Texas recruiting notes 2019

[Machinator 32,099]

Just now, pearlandhorn said:

When is shepherd signing?  Today or waiting until NSD2?

Nobody knows.

[Vertigo 20,283]

41 minutes ago, Wishbone said:

If Shepherd signs with us and and flames out (on/off the field, or both), he’s positioned  himself to receive a crucification in these parts to rival anything the Romans did.

I don't know, that Jesus thing was pretty egregious. 

[Spawn of Cthulhu 2,241]

1 minute ago, Vertigo said:

I don't know, that Jesus thing was pretty egregious. 

Sounds like you need to look on the bright side of life.

[Coelenterate Fuccboi 13,091]

2 hours ago, texifornia said:

It was a joke to mess with the 995ers. Relaaaaaax.

That’s one way to look at it. I don’t really give a shit since I don’t take this stuff too seriously but messing with a few $9.95ers means also messing with countless fans. I doubt most found it funny.

[Vertigo 20,283]

37 minutes ago, Machinator said:

I'm not wild on Hookfin, but he's a better OT2 than Shepherd, considering all the red flags for the latter.

The staff needs to monitor both of these guys closely if they come to the 40.

I always projected Shepherd at guard anyway. Maybe I don't know anything and I am just projecting, but I figured the guy would be a mauler inside, especially if he can't keep the weight down. 

[Thiefery 4,995]

As much of a headache Shepherd is, still want him in this class regardless if Hookfin is on board or not.  Need him for depth and who knows what a year of conditioning will do once he arrives.  He's a physical freak.

[gmr548 16,576]

1 hour ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

 

 

What are you talking about?  This team mostly plays one DT.  Last year they took two of the best in the state, and this year they grabbed a kid they see with a lot of potential.

It plays mostly one DT, and as we've seen this year, the DT needs to be a really high level player for it to function as designed. Nelson is a solid run defender but going from Poona to him was probably the single biggest personnel drop off on the field and it showed big time. Showed even more when he was dinged up orout and we had to rely more on those behind him.

With the group on campus now, the defense should and indeed has injected some four-man fonts, which require more bodies. Also, three of the five (correct me if I'm forgetting someone - Christmas, Wilbon, Chislom, Coburn, Ojomo) DTs on the roster next year are going to be SRs. Getting 1-2 DTs this year should have been pretty important from a depth and competition standpoint from 2020 on. Not to mention Ojomo is a year yonger than his classification suggests and could be looking at missing a significant chunk of winter conditioning and spring ball. Coburn and Ojomo were both good takes but you can't tell me with a straight face that you feel good about riding those two as your only two contributing DTs after next year.

58 minutes ago, ztejas said:

What a load of horseshit. We beat OU, played them tough in our rematch, beat the dog piss out of ISU, and should have beat WVU. And that was with a pretty average OL and DL. 

So either you're defining "elite" in an extremely strange, specific, manner or you're being ignorant of what the results have told us this season. 

The results have pretty clearly told us that we're decent, not elite, and that we still have work to do pretty much everywhere. I don't know how you could take away anything other than than, to be honest. 

We beat OU. We also gave up 222 yards rushing at over 7 ypc. Still over 150 yards at over 5 ypc if you remove the long Murray QB counter (on which OU laughably botched their blocking assignments but it didn't even matter). We did not have a significant pass rush and gave up 45 points. The OL played its best game of the year that day, no doubt. But this is the OU defense we're talking about. We also lost to OU in a game where the pass rush was utterly, embarrassingly neutered. While the run was defended well, when push came to shove we couldn't stop them on the ground the six minute game drive that put the game away. The OL could not generate push and gave up as much pressure as it has all year against an OU defense that is a national laughing stock. In no way can you come away from those games really confident in our OL/DL.

