Texas recruiting notes 2019

[texifornia 56434]

3 minutes ago, Thujone said:

Are we dominating? I'll be by next week for an answer. Thanks.

Get back to us Tuesday, we'll see if we flip Caldwell.

[Fud 9543]

34 minutes ago, Lonestar88 said:

I feel like if admission to Stanford automatically meant that he was going there, then there should have been a cap on the optimism.

They were under the impression that Texas was the favorite. Then after their state of the union type of article, received new information that Bragg was essentially a Stanford lock. Shitty timing for them, but it happens. 

[closetojumping 62131]

33 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

Stanford rejects people with 4.0 GPAs and decent test scores every year.

Let it go, man. A 4.0 from Devine, TX is like a 1.8 from an accredited high school. They had no choice. I admit, they should have given you more than a 1 day turnaround from your submittal, but that admissions office has a lot of legitimate candidates to rifle through.

[closetojumping 62131]

15 minutes ago, Fud said:

They were under the impression that Texas was the favorite. Then after their state of the union type of article, received new information that Bragg was essentially a Stanford lock. Shitty timing for them, but it happens. 

They're going too far if they're calling him a "lock". This week, mom is winning the argument and he's all "fear the tree!" and shit, but he's gone back and forth plenty.

[Newy25 7638]

15 minutes ago, Fud said:

They were under the impression that Texas was the favorite. Then after their state of the union type of article, received new information that Bragg was essentially a Stanford lock. Shitty timing for them, but it happens. 

It’s not bad timing. They had bad information. A recruit does not go from wanting to go to Texas to a Stanford lock if admitted that quickly. They were either too optimistic in their interprepation of the information or they had bad info to start.  

[Machinator 32097]

3 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

and he's all "fear the tree!"

That's something they actually say? Huh.

[Fud 9543]

2 minutes ago, Newy25 said:

It’s not bad timing. They had bad information. A recruit does not go from wanting to go to Texas to a Stanford lock if admitted that quickly. They were either too optimistic in their interprepation of the information or they had bad info to start.  

It was bad timing in the sense that had they written the article a day later, they wouldn't have had to walk back their opinion on Bragg one day after the article 

They never said he recently changed his mind. It's obvious they underestimated how pro-Stanford he was until recently, and thought that Texas had put itself in a good position. 

[Fud 9543]

7 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

They're going too far if they're calling him a "lock". This week, mom is winning the argument and he's all "fear the tree!" and shit, but he's gone back and forth plenty.

Hopefully you're right 

[Machinator 32097]

TFB Open Post: http://texas.thefootballbrainiacs.com/2018/06/open-post-weekend-june-8th-10th/

– Texas recently offered Mansfield Legacy (TX) DE/DT Taurean Carter. I caught up with Carter recently and he told me that he plans to take a visit to Texas on June 16th for Tom Herman’s big summer recruiting event.

It will be Carter’s first time on campus, and will give Texas the opportunity to wow him. Carter is taking the process slowly, as bigger offer are just coming in. The biggest recent ones have come from Texas and TCU.

One other note is that Carter is cousins with Aledo (TX) CB Jeffrey Carter. And the two would love to play together in college. Taurean told me “that’s the plan”. That could be something to keep an eye on down the line. – (Andrew)

– It was a great week for Herb Hand. Javonne Shepherd looked like he was having fun while he was throwing the football back and forth with Herb Hand at the camp. It seems like Texas did more than throw the ball around with Shepherd to convince him that Austin is the place to be.

Javonne Shepherd told us that he had a great talk with Tom Herman and that Texas “might be home… It feels like family here. I feel good [hanging around Texas].”

And with that, Texas has bounced into the #1 spot for the North Forest OT Javonne Shepherd.

Shepherd says that the two schools that are in contention with Texas are Texas A&M and Georgia. He told us he is no longer visiting A&M this weekend. He’s gonna see some other schools and plans to get to College Station at some point this summer. He will also try to make it to Georgia and Alabama this summer.

Javonne Shepherd is close friends with D’Shawn Jamison and Al’vonte Woodard, and you better believe they’re in his ear now more than ever. – (Will)

– Corner Back Jeffery Carter dropped his Top 4 recently, and Texas made the cut.

For awhile it didn’t seem like Texas was in this one. But I was tipped off that the Longhorns may have a better shot than most thought at this time.

The other surprise was that Oregon didn’t make the cut. That just shows how many twists and turns this recruitment has had. As many expected Carter to commit to Oregon when he took an official visit a few months ago. Since then, the Ducks have landed two Top ten CB’s, and are no longer in it with Carter.

Oklahoma has always been in it, and remember that Carter made an early commitment to the Sooners.

Texas A&M was the school that had the momentum with Carter following his Oklahoma decommitment. And some expected him to flip to the Aggies. One thing that may keep the Aggies out of this one is that they’re likely to land CB’s Marcus Banks, Erick Young, and Bobby Wolfe this summer. Not sure how Carter will feel about joining a what would be a 4-man CB class.

Then there’s Alabama, who he plans to visit this summer. And if he’s okay with leaving the Texas region, Bama could very well end up being the choice.

I mentioned recently that Carter’s cousin, Man. Legacy (TX) DL Taurean Carter told me he and Jeffrey would like to play together in college. The one school they have in common that’s left is Texas. So that’s something to watch.

