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Texas Recruiting Notes 2021


Reese Bennett

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1 minute ago, RGBIII said:

Sark and Dunn have talked and things are swinging back to texas per Gerry

Sark really is an elite recruiter. That 2015 class he put together at USC was absurd. He landed 4 5-stars and 12 guys in the top 100. 
 

I may do a bit of a longer write upstairs some point, but his recruiting at UW was really good too. They landed Shaq Thompson, who’s still the highest rated player in the history of the program and a ton of other NFL talents, like Kevin King, Sefarian-Jenkins, Budda Baker, Shelton, Marcus Peters, Bishop Stanley, Dante Petrie John Ross. 

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1 hour ago, Burt Macklin said:

Sark really is an elite recruiter. That 2015 class he put together at USC was absurd. He landed 4 5-stars and 12 guys in the top 100. 
 

I may do a bit of a longer write upstairs some point, but his recruiting at UW was really good too. They landed Shaq Thompson, who’s still the highest rated player in the history of the program and a ton of other NFL talents, like Kevin King, Sefarian-Jenkins, Budda Baker, Shelton, Marcus Peters, Bishop Stanley, Dante Petrie John Ross. 

 

Good info on his recruiting chops;  very positive.

 (But I ask out of curiosity - and with some trepidation -  where are you now?  In some basement?  "Blink if we need to notify the Feds" situation?)

Animated GIF

 

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53 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Gerry on Ibraheem:

  Hide contents

Ish still wants to be at Texas.

He has not talked with Coach Sarkisian as of this morning.

This recruitment/signing could ultimately come down to UT administration.
 

 

Not to equate alcoholism to criminal activity, but it seems like given Sark's history, he'd be pretty open to giving kids 2nd chances.  Especially if his involvement was truly limited to riding in the car, and not doing the actual crime itself.  I'm sure Sark will get around to calling him and making a decision based on the facts (which I don't pretend to know).  But it's probably pretty far down his to do list at this point understandably.  If it was a quick reassurance/recruiting call, he'd probably make time for it similar to how he reached out to LJ and Wright.  But I'm sure that conversation will need to be much more in depth.  I'd hope he can make it into the class, and think he likely will.  

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1 hour ago, Getafix said:

 

Good info on his recruiting chops;  very positive.

 (But I ask out of curiosity - and with some trepidation -  where are you now?  In some basement?  "Blink if we need to notify the Feds" situation?)

Animated GIF

 

Lulz. I have no clue how later auto corrected to upstairs. But I was downstairs when I wrote that so, maybe Siri knows best. 

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3 hours ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

Sounds like the real issue with LJ/Texas was the uncertainty around whether Drayton would be coach when/if Tom was fired.  Now that it is all cleared up - he can make a decision.

Why would he care? I've been told Drayton is a terrible recruiter and mediocre coach. 

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Sark really is an elite recruiter. That 2015 class he put together at USC was absurd. He landed 4 5-stars and 12 guys in the top 100. 
 
I may do a bit of a longer write upstairs some point, but his recruiting at UW was really good too. They landed Shaq Thompson, who’s still the highest rated player in the history of the program and a ton of other NFL talents, like Kevin King, Sefarian-Jenkins, Budda Baker, Shelton, Marcus Peters, Bishop Stanley, Dante Petrie John Ross. 

I know Budda Baker was not a Sark commit. He was flipped from Oregon by Petersen and staff after he took over. I only know that because we discussed it in the wrong thread yesterday. Anyone in the 2014 class I’d double check the timelines on, the names I recognized off the bat in that class were all Petersen commits. Not that Sark wasn’t a strong recruiter at Washington, bc he was.
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45 minutes ago, gmr548 said:


I know Budda Baker was not a Sark commit. He was flipped from Oregon by Petersen and staff after he took over. I only know that because we discussed it in the wrong thread yesterday. Anyone in the 2014 class I’d double check the timelines on, the names I recognized off the bat in that class were all Petersen commits. Not that Sark wasn’t a strong recruiter at Washington, bc he was.

Good catch. I think he’s the only 2014 guy I listed. 

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6 minutes ago, Machinator said:

If someone has it and is able to post it (I'm on mobile), Mike Roach just savaged Herman's recruiting methods in his latest post.

