Mike Roach, Recruiting analyst

I’m going to go with Byron Murphy. I’ve said on a number of occasions that I think he’s a great take for anyone and one of the best pure football players in the state of Texas. I think Murphy has the size and strength to push for playing time early and defensive line rotation is so important in the Big 12

Nick Harris, Recruiting contributor

I think Ja’Tavion Sanders is the obvious choice here so I’m gonna go with one a little different. There are a ton to choose from, but I’m most excited about Jordon Thomas. He is a freaky competitor and has one of the craziest motors I’ve ever seen in a human. Really aggressive and plays with some ferocity. He had a solid senior year after coming off of an ACL injury in 2019, and the sky is the limit for this one. Under Bo Davis and Pete Kwiatkowski, I think Thomas can really thrive off the edge or possibly inside with a little more weight. They can be flexible with how they want to use him and Thomas will be open to it. Really excited to look up a year from now and see the progress he’s made at the college level.

 

[Red Five 40847]

10 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Ja'Tavion "Not To Be Confused With Deion" Sanders

What?

[LTtxfan 49148]

Guess this thread best for this... Siap

 

   Bryan Carrington  @CoachBC_

57m

 

Thank You, Texas !!   🤘

 

[BornOrange 1441]

22 minutes ago, Red Five said:

What?

FCB

[Bevo14 8303]

22 minutes ago, Red Five said:

What?

Live look at Chip:

 

[Mitch Cumsteen 18547]

3 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Guess this thread best for this... Siap

 

   Bryan Carrington  @CoachBC_

57m

 

Thank You, Texas !!   🤘

 

 

If there was ever a tweet that needed a "respect my decision" that was it. 

[ousux 5597]

Sad to see him go, hope things work out for him in Socal...and whoever replaces Helton soon keeps him on.

[VirginiaLonghorn 4769]

22 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Guess this thread best for this... Siap

 

   Bryan Carrington  @CoachBC_

57m

 

Thank You, Texas !!   🤘

 

 

Doesn’t that make the 🤫 outdated for the $9.95 forum?  Is there a catchphrase for the new staff?

[SA-KC_Horn 1295]

Just replace 🤫with a whataburger bag.

[VirginiaLonghorn 4769]

[UncleSonny 6570]

 

Blake can fuck right off wearing that shirt. Happy birthday to Luke I guess, only Brock left that isn't permanently on the shit list. 

[TexasToast 728]

4 hours ago, UncleSonny said:

 

Blake can fuck right off wearing that shirt. Happy birthday to Luke I guess, only Brock left that isn't permanently on the shit list. 

Fuck the Brocks!

 

[Lhorn 4912]

Mom would get it. Had to be said.

[Hornstrader 179]

How much more likely would we be to still have turtle Tom as our coach if the Brocks had picked Texas?

[satyanash 14478]

Nick Harris: Keithron Lee explains his relationship with Andre Coleman, Steve Sarkisian

Quote

BRYAN, Texas — The February signing period came and left with relatively little drama for Texas as they signed three final members to their 2021 class: Mansfield Legacy's David Abiara, Dallas Kimball's Ishmael Ibraheem and Bryan Rudder's Keithron Lee. For each, the road to signing was a little different. Especially for Lee who committed under Tom Herman on Christmas Day only for the majority of the staff to be fired a week later.

"Today is a pretty special day," Lee said after signing. "Coach Coleman was the one that recruited me so as far as the coaching change, I could see that if there was meant to be a coaching change that it could only get better." Wide receivers coach Andre Coleman was one of just two assistants to make it through the transition as he helped seal Lee's signature by giving him a sense of familiarity and comfort with Steve Sarkisian and the rest of the new coaching staff.

"I actually talked to Coach Sarkisian last night," he said. "He told me there would be a lot of motions and a lot of slinging the rock and I think that's right down my alley. Instinctively, me and Coach Coleman connected. My mom liked him and him being straight up from day one is what took me."

In his time at Rudder, Lee broke every school record for receiving while putting up big numbers at multiple positions including receiver, running back and defensive back. "This year, we went 6-4 and tied the second-best school record in school history," Lee said. "That was probably the biggest accomplishment to take from this season. But going forward into my freshman year, I plan on just being around the right people, remaining a leader and improving on my weaknesses."

