Texas Recruiting Notes 2025: Duck Around and Find Out

[closetojumping 62,548]

Just now, texifornia said:

Flipside: They're going to have to submit to Lincoln's "the offense always comes first" style of practice and roster management.

That's how I see it. They brought in the DB coach from UH, the HC from SDSU, the DC from UCLA and the Rams DL coach. Maybe those guys kill it, but maybe Riley continues to be Riley and tells them to make it work however they need to do so. Lynn was at UCLA for one season and he had some mature players to work with on the roster. Maybe he's really good, there's no way to really know until we see their season under way. 

Riley seems to want to become an NFL guy, so I'm not sure any of this shit even matters. 

Another thing going on with USC is their schedule. They open in Vegas against LSU. Both of those teams have issues on offense. USC has a genius in Riley and LSU lost their acclaimed OC. Advantage Riley, but this could be an ugly game offensively.

They then play Utah State, a bowl team for 6 of the last 7 seasons (corona did them in in 2020). Should be a gimme, but it isn't Portland State or UC Davis.

Off week, then they go @Michigan, Wisconsin, @Minnesota, PSU, @Maryland in consecutive weeks. Woof. That is some asswhipping in travel. 

They also have to play Rutgers, @UW, Nebraska, UCLA, and close with ND. Rutgers is tough and well-coached and the same will be said for Nebraska, if I had to guess. ND is allegedly a top 10 team. 

There are likely a number of losses packed into that shitpile of a schedule. 

Finally, beyond all of that, it looks like they will be starting 11 transfers on defense, the majority of whom will be new to the program. Mercenaries can come in handy, we know a little bit about that, but in this case, you have an entire group of them coming together with an entirely new defensive coaching staff, with that schedule, and an offense that wants to score really quickly.

Holy shit. Mercenaries, NFL distractions, weak offensive skill replacements for QB and TB, new potpourri of coaching talent and a nasty schedule. A lot will have to tip in USC's favor for them to be any better than 8-5. 

[Vermin 3,043]

2 hours ago, closetojumping said:

Why was this expected? Because Wiltfong put in a pick? The Texas staff wasn’t expecting it. 

USC is doing the same LSU frontrunning nonsense and showing all of these guys their first looks on NIL. Let’s see how it all works out during this cycle. 

 

Recruiting is all about location, location, location. Some recruits are adventurous, but most are going to pick the blue blood program within a decently quick drive.

[HenryJames 66,037]

Building a defense is like smoking a brisket. 

[closetojumping 62,548]

1 minute ago, Vermin said:

Recruiting is all about location, location, location. Some recruits are adventurous, but most are going to pick the blue blood program within a decently quick drive.

That's reductive. This isn't the 1950's. 

Items 1a and 1b in recruiting in this era are:

1a) NIL

1b) Can you put me into the league?

Tradition, location, coaching staff, style of play, conference, all of that stuff matters if items 1a and 1b are checked off clearly. USC is now under pressure to show that they can live up to 1a and then that they can make a dent in getting back to level, on defense, with 1b.

If USC is on another bullet train to mediocrity as the 2024 season unfolds and Riley is letting NFL teams flirt with him, his roster and his recruiting class fall apart on him. 

[BurntOrange&White 39,930]

57 minutes ago, Vertigo said:

I think he actually brought in some quality defensive coaches this cycle who know how to recruit. Similar to Texas, it isn't hard to be successful once you graduate from the land of gross incompetence. It wouldn't surprise me to see USC have a good class. 

 

37 minutes ago, Vertigo said:

I think he has been forced to see the light on that, at least if reports are to be believed.

I think it's more of them diverting their NIL funds to defense and throwing some hefty change up front to land recruits now....lot of time between now and NSD.

[Vermin 3,043]

Throwing big money at high school recruits is ill advised since most don’t pan out or take years to develop.
 

Better to save up for proven, finished products in the portal.

[Ricky's one-hitter 9,084]

16 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

If USC is on another bullet train to mediocrity as the 2024 season unfolds and Riley is letting NFL teams flirt with him, his roster and his recruiting class fall apart on him. 

