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Texas Recruiting Notes 2021


Reese Bennett

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(Eric Nahlin) Humidor: Team sundry, notes from the road, 2022 class predictions

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By: Gerry, Justin, and Eric

TEAM

Thursday was a light day of practice. It was mainly walk-throughs. Sounds like the guys are getting a bit of a break with another scrimmage looming on Saturday morning. We still have recent notes to pass along.

*Hudson Card treats every practice like a Pro Day. The staff continues throwing more and more at him, and he never gets rattled. He’s still not getting through all his progressions as quickly as Sam Ehlinger or Casey Thompson, but he knows where they are. “It’s still moving a little fast for him. He has 2.5 seconds to get it out and that’s it.”

*Casey Thompson is the firm No. 2 at this point. He has improved from last year and is pretty comfortable. This was said in relation to that quote on Card. It sounds like Thompson is processing quickly. He’s still a danger with his legs.

*Ja’Quinden Jackson just has to keep working every day and not get overwhelmed. Tim Beck viewed him as a complete rebuild from a mechanics standpoint. I’m not sure if Yurcich feels the same, but you need full offseasons for that. Obviously the athleticism is there and I wouldn’t rule out a package being put in place to keep him engaged and encouraged.

* Isaiah Hookfin is stronger than he looks. He's athletic with great feet, and getting better at the point of attack. He gets better with each rep. He’s a hard worker and determined to stick with the ones. He’s the 5th best offensive lineman right now.

* Per multiple sources Jacoby Jones is getting better each day. He might not be the best NFL prospect, but he could be a dog for Texas, similar to Gary Johnson. He’s getting to the quarterback in practice as well as last week’s scrimmage.

* We’re not sure how much longer Chris Brown will be in front of BJ Foster. This was news to us Thursday evening. The competition is apparently heating up.

* T'Vondre Sweat is one "big MF." 357 pounds never moved so well. They’d like for Keondre Coburn to lose some weight, but he carries it well too.

* With the new NCAA eligibility rule, which Horns would the staff identify as guys to welcome back? Derek Kerstetter was the overwhelming choice, which tells us the staff is concerned about center beyond this year. Two years of center would do wonders for his NFL chances while also getting him free graduate school hours. We’ll see.

* Alfred Collins body-slammed Jake Majors this week. He’s such an easy-going kid, but becomes aggressive once the chinstrap snaps.

* DeMarvion Overshown has a non-serious, non-Covid illness. We’re not sure when he’ll return. He needs all the reps he can get. The staff does like David Gbenda at Will, however.

* Josh Moore is the best route runner. You guys will take that to read he’s the love child of Steve Largent and Nadia Comaneci, but he’s really just the best route runner at Texas. There’s a good chance he starts at Z. Maybe he’s Tylan Wallace. Damn, there we go again.

* No surprise here; another week of hearing the defensive line is the best position. Hopefully good enough to help with Shemar Turner (See below).

* We’ve heard from even more people that Josh Thompson is playing at a pretty high level. He just has to stay healthy and he’ll get his chance to shine. They love the speed and he’s been defeating blocks on the perimeter.

* We asked who the best blocking tight end was and heard “.......” and then “...........” before finally, ”....probably Wiley.” Blocking isn’t a strength of this group but these defenders don’t sound like the easiest to block. Epps was mentioned as the best receiving tight end but he’s not a good blocker.

STATE OF RECRUITING

Inside Texas hit 8-9 schools between Wednesday and Thursday. Here are some notes from the road.

Lancaster: We wanted to put eyes on 2022 Texas commit Phaizon Wilson. He’s about 6-foot-2.5. He said he’s actively recruiting Lewisville‘s Armani Winfield and Del Valle’s Caleb Burton. It’s always nice to hear a wide receiver recruiting players who will steal targets from them. We can see how Wilson has a personality that will attract players.

