Texas Recruiting Notes 2025: Duck Around and Find Out

[immamac 43721]

3 ha's means he actually laughed.

[BornAndRaised 12548]

No sunshine even on signing day.

[Lonestar88 5073]

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

Bo Barnes is in

Yeah it’s been officially announced. I think DISD kids just don’t sign first thing in the morning. This has happened in the past with them.

[RockyMountainHighHorn 897]

Are some forgetting about Cunningham too as a linebacker? People need to stop saying this is a one LB class. 

[Ricky's one-hitter 9282]

3 minutes ago, cdain3 said:

45 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.

Hope not. 

[BurntOrange&White 40781]

2 minutes ago, immamac said:

3 ha's means he actually laughed.

jajaja

[JBJ 3725]

1 minute ago, Lonestar88 said:

Yeah it’s been officially announced. I think DISD kids just don’t sign first thing in the morning. This has happened in the past with them.

Schools have been doing signing presentations long before streaming or hat ceremonies were a thing.  There's probably several kids all signing together at Skyline.  It's a celebration for the program.

[Ricky's one-hitter 9282]

LSU is refinancing the state capitol

 

 

[cdain3 3454]

 

Are we?

Yes. Not a Sark recruit.

[Lonestar88 5073]

Just now, JBJ said:

Schools have been doing signing presentations long before streaming or hat ceremonies were a thing.  There's probably several kids all signing together at Skyline.  It's a celebration for the program.

DISD used to do the whole district at one ceremony and it made getting the signatures in take forever. I don’t think they do that anymore though.

[LCHorn 2686]

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

Hope not. 

Yeah, I don’t know why that poster says it likes it’s a bad thing.  Add to that the Kwiatkowski defense has a long history of using a LB/big safety hybrid effectively.  

[NoName 16774]

11 minutes ago, Xminus6 said:

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?

From the outside looking in, you can't understand it. And from the inside looking out, you can't explain it.

[satyanash 14961]

4 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

jajaja

[Katfid54 8768]

30 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]

The staff's development of Sweat and Murphy last year, as well as Broughton and Collins this year should demonstrate that solely resorting to the portal for DTs is not ideal.  We need to be bringing in 3ish DTs a year so that we have a pipeline of these types of guys ready to roll out when they're juniors/seniors and ready to wreck shop.  And the DTs that don't develop can/will hit the portal and seek greener grass elsewhere.

[Josef Pwag 1782]

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

LSU is refinancing the state capitol

There may not be an open and functioning hospitla in the state of Louisiana after this signing day. 

[Mason Ramsey 3461]

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

LSU is refinancing the state capitol

 

 

Aaaand Offord looks like he's flipping to Oregon or Auburn

[immamac 43721]

Just now, Katfid54 said:

The staff's development of Sweat and Murphy last year, as well as Broughton and Collins this year should demonstrate that solely resorting to the portal for DTs is not ideal.  We need to be bringing in 3ish DTs a year so that we have a pipeline of these types of guys ready to roll out when they're juniors/seniors and ready to wreck shop.  And the DTs that don't develop can/will hit the portal and seek greener grass elsewhere.

which staff's? LOL those guys had 3 DT coaches and 2 DT coaches respectively. They basically portaled without leaving because entire new staffs came in and new schemes. 

[BurntOrange&White 40781]

Zelus Hicks and Josiah Sharma are the two remaining unsigned commits. 

[NoName 16774]

2 minutes ago, Katfid54 said:

The staff's development of Sweat and Murphy last year, as well as Broughton and Collins this year should demonstrate that solely resorting to the portal for DTs is not ideal. 

There is a very real chance Kenny Baker hasn't even met Murphy or Sweat in person giving him credit for them is bullshit.

[victory88 5682]

2 hours ago, NoName said:

Gerry talking about how Sark and co stick on their targets and then also evaluates nation wide at the same time. They don't just move on to the B targets.

Thank God we don't have Tom Herman anymore for many many many many reasons.

Here's the OTF live video link

I remember it was either WR or OL but we had to basically take the 29th or 30th offer at the position as commits because everyone else said no.  It was either max merril or someone like Jaden Alexis/Casey Cain.  

[Hookem2147 21506]

[LCHorn 2686]

1 minute ago, Katfid54 said:

The staff's development of Sweat and Murphy last year, as well as Broughton and Collins this year should demonstrate that solely resorting to the portal for DTs is not ideal.

I think the economics of this are changing and it’s not settled.  If Sydir Mitchell, for example, requires $250k annually to retain and doesn’t contribute until his fourth in the program, that’s basically $1m for a stud DT in the portal (presuming that’s available).  
 

I know it’s not that simple and there’s very much an appeal to bird in hand, I just don’t think we can predict with any confidence the best practice yet.  Worse, each position is likely different (for example, I think pulling offensive lineman from the portal is clearly inferior to developing them, yet that’s because there’s so much continuity required in that position group).  
 