Neither ISU or WVU has elite talent on either line. Far from it. You know that. Also, "should have" beat WVU is debatable and counts for jack shit either way. You feel good about the DL watching that game? You also left out the part where Maryland gashed us on the ground, the OL has not generated real movement in the run game all year, and we haven't controlled the LOS on both sides from start to finish against anyone, Tulsa and Kansas included, all year long.

I would define an elite OL/DL as a unit that is capable of controlling the game against most opponents, a unit that has to be schemed around. A unit like that probably has multiple NFL players, though it doesn't necessarily have to.

[Machinator 32,099]

Just now, gmr548 said:

It plays mostly one DT, and as we've seen this year, the DT needs to be a really high level player for it to function as designed. Nelson is a solid run defender but going from Poona to him was probably the single biggest personnel drop off on the field and it showed big time. Showed even more when he was dinged up orout and we had to rely more on those behind him.

With the group on campus now, the defense should and indeed has injected some four-man fonts, which require more bodies. Also, three of the five (correct me if I'm forgetting someone - Christmas, Wilbon, Chislom, Coburn, Ojomo) DTs on the roster next year are going to be SRs. Getting 1-2 DTs this year should have been pretty important from a depth and competition standpoint from 2020 on. Not to mention Ojomo is a year yonger than his classification suggests and could be looking at missing a significant chunk of winter conditioning and spring ball. Coburn and Ojomo were both good takes but you can't tell me with a straight face that you feel good about riding those two as your only two contributing DTs after next year.

Sweat is our DT.

[TexasFan21 1,275]

Pretty nice troll job. Both Sam and Mond wear #11.

[texifornia 56,944]

Quote

Coburn and Ojomo were both good takes but you can't tell me with a straight face that you feel good about riding those two as your only two contributing DTs after next year.

@gmr548 Sweat will be with them at that point.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10,234]

3 minutes ago, pearlandhorn said:

When is shepherd signing?  Today or waiting until NSD2?

If you don't know, feel assured its not anytime soon. There will be no wasted opportunity to promote it by himself and FWK

[fellside 1,114]

7 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Young is not a viable RB2 if we want to win the Big 12. Not unless he develops in a big way, and the stakes are too high to rely on that.

The last time we wont the Big 12 our RBs by carry

1. Tre Newton
2. Cody Johnson
3. Vondrell McGee
 

[TexasFan21 1,275]

Stripling to OUsux

[UncleBuck 6,454]

Pretty nice troll job. Both Sam and Mond wear #11.

Advantage Washington Redskins but too late


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Machinator 32,099]

1 minute ago, fellside said:

The last time we wont the Big 12 our RBs by carry

1. Tre Newton
2. Cody Johnson
3. Vondrell McGee
 

Next year's defense is not going to be the 2009 defense. Sam is going to improve (I hope), but expecting him to be 2009 Colt McCoy is a whole 'nother thing.

[Wishbone 4,759]

14 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Scipio Tex: Random National Signing Day 1 Thoughts

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Some quick thoughts post-NSD 1. I'll probably have more on individual players later.

The class was saved by OOS recruiting. 11 of the 21 signees are from out of state and I think there could have been more if we'd hit the California mix a bit harder and earlier. To my knowledge, that gross number and percentage of OOS recruits are the highest in Texas Longhorn history. The reasons why were unique and had something to do with both the quality of the possibilities and the necessity of looking elsewhere due to in-state dynamics, a few staff bricks, the mental and dispositional composition of the in-state class, OU and A&M's in-state recruiting resurgence along with various other national recruiters, and some larger currents already described by @Eric Nahlin. The takeaway? 1) OOS recruiting is here to stay for the reasons I've outlined multiple times and 2) a strong Texas should get the players it wants both in state and out. We'll need to do better with the former in 2020. 

There's a tendency to discount birds-in-hand, particularly when they're low drama recruits who don't play the game late to feed ego (or pad a wallet). Be excited that guys like Jake Smith, Tyler Johnson, Roschon Johnson, De'Gabriel Floyd, Brayden Liebrock, Chris Adimora and Jordan Whittington made up their minds early and then cruised into signing day. Strong late finishes always feel better perceptually, but the player is what matters. Charlie Strong finished his 2016 class strong perceptually, didn't he? With busts. 