All I would say is to expect some other twists and turns in this recruitment. But it sounds like Jason Washington and Texas might be in a better spot than some realized with arguably the #1 CB in Texas. – (Andrew)

– The father of 2019 Oregon CB commit, Marques Caldwell, tells me that they will take an unofficial visit to Texas this upcoming Tuesday.

Texas offered Caldwell during this last spring evaluation period and are hoping to close out their CB recruiting by bringing Caldwell into the fold.

Caldwell has an OV set for Oregon later this month. So, while I expect something to happen with Caldwell’s recruitment soon, I don’t expect it to happen before the Oregon OV. – (Super K)

– I reported that Trinity Christian (TX) Safety, Lewis Cine,will take an official visit to Texas on June 15th. I also reported that he has a Top 3 of Penn State, Texas, and Michigan. After talking to Cine and some other people, I’d say his Top 3 is also in that order.

Cine is going to have a busy couple of weeks in June. As he’s going to officially visit his three top schools over the month. He will be at Penn State this weekend, Texas on the 15th, then Michigan will be on the 22nd. He said he wants to make a decision before his senior season, and one could come after those three visits.

Though he has his last two official visits in mind as well. Cine told me Georgia and Florida will get the last two visits, but the dates haven’t been ironed out just yet. – (Andrew)

[irishtexan 11442]

8 minutes ago, Newy25 said:

It’s not bad timing. They had bad information. A recruit does not go from wanting to go to Texas to a Stanford lock if admitted that quickly. They were either too optimistic in their interprepation of the information or they had bad info to start.  

So you're all worked up because people who sell gossip about college football recruiting and the whims of 17 year old kids might exaggerate from time to time? Well no shit Sherlock. They aren't the fucking New York Times.

[Gardner Barnes 1562]

46 minutes ago, Dondrysdale1 said:

They don’t tend to reject good players with said transcripts.

Yeah, because he has good extracurriculars 

[UT Lawnghorn 758]

2 hours ago, satyanash said:

Some interesting sentiments from Eric Nahlin. He believes a few of our recent offers were rushed.

 

 

Since CTJ has retired SLX, I figured I"d do my best SLX impersonation and give y'all a good old fashioned recruiting analysis tl;dr post.  As y'all know, probably much better than you'd like to, I'm not shy in criticizing the staff for perceived mistakes in recruiting strategy, but I'm not really tracking with Nahlin on this one, for CB or WR.

Someone asked about this a couple days ago, but I forget who it was now, I like Caldwell better than Banks straight up and I'm not really sure why the staff had Banks higher to begin with. I've never been a fan of Banks and I had a conversation with Fud about it roughly a month ago when UT was thought to be the leader. I just don't see it with him. At the time I watched his hudl and Rivals camp footage and he looked small and stiff in his breaks. I noticed he's going to the Opening Finals, so I figured maybe he looked a lot better there. He measured at 5'11, 166 lbs and he doesn't appear to have the frame to put on a ton of weight. He ran a 4.54, which was actually pretty good for that camp as only one guy ran a sub 4.5, however his shuttle time was a horrid 4.46, which matches up with how stiff he looks on film.  I also watched the Houston regional dbs v. wrs (embedded below), I only saw him get two reps (around 8:00 and 8:45) and he didn't do well in either rep. His SPARQ score wasn't great either. I'm not sure how he got invited to the Opening.  Also, as a side note, Bobby Wolfe got 4 reps and got burned every time, just like in the Rivals camp video. I don't get his ranking at all. He's a CB who can't cover. He better hope he can transition to safety, because he certainly aint gonna fix aggy's CB issues.

Anyways, I like Caldwell. His film reminds me of Davante Davis. He's got a big frame, he's a fluid athlete, and he's really good in run support and with the short wr screen game. He probably won't be a guy you put on an island without any help deep, but he can be a good player.  Similar to Davante, I"m not sure that he wouldn't be better off as a safety.   Also, 247 says he's 6'1, 171 but that was from the 2017 opening regional, so it's safe to say he's likely grown some since then. 

Regarding WR, I view the Jaylen Ellis as the Garret Wilson replacement. I don't think it's premature to 1) move on from Wilson or 2) offer Ellis. Maybe Wilson has a change of heart late in the cycle, but I doubt it and you'd fit him in the class anyways. Also, Ellis has gotten at on of offers, including tOSU, since we offered him, and I think we offered at the right time before he became another guy who resented his dream school for waiting too long. I view Langston Anderson and Payton Powell as backups to Higgins. I'm not a huge fan of the Powell offer but I also haven't seen a ton of him. I like Langston Anderson a lot. I like Higgins more just because of his size and unique potential. I think there's a chance that Higgins keeps growing while maintaining his mobility and he could end up being used similar to how the Saints used Jimmy Graham.  I'd prefer him over Anderson just because of that hybrid TE possibility. However, if Higgins were to stay at WR (something he's been pretty adamant about), I don't see much of a difference between him and Anderson. 

 

[Scholz 11923]

46 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Trying to catch up. Is today a good recruiting day or a day of depression and angst?

 

 

[Newy25 7638]

2 minutes ago, irishtexan said:

So you're all worked up because people who sell gossip about college football recruiting and the whims of 17 year old kids might exaggerate from time to time? Well no shit Sherlock. They aren't the fucking New York Times.

Who is worked up about it? 

[texifornia 56434]

9 minutes ago, Machinator said:

That's something they actually say? Huh.

Yeah - Maryland actually started that with their "Fear the Turtle" drive, which is a common case study for successful school fundraising/spirit campaigns.