Ideally, the mediocre train drops Kingsbury off at fallout station after nearly exploding in ego pass. They've both got a lot of shit on one another.

[Funk Doctor Spock 12,177]

Doesn't matter what Lincoln Logs does, he'll be 4rg or 5th best in the B1G yearly 

Also, who is their starting QB? We saw Caleb come back to earth, and the next one won't be as good (I'm sure he'll be good like all Riley QB's are, but not Caleb). 

Edited April 2 by Spider2YBanana

[closetojumping 62,548]

5 minutes ago, Vermin said:

Throwing big money at high school recruits is ill advised since most don’t pan out or take years to develop.
 

Better to save up for proven, finished products in the portal.

Nope. You have to do both. "ill advised" is sitting on the sidelines of either route for talent acquisition. 

Christ. Texas sat on the sidelines of paying players during the Great Bag Era of college football. That, along with profoundly pathetic behaviors from two HCs (late stage Mack and Herman) and absolutely terrible hires at HC and AD (Chuckles, Patterson, Perrin) sent us wandering in the wilderness for 13 seasons. 

Tell me how things are working out for Stanford now that the portal has been a one-way direction for their program while stacking some mediocre to poor HS classes on top of one another for years. We are witnessing the active destruction of the Clemson program by their head coach right now as he continues to be a vocal portal denier. 

Programs not excelling in both recruiting and the portal going forward will not be top 10 programs. Both include a foundation with NIL.

[tokamak 6,391]

USC struggling to figure out NIL surprises me. On paper, seems like they should be a net winner.

[Ricky's one-hitter 9,084]

6 minutes ago, tokamak said:

USC struggling to figure out NIL surprises me. On paper, seems like they should be a net winner.

Having money doesn't mean they know what to do with it. They're the Mike Tyson of collectives. 

[BruceVonClaude 212]

I want to see how travel affects the West Coast teams moving forward.  I'm going to guess they are going to be logging Hawaii type numbers in the coming years.  Not saying elite players are going to play school, but this would be a negative nonetheless.  Not to mention administrative costs on each school when you log ~8k miles for football alone.

[Burt Macklin 19,020]

44 minutes ago, Vermin said:

Throwing big money at high school recruits is ill advised since most don’t pan out or take years to develop.
 

Better to save up for proven, finished products in the portal.

Exactly. This guy gets it. You can find guys like Anthony Hill, Manny Muhammad, and Ryan Wingo just sitting in the portal every offseason. Why are all these dumb head coaches wasting their time and NIL money recruiting them out of HS?

[BurntOrange&White 39,930]

19 minutes ago, tokamak said:

USC struggling to figure out NIL surprises me. On paper, seems like they should be a net winner.

To be fair if it wasn't for the guys on this board we'd be so fucked on NIL.

5 minutes ago, BruceVonClaude said:

I want to see how travel affects the West Coast teams moving forward.  I'm going to guess they are going to be logging Hawaii type numbers in the coming years.  Not saying elite players are going to play school, but this would be a negative nonetheless.  Not to mention administrative costs on each school when you log ~8k miles for football alone.

Look at NFL trends

[realgreggym 835]

1 minute ago, BruceVonClaude said:

I want to see how travel affects the West Coast teams moving forward.  I'm going to guess they are going to be logging Hawaii type numbers in the coming years.  Not saying elite players are going to play school, but this would be a negative nonetheless.  Not to mention administrative costs on each school when you log ~8k miles for football alone.

When the move to the B10 was announced, I mentioned the travel. Flying from the west coast to the east coast

will be rough. A 6-hour flight and 3 time zones is going to be brutal.  