Spoiler

— Since the news of Tom Herman’s dismissal, I’ve been talking to many sources trying to find out where everything went wrong. Struggles on the field played out for everyone to see, but the recruiting difficulties late were something I didn’t see coming. As I wrote in The Stampede, it’s hard to knock a guy who cashed two Top 5 classes and a Top 10 class in his first three years on campus. In talking to sources, it seems that many times Texas excelled in recruiting despite its head coach.

 

— Perhaps I should have known right off the bat. When Herman was first hired, the reputation he had as a recruiter was fantastic. When I started calling around to gather reaction from coaches and recruits in the Houston area, I didn’t quite get the excitement I expected. In fact, some outright rolled their eyes when I asked about him. In Monday’s edition of The Stampede, I wrote about how arrogance and a lack of self-awareness plagued Herman and that was magnified at Texas.

 

— One source I spoke with who was close to Herman at Texas said he felt that his ego got the best of him. “Coming from Houston and Ohio State, he expected everything to be easy. When he faced adversity he didn’t know what to do.” For Herman, having some strong recruiters near him made up for it. Tim Beck was involved in just about everything Texas did in recruiting and covered up a lot of those issues. When Herb Hand was hired, Beck would go along on offensive line prospects and close. One such story I was told concerns Jaylen Garth. He was pretty much a slam dunk for Texas from the beginning, but Hand couldn’t quite close the deal. Because of his relationship with Roschon Johnson, Beck was able to step in and close it. As I came to find out, that type of pack recruiting was common.

 

— One former staffer I spoke with said the struggles in recruiting weren’t because the previous staff was great and the new staff was bad. They said that the old staff recruited well together, and gang recruited top kids. It was something they learned while at Houston because there were times when Herman wasn’t as involved with the recruiting effort. There were also times he meddled where he shouldn’t. The source told me that Drew Mehringer and Corby Meekins never got the credit they deserved because they were handcuffed on players at the position. Herman’s background was in coaching wide receivers and he wanted to have more oversight on that position than anything else. That caused Texas to stall or delay on targets like Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Marvin Mims. It was the reason Texas was late offering Jordan Whittington and initially offered him on defense. Even Garrett Wilson was in question when others on the staff wanted to move forward with an offer. Herman loved size in his receivers and valued it over the insane production of those previously mentioned.

 

— Many times, recruits mentioned that Tom Herman wasn’t as involved in the day-to-day recruitment like Lincoln Riley and Jimbo Fisher were. A former Texas staffer confirmed that Herman saw his role as primarily a closer. One source told me “Good head coaches recruit just as hard assistants do on the daily. It’s not just about the 20-minute meeting that you have with them on an unofficial visit.” In his role as a closer, Herman overestimated his position. One story that sticks out to me is the recruitment of Noah Cain. I had an excellent source near the four-star running back, and he told me that Noah agonized all night over the decision, but Tim Beck and Stan Drayton were bringing it home for Texas. After almost being ready to make the decision, Cain stalled one last time and Herman “blew his top” on him in a phone call. From that moment, the decision for Cain to move on and pick Penn State became easy and left a bad taste in the mouth of Cain’s parents.

 

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9 minutes ago, OnAComputer said:

  

My friends are telling me that he basically said he was stubborn as a recruiter and wanted final say on offers which meant Texas missed on a bunch of guys. I have been complaining about this for year!

This has been an issue with the past two Texas staffs. Herman thought just because Texas was Texas, he could take his time and land whoever he wanted. It meant you had countless Garrett Wilson situations due to atrocious evals.

Here is my list of guys who they just simply "passed" on

I feel heard

I lose sleep at night thinking about how Herman/Mehringer didn't even offer Smith-Njigba or Mims

Edited by ChampionshipLevelPiss
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I think part of the problem was Herman always overestimated his chances of performing well on the field too.  Well, we can close on them because we'll be in the big 12 title game or the playoffs and then everyone will want in.  So we can take our time.  We'll have the pick of the litter in December after the season because eeeerrbody.

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IT Recruiting Matters: New staff will turn over every high school rock in 2021

While Steve Sarkisian continues to put contract offers on the table and build out his initial staff at Texas, look for the staff to build the program in recruiting from the high school ranks and not look to be portal dependent.