[Machinator 32097]

2 minutes ago, UT Lawnghorn said:

Regarding WR, I view the Jaylen Ellis as the Garret Wilson replacement.

I'm totally with you here, dude. I think Ellis is a guy who could be viewed as a potential take even when we were dreaming of Wilson + Higgins + Wright + Whittington + Smith. He's not as backup-plan-ish as I view Powell or Anderson.

[irishtexan 11442]

3 minutes ago, Newy25 said:

Who is worked up about it? 

 

16 minutes ago, Newy25 said:

It’s not bad timing. They had bad information. A recruit does not go from wanting to go to Texas to a Stanford lock if admitted that quickly. They were either too optimistic in their interprepation of the information or they had bad info to start.  

 

1 hour ago, Newy25 said:

So it’s your belief that Bragg was going to Texas Tuesday but then all in Stanford on Wednesday? 

 

2 hours ago, Newy25 said:

He also said Texas was trending for Bragg and the new leader the day before it was out that he is going to Stanford. Unusual since he is arguably overly optimistic. 

Well, you've posted 3 times this page alone pointing out that the $9.95ers were wrong. My point is "no shit".

[UT Lawnghorn 758]

20 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Let it go, man. A 4.0 from Devine, TX is like a 1.8 from an accredited high school. They had no choice. I admit, they should have given you more than a 1 day turnaround from your submittal, but that admissions office has a lot of legitimate candidates to rifle through.

Lulz. This hits close to home. Stanford was probably my #1 law school preference during applications and they mailed me their form rejection letter painfully quick.  I remember opening the letter and immediately thinking, damn, they could've at least waited a couple more weeks before sending this.

8 minutes ago, Machinator said:

TFB Open Post: http://texas.thefootballbrainiacs.com/2018/06/open-post-weekend-june-8th-10th/

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

– Texas recently offered Mansfield Legacy (TX) DE/DT Taurean Carter. I caught up with Carter recently and he told me that he plans to take a visit to Texas on June 16th for Tom Herman’s big summer recruiting event.

It will be Carter’s first time on campus, and will give Texas the opportunity to wow him. Carter is taking the process slowly, as bigger offer are just coming in. The biggest recent ones have come from Texas and TCU.

One other note is that Carter is cousins with Aledo (TX) CB Jeffrey Carter. And the two would love to play together in college. Taurean told me “that’s the plan”. That could be something to keep an eye on down the line. – (Andrew)

– It was a great week for Herb Hand. Javonne Shepherd looked like he was having fun while he was throwing the football back and forth with Herb Hand at the camp. It seems like Texas did more than throw the ball around with Shepherd to convince him that Austin is the place to be.

Javonne Shepherd told us that he had a great talk with Tom Herman and that Texas “might be home… It feels like family here. I feel good [hanging around Texas].”

And with that, Texas has bounced into the #1 spot for the North Forest OT Javonne Shepherd.

Shepherd says that the two schools that are in contention with Texas are Texas A&M and Georgia. He told us he is no longer visiting A&M this weekend. He’s gonna see some other schools and plans to get to College Station at some point this summer. He will also try to make it to Georgia and Alabama this summer.

Javonne Shepherd is close friends with D’Shawn Jamison and Al’vonte Woodard, and you better believe they’re in his ear now more than ever. – (Will)

– Corner Back Jeffery Carter dropped his Top 4 recently, and Texas made the cut.

For awhile it didn’t seem like Texas was in this one. But I was tipped off that the Longhorns may have a better shot than most thought at this time.

The other surprise was that Oregon didn’t make the cut. That just shows how many twists and turns this recruitment has had. As many expected Carter to commit to Oregon when he took an official visit a few months ago. Since then, the Ducks have landed two Top ten CB’s, and are no longer in it with Carter.

Oklahoma has always been in it, and remember that Carter made an early commitment to the Sooners.

Texas A&M was the school that had the momentum with Carter following his Oklahoma decommitment. And some expected him to flip to the Aggies. One thing that may keep the Aggies out of this one is that they’re likely to land CB’s Marcus Banks, Erick Young, and Bobby Wolfe this summer. Not sure how Carter will feel about joining a what would be a 4-man CB class.

Then there’s Alabama, who he plans to visit this summer. And if he’s okay with leaving the Texas region, Bama could very well end up being the choice.

I mentioned recently that Carter’s cousin, Man. Legacy (TX) DL Taurean Carter told me he and Jeffrey would like to play together in college. The one school they have in common that’s left is Texas. So that’s something to watch.

All I would say is to expect some other twists and turns in this recruitment. But it sounds like Jason Washington and Texas might be in a better spot than some realized with arguably the #1 CB in Texas. – (Andrew)

– The father of 2019 Oregon CB commit, Marques Caldwell, tells me that they will take an unofficial visit to Texas this upcoming Tuesday.

Texas offered Caldwell during this last spring evaluation period and are hoping to close out their CB recruiting by bringing Caldwell into the fold.

Caldwell has an OV set for Oregon later this month. So, while I expect something to happen with Caldwell’s recruitment soon, I don’t expect it to happen before the Oregon OV. – (Super K)

– I reported that Trinity Christian (TX) Safety, Lewis Cine,will take an official visit to Texas on June 15th. I also reported that he has a Top 3 of Penn State, Texas, and Michigan. After talking to Cine and some other people, I’d say his Top 3 is also in that order.