[NoName 16,350]

1 minute ago, BruceVonClaude said:

I want to see how travel affects the West Coast teams moving forward.  I'm going to guess they are going to be logging Hawaii type numbers in the coming years.  Not saying elite players are going to play school, but this would be a negative nonetheless.  Not to mention administrative costs on each school when you log ~8k miles for football alone.

agreed on this front, going to be negatively recruited really really hard on this  - as they should be

https://www.si.com/college/usc/football/usc-football-will-travel-furthest-distance-of-any-team-for-big-ten-away-games-in-2024

 

Quote

Cameron Salerno of CBSSports.com did the math and the Trojans will travel the longest distance of any team in the Big Ten to away games in 2024. Outside of UCLA, USC will play Maryland, Northwestern, Penn State and Purdue on the road. That adds up to 16,134 miles traveled, which is more than double the mileage every non-Los Angeles based school will have to go for away games. 

here are how USC and UCLA will compare to the next highest team in the B10:

Quote

The team who travels the most in Big Ten play behind the Southern California schools is Nebraska -- and USC and UCLA are traveling over 225% more than Nebraska's 7,022 mile roundtrip conference schedule. Purdue and Indiana travel the least in the conference next fall, and the new schools will travel 618% more miles than its conference foes.  

for comparison here was work someone did for CFB in 2023: https://old.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/14myzuz/how_far_each_fbs_team_has_to_travel_in_2023/

just 17 schools traveled more than 5000 miles, only 1 of them was a P5 program (WVU, who is high on these lists historically due to the historic b12 geography) and the other was ND whose # is inflated with 48% of their miles coming from the Dublin trip.

USC is going to see a 293% increase in miles traveled (4097 --> 16134) YOY

that's going to be their life, basically forever, now.

[Ricky's one-hitter 9,084]

1 minute ago, NoName said:

USC is going to see a 293% increase in miles traveled (4097 --> 16134) YOY

that's going to be their life, basically forever, now.

All for a couple sheckels and a nail biter in Piscataway. 

[closetojumping 62,548]

20 minutes ago, NoName said:

agreed on this front, going to be negatively recruited really really hard on this  - as they should be

https://www.si.com/college/usc/football/usc-football-will-travel-furthest-distance-of-any-team-for-big-ten-away-games-in-2024

 

here are how USC and UCLA will compare to the next highest team in the B10:

for comparison here was work someone did for CFB in 2023: https://old.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/14myzuz/how_far_each_fbs_team_has_to_travel_in_2023/

just 17 schools traveled more than 5000 miles, only 1 of them was a P5 program (WVU, who is high on these lists historically due to the historic b12 geography) and the other was ND whose # is inflated with 48% of their miles coming from the Dublin trip.

USC is going to see a 293% increase in miles traveled (4097 --> 16134) YOY

that's going to be their life, basically forever, now.

FYI, a lot of this data predates the additions of UW and Oregon, which caused the Big 10 to reshuffle schedules again. USC is no longer traveling to NW, Purdue or PSU. They're no longer even playing NW or Purdue. They go @Vegas, @Michigan, @Minnesota, @Maryland, and @UW. @UCLA as well, but there's no travel for that one. So it's still a lot, but not as much as previously assumed. 

[ousux 5,596]

I want to see how travel affects the West Coast teams moving forward.  I'm going to guess they are going to be logging Hawaii type numbers in the coming years.  Not saying elite players are going to play school, but this would be a negative nonetheless.  Not to mention administrative costs on each school when you log ~8k miles for football alone.

It seems like a minor thing, but there are definitely recruits out there who hate flying, or worse scared of it...and that will affect the west coast B1G teams in recruiting to some degree. Most players don't mind flights of 2 hours or less, but we're talking a minimum of 5 hours from coast to coast, (if non-stop) not counting bus time to the airport and any possible delays for weather, mechanical issues or crazy ladies seeing motherfuckers who arent real etc.

The Pac leadership were world class idiots for sticking to their guns instead of aggressively pursuing expansion. Hell, they would still be a conference at the expense of making a few schools temporarily angry by bringing in the Longhorns (complete with LHN) into the Pac along with OU..and tag-alongs Tceh, and Okie Lite.

[Dbeasy 15,041]

I think Riley is gone after this year regardless of how his season progresses. He’s in too much of a tenable situation. 

He knows that if the defense struggles again for the next two years, it will destroy his nfl opportunities. So he will take whatever nfl job comes his way in the offseason. And someone will hire him for sure (insert Jerry Jones joke). Or if the defense improves, a good nfl job will most certainly crop up.

[RGBIII 22,838]

1 hour ago, tokamak said:

USC struggling to figure out NIL surprises me. On paper, seems like they should be a net winner.