DeSoto: The marquee stop of the trip didn’t disappoint. Early in the visit there was a distinct A&M or Alabama vibe, but as we poked and prodded with Shemar Turner, his coaches, and his teammates, we started to hear some very favorable UT stuff. We’ve asserted there are some important people in his decision making tree who like UT and that was further confirmed. There may also be a pro-Aggie person in the camp. Texas was called the “dark horse” but we think they’re in better position than that provided UT has a good season. Of important note, we heard UT had some ground to make up for reasons that were too sensitive for the source to tell us. We feel the staff has overcome those issues and is doing well in the recruitment. The staff has a good handle on the pressure points of this one. Turner should be a five-star. That will become clear when you see the frenzy heat up over the coming months. He’s a prospect that is undoubtedly at the top of Bama’s big board. Awesome kid to talk to. More on him in the Scoop.

Of note, Jay Valai has been in contact with DeSoto cornerback Lathan Adams as recently as two weeks ago. Adams is a pure corner prospect committed to Colorado State. This tells us they may take another corner in the class. The second best prospect at DeSoto is probably 2023 receiver Johntay Cook. He mentioned OU, UT, and Oregon as schools he likes but we can tell OU is his favorite. He’d excel in the slot for the Sooners.

Mansfield Legacy: We went to Legacy to shake the bushes around the recruitment of defensive end David Abiara. We think he’s being pulled in a couple different directions. The academics of Notre Dame are a big selling point, but he may want to be closer to home. OU has home field advantage in that regard, especially with Legacy’s head coach being a former Sooner quarterback who recently wrote a book where Barry Switzer wrote the foreword. Oh, Okay. Coach Melson himself said David is a hard kid to get a read on. “He could walk in here one day and tell me he’s going to Texas and it really wouldn’t surprise me.” Our read is if UT can connect with the parents and sell academics and proximity it could win this. Even with Ja’Tavion Sanders committed it’s a need position and Abiara has big upside.

South Oak Cliff: The school was beautiful after extensive renovations. The athletic buy-in from the administrative side was obvious. We were walking the halls marveling when Gerry said, “Well, they’re going to keep getting kids.” SOC has a staff built to land the caliber of prospect we saw at Skyline and Cedar Hill and still see at DeSoto and Duncanville. We were there mainly to discuss their younger guys but were immediately told, “Texas must really like Jaydon (Williams). They have about four guys on that recruitment.” You may recall we were shocked to learn Williams chose Arizona State. The SOC coaches were just as shocked. They mentioned Antonio Pierce is a beast and then illustrated why. “Given the circumstances there have been a lot of Zooms for coaches to connect. One was a recent call with many of the best black high school coaches in the country. Coaches from all over. Pierce ducked in to ask a few questions but really he was just letting everyone know he’s there.” These coaches, like Coach Bob Wager at Arlington Martin, had good things to say about Coleman Hutzler, but he ran into a bit of a buzzsaw in Pierce. This recruitment doesn’t necessarily set up well for UT, despite the Horns being Williams’ childhood favorite. That said, Arizona State isn’t going to play this year. We wonder if they regret telling Williams he should take his official visits. LSU is also in pursuit; they’re putting in a lot of effort. Williams plays with a serious motor, takes the game seriously, and is an uncommon athlete.

Arlington Bowie: We stopped by to see 2022 high four-star Devon Campbell. He’s a man of few words but we still learned a ton. His uncle is on Bowie’s staff and is a father figure to him. The three schools to watch are UT, LSU, and OU, but OU is on the outside looking in. We’re actually not sure how hard OU is recruiting him. Texas is probably recruiting him the hardest and is the most likely destination. He’s not in a big hurry, though. He’s quite different than the guy you see on the field.

Arlington Martin: We wanted to put our eyes on Texas linebacker commit Morice Blackwell. He’s every bit as athletic as he looks. He almost looks more like a wide receiver but he’ll add plenty of muscle. We’ll have quotes from him in the Scoop. He has some personality. Of course we wanted to also see priority 2022 defensive end Ernest Cooper. Unfortunately it seems like every word we write about him is a waste. This kid is the lockiest Stanford lock. He’s going to be a monster for the Cardinal. @Sneezybeltran — deal with it.