Cine is going to have a busy couple of weeks in June. As he’s going to officially visit his three top schools over the month. He will be at Penn State this weekend, Texas on the 15th, then Michigan will be on the 22nd. He said he wants to make a decision before his senior season, and one could come after those three visits.

Though he has his last two official visits in mind as well. Cine told me Georgia and Florida will get the last two visits, but the dates haven’t been ironed out just yet. – (Andrew)

 

Quote

"One thing that may keep the Aggies out of this one is that they’re likely to land CB’s Marcus Banks, Erick Young, and Bobby Wolfe this summer. Not sure how Carter will feel about joining a what would be a 4-man CB class."

Lulz. that would be hilarious. I'll be shocked if more than 1 of those 3 actually stick at corner.  If the UT staff is actually willing to take Carter, he'd easily be my #1 CB in state. I don't even know who would be #2. I like Erick Young a lot but he's very likely to be a S. 

Quote

One other note is that Carter is cousins with Aledo (TX) CB Jeffrey Carter. And the two would love to play together in college. Taurean told me “that’s the plan”. That could be something to keep an eye on down the line

Huge, if true.  With Carter (supposedly) clearing stuff up off the field and another top DL target off the board today (Hicks) making Taurean more of a take, this duo looks better and better.  

[Newy25 7638]

6 minutes ago, irishtexan said:

 

 

 

Well, you've posted 3 times this page alone pointing out that the $9.95ers were wrong. My point is "no shit".

I only point it out to say that Nahlin has been mostly sunshine now he is bearish these offers which is a change. So if he is bearish he must really be bearish these offers. 

[Katfid54 8591]

3 minutes ago, UT Lawnghorn said:

Lulz. This hits close to home. Stanford was probably my #1 law school preference during applications and they mailed me their form rejection letter painfully quick.  I remember opening the letter and immediately thinking, damn, they could've at least waited a couple more weeks before sending this.

Edited June 8, 2018 by Katfid54

[Machinator 32097]

Just now, Katfid54 said:

You're becoming predictable with your GIFs. And stop using Imgur for the love of Christ.

[Katfid54 8591]

Just now, Machinator said:

You're becoming predictable with your GIFs. And stop using Imgur for the love of Christ.

I fixed it tho.

Also, I specifically used that "predictable" gif, because UTL was giving me shit for it the other day.

Edited June 8, 2018 by Katfid54

[UT Lawnghorn 758]

Just now, Katfid54 said:

You've been kinda off with this whole gif thing lately.  The CTJ sock theory is starting to resonate with me more. 

[HenryJames 65868]

40 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Let it go, man. A 4.0 from Devine, TX is like a 1.8 from an accredited high school. They had no choice. I admit, they should have given you more than a 1 day turnaround from your submittal, but that admissions office has a lot of legitimate candidates to rifle through.

[Katfid54 8591]

5 minutes ago, UT Lawnghorn said:

You've been kinda off with this whole gif thing lately.  The CTJ sock theory is starting to resonate with me more. 

[Froghorn717 42]

1 hour ago, Lonestar88 said:

I feel like if admission to Stanford automatically meant that he was going there, then there should have been a cap on the optimism.

fair enough - im just pointing out that shit changes on a dime in recruiting and yeah 9.95ers will do what they do but chastising him for saying 1 day he was Texas lean to the next a Stanford isnt something i can be upset with in the world of recruiting... now the Leal recruitment yeah that was one i would be more apt to say wtf re: 9.95ers

essentially what ctj also said... recruiting is like trading (dont get too high during the peaks or low during the valleys - even keel man, even keel)

Edited June 8, 2018 by Froghorn717

[rickyspub 801]

2 minutes ago, Katfid54 said:

This gif is definitely trending!

[Newy25 7638]

I was too poor to even apply to those schools. The application fees were like 100-200 dollars a school at those places back in the day. It might as well have been a million dollars to me. The one I picked, Notre Dame (because MFing Rudy) made me pay my own way for the interview. I basically had to give up a kidney to do that. 

I assume when Bragg gets offered by all of these schools they waive the fees since they are offering a full scholarship?  That and all  expense paid visits must be nice. And no interviewing that is required at some of these schools. 

[Scholz 11923]

OB War Room Updates - C.Anderson, 7on7, Top 20 in state, J.Smith, P.Mpagi, J.Shepherd, J.Ellis, M.Caldwell