They have some donors and are motivated. Their administration has held them back pretty badly and their lack of cohesiveness has been a big detriment. Also commercial opportunities are nowhere near what some would think "because they are in LA". Cali in general has so many damn pro teams that it really leeches from what they can do in NIL. Lambo of Austin loves sponsoring these texas kids because Texas IS the pro team in town (Sorry Verde fans), Lambo of LA would much rather throw ad money at a guy like Anthony Davis or hell, even Austin Reaves than whoever is a great LT or DT at USC. Then throw in the fact that they have to compete with the dodgers, angels, kings, rams, chargers, lakers, clippers, galaxy etc etc etc and its tough, especially for the bottom of the roster. Jake Majors has a Lambo, I can guarantee the center at USC isnt making shit

[Chango 227]

USC struggling to figure out NIL surprises me. On paper, seems like they should be a net winner.

They need to bring in Lori Laughlin to consult.

[Bevo 13,563]

6 minutes ago, RGBIII said:

Then throw in the fact that they have to compete with the dodgers, angels, kings, rams, chargers, lakers, clippers, galaxy etc etc etc and its tough, especially for the bottom of the roster. Jake Majors has a Lambo, I can guarantee the center at USC isnt making shit

Fuck the galaxy.

[Burt Macklin 19,020]

48 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

I think Riley is gone after this year regardless of how his season progresses. He’s in too much of a tenable situation. 

He knows that if the defense struggles again for the next two years, it will destroy his nfl opportunities. So he will take whatever nfl job comes his way in the offseason. And someone will hire him for sure (insert Jerry Jones joke). Or if the defense improves, a good nfl job will most certainly crop up.

I was about to say Riley’s already tanked his chances at an NFL HC job, but then I remembered Kingsbury got hired as a HC after being fired from Tech and not even winning half his games with one of the greatest QBs ever. 

[Mother mopar 3,318]

Throwing big money at high school recruits is ill advised since most don’t pan out or take years to develop.
 
Better to save up for proven, finished products in the portal.

But how do they end up proven, finished products in the portal, grasshopper?

[Getafix 28,559]

 

CB Cobey Sellers visited.  Here's a 247 article, with some interesting comments on practice. In particular, the ones on our offense.  Coming from a DB recruit on an unofficial visit, I thought they were positive and authentic.

(Posted the comments on practice, in the FB board practice thread;  here's a snippet, and the complete article after that.)

"First of all the offense is great, second to none. Usually the defense is what clicks early in practices but the offense is what really stood out to me, they were clicking on all cylinders and the D-line also looked good especially the transfer from UTSA (Trey Moore), he looked really good."

 

(Full article.)

Shadow Creek Top247 CB Cobey Sellers breaks down Friday's all-day visit to Texas

Jordan Scruggs (Horns 247)

 

Spoiler

 

Shadow Creek Top247 CB Cobey Sellers breaks down Friday's all-day visit to Texas

Jordan Scruggs (Horns 247)
 

Shadow Creek four-star cornerback Cobey Sellers has had one of the more intriguing recruitments to track in the 2025 cycle. 

The Longhorns got out to a lead early on in the recruitment, but as we got into Sellers' junior year it was clear that Oklahoma had retaken the No. 1 spot. 

Now that we're in the spring of his junior year with official visit season right around the corner, both Red River Rivals continue to jockey for position for the No. 3 ranked defensive back in the Lone Star State. 

On Friday Sellers spent most of the day on the Forty Acres as he arrived before sunrise before leaving around 4:00 PM.

"It went good," Sellers said. "I showed up around 6:30 in the morning, got some breakfast, then went to the special teams meeting and then went in the position meeting for the corners."

"Most of the stuff they were learning during the meeting was tackling work and then scheme-based talk. I wasn't super familiar with it but I could tell the DBs were doing everything they were supposed to do."

Besides team meetings and individual meetings, Sellers also took in a practice while on campus. 

"First of all the offense is great, second to none. Usually the defense is what clicks early in practices but the offense is what really stood out to me, they were clicking on all cylinders and the D-line also looked good especially the transfer from UTSA (Trey Moore), he looked really good."

