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Texas Recruiting Notes 2025: Duck Around and Find Out


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17 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Bummer on Wiley. Signing 2 LB's after only taking Tyanthony Smith last year is less than ideal.

Definitely will need to add one in the portal.

Yeah, I see now. We have a very talented room with Smith, Hill, Lefau, and Gullette. But that would be it as far as the returning players go.

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1 minute ago, closetojumping said:

Yeah, it's been a great cycle and such, but there are some busts mixed in as well. This isn't texags.

1) DT recruiting did not go well. Texas might wind up landing JTerry somehow, and that could save it. Sharma is anything but a lock for Texas today. If they sign only one, that's laughable. They had chances to lock in multiple quality guys earlier in the cycle and they didn't. A final group of Charles, Sharma, and JTerry would be great. A final group of Wynn, Sims, and Charles would also have been just fine. They left too much variability in this group and risk closing with only one.

2) Committing to Lacey over the dude from DFW wasn't ideal.

3) Letting Ohio State win on Petitjohn will always suck. Not understanding Faraimo's general disinterest was just idiocy on Nansen's part.

I do  not believe he is eligible for the MLB draft after signing his LOI today. 

Hopefully Sark takes a more aggressive approach out of the gate and takes a couple of DTs early next cycle. What look like doubles in May suddenly look like home runs in December (ie: Sims). 

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When it comes to Lacey over Russell, it’s not like Sark didn’t recruit him or didn’t have a chance to get him because he was too late. He evaluated him extensively and passed on him twice. 
 

This is the same guy who was willing to recruit and sign Jalen Milroe. Benefit of the doubt there, even if it looks worse ranking wise

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Just now, closetojumping said:

Yeah, it's been a great cycle and such, but there are some busts mixed in as well. This isn't texags.

1) DT recruiting did not go well. Texas might wind up landing JTerry somehow, and that could save it. Sharma is anything but a lock for Texas today. If they sign only one, that's laughable. They had chances to lock in multiple quality guys earlier in the cycle and they didn't. A final group of Charles, Sharma, and JTerry would be great. A final group of Wynn, Sims, and Charles would also have been just fine. They left too much variability in this group and risk closing with only one.

2) Committing to Lacey over the dude from DFW wasn't ideal.

3) Letting Ohio State win on Petitjohn will always suck. Not understanding Faraimo's general disinterest was just idiocy on Nansen's part.

I do  not believe he is eligible for the MLB draft after signing his LOI today. 

[serious question] What if DT is something the staff has identified as something that actually develops much later in the cycle and it's better to teach technique and scheme to these guys and let them get their raw "man bodies" at another D1 program? I'm not saying take in a bunch of 1 year mercinaries, but feeding a big man for a year while he sits on the bench and has his own mental struggle on whether to be a fatty or not isn't really what the coaching staff may want to spend their time doing. S&C at Texas is top notch, but if a guy has the drive he's gonna go hard anywhere and then Texas can scoop up later in the portal? DT seems to be one of the really high $ positions in the portal with a ton of upside if they pan out. [/end serious]

I still think home grown will be the way to go, but we've got evidence over the last handful of seasons that those guys typically don't start to really peak and show out until very late in their collegiate careers and early in their NFL careers. 

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4 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Yeah, it's been a great cycle and such, but there are some busts mixed in as well. This isn't texags.

1) DT recruiting did not go well. Texas might wind up landing JTerry somehow, and that could save it. Sharma is anything but a lock for Texas today. If they sign only one, that's laughable. They had chances to lock in multiple quality guys earlier in the cycle and they didn't. A final group of Charles, Sharma, and JTerry would be great. A final group of Wynn, Sims, and Charles would also have been just fine. They left too much variability in this group and risk closing with only one.

2) Committing to Lacey over the dude from DFW wasn't ideal.

3) Letting Ohio State win on Petitjohn will always suck. Not understanding Faraimo's general disinterest was just idiocy on Nansen's part.

I do  not believe he is eligible for the MLB draft after signing his LOI today. 

Sarkisian needs to be ok with carpet bombing certain positions and trust his program's ability to development.