(From Anwar) Most of the news surrounding Texas’ football team is bland this time of year. Players are in the midst of summer workouts, meaning there really is not a lot of team news to support. Strength and conditioning coach Yancy McKnight is working on getting his players ready for training camp and the upcoming season. The summer is about getting physically ready for the upcoming season as opposed to executing plays and climbing up the depth chart. Under Texas football coach Tom Herman, players do not fall behind or get ahead during summer workouts. Instead, Herman focuses more on the performances of his players in the spring and fall. It is a change from how depth charts were determined in the past, but a process Herman is very comfortable with. From what I can tell, everyone within the program is more than comfortable with grad transfer left tackle Calvin Anderson. The former Rice offensive lineman recently in arrived in Austin, and I wanted to know how what kind of shape Anderson was in as he joined the team. Anderson attended multiple practices during the spring before he enrolled this summer. When I saw Anderson at spring practice, he was glued to offensive line coach Herb Hand with a playbook in his hand. Anderson wanted to hit the ground running this summer, and I could tell he was mentally focused. However, Texas fans will be happy to know Anderson has been physically focused, too. From what I was told, Anderson showed up to summer workouts in “great” shape. Anderson was forced to work out on his own for most of this offseason after making the decision to leave Rice, and he clearly did not take his offseason workouts lightly at all. Even though Anderson posted a workout video on Twitter earlier this year, it was not for show. He was serious.   Calvin Anderson@THE_CONDA25   I was always told that big men need to be able to move. Working some 20 yard shuttle agility (cones set up just inside white lines) Continue to work. Period.#ThisIsTexas 5:04 PM - Apr 14, 2018 ·         356 ·         41 people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy Right now, nobody knows where Anderson is when it comes to his knowledge of the playbook. Texas is not running plays during summer workouts, which means it’s hard to know where Anderson stands playbook wise. That being said, Anderson hit campus in shape and could endure McKnight’s strenuous workouts, which probably means he spent time studying Texas’ offensive playbook this offseason. Anderson is expected to fill the void left by Connor Williams, who decided to skip his senior season and enter the NFL draft. Williams became a second-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in April, and some NFL observers believe Anderson has a future on the next level. However, before we get too far ahead, Anderson’s main job is to anchor an offensive line that has been a weakness for several years. Texas gave up 32 sacks last season, tying Iowa State and Oklahoma State for most in the Big 12. Quarterbacks Shane Buechele and Sam Ehlinger were left unprotected on several occasions, which made it easy for opposing defenses to rough them up. In addition, the offensive line struggled in run blocking, which contributed to a very unproductive season for Herman’s running backs. After last season, Herman reassigned Derek Warehime and hired Hand, former offensive line coach at Auburn. Herman also made it a priority to obtain Anderson because he desperately needed help on the offensive line. Herman was asked about the expectation Anderson would replace Williams this past spring and was hesitant to place lofty expectations on his grad transfer. “That’s tough for him, and really the guys that are out there competing,” Herman previously said. “He’s out there in shorts and a t-shirt with a script trying to learn the offense, and the rest of the offensive linemen are out there working their tails off. That’s the normal in today’s media climate, I guess, but it’s not fair to him, it’s not fairto the rest of the offensive line, but we’re excited to have him, and we’re excited that a guy that is not going to be here until June can be out here for some of these practices and watching and trying to learn.” Anderson may have stepped into a good situation. Four out of five starting offensive linemen for Texas will likely be upperclassmen this season. Right tackle Derek Kerstetter is a sophomore, but right tackle Elijah Rodriguez is a senior, center Zach Shackelford is a junior, left guard Patrick Vahe is a senior, while Anderson is a grad transfer. The incumbents should have the advantage of being physically developed after being overpowered for multiple years. Again, we will have to see what happens this season. For now, Texas fans need to know Anderson hit the ground running, and everyone associated with the program is happy about his physical condition during offseason workouts. ****** Outside of Anderson, there are some other things you should know about summer workouts. Summer conditioning will end five days before the team reports on August 2. In addition, there have been several questions about seven-on-seven workouts, and I do have an answer for you. Players are currently participating in seven-on-seven workouts, and as always, it is voluntary and player-led. I spoke to a person associated with the program about summer workouts and was told, “All appears to be going well in the leadership of that.” Again, it is important to remember that Herman views seven-on-seven differently than what Texas fans are used to. I pointed this out in a previous War Room, but this is what I was told about summer workouts: “Very similar to before spring practice. Position specific conditioning. The only difference will be the running. It will be much more run and conditioning specific. A little more scientific about getting faster, quicker, and getting in shape.” ****** I wanted to get a recruiting gauge from a few people in the building this week after a weekend of highs and lows. Texas has been very successful in out-of-state recruiting this year, but have seen coveted in-state prospects commit to other schools recently. From I was told, the people associated with the program still feel great about recruiting. “There is a loooong time before now and signing day, so I wouldn’t overreact to anything this early,” I was told. When Charlie Strong was at Texas, he would always refer to verbal commits as players “making reservations,” but said his staff would do everything it could to flip those players. It appears Herman’s staff is not willing to accept defeat when it comes to in-state players. For those who missed Ketch’s column on Sunday, let me quote an important part of his write-up: The number of available top-shelf blue-chip prospects in the state of Texas is dwindling quickly. Of the top 20 in-state prospects, here is who remains uncommitted. #5 Richmond Bush CB Erick Young #7 Houston St. Pius X DB Jalen Curry #8 Cedar Hill Trinity Christian DB Lewis Cine #15 Houston Mayde Creek DE Marcus Stripling #19 Fort Worth Eaton WR Titus Swen #20 Fort Bend Ridge Point DE Nelson Ceasar Sixty-five percent of the top 20 players in the state are already committed. Two are Longhorns. Texas will likely land another name or two from the list of names above, but I'm not telling you something you don't already know when I tell you that the in-state recruiting success of 2019 isn't the same as that of 2018. It's