Lee will look to take a unique skillset to Austin as he emerged as one of the fastest players in-state in the 2021 cycle and has an adept ability and separating from defenders down the field. But if you ask him, he said Texas fans should just expect one thing out of him on the Forty Acres. "Energy," he said. "Definitely energy." At 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, Lee is the No. 516 ranked recruit in the country in the class of 2021, according to 247Sports Composite. He is the No. 77 wide receiver in the country and the No. 78 recruit in the state of Texas.

 

[satyanash 14478]

Jeff Howe: How Steve Sarkisian, Texas handled 2021 recruiting cycle with steep decline in FBS signings

Quote

A 2021 recruiting class Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and Co. finished off last Wednesday on National Signing Day by announcing the official additions of three high school signees and one graduate transfer didn't appear out of the norm on the surface. With 21 prep prospects and two transfers (the addition of Notre Dame’s Ovie Oghoufo has yet to be announced, unlike spring enrollees Ray Thornton and Darion Dunn), a class size of 24 with room to add four more initial counters doesn’t reflect how different things were across the country.

According to Bud Elliott of 247Sports, 407 fewer recruits signed with FBS programs in the 2021 cycle compared to 2020. The logic a lot of head coaches used in deciding to save available scholarship spots for players in the NCAA transfer portal or to carry them over to the 2022 cycle as opposed to loading up on 2021 high school recruits is similar to what Sarkisian was thinking as he and his staff finished off a class largely put together by former head coach Tom Herman’s organization.

“What happened for us here is we didn't want to reach too far and just fill up all of our numbers,” Sarkisian said. “We've really got four spots still available for us and in the nature of college football right now, with the transfer portal and the things going on and a potential one-time transfer rule coming down the road, we wanted to make sure we left ourselves enough wiggle room and versatility to get through spring ball and maybe address a few more needs that may come down the road.”

With Keithron Lee committing to Texas before Sarkisian took the job and Ishmael Ibraheem getting his legal situation straightened out, David Abiara was the only high school recruit the new regime signed in the late period. That’s where Texas is more comparable to other FBS programs dealing with the fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic since the two previous transition classes on the Forty Acres saw Charlie Strong landed six recruits in addition to retaining those prospects who committed to Mack Brown while 12 of the 18 signees in the 2017 class committed to Herman.

“Ideally, you come in at the front end and you sign all 25 of your guys and away you go,” Sarkisian said. “This was, obviously, clearly a unique situation with the signing period where 19 kids were already signed, which we feel very good about. We think they're going to be good additions to the program. Now, what do you do with those last few spots knowing the majority of the players are off the board and they're already signed and going to other schools?”

While Sarkisian admitted the staff has been hard at work to get caught up on the 2022 and 2023 classes since he came over from Alabama the day after the Crimson Tide beat Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 11, Abiara isn’t the only high school newcomer who will be with the Longhorns come August when preseason practice gets going. The most prominent members of the crop of preferred walk-ons from the 2021 cycle include running back Zane Minors and defensive back Michael Taaffe (members of Austin Westlake’s Class 6A Division I state championship club), Flower Mound kicker Bert Auburn and three-star quarterback Cole Lourd (Los Angeles, Calif./Brentwood).

In a normal recruiting cycle, those four prospects would’ve signed with FBS schools. Instead, Sarkisian has a chance to fill out his roster with walk-on recruits who could be players of consequence down the road due to the unique circumstances of the recently-completed cycle.

“The better the quality of the walk on, the better look we're getting and/or that kid's now earning himself on the special teams or the field, then that generates a lot of respect amongst your team,” Sarkisian said. “Those are the things we're trying to do. We're trying to close the gap there and I think we've we're off to a pretty good start first time through of trying to address that priority walk-on program and really getting quality players in here.”

As Elliott pointed out, there’s likely a serious numbers crunch coming in the 2022 and 2023 cycles with relief for schools such as returning seniors not counting against the 85-man cap (Cade Brewer, Tope Imade, Derek Kerstetter, Denzel Okafor, Brenden Schooler and Gabriel Watson are expected to return to the Longhorns for the 2021 season). As he noted in his comments last week, Sarkisian praised the 2021 haul for filling needs while leaving Texas enough wiggle room to navigate the uncertain (and potentially choppy) waters on the horizon.

 

[Leanderman 2275]

"How much more likely would we be to still have turtle Tom as our coach if the Brocks had picked Texas?"

Get out of town hoser.

[nycHorn 2998]

"How much more likely would we be to still have turtle Tom as our coach if the Brocks had picked Texas?"
Get out of town hoser.