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2 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Yeah, I see now. We have a very talented room with Smith, Hill, Lefau, and Gullette. But that would be it as far as the returning players go.

I wouldn’t count on gullette being on the team next year. Hopefully he stays and breaks out, but he isn’t playing enough for me to think that is in the cards for him here. 

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1 minute ago, immamac said:

[serious question] What if DT is something the staff has identified as something that actually develops much later in the cycle and it's better to teach technique and scheme to these guys and let them get their raw "man bodies" at another D1 program? I'm not saying take in a bunch of 1 year mercinaries, but feeding a big man for a year while he sits on the bench and has his own mental struggle on whether to be a fatty or not isn't really what the coaching staff may want to spend their time doing. S&C at Texas is top notch, but if a guy has the drive he's gonna go hard anywhere and then Texas can scoop up later in the portal? DT seems to be one of the really high $ positions in the portal with a ton of upside if they pan out. [/end serious]

I still think home grown will be the way to go, but we've got evidence over the last handful of seasons that those guys typically don't start to really peak and show out until very late in their collegiate careers and early in their NFL careers. 

Aren't DT's in the portal much more expensive than just landing them out of HS? It is 100% a developmental position so why not invest in them early instead of gambling that they may or may not enter the portal later at a higher cost? Are there truly elite DT's in the portal every year?

Edited by BurntOrange&White
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2 minutes ago, Vertigo said:

Hopefully Sark takes a more aggressive approach out of the gate and takes a couple of DTs early next cycle. What look like doubles in May suddenly look like home runs in December (ie: Sims). 

Based on the early returns, it isn't a good in-state DT class in 2026. So we will have to try to hit on out-of-state guys again, which makes it more difficult to get guys locked up early.

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5 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Aren't DT's in the portal much more expensive than just landing them out of HS? It is 100% a developmental position so why not invest in them early instead of gambling that they may or may not enter the portal later at a higher cost? Are there truly elite DT's in the portal every year?

Is Oatis elite? 247 has him as the #1 overall transfer prospect. 

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6 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Aren't DT's in the portal much more expensive than just landing them out of HS? It is 100% a developmental position so why not invest in them early instead of gambling that they may or may not enter the portal later at a higher cost? Are there truly elite DT's in the portal every year?

I much prefer loading up on HS talent that you can develop yourself. But, maybe the staff looks at the budget and says Freshman/RS Freshman/Sophomore DTs are sitting on the bench developing while we pay them $500k per year in NIL. Would rather just pay a 1 or 2 year Jr./Sr. rental $1MM per year.

Edited by Hornlover
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12 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Yeah, it's been a great cycle and such, but there are some busts mixed in as well. This isn't texags.

1) DT recruiting did not go well. Texas might wind up landing JTerry somehow, and that could save it. Sharma is anything but a lock for Texas today. If they sign only one, that's laughable. They had chances to lock in multiple quality guys earlier in the cycle and they didn't. A final group of Charles, Sharma, and JTerry would be great. A final group of Wynn, Sims, and Charles would also have been just fine. They left too much variability in this group and risk closing with only one.

2) Committing to Lacey over the dude from DFW wasn't ideal.

3) Letting Ohio State win on Petitjohn will always suck. Not understanding Faraimo's general disinterest was just idiocy on Nansen's part.

I do  not believe he is eligible for the MLB draft after signing his LOI today. 

1. What exactly happened with Pettijohn that made him end up at tOSU?

2. I’ll never understand choosing Lacey over Russell 

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5 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Aren't DT's in the portal much more expensive than just landing them out of HS? It is 100% a developmental position so why not invest in them early instead of gambling that they may or may not enter the portal later at a higher cost? Are there truly elite DT's in the portal every year?

Portal DTs are about $750K and that is pretty much the same for top DT recruits. However, freshmen aren't going to see a lot of playing time on top tier teams so you are paying that money with the understanding that you will be paying him again each year to retain him.

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It can take 3 or 4 years for a DT to go from scrub to good because the position requires man strength.  It's still gotta a be a mix of developed high school and portal players because of their scarcity in the portal.  You can't sign an entire depth chart every year in the portal if you want the position group to be good.  It will take too much money and be too hard to find that many guys.