 

[irishtexan 11610]

2 minutes ago, NoName said:

There is a very real chance Kenny Baker hasn't even met Murphy or Sweat in person giving him credit for them is bullshit.

That's probably why he said "staff" and not Kenny Baker specifically.

[Katfid54 8768]

4 minutes ago, immamac said:

which staff's? LOL those guys had 3 DT coaches and 2 DT coaches respectively. They basically portaled without leaving because entire new staffs came in and new schemes. 

I'm really talking about Sark's S&C program, which has been consistent for all of those players and which is a huge part of our (and any) DT's development.  Plus, Kwiatkowski is a consistent on the coaching staff and he's originally a DL coach, too.

4 minutes ago, NoName said:

There is a very real chance Kenny Baker hasn't even met Murphy or Sweat in person giving him credit for them is bullshit.

I definitely did not do this.

[BurntOrange&White 40781]

 

 

 

[RockyMountainHighHorn 897]

1 minute ago, Hookem2147 said:

How can this happen with what we just put on national tv and being the #2 country in the nation and $$ galore? Fuck. I guess staying home but I don’t get it… we just dominated and “physically annihilated someone”

[graemakin 7]

24 minutes ago, Jimmy Two Times said:

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. 

I'd rather trust Sark's QB evaluation than some keyboard warriors. LOL

[Hook1997 5435]

13 minutes ago, Zhorn96 said:

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...

Went there 20 years ago with a few people, still have picture of me drunk on the pole.. It was a slow night and the place was pretty empty. They had strippers on a pole outline carpet. I think it closed down over 15 years ago.  

[NoName 16774]

Just now, victory88 said:

I remember it was either WR or OL but we had to basically take the 29th or 30th offer at the position as commits because everyone else said no.  It was either max merril or someone like Jaden Alexis/Casey Cain.  

Casey Cain was a big Mike Yurcich eval and offer.

Alexis was a good recruit but never recovered from knee injury.

You are thinking of Max Merril and Charles Wright.

[Red Five 41182]

I get anxiety just thinking about making these life-altering decisions the morning of. 

[graemakin 7]

7 minutes ago, victory88 said:

I remember it was either WR or OL but we had to basically take the 29th or 30th offer at the position as commits because everyone else said no.  It was either max merril or someone like Jaden Alexis/Casey Cain.  

Max Merril still on the Texas roster!

[NoName 16774]

4 minutes ago, irishtexan said:

That's probably why he said "staff" and not Kenny Baker specifically.

The next time "staff" actually land a big time player will be the first 

I get he's pointing to the development of dudes over longer term but the specific coaches who developed those two guys, Non S&C category, are elsewhere now.

[Lonestar88 5073]

Just now, RockyMountainHighHorn said:

How can this happen with what we just put on national tv and being the #2 country in the nation and $$ galore? Fuck. I guess staying home but I don’t get it… we just dominated and “physically annihilated someone”

This is always a risk when going out of state. It’s why so many people are bitching about the Sims recruitment. That’s an in-state kid that should have been a layup and given you a solid safety net at the position in case Sharma flakes.

[westexhorn 2033]

Are we gonna fight for our high-school DTs or nah?

[NoName 16774]

Just now, graemakin said:

Max Merril still on the Texas roster!

[Firemans4Horn 18348]

6 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

 

 

 

[Pato del Muerto 52992]

34 minutes ago, Park Gothic said:

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

You don’t wait for them to show up in the portal, you recruit them into the portal. I assume that is a very expensive proposition.   Apparently, high school DT recruiting is also a very expensive proposition.  
 

 

[Park Gothic 5227]

10 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

 

[irishtexan 11610]

9 minutes ago, NoName said:

The next time "staff" actually land a big time player will be the first 

I get he's pointing to the development of dudes over longer term but the specific coaches who developed those two guys, Non S&C category, are elsewhere now.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make in your first sentence. Position coaches don't recruit in a silo. They're supported by a staff. I can understand criticism of Baker the recruiter if we only land one DT, but it's a group effort. 

But why wouldn't Kenny Baker get credit for Broughton and Collins' play this year? I've still got some concerns with Baker as a recruiter, but the unit's performance this year has exceeded almost everyone's expectations, and he should get some credit for that. 

Edited 7 hours ago by irishtexan

[texifornia 57590]

12 minutes ago, RockyMountainHighHorn said:

How can this happen with what we just put on national tv and being the #2 country in the nation and $$ galore? Fuck. I guess staying home but I don’t get it… we just dominated and “physically annihilated someone”

Cash money, closer to home, and probably grew up a USC fan like most kids in California.