IT is a fan of this strategy. That doesn’t mean there can’t be the occasional transfer to help at a position of serious need out of the junior college ranks or the portal, but the plan will be more of recruit high school players and develop them.

There will be names IT has been mentioning before, and there will be new names emerge as the new Texas staff will turn over every rock remaining in the 2021 class around the country to see if there are fits at positions of need.

Here are names to continue to know:

L.J. Johnson, RB, Cy Fair
Obviously, the most important recruit on the board right now for the new staff. Inside Texas first reported that Coach Sarkisian had spoken to Johnson, and assured him that Stan Drayton would remain as running backs coach. In a dog fight with Texas A&M, this was a must if the Longhorns wanted an opportunity to win out for the top running back prospect in the state. Drayton, Bryan Carrington and Brandon Harris have all been key here in this recruitment for well over a year.

Ishmael Ibraheem, CB, Dallas Kimball (Texas commit)
Ibraheem remains committed to Texas, and wants to be at Texas according to a source in the Metroplex on Tuesday. The ball is in the court of Sarkisian and his new staff, and the UT administration.

David Abiara, DE, Mansfield Legacy
The talent is not in question for the one-time Notre Dame verbal. An off the field incident caused many schools to pause, including Texas. Tom Herman’s staff had been in contact with Abiara and family leading up to NSD1, and almost signed the 6-4, 240-pound edge player with broad shoulders, long arms and big hands. Texas has the academic and football combination Abiara and family are looking for. Like Ishmael Ibraheem, this could come down to the UT administration signing off on Abiara should Sarkisian’s new staff want to try and ink the very talented DE.

Garfield Lawrence, DE, Tyler Legacy
Let me first begin by relaying something from one of the top defensive line trainers in the business …

Nathan O’Neal is a defensive line specialist coach that trains the likes of Jadeveon Clowney, the Bosa brothers, a number of other current NFL DL’s, has worked pass rush at Von Miller’s pass rush camp, works with many top NFL Draft prospects as they ready for the draft and has been the DL coach at Under Armour Camps, Under Amrmour Game and Future50 for a few years. He said Texas is crazy if they don’t offer and sign the 6-4, 245-pound Lawrence.

“Bro, that kid is big, fast and physical. Why is he ranked so low? He is way too go to go to Kansas, no offense to Kansas. He plays high, but that is fixable. That kids future is bright if he puts in he work.”

Lawrence deciding not to sign with Kansas in December has opened the door for Texas, Baylor and other programs in January.

Keith Cooper, OLB/DE, Dickinson
Cooper is another edge player that will for sure receive a look from Sarkisian’s staff once assembled. Cooper is near 6-5, 235-240-pounds and has an otherworldly 83-inch wingspan. He has short space quickness the he flashes at times, but is not the explosive EDGE player as some others in the 2021 class. His basketball feet and length are his calling cards. Arizona State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Indiana and Kansas State have been constant in his recruitment with a decision expected later this month. The prior staff had been evaluating Cooper all season.

Austin Uke, OG/T, Dallas Parish Episcopal
The big thing in Uke’s recruitment will be Coach Sarkisian reaching out to Uke’s OL trainer, former Texas Longhorns OT Donald Hawkins. The prior staff did a terrible job in this regard. Bryan Carrington has a relationship with Hawkins per Hawkins, but Herb Hand never called Hawkins. With offers from Stanford, USC, Florida State, Georgia Tech and many more, timing will be important here for Sarkisian to reach out to Hawkins. Hawkins will train plenty of the best high school OL prospects in the D/FW area in the 2022 and 2023 classes, so this is imperative.

There will be more, but these are 2021 prospect we expect the new staff to contact and potentially pursue:
Terrion Arnold, S, John Paul II Catholic (Tallahassee, Fla.)
Florida, Georgia, Alabama in then hunt with others still trying.

Brian Walker Jr., WR, Walker (La.)
LSU has been fighting off Georgia, Alabama, Texas A&M and others.

Destyn Hill, WR, Edna Karr (New Orleans, La.)
Home-state LSU has been trying to beat out Florida State and Florida. Alabama, Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Tennessee have been in the mix at various points.

Keon Coleman, WR, Opelousas Catholic (La.)
The desire to play hoops at the next level impact this recruitment. Ole Miss, Kansas and Auburn have been the three to watch.