QB Maddox Kopp, St. Thomas: We talked to the 2021 quarterback’s father recently. Texas has a type it’s looking for to replace Jalen Milroe. That is, competitive, won’t be intimidated, and still has upside. Kopp seems to fit the bill. “He likes quarterback because of the leadership attributes required as much as anything else.” That was the money quote. Kopp has an early September decision date in mind but UT could change that with an offer and push. However, there would still be work to be done. Kopp has dreams of playing in the NFL so he’s not going to be content to hold a clipboard for 4-5 years. He just wants opportunity and a real chance. He comes from an athletic family. One brother played at Vanderbilt, and another, Miller Kopp, is a good basketball player at Northwestern. His father was a pro tennis player.

Texas has also reached out to Charles Wright from Austin High. Joe will go see him next week. We think he ideally fits the need but being committed to Matt Campbell and Iowa State will make things difficult, if not impossible. Tell him Jalen Milroe is Ryan Perrilloux. Ewers is Jevan Snead. The UT legacy should know who he is in this example.

2021 Decisions Looming

We still feel good about where Texas sits with Cy-Fair’s LJ Johnson and Lakeview Centennial’s Camar Wheaton. We’ve mentioned LJ could now be on a shorter timeline. He’d be our best bet to end up in the class and it could happen before fall camp begins for him in early September. That’s certainly something to watch for.

Austin LBJ safety Andrew Mukuba is also nearing an announcement in September. We’ve felt Clemson is the team to beat but now we’re not so sure. The funny thing about setting an announcement date, you‘re going to quickly find out who truly wants you. We might give the slight edge to Texas at this point but we do still feel like Clemson is a threat. What they do in the next week or two is key to understanding how this recruitment will go.

Crystal Ballin’ 2022’s

Shooters shoot and we’re not afraid to miss, especially this early in the game. In talking to one father of an elite 2022 prospect, the commitment of Quinn Ewers definitely improves UT’s standing and will factor into his son’s decision making process. There are others as well. Here’s a list of players we feel good about and would predict to Texas if we did crystal ball predictions.

Armani Winfield, WR - Lewisville. He already liked UT before Ewers‘ pledge, but that commitment might have put Texas over the top. Pretty soon too, we’d guess. Level: 8

Jaydon Blue, RB - Klein Cain. The nation's top running back for 2022 really likes Texas and LSU. Post-Ewers pledge, UT gained a little more separation. We already liked where Texas stood. Level: 8

Caleb Burton, WR - Del Valle. Perhaps the top wide receiver in the state and nation for 2022, Burton really likes Texas and Clemson. Post-Ewers pledge, UT looks even better. Level: 8

Denver Harris, CB - North Shore. Texas looks dandy for the prototypical corner every program covets. LSU is the only other concern, but they have some headwinds in this recruitment. Normally they have tailwinds for a North Shore athlete. Level: 8

Devon Campbell, OL - Arlington Bowie. The quiet, gentle giant doesn't say much. He just hits people and eats pancakes every breakfast. Texas is in good shape here, regardless of Ewers. But it certainly helps. Level: 7

Tavorus Jones, RB - El Paso Burges. He likes UT and vice versa. Depending on how many tailbacks Texas takes in 2021 will likely determine if this is a two-RB class. Level: 6 (if it’s a two RB class)

Evan Stewart, WR - Frisco Liberty. He's paying attention to everything in his recruitment. Lot of schools in this, but we could see him jump in if this class starts to snowball. He’s getting closer with his classmates, including Ewers. Level: 6.

Jaylon Guillbeau, CB - Port Arthur Memorial. He's a junkyard dog and every program needs a few of those. He’s long been a priority. Level: 8

Landon Hullaby, S - Mansfield Timberview. Orange house if they push. Level: 9.

Chace Biddle, S - Garland. My sleeper pick to end up in Austin. Level: 7.

This isn’t to rule out anyone, especially Dickinson TE Donovan Green and OT PJ Williams, or Cy-Park LB Harold Perkins. We’d take Texas over any school, but take the field over Texas at this point. However, those three do want to play together. It’s almost a lock that Green and Williams will play together. Their dads are very close. UT has to recruit Williams like a priority. If UT wins it won’t be too difficult to build a consensus with this group. Other guys, like Blue, would help as well.

We also think UT has a good shot with Summer Creek OT Kelvin Banks. A&M might actually be third in line there after UT and LSU. That was a bit surprising to hear. Herb Hand better stay on his toes, though. Texas also has a good chance with Atascocita OL Kam Dewberry. There are other players where UT is the pick but we don’t have a great feel for priority level even if they already hold offers.