a good thing the out of state recruiting is at an elite level because it would be a problem if it wasn't. ****** (From Suchomel) I touched on the commitment of wide receiver Jake Smith in my 3-2-1 column earlier this week, but a few more notes of interest on the speedster wide receiver. Texas won out over Southern Cal in this one, and it was an incredible recruiting job by the Texas staff when you factor in that USC was Smith’s stated dream school and early on, most people had him pegged to stay out West. According to Smith’s father, Jamie Smith, it was the relationships with and trust in guys like Bryan Carrington, Tim Beck, Tom Herman and Drew Mehringer that really stood out. “Love them. I love them,” Mr. Smith said of the UT staff. “The hardest part about the whole recruiting process, you’re trying to figure out in a short period of time who you can place your son with, who you can trust, who will raise him those four years he was in school. Overwhelmingly, they proved to me they were the right people for that, both in football and off the field.” High praise right there … I asked Mr. Smith where Jake got his athleticism. He jokingly said it all comes from him, but noted that his wife may argue. Interestingly, Mr. Smith said Jake has a younger brother who is about to start his freshman year of high school, and he’s on a very similar talent level as Jake at this age. Too early to offer? “Myself personally, I was a good athlete, but never an elite athlete. More of a baseball guy. He (younger son) is right there with Jake too. Maybe just a hair slower, but athletically he’s right there with Jake when he was in that grade,” Mr. Smith said. The family is planning to return to Austin for the USC game in September and may hit the Texas-OU game if they can work it in with their sports schedules. A little background on what type of Smith is. His film and his 4.37 speed speak for itself, but he’s also a very skilled baseball player and now a very skilled lacrosse player. Mr. Smith said Jake played shortstop on the varsity baseball his freshman year, but decided to give it up since he felt lacrosse would help him more with his football career since there’s some carryover in the skills necessary to play those two sports. In talking to people at his school, he’s now a very talented lacrosse player (including scoring three goals in the state championship game last month). ****** Richmond George Ranch defensive end Peter Mpagi attended Tuesday’s UT mini-camp hoping to make a strong enough impression on the Texas coaches that he would draw consideration for an offer. Following the camp, Mpagi said he felt good about his showing. “It was fun. I was being a leader like they want me to be. They said I impressed them, so I did the best I could,” Mpagi said. After the camp, Mpagi got to talk to Tom Herman, who told him he’d be in touch later in the week to let Mpagi where things stand. “He said he was really impressed by me and said he’s going to talk to me in two or three days. It’s a process here, so I’m just relaxing right now,” Mpagi said. The 6-5, 220-pound Mpagi has been pretty open about his strong feelings for Texas. His sister ran track at UT before transferring to Rice and Mpagi said he grew up watching the Longhorns. “They’re my childhood ream school. I always grew up watching them. I know everyone on the team, I’m updated on everything. I like the city of Austin,” Mpagi said. “That’s why they’re high on my radar.” Mpagi came in early, before the camp, and spent a couple hours getting to speak with people in the academic department, taking photos and generally just enjoying the day. If Texas does offer, look for the Longhorns to shoot up his list. Mpagi is very high on Washington after having taken a recent visit there, and Stanford is also being strongly considered (he’ll visit there this summer). “They would probably be number one. They’d be ahead of Washington,” Mpagi said of a potential UT offer. ****** Aside from Smith’s Sunday night commitment, the big story this week was the Tuesday visit of Houston North Forest offensive lineman Javonne Shepherd. Texas made a very strong impression on Shepherd once again. He got a lot of time with Herb Hand, met with Tom Herman and spent a lot of time with Bryan Carrington while he observed the camp. “What stood out is the talk with coach Tom Herman in his office with all the other coaches. It might be home, that’s what I’m thinking. It was good,” Shepherd said. “He just talked about me, not just football. He talked more about me.” The Longhorns are in the driver’s seat with this one following Tuesday’s visit. “Right now, they stand number one with me, Texas,” Shepherd said. Shepherd said on Tuesday that he probably would not be visiting A&M this weekend but left the door open a bit on that one. He did say he plans to visit Georgia, LSU and Alabama in the near future. He added that he’d like to take his official visits in the fall, but in listening to Shepherd talk about his visit, it wouldn’t be a complete shock if he shut things down before gets to those other visits. Texas has really done a good job with this one (Shepherd said the coaches are his favorite part of UT) and built strong relationships, including Hand. “Coach Herb Hand, he’s always upfront on how you do things,” Shepherd said. “He was just talking to me about who I am and mainly football stuff.” There was some speculation that a couple outside factors – Kenyon Green’s commitment to Texas A&M and Shepherd’s girlfriend getting into UT - could influence Shepherd’s decision, but he downplayed the significance of those two elements. “That’s his decision,” Shepherd said of Green. “My decision is just me. We’re two different people. That’s where he feels best at.” As for his girlfriend going to UT … “Not even one bit,” Shepherd said when I asked if it will impact his process. “I mean, it’s my girlfriend, but that’s her choice. We are two different people. She’s my girlfriend and all, but that doesn’t mean I’m coming to school because you’re here. That’s your choice.” After all that, he did add that “it’s possible” that they both wind up at Texas. Texas continues to make a hard charge here and Tuesday’s visit definitely strengthened the Longhorns’ position atop his list. ****** Round Rock Cedar Ridge wide receiver and Baylor commitment Jaylen Ellis picked up a recent UT offer, and he was on the Texas campus on Tuesday for an unofficial visit. I exchanged a couple texts with Ellis, who said it was another enjoyable trip to the Forty Acres. “I loved being there. Always excites me every time,” Ellis said. Texas talked to Ellis about how he’d be used at the Z (outside) receiver spot. “I’d be getting those deep balls, which I am good at,” Ellis said. Ellis has set a TCU official visit for next weekend and continues to explore his options despite his longtime Baylor pledge. This one just makes too much sense … if Texas pushes for a commitment, I fully expect the Longhorns to win out. ****** Texas offered Alvin cornerback Marques Caldwell about a month ago and Caldwell has the Longhorns very high on his list despite him being an early Oregon commitment. The long, rangy corner told us via text that he’ll visit Texas on Tuesday, and that’s certainly a situation to watch closely. In talking to Caldwell a couple times since he picked up his Texas offer, the odds of Texas flipping his commitment are very, very strong. We’ll see.