[Burt Macklin 19156]

9 minutes ago, RockyMountainHighHorn said:

How can this happen with what we just put on national tv and being the #2 country in the nation and $$ galore? Fuck. I guess staying home but I don’t get it… we just dominated and “physically annihilated someone”

TIL that going to a school that's a 9 hour drive from where you live counts as staying at home. This will have huge implications for recruits from Silsbee moving forward. 

[SydneyCarton 48585]

The Texas "staff" also didn't let Baker go after some dudes he wanted earlier in the cycle becuase they were set on their guys. It's a two way street with "staff" at times. Not every member of the staff has a green light to offer whoever the fuck they want to offer. 

[Jimmy Two Times 861]

4 minutes ago, graemakin said:

I'd rather trust Sark's QB evaluation than some keyboard warriors. LOL

Is this a new Spider2YBanana account that I haven't muted?  

[billfromlaketravis 11646]

3 hours ago, NoName said:

Gerry seems like a gigantic Phillips fan. Didn't realize he was an EE also, which is awesome.

Starting as a corner but Texas recruited him as a safety or DB overall 

Also Gerry said they are expecting a flip soon

Long arms/wingspan, and big hands. This is borderline erotic to Gerry Hamilton. 

[kevwun 15969]

The thing that bothers me about that one is Lincoln Riley has never had a good defense.  Enjoy your money, maybe we'll catch you in the portal if USC can afford to fire Riley before you graduate.

[Park Gothic 5227]

1 minute ago, irishtexan said:

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make in your first sentence. Position coaches don't recruit in a silo. They're supported by a staff. I can understand criticism of Baker the recruiter if we only land one DT, but it's a group effort. 

But why wouldn't Kenny Baker get credit for Broughton and Collins' play this year? I've still got some concerns with Baker as a recruiter, but the unit's performance this year has exceeded almost everyone's expectations, and I don't think that he shouldn't get any credit for that. 

I'm still a Baker skeptic, but I will admit that he probably needs more help than most of the position coaches on staff. He doesn't really have any skins on the wall, and even if he could point to Broughton and Collins for proof of his development other teams' coaches can just say that Bo really developed those guys. He probably needs someone with more credibility to help him close and he probably needs more money than the other coaches. DL recruiting is the most viciously competitive and we've got a FNG running our room. There's not much Baker can do about that now, but it's also one of the reasons not to hire an unknown. You can't hire a guy like Baker and not give him extra support. 

[RomaVicta 30149]

50 minutes ago, mrhorn said:

Probably extending his car warranty

 

38 minutes ago, Michael Knight said:

He must've gotten a really good rate

The young man on the phone was very helpful. I have such peace of mind, now.

[BornAndRaised 12548]

He’s from Folsom, CA. It’s an easy sell when the money is equal or close to it. If they’re going nuts for a single DT then more power to them. I am worried about DT recruiting but I was worried last year as well. Sooner or later you’d think they’d want to restock the cupboard tho. 

[billfromlaketravis 11646]

PSA that Scott Schrader at WeAreSC is a regard. Go back and look at his official visit articles. He wrote they were getting every Georgia recruits. 
 

Sharma might flip, but don’t panic because of a Schrader post. 

Edited 7 hours ago by billfromlaketravis

[closetojumping 63707]

I think I've been as straightforward as I could be in that Sharma already flipped to USC earlier this week. Texas has been doing what it can, but USC's extremely desperate. This goes back to being too selective early on if you weren't going to have the cajones to do what it takes to retain the guys you do land. 

52 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. 

They want to develop as many guys from the ground up as they can. At every position. That obviously doesn't mean they'd ever ignore the portal as one of winners there in each cycle. 

I think people are confusing the costs of recruiting these days, really. I know imma knows that, but just building off of the point around development. Some guys cost most than others. Some guys still sign with almost no NIL understanding or expectation. Other guys know their specific market via the help of agents or savvy parents and it goes as high as $1.25M/year for non-QBs, apparently, given that that's part of why Moore went to Oregon.

Even the stars fail to normally go nearly that high. But that's not "the market" generally speaking for a position. Chase Sims could have been had for virtually nothing. Guidry, same. WIth UT's S&C and coaching development in this regime, either guy winds up contributing and potentially becoming draft picks. Neither of them approached something like $250k. 

44 minutes ago, RandomIdoit said:

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

His trajectory has been downward, even before Daboer. It's odd. Injuries and culture issues this year didn't help. Dude quit on the team midseason. I wouldn't touch him. The $9.95ers are idiots for rating him so highly. That's a brand thing only.

43 minutes ago, JohnnyTapia said:

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

2. I’ll never understand choosing Lacey over Russell 

Nansen basically decided he wasn't really interested in Petitjohn until it was far too late. Not sure what the guy was thinking, as he's been very good otherwise. Just a bizarre play.

On Lacey, I think there was some element of loyalty to both the recruit and the evaluation on Sarkisian's end. Given the guy's track record at QB, I guess I've got to just shrug and call myself the idiot for doubting him when it pans out.