Along those lines, there's a lot of talk about optics in recruiting. How losing Player X looks or will be perceived. How we should sign Player Y even if he's a likely bust, a bad mental eval, or has poor film that hasn't quite penetrated the analyst's brains because it's a "rankings win." This is Recruiting Fetishism at its worst and a failure to understand its actual purpose. You recruit players so that you can develop them and turn them into a two deep who can win the conference and take you to the NCAA playoffs. When you replace a viable recruit with a higher ranked high probability wash out, you harm your program culturally and those development holes always show up 2-3 years later as we puzzle over a thin depth chart or start freshmen who should be redshirting. The optics that matter happen during the college football playoffs and the final polls. Nick Saban isn't lecturing his staff about perceptual recruiting wins.

One OL in a class that needs four won't cut it. Particularly when there are no complementary DL or TE takes who might be future conversions. There are NSD2 and grad transfer options to explore, but the former will be a hard slog and the latter should be viewed as a bonus, not the core of a developmental OL. You can't progress the biggest positional core of your program on rentals. Grad transfers are welcome stopgaps. Not foundation. 

Landing RB2 didn't work out. Let's just say I wasn't surprised. The loss of Noah Cain to Penn State hurts because the RB room needed a high floor, high volume inside zone runner serious about football who was durable, mature and capable of contributing instantly. He was basically guaranteed 8-12 carries a game next year and a legitimate shot at starting if he proved dynamic. Instead, Cain is going to a late compromise school with a solid depth chart. The staff got distracted chasing ghosts while being used as an honest name to give a SEC bidding war legitimacy. The rationalizations around this aren't compelling and miss the big picture. You have to prioritize contingency plans. In June. Let's see what the staff can turn up down the stretch. 

The linebacker class is compelling. I wouldn't be surprised if equal parts desperation and precocious talent mean that De'Gabriel Floyd is starting by Game 4 next year. How Tillman, Gbenda and Johnson go will tell the tale. Each represents a specific type of off-the-ball LB (which Orlando needs badly) and charting how each develops will be an interesting case study. 

The DL class is full of interesting developmental types. I like how they all profile, though they each require some imagination and obvious development to hit. The lack of a no brainer elite is unfortunate, so cleaning up in 2020 with pipe hitters is imperative. If we can't, I'll have some questions. 

You obviously want to land your priority targets at any position, but there's no more forgiving position than WR for contingency plans. That written, there was an incoherence to our recruiting there that suggests more flailing about than master plan. Texas always wants to be in the position of selecting from a positional strength, even in areas of relative riches. 

There are clear rainmaker recruiting positions on a football staff with modest positional responsibilities. If they aren't killing it, you'll never maximize. The staff that gets you the Texas job is never good enough to maximize there. Every Longhorn head coach learns this the hard way. The question is how quick they are on the uptake. 

The sheer stupidity of some of the advisors, relatives and hangers-on in various recruit's ears can be shocking. It's tough to blame staff for losing out on a badly advised athlete. It's also hard to know when to switch from sweet-talking to a hard reality shock. 

There's a tendency to narrow the prospective recruiting universe in a class to who the staff prioritizes. We saw several instances in 2019 where the staff did a terrific job of expanding the positional universe of prospective recruits (sometimes by choice, sometimes by necessity) while also doing a relatively poor job with some others. It's up to the staff to suss out the disconnects there. Is it not keeping enough back-ups warm? Not having the recruiting support staff aggressively identify more OOS or JUCO options? Did we let some lead recruiters hyper-focus without seeing the big picture? Is every positional and geographically assigned coach looking aggressively to improve his hand or just settling for the cards dealt? 