Edited by kevwun
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1 minute ago, Bevo said:

Portal DTs are about $750K and that is pretty much the same for top DT recruits. However, freshmen aren't going to see a lot of playing time on top tier teams so you are paying that money with the understanding that you will be paying him again each year to retain him.

Again, we haven't recruited the DT position at that level. Our depth chart is scarce right now at DT. We're 2 years behind on recruiting the position essentially....having go to heavy portal last year, this year, and next year is going to tough to do to get quality players.

 

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3 minutes ago, RandomIdoit said:

 

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9 minutes ago, immamac said:

[serious question] What if DT is something the staff has identified as something that actually develops much later in the cycle and it's better to teach technique and scheme to these guys and let them get their raw "man bodies" at another D1 program? I'm not saying take in a bunch of 1 year mercinaries, but feeding a big man for a year while he sits on the bench and has his own mental struggle on whether to be a fatty or not isn't really what the coaching staff may want to spend their time doing. S&C at Texas is top notch, but if a guy has the drive he's gonna go hard anywhere and then Texas can scoop up later in the portal? DT seems to be one of the really high $ positions in the portal with a ton of upside if they pan out. [/end serious]

I still think home grown will be the way to go, but we've got evidence over the last handful of seasons that those guys typically don't start to really peak and show out until very late in their collegiate careers and early in their NFL careers. 

You probably know better than I do, but I'll throw in my $0.02 - I would rather take a chance on high school recruits for IDL than rely on the portal.

(1) Good, proven DTs in the portal are worth a fortune and recruiting them seems to always a ridiculous amount of time and money. They're also rare. I think we had a "great" DT haul from the portal last season and we got 2 contributors and a bust. Our best IDL were still homegrown dudes.

(2) It's not just about S&C development, it's about culture too. Guys who've been here for 2 or 3 years are bought in and understand what we're about much better than a merc. They're not just players, they're leaders. They love their teammates and are loved by them. You just don't get that from the portal. 

(3) Just based on how recruiting vs. portal has gone since 2021, we have gotten too many busts from the portal for me to trust it. In aggregate we've probably pulled more busts from high school, but we've also gotten more hits and probably paid less for them too. 

The allure of the portal (for any position) is you can get proven talent - you know what they can do because you've seen them do it. But you have to pay a premium for it, and I still think there is better value overall in high school recruiting. That may be less true with a position like WR, but I think it's more true with DT and OL. Really any position that has a longer development and S&C timeline. 

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10 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

2) Committing to Lacey over the dude from DFW wasn't ideal.

 

This was the strangest thing to me from this cycle. Perhaps there was an issue with Arch starting two years, which would put this class as juniors by the time they'd see the field, but OTF made it sound like we could have had Keelon Russell if we'd pushed. I just have very little confidence that a 5'10 kid will ever be the starter at Texas (and I don't want to hear about Bryce Young). As it stands, we'll have Sr. Trey Owens, Jr. KJ Lacey and So. Dia Bell when Arch leaves, which is probably fine. 

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1 hour ago, SydneyCarton said:

Those letters spelling out signed need to be photoshopped into Big Mac boxes. 

I don’t even understand it. They’re cut out from magazines like an anonymous hostage letter? That’s the impression you want to give, that your recruits are being held against their will?

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

Looks like LSU is struggling to hang on to #1 CB, DJ Pickett who may end up at Miami or Florida. Glad to have Phillips and Chester inked at this point. 

Not getting hopes up and definitely don't think it's happening, but Zion hasn't signed yet either.

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1 hour ago, texifornia said:

Hey I love my Pegasuses - comfortable, supportive, look decent.

got a lap dance from a worn out stripper named Pegasus once.  I think stopping at the tin roofed shack off the road between Corpus and Port A should've clued me in but boys will be boys, I suppose.  Pegasus was a nice old girl so the comfortable and supportive descriptors work...

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2 minutes ago, cdain3 said:
44 minutes ago, LCHorn said:
Eh, I will be shocked if Jonah Williams doesn’t end up at LB.  

Jonah has never played LB. We are past the days of turning safeties into LB's.

He might grow out of the defensive backfield though and end up playing a hybrid spot like Overshown.

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