Alton McCaskill, RB/ATH, Oak Ridge
USC has been a constant. Oklahoma State the same. Ole Miss and Vanderbilt on the peripheral. Should L.J. Johnson opt for Texas A&M, McCaskill could come into play.
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26 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

The Herman staff had an unbelievable penchant for bricking layups. How do you not cover the basics in a key territory by getting and staying cozy with trainers of influence, and in particular those that fucking played at your school and have a natural affinity for your program accordingly? The Hawkins stuff is just stupid. It's regret-free to spend the little time needed to make that guy feel like he's inside the tent? Ridiculous.

 

I think it's baffling to anyone that has been in any leadership or sales type position.  There's being arrogant and believing in yourself (trusting your evaluations over everyone else) and then there's the shit that is so low effort its hard to fathom (shooting the shit and not being an asshole to former players, donors, high school coaches, making people feel like they win when texas wins, treating players well in general). 

I mean, I'm not that smart and I know this shit.  How did Herman not get this?  How does anyone who didn't get their job through nepotism not get this?

 

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LOL MIKE ROACH TAKING A GIANT LIQUID DUMP DIRECTLY ON HERMANS CHEST!!!!

Spoiler

— Since the news of Tom Herman’s dismissal, I’ve been talking to many sources trying to find out where everything went wrong. Struggles on the field played out for everyone to see, but the recruiting difficulties late were something I didn’t see coming. As I wrote in The Stampede, it’s hard to knock a guy who cashed two Top 5 classes and a Top 10 class in his first three years on campus. In talking to sources, it seems that many times Texas excelled in recruiting despite its head coach.

— Perhaps I should have known right off the bat. When Herman was first hired, the reputation he had as a recruiter was fantastic. When I started calling around to gather reaction from coaches and recruits in the Houston area, I didn’t quite get the excitement I expected. In fact, some outright rolled their eyes when I asked about him. In Monday’s edition of The Stampede, I wrote about how arrogance and a lack of self-awareness plagued Herman and that was magnified at Texas.

— One source I spoke with who was close to Herman at Texas said he felt that his ego got the best of him. “Coming from Houston and Ohio State, he expected everything to be easy. When he faced adversity he didn’t know what to do.” For Herman, having some strong recruiters near him made up for it. Tim Beck was involved in just about everything Texas did in recruiting and covered up a lot of those issues. When Herb Hand was hired, Beck would go along on offensive line prospects and close. One such story I was told concerns Jaylen Garth. He was pretty much a slam dunk for Texas from the beginning, but Hand couldn’t quite close the deal. Because of his relationship with Roschon Johnson, Beck was able to step in and close it. As I came to find out, that type of pack recruiting was common.

101
COMMENTS
— One former staffer I spoke with said the struggles in recruiting weren’t because the previous staff was great and the new staff was bad. They said that the old staff recruited well together, and gang recruited top kids. It was something they learned while at Houston because there were times when Herman wasn’t as involved with the recruiting effort. There were also times he meddled where he shouldn’t. The source told me that Drew Mehringer and Corby Meekins never got the credit they deserved because they were handcuffed on players at the position. Herman’s background was in coaching wide receivers and he wanted to have more oversight on that position than anything else. That caused Texas to stall or delay on targets like Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Marvin Mims. It was the reason Texas was late offering Jordan Whittington and initially offered him on defense. Even Garrett Wilson was in question when others on the staff wanted to move forward with an offer. Herman loved size in his receivers and valued it over the insane production of those previously mentioned.

— Many times, recruits mentioned that Tom Herman wasn’t as involved in the day-to-day recruitment like Lincoln Riley and Jimbo Fisher were. A former Texas staffer confirmed that Herman saw his role as primarily a closer. One source told me “Good head coaches recruit just as hard assistants do on the daily. It’s not just about the 20-minute meeting that you have with them on an unofficial visit.” In his role as a closer, Herman overestimated his position. One story that sticks out to me is the recruitment of Noah Cain. I had an excellent source near the four-star running back, and he told me that Noah agonized all night over the decision, but Tim Beck and Stan Drayton were bringing it home for Texas. After almost being ready to make the decision, Cain stalled one last time and Herman “blew his top” on him in a phone call. From that moment, the decision for Cain to move on and pick Penn State became easy and left a bad taste in the mouth of Cain’s parents.

 

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