This class has a good mix of guys who are good at football who play the game better than they currently test and have their best football well ahead of them (Mpagi, Sweat, Wiley, Lewis, Jones) and crazy SPARQ freaks who already look like college athletes that we'll try to coach up (Watson, Owens) on the finer points and translate those traits to production. The SPARQ freaks will always be higher rated than the blue collar pluggers, but programs are built on strong reliable floors as much as high theoretical ceilings. The idea is to hit a good mix of both. 

With 21 in the bag, an already good class is far from over. Let's see how we finish.

 

That was a verbose beating.

[Machinator 32,099]

Here's an interesting twist on the Hookfin saga - from TFB:

I was able to connect with Ron Hookfin, the father of 2019 OT, Isaiah Hookfin. Isaiah was expected to announce his decision today but has decided to push things back.

In terms of when they will sign Ron says they are unsure about that just yet.

Hookfin was expected to sign with Baylor. However, it sounds like, at some point today, the family discovered some the past issues that Baylor faced under the Briles era.

Ron worded it as such, “we are researching some things on the school. We want the best for our so there can’t be any issues with past issues that would hinder him from future goals”.

The Hookfins are very new to the football world and the process. So, it sounds like they did not follow the Briles story and right now they are trying to figure out if any residual effects could impact their son.

Things are currently on hold.

[fellside 1,114]

1 minute ago, Machinator said:

Next year's defense is not going to be the 2009 defense. Sam is going to improve (I hope), but expecting him to be 2009 Colt McCoy is a whole 'nother thing.

2009 Colt:  27 TD, 12 INT, 3 rush TD

2018 Ehlinger:  25 TD, 5 INT, 13 rush TD

[Wishbone 4,759]

Just now, Machinator said:

Here's an interesting twist on the Hookfin saga - from TFB:

 

  Hide contents

 

I was able to connect with Ron Hookfin, the father of 2019 OT, Isaiah Hookfin. Isaiah was expected to announce his decision today but has decided to push things back.

In terms of when they will sign Ron says they are unsure about that just yet.

Hookfin was expected to sign with Baylor. However, it sounds like, at some point today, the family discovered some the past issues that Baylor faced under the Briles era.

Ron worded it as such, “we are researching some things on the school. We want the best for our so there can’t be any issues with past issues that would hinder him from future goals”.

The Hookfins are very new to the football world and the process. So, it sounds like they did not follow the Briles story and right now they are trying to figure out if any residual effects could impact their son.

Things are currently on hold.

 

Lol. Who sent him the backstory?

[Chuckie Finster 22,694]

8 minutes ago, TexasFan21 said:

Pretty nice troll job. Both Sam and Mond wear #11.

Wonder where Javonne gets it from...

[rickyspub 801]

1 minute ago, Machinator said:

Here's an interesting twist on the Hookfin saga - from TFB:

 

  Hide contents

 

I was able to connect with Ron Hookfin, the father of 2019 OT, Isaiah Hookfin. Isaiah was expected to announce his decision today but has decided to push things back.

In terms of when they will sign Ron says they are unsure about that just yet.

Hookfin was expected to sign with Baylor. However, it sounds like, at some point today, the family discovered some the past issues that Baylor faced under the Briles era.

Ron worded it as such, “we are researching some things on the school. We want the best for our so there can’t be any issues with past issues that would hinder him from future goals”.

The Hookfins are very new to the football world and the process. So, it sounds like they did not follow the Briles story and right now they are trying to figure out if any residual effects could impact their son.

Things are currently on hold.

 

I am going to assume that our bacon was saved by fans Tweeting a recruit...no one will shake my belief that is what occurred.

[ShowmeyourTDs 1,141]

Just now, Wishbone said:

Lol. Who sent him the backstory?

Jesus did.

[Wishbone 4,759]

Just now, ShowmeyourTDs said:

Jesus did.

As good a source as any I suppose.

[UncleBuck 6,454]

Lol. Who sent him the backstory?

