1. What has been your biggest surprise so far this cycle?
2. The one recruit the coaches can't miss on this year?
3. Most underrated recruit this year in your opinion?
I’m a little surprised but what is another somewhat slow start by Texas so far. That’s not to say anyone should panic … we’ve seen that this staff always surges in the summer and is able to close on guys late. I just thought this year, with the move to the SEC and the success of last year’s CFP run, we might see more top guys commit to Texas earlier than usual. So far, Texas has one player committed from the Rivals100 and three others that fall in the 129-189 range. By comparison, A&M has six players from the Rivals250, Oklahoma five.
The one recruit who Texas can’t afford to miss on, in my opinion, is Michael Fasusi. Dakorien Moore makes sense for this answer, but Fasusi seems like a future superstar at left tackle for someone, the same way Kelvin Banks has been for Texas.
What do you think of the next dozen commitments posted by @Ketchum in last week's 24 hour chat? What would you change?
Predicting a dozen commitments is a fool’s errand, but what the hell, let’s have a little fun.
Ketch’s list …
James Simon
Kelshaun Johnson
Jaime Ffrench
Dakorien Moore
Kaliq Lockett
Kiotti Armstrong
Michael Fasusi
Zion Williams
Riley Pettijohn
Dorian Brew
Caleb Chester
Kade Phillips
I would have had Jackson Christian on that list (easy to say now, I know). I’d also include offensive linemen Jordan Coleman and Devin Coleman. Linebacker Jonathan Cunningham would be on there as well. To make room for those four, I’d have to take four off, so that’s where things get tricky. I’ll remove one receiver … so let’s go with Kaliq Lockett. I’m still not sold that Kiotti Armstrong winds up at Texas and I’m not convinced he’ll commit early, so I’ll take him off. Fasusi strikes me as a guy that’s going to enjoy the process so I’ll take him off, although I do think he eventually winds up at Texas. And then I’d take off either Dorien Brew or Kade Phillips.
I am still perplexed at RB recruiting. Is Rickey Stewart and James Simon really going to be what is needed? I get Sark may not have wanted the drama of Jordan Davison, but was Deondrae Riden not considered? Michael Turner? With our RB history, seems we could do better.
P.S. USC got a commitment from 3-star Riley Wormley at Southlake. What is up with that?
Texas looked at Michael Turner and flirted with Tiger Riden. In fact, Tashard Choice offered Riden but he never really put the hard press on him. After taking two stud backs in last year’s class and two really good ones the year before, it was going to be tough getting a couple really high-profile backs in this year’s cycle. I actually like the combination of Rickey Stewart Jr and James Simon, and I’m always going to give Choice the benefit of the doubt.
Riley Wormley is a guy Texas offered and brought in for a couple of visits, but the staff never really pushed for a commitment there. I thought he might wind up at OU (not sure how hard that staff pushed) but USC seems like a good fit for him. He’s a guy who is ultra quick, is good in the passing game and can make plays in space, which Lincoln Riley’s offense should allow him to do.
How would Montrell Flowers stack up against these current recruits? Would he have given J. Cook a run for his money? Yes, an old but not that old. One of the greatest names and exciting talents when I was graduating.
Former Longhorn Montrell Flowers was the top-ranked player in the state on Ketch’s LSR rankings way back in 1998. He never lived up to that lofty status, recording 22 receptions as a junior and then being forced to give up football after one game of his senior season. Comparing receivers from 25 years ago to guys today is tough, because today’s wideouts have year-round trainers, offenses are much more receiver friendly, etc. Flowers was certainly on Johntay Cook’s level as a prospect coming out of high school, but I’d argue that we have much more information on these players now so their rankings are probably a little more accurate, which is why I’d favor Cook.
Talk about Bear Tenney. 3-star Rivals ranked as high as 71 in the nation, now unranked nationally.
Top 2025 tight end Bear Tenney announced his move from Hamilton (Ariz.) High School to Lucas Lovejoy High School in Texas, then later plays high school football in Utah and commits to Nebraska. Unofficial visits to Texas and Ohio State. Claims offers from 25 major schools including Texas, Ohio State, OU, Oregon, USC, Georgia, Washington, Arizona, Tennessee, Michigan, etc.
Bear was a guy who burst onto the scene early and was probably a little overvalued when he first hit the scene. A lot of the time, recruiting and offers can be a bit contagious so a lot of schools probably saw the momentum he was building in accumulating offers and decided to jump into the mix but then didn’t really ever push for a commitment. ESPN currently has him rated the highest as the No. 11-ranked TE nationally. Rivals is next at 25, followed by 247 (55) and On3 (67).
What would it take to recruit at the level of Georgia, beyond just winning?
It’ll be interesting to see if Georgia will continue to dominate the recruiting landscape the way it has (along with Alabama). NIL has kind of evened the playing field for some schools that used to have “advantages.”
Texas won pretty big last year. That’s a start. Win big in the SEC and I think we’ll see Texas recruit at a truly elite level. They’re not far off as things stand right now.
No pants pissing happening here but 2025 feels very underwhelming so far. Probably best to see how it looks in August but the common thought of “just win and watch what happens with recruiting “ hasn’t blown our doors off. Should we be panicking OB style or continue to give this staff the benefit of the doubt?
Things haven’t progressed as quickly as I thought they would, but I certainly wouldn’t panic. This staff has earned the benefit of the doubt.
How many OL do we take in 25?
I’d look for four or five guys in this class. Jackson Christian is already on board. I could see a class that includes Christian, Michael Fasusi, John Mills Jordan Coleman and Devin Coleman.
Gut feeling does Texas land the following players?
1. Moore/Lockett
2. Fasusi
3. Haywood/Rodgers
4. Brew
5. Sanders/Williams
6. Townsend/Armstrong
Thanks and Hookem
1. Yes
2. Yes
3. No
4. No.
5. Yes
6. Yes
Any update on Smith Orogbo or Emmanuel Choice?
There’s not a lot going on with Emmanuel Choice as it relates to Texas. He did tell me at the state track meet that he still talks to the UT staff on occasion, but he’s already taken one official visit (Nebraska) and has four others locked in.
Smith Orogbo plays things pretty close to the vest so it’s tough to gauge what he’s really thinking. He does have an official visit to Texas set for June 14. Schools like USC, Washington, OU, Missouri, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State are also involved there.
When recruiting BanHammer croots, do you sit on the edge of your seat, waiting watching for the most likely offender with your index finger shaking while hovering the giant red button?
Or is it more of a “Oh shit I just had a dumbass DM me saying member “XYZ” just reported a nipple sighting and time for me to put on my hard hat and grab my sledgehammer?
The overwhelming majority of the time, stuff gets reported to me. Every once in a while, usually during games when things get really crazy, I’ll notice people stepping over the line.
Where is Texas on Andrew Marsh, Marcus Harris and Daylan McCutcheon?
All three will take Texas official visits in June, so the Longhorns are certainly in the mix with them. If I had to handicap UT’s odds with all three, I’d probably rank them as follows: Marcus Harris, Daylan McCutcheon, Andrew Marsh. I actually have a FutureCast for Marcus Harris in favor of Texas but I don’t exactly feel great about that prediction.
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