When asked to speak on one of the Longhorns' defensive backs that caught his eye in practice, Sellers gave praise to rising star cornerback Malik Muhammad.

"Malik Muhammad. His confidence, the way he knew the game like the back of his hand, just practicing the little things like coming out of his break and opening up. To be a freshman, he's a leader on the team and it's clear when you watch him practice. He's really stood out."

Cornerbacks coach Terry Joseph went over early playing time opportunities amongst other topics when meeting with Sellers.

"It was great, it was basically him just breaking down how much he wanted me there and how I could make an impact immediately with my cover skills and that he's recruiting me to come play early."

With Joseph being Sellers' primary recruiter from the Texas side of things, both Joseph and Sellers have developed a close relationship.

"[The relationship] is going great, he was actually the first coach I told about my surgery so he had some people look at it and he told me some things that helped with it all. We talk at least once a week usually just chopping it up about the little things and he's very excited to get me on campus for my OV."

Sellers of course got to meet with Steve Sarkisian as well.

"It went great, just another great conversation talking about life and talking about how the team is looking and what's the plan going into this season and how they plan on attacking the SEC."

Sellers main takeaway from his all-day visit to the Forty Acres on Friday is how much of a priority he felt.

"Just how they made me a priority and showed that they need a player to come in that can cover and that's something I think I can do and come in and play early so that'll always be on my mind."

As far as what Sellers is looking towards on his official visit to Texas that's set for the June 14-16 weekend-

"Spending time with the players and getting to know them better and asking the real questions about the coaches and just getting a feel for the school, the environment, the students, and also the athletes. I know the coaches but I want to get to know the players."

At 5-11.5, 175 pounds Sellers is ranked as the No. 124 overall prospect in the nation, the No. 14 cornerback in the nation, and the No. 20 overall prospect in the state of Texas according to 247Sports.

 

 

[Red Five 40,830]

2 hours ago, Burt Macklin said:

Exactly. This guy gets it. You can find guys like Anthony Hill, Manny Muhammad, and Ryan Wingo just sitting in the portal every offseason. Why are all these dumb head coaches wasting their time and NIL money recruiting them out of HS?

Or Bijan Robinson. Or Arch Manning.

[Laga4 1,270]

There are going to be some surprised Cali NIL recipients when the tax man comes calling also. 

[Funk Doctor Spock 12,177]

3 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

I think Riley is gone after this year regardless of how his season progresses. He’s in too much of a tenable situation. 

He knows that if the defense struggles again for the next two years, it will destroy his nfl opportunities. So he will take whatever nfl job comes his way in the offseason. And someone will hire him for sure (insert Jerry Jones joke). Or if the defense improves, a good nfl job will most certainly crop up.

He'll run just like he did from the SEC. He's a sensitive pussy who has heen exposed now in 2 conferences. 

[Elmer_Fudd 22,201]

 

[Horn Under a Bad Sign 20,390]

10 hours ago, RGBIII said:

They have some donors and are motivated. Their administration has held them back pretty badly and their lack of cohesiveness has been a big detriment. Also commercial opportunities are nowhere near what some would think "because they are in LA". Cali in general has so many damn pro teams that it really leeches from what they can do in NIL. Lambo of Austin loves sponsoring these texas kids because Texas IS the pro team in town (Sorry Verde fans), Lambo of LA would much rather throw ad money at a guy like Anthony Davis or hell, even Austin Reaves than whoever is a great LT or DT at USC. Then throw in the fact that they have to compete with the dodgers, angels, kings, rams, chargers, lakers, clippers, galaxy etc etc etc and its tough, especially for the bottom of the roster. Jake Majors has a Lambo, I can guarantee the center at USC isnt making shit

Jake Majors has a Lambo? 

Holy fuck.

[Funk Doctor Spock 12,177]

21 minutes ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

Jake Majors has a Lambo? 

Holy fuck.

You didn't know that? He's shown it off. I think he has a Lambo Urus? 