Letter was signed by a "Tom Herbhandman"


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TheFlagship 432]

3 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Here's an interesting twist on the Hookfin saga - from TFB:

 

  Hide contents

 

I was able to connect with Ron Hookfin, the father of 2019 OT, Isaiah Hookfin. Isaiah was expected to announce his decision today but has decided to push things back.

In terms of when they will sign Ron says they are unsure about that just yet.

Hookfin was expected to sign with Baylor. However, it sounds like, at some point today, the family discovered some the past issues that Baylor faced under the Briles era.

Ron worded it as such, “we are researching some things on the school. We want the best for our so there can’t be any issues with past issues that would hinder him from future goals”.

The Hookfins are very new to the football world and the process. So, it sounds like they did not follow the Briles story and right now they are trying to figure out if any residual effects could impact their son.

Things are currently on hold.

 

How in the fuck did they not know about this?

[kevwun 15,781]

1 minute ago, Chuckie Finster said:

Wonder where Javonne gets it from...

A couple more busts and schools are going to tell him to fuck off.  He isn't worth the headache, if his players don't produce.

[texifornia 56,944]

2 minutes ago, Wishbone said:

Lol. Who sent him the backstory?

It was in the glove compartment of the F250 someone left in their driveway.

[Laga4 1,270]

3 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Here's an interesting twist on the Hookfin saga - from TFB:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

I was able to connect with Ron Hookfin, the father of 2019 OT, Isaiah Hookfin. Isaiah was expected to announce his decision today but has decided to push things back.

In terms of when they will sign Ron says they are unsure about that just yet.

Hookfin was expected to sign with Baylor. However, it sounds like, at some point today, the family discovered some the past issues that Baylor faced under the Briles era.

Ron worded it as such, “we are researching some things on the school. We want the best for our so there can’t be any issues with past issues that would hinder him from future goals”.

The Hookfins are very new to the football world and the process. So, it sounds like they did not follow the Briles story and right now they are trying to figure out if any residual effects could impact their son.

Things are currently on hold.

 

They had to know what was going on with Baylor.

Is he talking about future sanctions/probation?

[UncleBuck 6,454]

How in the fuck did they not know about this?

I get the feeling they probably knew, and are probably just saving their son's face.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rickyspub 801]

19 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Scipio Tex: Random National Signing Day 1 Thoughts

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Some quick thoughts post-NSD 1. I'll probably have more on individual players later.

The class was saved by OOS recruiting. 11 of the 21 signees are from out of state and I think there could have been more if we'd hit the California mix a bit harder and earlier. To my knowledge, that gross number and percentage of OOS recruits are the highest in Texas Longhorn history. The reasons why were unique and had something to do with both the quality of the possibilities and the necessity of looking elsewhere due to in-state dynamics, a few staff bricks, the mental and dispositional composition of the in-state class, OU and A&M's in-state recruiting resurgence along with various other national recruiters, and some larger currents already described by @Eric Nahlin. The takeaway? 1) OOS recruiting is here to stay for the reasons I've outlined multiple times and 2) a strong Texas should get the players it wants both in state and out. We'll need to do better with the former in 2020. 

There's a tendency to discount birds-in-hand, particularly when they're low drama recruits who don't play the game late to feed ego (or pad a wallet). Be excited that guys like Jake Smith, Tyler Johnson, Roschon Johnson, De'Gabriel Floyd, Brayden Liebrock, Chris Adimora and Jordan Whittington made up their minds early and then cruised into signing day. Strong late finishes always feel better perceptually, but the player is what matters. Charlie Strong finished his 2016 class strong perceptually, didn't he? With busts. 

Along those lines, there's a lot of talk about optics in recruiting. How losing Player X looks or will be perceived. How we should sign Player Y even if he's a likely bust, a bad mental eval, or has poor film that hasn't quite penetrated the analyst's brains because it's a "rankings win." This is Recruiting Fetishism at its worst and a failure to understand its actual purpose. You recruit players so that you can develop them and turn them into a two deep who can win the conference and take you to the NCAA playoffs. When you replace a viable recruit with a higher ranked high probability wash out, you harm your program culturally and those development holes always show up 2-3 years later as we puzzle over a thin depth chart or start freshmen who should be redshirting. The optics that matter happen during the college football playoffs and the final polls. Nick Saban isn't lecturing his staff about perceptual recruiting wins.