[RollLeft 5040]

14 hours ago, UncleSonny said:

 

Blake can fuck right off wearing that shirt. Happy birthday to Luke I guess, only Brock left that isn't permanently on the shit list. 

Grandpa Brock played for Royal.  Luke is third generation Texas Football. 

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

Eric Nahlin

33 minutes ago

By: Justin and Eric

The story of how a player talented enough to pick up an offer as a freshman from Lane Kiffin, and then again as a junior, ended up signing as a preferred walk-on at Texas.

“Basically, Coach Beck, Coach Giles, and a few other coaches followed me back in sophomore year but I didn’t hear much from them.

The first time coach I heard from was Coach Larry Fedora as he was inviting me to camp. Then, Coach Beck started hitting me up about camp, and I ended up coming to the Austin and playing well. I could’ve played better, but I got to meet Coach Herman, Beck, and Fedora, who are all great coaches. Then, I came to a game during my junior year, where I got to know Coach John Michael Jones. That spring, my recruitment started to heat up and I received offers from many D1 schools.

At that point, Texas had Jalen Milroe committed, and wasn’t looking for anyone else. Once Jalen de-committed, I immediately hit up Coach Jones and told him that I wanted to be the QB at Texas. A few days later, they took Charles Wright, but JM Jones told me that I still could be a PWO there, they just don’t have an offer. Coach Herman actually offered me the PWO over FaceTime and I was fired up. Although I had many other offers, UT always had a special place in my heart and I kept them in mind.

Then, when Coach Herman got fired, I wasn’t sure if my PWO was still there or not. During this time, I was still talking to many schools that offered me scholarships, but my plan was to wait until Signing Day.

As Signing Day crept up, LSU continued to relentlessly pursue me and eventually, two days before Signing Day, they offered me an official scholarship offer. This was a huge deal to me and I was absolutely fired up, as my dad is an alum and I’ve grown up watching LSU. I’d been in touch with them throughout my entire recruitment, and felt like that was going to be the spot. One day before Signing Day, I received a late PWO offer at UCLA, which I was excited about, but still felt like it was between LSU and Texas. So, I called all of the coaches that I had been talking to and told them that I would not be attending their school.

I was down to LSU, Texas, and UCLA the night before signing day when Coach Sark gave me a call. I had already been talking a lot with JM Jones and Coach Milwee, but had not gotten to talk to Coach Sark yet. Our call went amazing, and really made me rethink if LSU was the best spot for me. The next morning, NSD, I was so conflicted, and decided I needed more time to decide. I had great talks with the coaches at both UT and LSU, and I was very confused. I texted Coach Sark to see if he could talk again and he immediately got on the phone to talk to me and my dad.

After that talk, I started feeling like UT was the right fit for me. I took the night to keep thinking and woke up today feeling the same way, when I finally decided that UT was going to be the place for me. I had three very tough calls to make to Coach Peetz, Coach Callaway, and Coach Ponamsky at LSU, as I have built such good relationships with them. I have no doubt they will be back playing at the championship level soon, but I needed to make the best decision for myself. No love lost for LSU, but I just knew Texas was the best fit for me. After these calls, I immediately FaceTimed JM Jones to break the news to him, as we have built such a great relationship and he is the reason why Texas initially stayed in my recruitment.

Then, I FaceTimed Coach Milwee and let him know, which he was fired up to hear and have me become part of the QB room. Then after that, I FaceTimed Coach Sark and let him know the news, which he was very excited to hear. And now, I’m a Longhorn.”

Lourd was extremely thankful for JM Jones, “I wouldn’t have signed with Texas if it wasn’t for him.”

#####

Finding a PWO as talented as Lourd is an outlier, but the standard from this story, aside Jones’ doggedness on the PWO trail, is Sarkisian’s proactive accessibility.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of Sarkisian getting a “you up?” text and being on the phone minutes later. Not only is Sarkisian’s level of involvement in recruiting impressing people, his relatability and demeanor is winning them over.

When we say there are the hints of a UT recruiting uprising in the making, it largely stems from his personal interactions with these blue-chip recruits and the excitement he’s creating with them.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, “need some commits!” Yes, we know, the processes are in place to ensure the fan base is going to be quite happy with the results of the class.

[irishtexan 11515]

35 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Eric Nahlin

33 minutes ago

By: Justin and Eric

The story of how a player talented enough to pick up an offer as a freshman from Lane Kiffin, and then again as a junior, ended up signing as a preferred walk-on at Texas.