[Machinator 32097]

Posted on the Jimbo thread, but Perroni doesn't think Shepherd will visit College Station this weekend.

[satyanash 14276]

E.J. Holland: Why UT is back in mix for elite CB Jeffery Carter

Texas seemed like it was completely out of the mix for Jeffery Carter. But the four-star cornerback from Aledo surprised some pundits and fans when he named Texas in his final four earlier this week. So what changed? “I just got another spark of interest in Texas,” Carter said. “I started texting Coach (Jason) Washington again, and we have a relationship now like we had before. He understood. We’re right back on track.”

A big reason for Carter’s renewed interest is the fact that the Longhorns put an offer on the table for his cousin — Mansfield Legacy defensive lineman Taurean Carter — during the spring evaluation period. The two have talked about playing together and out of Carter’s final four, Texas is the only school that offers that opportunity. “My cousin got the offer, so that was big,” Carter said. “Me and him are trying to play together and do something in college, so that’s a big plus for Texas.”

Carter hopes to visit Texas at some point this summer. At 6-foot, 180 pounds, Carter is ranked as the No. 11 cornerback and No. 93 overall prospect in the country, per 247Sports Composite.

[Chopper 17126]

2 hours ago, Bevo said:

Trying to catch up. Is today a good recruiting day or a day of depression and angst?

[RomaVicta 29756]

Holy shit. Recruiting news!

[GRHorn 105]

1 hour ago, HenryJames said:

Devine, huh?  Heard they have  pretty serious meth problem nowadays. 

 

That 2010 thread is so sad.  My oldest was born later that year.  It just reminded me that he has never seen a better than middling Texas team.  Wtf.  

[ShowMeALoss 143]

Long time lurker on Shaggy and Surly and first time poster. I have no recruiting intel whatsoever and will never have any. Not going to pay any 9'95ers so that I can cut and paste their content on Surly. Here for the gang bang with kandi and karen while I watch the shit show that's Surly.

[DeathTongue 88]

47 minutes ago, Scholz said:

#19 Fort Worth Eaton WR Titus Swen

There have been a lot of WRs discussed in this thread, but I don't remember seeing his name before.  And OB has him ranked #19 in the state.

Is he not interested?  Are we not interested?  Or is this a bad eval by OB?

[BrickTop 474]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Machinator 32097]

IT

STATE OF RECRUITING 

As the Texas coaches continue trekking across the wide expanse for valuable face time at satellite camps, there's still some business in the immediate region.

RECEIVER

UT is hosting Austin Bowie wide receiver Elijah Higgins this weekend for an unofficial visit. The four-star stopped by campus last week to say 'hi' and will likely bring his family for this visit. Stanford is still the safe bet here, and he wants to visit Florida and maybe a few other schools, but the Horns are keeping the relationship with Higgins strong because...well, he's a take. A local one at that. 

Interestingly, per a coach in attendance, "Elijah Higgins was there (San Marcos satellite camp on Thursday) but obviously didn't work out. Came there to see Herman I think." 

Higgins has also expressed some interest in Ohio State, who was also attended the camp but didn't send its A-team. Said the coach, "Don't know who it was for them, though. Didn't recognize them."

San Marcos isn't far from Austin, obviously, but it is interesting Higgins made his way to 'Texas's cradle of intellect' (as it's commonly referred) to visit with Herman, who he'll also see this weekend. 

Aside the Higgins visit there won't be much action on the 40 Acres this weekend, other than the baseball team attempting to secure a trip to Omaha for the College World Series. 

Next week, however, could be big, starting on Tuesday. 

CORNER

Oregon pledge Marques Caldwell will be in Austin on Tuesday. After speaking to the Alvin native, it sounds like his days as a Duck could be numbered. A corner, Caldwell has long held the staff's attention. With Marcus Banks not happening (let A&M and LSU deal with that), the staff immediately pressed for the defensive back from the 'four corners' phylum. Texas feels like it has put itself in a great position to flip Caldwell. 

There’s been talk that Aledo-to-Mansfield Legacy plus+ athlete Jeffrey Carter is a consideration after the four-star corner named the Longhorns in his Top 4. We're told that’s not the case. Carter isn't seen as a good program fit and UT would be happy with a Kenyatta Watson-Marques Caldwell duo. Best guess: Carter lands at Alabama if they'll take him.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Another name to keep an eye out for is Katy Taylor offensive lineman and TCU commit, Andrew Coker. After the Branson Bragg news, Coker looks to be near the top of the big board. At 6-foot-7, 300 pounds, he has size you can't teach. He’s also got some mud dog to him and Herb Hand is a fan. How fun is it to flip one of Gary Patterson’s Horny Toads? Fun. Expect news of a visit to emerge at some point.

Texas is still keeping tabs on EJ Ndoma-Ogar, who is mostly settled on sticking with the Sooners. That's easily the most likely outcome, but interest in him could pick up. He still hears some from Texas, but schools still aggressively pursuing are Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Utah. 

UPCOMING VISITORS

Next weekend has the potential to be a nice recruiting turnout. Only two will be on official visits in safety Lewis Cine (who visits Penn State this weekend) and linebacker Rian Davis. 

The unofficial list should be even nicer. 