One OL in a class that needs four won't cut it. Particularly when there are no complementary DL or TE takes who might be future conversions. There are NSD2 and grad transfer options to explore, but the former will be a hard slog and the latter should be viewed as a bonus, not the core of a developmental OL. You can't progress the biggest positional core of your program on rentals. Grad transfers are welcome stopgaps. Not foundation. 

Landing RB2 didn't work out. Let's just say I wasn't surprised. The loss of Noah Cain to Penn State hurts because the RB room needed a high floor, high volume inside zone runner serious about football who was durable, mature and capable of contributing instantly. He was basically guaranteed 8-12 carries a game next year and a legitimate shot at starting if he proved dynamic. Instead, Cain is going to a late compromise school with a solid depth chart. The staff got distracted chasing ghosts while being used as an honest name to give a SEC bidding war legitimacy. The rationalizations around this aren't compelling and miss the big picture. You have to prioritize contingency plans. In June. Let's see what the staff can turn up down the stretch. 

The linebacker class is compelling. I wouldn't be surprised if equal parts desperation and precocious talent mean that De'Gabriel Floyd is starting by Game 4 next year. How Tillman, Gbenda and Johnson go will tell the tale. Each represents a specific type of off-the-ball LB (which Orlando needs badly) and charting how each develops will be an interesting case study. 

The DL class is full of interesting developmental types. I like how they all profile, though they each require some imagination and obvious development to hit. The lack of a no brainer elite is unfortunate, so cleaning up in 2020 with pipe hitters is imperative. If we can't, I'll have some questions. 

You obviously want to land your priority targets at any position, but there's no more forgiving position than WR for contingency plans. That written, there was an incoherence to our recruiting there that suggests more flailing about than master plan. Texas always wants to be in the position of selecting from a positional strength, even in areas of relative riches. 

There are clear rainmaker recruiting positions on a football staff with modest positional responsibilities. If they aren't killing it, you'll never maximize. The staff that gets you the Texas job is never good enough to maximize there. Every Longhorn head coach learns this the hard way. The question is how quick they are on the uptake. 

The sheer stupidity of some of the advisors, relatives and hangers-on in various recruit's ears can be shocking. It's tough to blame staff for losing out on a badly advised athlete. It's also hard to know when to switch from sweet-talking to a hard reality shock. 

There's a tendency to narrow the prospective recruiting universe in a class to who the staff prioritizes. We saw several instances in 2019 where the staff did a terrific job of expanding the positional universe of prospective recruits (sometimes by choice, sometimes by necessity) while also doing a relatively poor job with some others. It's up to the staff to suss out the disconnects there. Is it not keeping enough back-ups warm? Not having the recruiting support staff aggressively identify more OOS or JUCO options? Did we let some lead recruiters hyper-focus without seeing the big picture? Is every positional and geographically assigned coach looking aggressively to improve his hand or just settling for the cards dealt? 

This class has a good mix of guys who are good at football who play the game better than they currently test and have their best football well ahead of them (Mpagi, Sweat, Wiley, Lewis, Jones) and crazy SPARQ freaks who already look like college athletes that we'll try to coach up (Watson, Owens) on the finer points and translate those traits to production. The SPARQ freaks will always be higher rated than the blue collar pluggers, but programs are built on strong reliable floors as much as high theoretical ceilings. The idea is to hit a good mix of both. 

With 21 in the bag, an already good class is far from over. Let's see how we finish.

 

Perhaps the one downside to getting Herb Hand was that the guy probably hasn't recruited west of the Mississippi since he was at Tulsa. For all the good we did out west, we didn't offer one OL or RB (outside of the JUCO) in California or Arizona. 