In every cycle (other than 2019) there’s a tangible positive momentum where it’s all for the taking. We’re at that point for Tom Herman, but he needs to cash the checks our asses are writing. Herman can build a title winner with the 2022 class.

 

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4 minutes ago, satyanash said:

DeSoto: The marquee stop of the trip didn’t disappoint. Early in the visit there was a distinct A&M or Alabama vibe, but as we poked and prodded with Shemar Turner, his coaches, and his teammates, we started to hear some very favorable UT stuff. We’ve asserted there are some important people in his decision making tree who like UT and that was further confirmed. There may also be a pro-Aggie person in the camp. Texas was called the “dark horse” but we think they’re in better position than that provided UT has a good season. Of important note, we heard UT had some ground to make up for reasons that were too sensitive for the source to tell us. We feel the staff has overcome those issues and is doing well in the recruitment. The staff has a good handle on the pressure points of this one. Turner should be a five-star. That will become clear when you see the frenzy heat up over the coming months. He’s a prospect that is undoubtedly at the top of Bama’s big board. Awesome kid to talk to. More on him in the Scoop.

Of all the $9.95er BS I think I hate this move the most. What is the purpose of this vague shit, if it's that sensitive maybe you shouldn't mention anything at all. All this does is throw some weird uncertainty into the mix that everyone then wildly speculates on. 

If you actually have that information and aren't completely making it up all you need to say is, "Texas initially had some ground to make up in this recruitment but those concerns have been answered and they are right in the mix". Reporting it the way they do does no good for Turner or the staff, it's just red meat for fans to focus on if his recruitment doesn't go the way we hope. 

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20 hours ago, satyanash said:

Texas is one of those programs that cannot function without a good QB, they peaked with VY + Colt but fell off afterwards because of how QB-dependent the program is.

Could someonw post a list of all the programs that don't need a good QB?  Thanks in advance.

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35 minutes ago, UncleSonny said:

Of all the $9.95er BS I think I hate this move the most. What is the purpose of this vague shit, if it's that sensitive maybe you shouldn't mention anything at all. All this does is throw some weird uncertainty into the mix that everyone then wildly speculates on. 

If you actually have that information and aren't completely making it up all you need to say is, "Texas initially had some ground to make up in this recruitment but those concerns have been answered and they are right in the mix". Reporting it the way they do does no good for Turner or the staff, it's just red meat for fans to focus on if his recruitment doesn't go the way we hope. 

No "wild" speculation, the real Sonny & anyone who follows recruiting knows exactly what that means. Turner fits the prototype sec covets within their "gentleman" agreement. 5 star lineman with multiple influencers who are listening, those kids attract the best offers. They're telling us that if we win & our DL eats we can land him. If not, then he'll make the easy choice, not have to play school and have support from those around him.

Edited by Goodman
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13 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

I never knew RLM was named after a person until a few moths ago.

A few years back when I was teaching at UT, I told my class that I had put something on reserve at Perry Castaneda, and no one in the room had any idea what I was talking about.  

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3 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

A few years back when I was teaching at UT, I told my class that I had put something on reserve at Perry Castaneda, and no one in the room had any idea what I was talking about.  

I think the only class I ever had at RLM was calculus, so I assumed it was Something Something Mathematics. PCL I would have known though, spent a little more time there.

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18 minutes ago, Goodman said:

No "wild" speculation, the real Sonny & anyone who follows recruiting knows exactly what that means. Turner fits the prototype sec covets within their "gentleman" agreement. 5 star lineman with multiple influencers who are listening, those kids attract the best offers. They're telling us that if we win & our DL eats we can land him. If not, then he'll make the easy choice, not have to play school and have support from those around him.

And/Or that the Brocks are actively negative recruiting him

Edited by MagicSoccerSpray
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24 minutes ago, Goodman said:

No "wild" speculation, the real Sonny & anyone who follows recruiting knows exactly what that means. Turner fits the prototype sec covets within their "gentleman" agreement. 5 star lineman with multiple influencers who are listening, those kids attract the best offers. They're telling us that if we win & our DL eats we can land him. If not, then he'll make the easy choice, not have to play school and have support from those around him.