Offensive lineman Javonne Shepherd, 2020 Southern California safety Bryson Washington, and St. Louis all-purpose back Mookie Cooper are in talks to make the trip to Austin. We expect that list to grow. We’ll have more on that next week, but for now Texas has put itself in a good spot with both Shpeherd and Cooper, and Washington is certainly interested.

Shepherd is being recruited to compete at left tackle. This recruitment could result in a verbal sooner than initially expected. If so, the staff will still have to recruit through National Signing Day's whistle. We don't anticipate him visiting College Station any time soon (you never know, though).

Washington is yet another big talent at Mater Dei but he's a Texas transplant who likes Texas. He already holds an offer.

At 5-foot-9, 185 pounds, Cooper is simply electric. He can play running back, slot, and be a legitimate threat in the return game. I can see 2020 UT quarterback pledge Hudson Card coordinating his weekend and sticking to him like glue. We're not saying this will end up in a quick commitment, but Cooper is giving very positive feedback to the staff.

As for this weekend, the staff will be spread from Las Vegas to Los Angeles to Commerce, Texas.

We’ll be at the A&M Commerce Mega Camp on Saturday to see if Herman and company spot any under-the-radar seniors or upcoming juniors. 

Next weekend is the one to keep an eye on as it's starting to shape up as one of those must-see events for recruits on UT’s big board.

[Reese Bennett 3604]

24 minutes ago, ShowMeALoss said:

Long time lurker on Shaggy and Surly and first time poster. I have no recruiting intel whatsoever and will never have any. Not going to pay any 9'95ers so that I can cut and paste their content on Surly. Here for the gang bang with kandi and karen while I watch the shit show that's Surly.

Welcome, now fuck off. And I pasted your mom last night.

[Sejjr 3246]

So which is it? Is Carter back in the mix or is he not a program fit? Who do I need to send the 9.95 to to get the damn truth? 

[ShowMeALoss 143]

3 minutes ago, Sejjr said:

So which is it? Is Carter back in the mix or is he not a program fit? Who do I need to send the 9.95 to to get the damn truth? 

Why not both?

[Spawn of Cthulhu 2241]

This thread needs some indiahorn.

 

[Spawn of Cthulhu 2241]

12 hours ago, Michael Knight said:

it was 2010, what can i say other than i still bought Macks bullshit about family

[Longhornfrenzy 5589]

Long time lurker on Shaggy and Surly and first time poster. I have no recruiting intel whatsoever and will never have any. Not going to pay any 9'95ers so that I can cut and paste their content on Surly. Here for the gang bang with kandi and karen while I watch the shit show that's Surly.

Oh look another 9.95er with a burner account

Sent from my LGLS755 using Tapatalk

[Machinator 32097]

Per TFB, Gbenda will visit for the summer recruiting event next weekend.

He's visiting A&M this weekend, and might visit LSU and Ole Miss later.

Edited June 8, 2018 by Machinator

[Gut Wagon 8052]

1 hour ago, ShowMeALoss said:

Long time lurker on Shaggy and Surly and first time poster. I have no recruiting intel whatsoever and will never have any. Not going to pay any 9'95ers so that I can cut and paste their content on Surly. Here for the gang bang with kandi and karen while I watch the shit show that's Surly.

Karen? 

[closetojumping 62131]

2 hours ago, Newy25 said:

I was too poor to even apply to those schools. The application fees were like 100-200 dollars a school at those places back in the day. It might as well have been a million dollars to me. The one I picked, Notre Dame (because MFing Rudy) made me pay my own way for the interview. I basically had to give up a kidney to do that. 

I assume when Bragg gets offered by all of these schools they waive the fees since they are offering a full scholarship?  That and all  expense paid visits must be nice. And no interviewing that is required at some of these schools. 

Fuck it, I'll go. I got recruited by some of the Ivy schools and a couple of small little schools in the NE for football. So I talk to this guy at Dartmouth about a visit. It's November and I'm 17 and poor as fuck and also know that I have a kid on the way, potentially (definitely, it turned out), and I've got scholarships and shit to Texas on the academic side. So I'm like, "how does all of this work?" and he's like "based on all of the info at hand, we can cover half of your fully loaded costs with Pell grants. you would have to figure out how to make the other half of your expenses work. " and I say "how much are we talking about?" his answer "total expenses should come in around $30,000 a year". Click. Not really, I am sure I was nice in getting off the phone, but never took another college football recruiting call again. $15k to my family might as well have been $15million. 

[UDontKnow 10439]

I too would feel closetojumping if I became a teen dad. Glad you stuck it through and became the recruiting expert you are now.

[UT Lawnghorn 758]

1 hour ago, Sejjr said:

So which is it? Is Carter back in the mix or is he not a program fit? Who do I need to send the 9.95 to to get the damn truth? 

It definitely seems like IT has the old news. Both 247 and TFB had recent quotes saying UT is picking up its recruitment with Carter and vice versa. 

[rickyspub 801]

7 minutes ago, UDontKnow said:

I too would feel closetojumping if I became a teen dad. Glad you stuck it through and became the recruiting expert you are now.

Hey, jackweed, CTJ gets more action in a week than you've had in your entire life. He's got houses in L.A., Paris and Vail. In each one, a 70 inch plasma screen. So I suggest you wipe that stupid smile off your face before he comes over there and SMACKS it off! You feeling strong, my friend? Call him a 'recruiting expert' one more time.

Edited June 8, 2018 by rickyspub