[Machinator 32,099]

1 minute ago, rickyspub said:

Perhaps the one downside to getting Herb Hand was that the guy probably hasn't recruited west of the Mississippi since he was at Tulsa. For all the good we did out west, we didn't offer one OL or RB (outside of the JUCO) in California or Arizona. 

That's where Beck and Herman should have picked up the slack.

[47Straight 116]

EJ damage controlling on Periscope.

[mop 18]

2 hours ago, Ricky Butler said:

If you read the Athletic article from Max Olson with quotes from Del Conte, he basically said we're spending $190 million to renovate our facilities for recruiting. If he can get a project like that going for recruiting purposes, I think he'll help Herman make other changes that are much easier to implement, IMO.

Speaking of this, why aren't we already breaking ground on the new project? wouldn't 8 months of work ahead of next season be better than starting in the summer? i am sure they have it all timelined out quite nicely, but I found that a bit bizarre.

[Wishbone 4,759]

1 minute ago, Tony Soprano said:

Nobody told them? This is some baffling stuff. 

Apparently, for the Hookfin’s, new shit has come to light.

[Not a Sock 2,313]

8 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Here's an interesting twist on the Hookfin saga - from TFB:

 

  Hide contents

 

I was able to connect with Ron Hookfin, the father of 2019 OT, Isaiah Hookfin. Isaiah was expected to announce his decision today but has decided to push things back.

In terms of when they will sign Ron says they are unsure about that just yet.

Hookfin was expected to sign with Baylor. However, it sounds like, at some point today, the family discovered some the past issues that Baylor faced under the Briles era.

Ron worded it as such, “we are researching some things on the school. We want the best for our so there can’t be any issues with past issues that would hinder him from future goals”.

The Hookfins are very new to the football world and the process. So, it sounds like they did not follow the Briles story and right now they are trying to figure out if any residual effects could impact their son.

Things are currently on hold.

 

Where the fuck have the hookfins been the last 4 years?

[rickyspub 801]

Just now, Machinator said:

That's where Beck and Herman should have picked up the slack.

Well, that's what I would have expected...Seems shockingly shortsighted. Most of our OOS offers weren't really serious, so to not offer any OL in CA even with long odds is weird.

[Get ln My Van 927]

42 minutes ago, RGBIII said:

 

It’s a hooked USC fight on sign.

 

We got Bru

[crash_davis 23,107]

3 minutes ago, Tony Soprano said:

Nobody told them? This is some baffling stuff. 

i guess we don't negative recruit because that would be a fucking layup.  

"so does your son like to rape?  cause if he does, he's choosing the right school in baylor!"

[ztejas 43,420]

7 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

We beat OU. We also gave up 222 yards rushing at over 7 ypc. Still over 150 yards at over 5 ypc if you remove the long Murray QB counter (on which OU laughably botched their blocking assignments but it didn't even matter). We did not have a significant pass rush and gave up 45 points. The OL played its best game of the year that day, no doubt. But this is the OU defense we're talking about. We also lost to OU in a game where the pass rush was utterly, embarrassingly neutered. While the run was defended well, when push came to shove we couldn't stop them on the ground the six minute game drive that put the game away. The OL could not generate push and gave up as much pressure as it has all year against an OU defense that is a national laughing stock. In no way can you come away from those games really confident in our OL/DL.

Neither ISU or WVU has elite talent on either line. Far from it. You know that. Also, "should have" beat WVU is debatable and counts for jack shit either way. You feel good about the DL watching that game? You also left out the part where Maryland gashed us on the ground, the OL has not generated real movement in the run game all year, and we haven't controlled the LOS on both sides from start to finish against anyone, Tulsa and Kansas included, all year long.

I would define an elite OL/DL as a unit that is capable of controlling the game against most opponents, a unit that has to be schemed around. A unit like that probably has multiple NFL players, though it doesn't necessarily have to.