[Enchubben 5,510]

11 hours ago, ousux said:

It seems like a minor thing, but there are definitely recruits out there who hate flying, or worse scared of it...and that will affect the west coast B1G teams in recruiting to some degree. Most players don't mind flights of 2 hours or less, but we're talking a minimum of 5 hours from coast to coast, (if non-stop) not counting bus time to the airport and any possible delays for weather, mechanical issues or crazy ladies seeing motherfuckers who arent real etc.

The Pac leadership were world class idiots for sticking to their guns instead of aggressively pursuing expansion. Hell, they would still be a conference at the expense of making a few schools temporarily angry by bringing in the Longhorns (complete with LHN) into the Pac along with OU..and tag-alongs Tceh, and Okie Lite.

Not just the travel itself, but travel to the fucking Midwest in winter. Plenty of Texas kids don’t want to play in the shoe in late October, or then it hour in mid November, or at Nebraska after thanksgiving. USC used to be be able to sell warm weather games; half of those went {poof}

[NoName 16,350]

8 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

Jake Majors has a Lambo? 

Holy fuck.

 

[Ricky's one-hitter 9,084]

43 minutes ago, NoName said:

 

Jake Majors shouldn't be getting a Lamorghini. All we're doing is setting him up for an alcoholism fueled mental breakdown in 10 years as he signs financing on a Corolla. 

[Bevo 13,563]

4 minutes ago, Ricky's one-hitter said:

Jake Majors shouldn't be getting a Lamorghini. All we're doing is setting him up for an alcoholism fueled mental breakdown in 10 years as he signs financing on a Corolla. 

Maybe he is setting himself up to work at a Lamborghini dealership.

[tokamak 6,391]

[satyanash 14,473]

On 3/27/2024 at 11:49 AM, Elmer_Fudd said:

Rink committing next weekend.  Aggy bound.

Man they just cannot find a good picture of Elko 😄

 

[closetojumping 62,548]

26 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Man they just cannot find a good picture of Elko 😄

 

It's pretty funny reading the ATM 247 board regarding this one. They're twisting themselves into a logic knot calling this a recruiting "win" over Texas even though Texas wasn't in Rink's final 4. Apparently one of the idiots at Orangebloods said that Texas led for Rink a month ago or something and they've hanging their hat on it. 

It's pretty obvious what went down on this one, but none of them are willing to consider it.

[The Dog 44,019]

23 hours ago, closetojumping said:

That is some asswhipping in travel. 

Average of 1400 miles per road game? 

No thanks.

[NoName 16,350]

43 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Man they just cannot find a good picture of Elko 😄

 

at this point its super clear that their social media folks just do not care for him. they pick the worst photos possible for every kind of post

Edited April 3 by NoName

[IDIOTsavant 8,483]

9 minutes ago, The Dog said:

Average of 1400 miles per road game? 

No thanks.

Shit, with that defense they could do that in a home game if they play make it take it.

[MuellerHorn 4,228]

11 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

Jake Majors has a Lambo? 

Holy fuck.

Jake Majors is allowed to drive a Lambo on lease while being a football player at Texas?

Holy fuck.

FIFY.

[Mr. Mojo Risin' 2,205]

21 minutes ago, MuellerHorn said:

Jake Majors is allowed to drive a Lambo on lease while being a football player at Texas?

Holy fuck.

FIFY.

Jake Majors fits in a Lambo?

 

Holy fuck.

 

FIFY.

[Xminus6 790]

1 hour ago, NoName said:

at this point its super clear that their social media folks just do not care for him. they pick the worst photos possible for every kind of post

I think it's just that there are no good photos of him. He's so doughy.

[Born Burnt 6,177]

2 hours ago, satyanash said:

Man they just cannot find a good picture of Elko 😄

 

"...and then he's going to worry about the football stuff."

[Jersey Man10 3,528]

He’s a fat fuck.

[Lonestar88 4,629]

Are we going to start pushing for some commitments after these upcoming April visits? This board could use some life.

[texifornia 56,862]

https://www.on3.com/db/aidan-anding-236151/

[cmontexas 3,270]

Majors has a hot gf and is from Frisco I guarantee he makes bank in commercial real estate 10 years from now assuming that's still a thing