“Basically, Coach Beck, Coach Giles, and a few other coaches followed me back in sophomore year but I didn’t hear much from them.

The first time coach I heard from was Coach Larry Fedora as he was inviting me to camp. Then, Coach Beck started hitting me up about camp, and I ended up coming to the Austin and playing well. I could’ve played better, but I got to meet Coach Herman, Beck, and Fedora, who are all great coaches. Then, I came to a game during my junior year, where I got to know Coach John Michael Jones. That spring, my recruitment started to heat up and I received offers from many D1 schools.

At that point, Texas had Jalen Milroe committed, and wasn’t looking for anyone else. Once Jalen de-committed, I immediately hit up Coach Jones and told him that I wanted to be the QB at Texas. A few days later, they took Charles Wright, but JM Jones told me that I still could be a PWO there, they just don’t have an offer. Coach Herman actually offered me the PWO over FaceTime and I was fired up. Although I had many other offers, UT always had a special place in my heart and I kept them in mind.

Then, when Coach Herman got fired, I wasn’t sure if my PWO was still there or not. During this time, I was still talking to many schools that offered me scholarships, but my plan was to wait until Signing Day.

As Signing Day crept up, LSU continued to relentlessly pursue me and eventually, two days before Signing Day, they offered me an official scholarship offer. This was a huge deal to me and I was absolutely fired up, as my dad is an alum and I’ve grown up watching LSU. I’d been in touch with them throughout my entire recruitment, and felt like that was going to be the spot. One day before Signing Day, I received a late PWO offer at UCLA, which I was excited about, but still felt like it was between LSU and Texas. So, I called all of the coaches that I had been talking to and told them that I would not be attending their school.

I was down to LSU, Texas, and UCLA the night before signing day when Coach Sark gave me a call. I had already been talking a lot with JM Jones and Coach Milwee, but had not gotten to talk to Coach Sark yet. Our call went amazing, and really made me rethink if LSU was the best spot for me. The next morning, NSD, I was so conflicted, and decided I needed more time to decide. I had great talks with the coaches at both UT and LSU, and I was very confused. I texted Coach Sark to see if he could talk again and he immediately got on the phone to talk to me and my dad.

After that talk, I started feeling like UT was the right fit for me. I took the night to keep thinking and woke up today feeling the same way, when I finally decided that UT was going to be the place for me. I had three very tough calls to make to Coach Peetz, Coach Callaway, and Coach Ponamsky at LSU, as I have built such good relationships with them. I have no doubt they will be back playing at the championship level soon, but I needed to make the best decision for myself. No love lost for LSU, but I just knew Texas was the best fit for me. After these calls, I immediately FaceTimed JM Jones to break the news to him, as we have built such a great relationship and he is the reason why Texas initially stayed in my recruitment.

Then, I FaceTimed Coach Milwee and let him know, which he was fired up to hear and have me become part of the QB room. Then after that, I FaceTimed Coach Sark and let him know the news, which he was very excited to hear. And now, I’m a Longhorn.”

Lourd was extremely thankful for JM Jones, “I wouldn’t have signed with Texas if it wasn’t for him.”

#####

Finding a PWO as talented as Lourd is an outlier, but the standard from this story, aside Jones’ doggedness on the PWO trail, is Sarkisian’s proactive accessibility.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of Sarkisian getting a “you up?” text and being on the phone minutes later. Not only is Sarkisian’s level of involvement in recruiting impressing people, his relatability and demeanor is winning them over.

When we say there are the hints of a UT recruiting uprising in the making, it largely stems from his personal interactions with these blue-chip recruits and the excitement he’s creating with them.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, “need some commits!” Yes, we know, the processes are in place to ensure the fan base is going to be quite happy with the results of the class.

Maybe mention the name of the player that is the subject of the article somewhere before dropping his last name in the 8th paragraph? Jeesh guys....

[Fud 9552]

3 minutes ago, irishtexan said:

Maybe mention the name of the player that is the subject of the article somewhere before dropping his last name in the 8th paragraph? Jeesh guys....

The title of the thread is "Cole Lourd’s path to UT highlights Sarkisian’s level of involvement". I personally didn't forget who I was reading about after I read the title

[irishtexan 11515]

41 minutes ago, Fud said:

The title of the thread is "Cole Lourd’s path to UT highlights Sarkisian’s level of involvement". I personally didn't forget who I was reading about after I read the title

The title of the article wasn't included in the post. Regardless, it's good journalism to include the full name of the person being profiled at some point within the actual article.