Then I don't understand your point. You said "We don't have the horses to compete in the trenches with elite teams". 

OU is in the playoff and Georgia is not. Regardless of what either of those teams have "in the trenches" OU played and competed with it's schedule better than Georgia did and they are deservedly playing in a semifinal game. 

Outside of Bama, what team in the country is "elite" by the standards that you have given? OSU got smoked by Purdue and gave up more to Maryland than we did. Georgia got curb-stomped by an LSU team that I wouldn't say is any better than Texas, holistically. Clemson eeked out wins over 8-4 aggy and 9-3 Syracuse that played a pretty shit schedule to get there. ND played multiple close games against middling teams this season. 

I am not saying we are elite at either position group. If Georgia is so "elite" in that regard, then why did they get pantsed by an average Tigas team and self-implode against Bama? 

If you are arguing that you need to be elite "in the trenches" to beat good teams then this season as a whole has proven otherwise. If you are arguing that Texas has work to do on both sides of the ball then I agree. That doesn't change the fact that despite our shortcomings we had a pretty damn good regular season and hung tight with every team that we played. 

[Machinator 32,099]

Just now, rickyspub said:

Well, that's what I would have expected...Seems shockingly shortsighted. Most of our OOS offers weren't really serious, so to not offer any OL in CA even with long odds is weird.

It's kind of par for the course. The staff is very "with it" in some areas and completely tone-deaf and blind in others.

Like I said earlier, high variance.

[Lonestar88 4,661]

19 minutes ago, TexasFan21 said:

Pretty nice troll job. Both Sam and Mond wear #11.

This dude is such a pain in the ass. At least Shepherd is a teenager, what's his excuse?

[Hank Scorpio 17,729]

I'm hearing that Hookfin was all Baylor until the coaches told him that he could room with Shepard his freshman year. I think those two are going to be best buddies that get into all kinds of wacky situations. Should be a good time for everyone. 

[Wishbone 4,759]

1 minute ago, Machinator said:

It's kind of par for the course. The staff is very "with it" in some areas and completely tone-deaf and blind in others.

Like I said earlier, high variance.

Would you have jumped on 50% a couple of years ago? We.’re in the Sugar Bowl. There is refinement left to do. Plenty to be positive about.

[Goodman 3,273]

2 minutes ago, Lonestar88 said:

This dude is such a pain in the ass. At least Shepherd is a teenager, what's his excuse?

That he has to act like a teenager to make teenage friends who get him paid.

[texasstrong12 4,668]

2 minutes ago, Lonestar88 said:

This dude is such a pain in the ass. At least Shepherd is a teenager, what's his excuse?

Entire thing is odd as hell. FWK posted a video early this morning like he was going to a signing day ceremony for Shepherd. 

 

 

[Levi 2,586]

 Watching EJ on periscope is fucking priceless. He’s trying to smile but people are saying stuff like “you’re  dumbass and you don’t know what you doing“ LMAO 

[RollLeft 5,044]

[Bodacious Bevo 3,584]

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

For all the people that missed it. 

Spoiler

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

Sweat is a DT. 

 

Edited December 19, 2018 by Bodacious Bevo

[mop 18]

ok, i have been watching recruiting for decades now....i have a few questions from those who have analyzed the entire process in a more systematic way than I.

1. Do you think a player committing early tends to end up in them either not being moved upwards in the recruiting rankings due to the fact that they are "taken" and the shine is off of them for "clickbait" purposes?

2. my implied point in question 1 notwithstanding, how does a player committing to a particular school or conference help them move upwards?  Someone showed how many of age's recruits had skyrocketed upwards after committing....do you believe those same players would have skyrocketed upwards in the same trajectory had they committed to the University of Houston?

[Scholz 11,943]

13 minutes ago, Wishbone said:

Apparently, for the Hookfin’s, new shit has come to light.

They probably fucking hate the Eagles now too.