Yup, the 1 person pushing aggy and influencing him is trying to get bags.  I don't expect Turner to end up in this class.  I know hornsfromdallas has hinted a few times that he is coming but these recruitments rarely workout in our favor.  

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20 minutes ago, Goodman said:

No "wild" speculation, the real Sonny & anyone who follows recruiting knows exactly what that means. Turner fits the prototype sec covets within their "gentleman" agreement. 5 star lineman with multiple influencers who are listening, those kids attract the best offers. They're telling us that if we win & our DL eats we can land him. If not, then he'll make the easy choice, not have to play school and have support from those around him.

 

2 minutes ago, MagicSoccerSpray said:

And/Or that the Brocks are actively negative recruiting him

Ha, yes this is kind of my point. Sure seems like both you guys are speculating to me. Also, none of that seems that overly “sensitive” to me. You’re right Goodman, everyone who follows recruiting knows that the SEC drops the bag for 5star linemen. 


Also, honest question about the “real Sonny” part of your post out of curiosity. Are you taking my handle as a reference to a poster or person that is going over my head?

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3 minutes ago, victory88 said:

Yup, the 1 person pushing aggy and influencing him is trying to get bags.  I don't expect Turner to end up in this class.  I know hornsfromdallas has hinted a few times that he is coming but these recruitments rarely workout in our favor.  

I expect us to have the type of season that can get him in this class. Tough to predict but I'm all in on this season, Tom is out of excuses. 

@UncleSonny Of course I am, you can't have a handle of UncleSonny on a college board and not know about the legend. 

Sonny-Vaccaro-1-1568967917.jpg

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21 minutes ago, victory88 said:

Yup, the 1 person pushing aggy and influencing him is trying to get bags.  I don't expect Turner to end up in this class.  I know hornsfromdallas has hinted a few times that he is coming but these recruitments rarely workout in our favor.  

I mean couldnt we have just said the exact same thing about Broughton and Collins last year?

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20 minutes ago, victory88 said:

Yup, the 1 person pushing aggy and influencing him is trying to get bags.  I don't expect Turner to end up in this class.  I know hornsfromdallas has hinted a few times that he is coming but these recruitments rarely workout in our favor.  

With the TO note from a day or two ago about us not matching or playing the game but still getting his commitment due to future earners hopefully shows NIL should help us even the playing field. 

 

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17 minutes ago, golfclap said:

holy. fuck. 

LET'S GOOOOOOO. Fuck a Redshirt. Shipley eligibility for EVERYONE!!!! 

Also, how in the world are they going to handle the 25/85 in 2021 with 2022 kids, etc?

The way I’ve interpreted it is that it will only apply to people on their final year of eligibility and you would still have to stay under the 85/25 for you incoming class and any non seniors. 

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1 hour ago, golfclap said:

holy. fuck. 

LET'S GOOOOOOO. Fuck a Redshirt. Shipley eligibility for EVERYONE!!!! 

Also, how in the world are they going to handle the 25/85 in 2021 with 2022 kids, etc?

Have to imagine they’ll suspend the 85 rule for a year at least. 
 

The real question is would Ehlinger come back for another year even if he plays 10 games this season? That would be crazy. He could lay claim to just about every UT QB record if he did that. 

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4 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Have to imagine they’ll suspend the 85 rule for a year at least. 
 

The real question is would Ehlinger come back for another year even if he plays 10 games this season? That would be crazy. He could lay claim to just about every UT QB record if he did that. 

 

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7 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

The real question is would Ehlinger come back for another year even if he plays 10 games this season? That would be crazy. He could lay claim to just about every UT QB record if he did that. 

 

I was wondering about this ... and whether it was too unlikely to even make sense to discuss. 

I don't think he does ... but ... if he went that route, Card would really get squeezed (assuming Ewers stayed the course).

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1 minute ago, bEastTexas said:

Also Wells mentioned it was highly unlikely that Sam would come back for a 5th year. 

Hope Kerstetter comes back.  Would give Majors anothet year to learn/get stronger before taking over as a RS Soph.  Okafor?  Who knows.  Maybe Jones comes back.  

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