(Ketch)
* On the heels of the Colin Simmons news today, I was told that the Longhorns remain extremely confident in landing Waco Connally DB Kobe Black and Santa Ana Mater Dei (Ca.) offensive tackle Brandon Baker.
* Texas has truly emerged as an NIL super power in football. It was a significant factor with Colin Simmons. I've been told from West Coast sources and from national sources that it is a huge piece of the puzzle for Brandon Baker. The word around the nation is out about UT's muscle in NIL for football.
* Texas continues to grow into a position of strength in the recruitment of Lafayette (La.) Acadiana defensive lineman Dominick McKinley. There's definitely hope that the edge that Texas had in NIL with Simmons can carry on in a battle vs. both LSU and Oklahoma. I've not been told that the confidence in McKinley is in the Baker/Black stratosphere, but it's growing.
* Three different sources have told me in the last 48 hours that if Texas is going to be the type of super power in NIL that LSU a non-factor in competition with Texas in that area, more people have to start contributing to the cause from three different levels.
a. Large Donors (Texas' biggest heavy hitters have been dragging in terms of getting involved).
b. Small donors (Texas is nowhere close to its unofficial goal of renewing monthly/donors.)
c. Businesses partners
There's a feeling that too much of UT's NIL major success has fallen on the shoulders of a very few people and if Texas is going to continue to weird a Asgardian hammer in NIL, the heavy lifting has to be spread around more than it is or it's not going to be sustainable.
* Texas, Texas A&M and Georgia are currently the big NIL hammer swingers right now. The likes of Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, Michigan and USC are not peers in NIl... for now. Georgia and A&M have a major enthusiasm edge and their heavy lifting is shared by more large donors than the Longhorns.
* Speaking of what can go right for the Longhorns when it flexes its muscle in NIL, UGA transfer wide receiver A.D. Mitchell is performing at a level in workouts that has observes believing he will be a first round NFL pick in the spring. I can't wait to see this kid play because the excitement meter behind the scenes is as high for him as any player I can ever remember.
(Suchomel)
Some Colin Simmons quick-hitters after I was able to speak with him following his commitment announcement …
* Simmons said it was “a relief” to get his commitment out of the way and he’s just ready to get back to work with his Duncanville teammates in defending their state title.
* Simmons said his new role will be as a recruiter for Texas.
“That’s the main goal. Everybody’s coming with me. Everybody’s going to flip,” he said. “Everybody’s going to go to Texas and we’re going to win the SEC.”
* Simmons has a couple guys he’ll immediately start working on. One’s a familiar name for Longhorn fans, one isn’t.
“You already know Kobe Black is coming with me. That’s a no-brainer,” Simmons said. “I honestly want DJ (Lagway) as my quarterback. I’m going to push really hard for that flip. I know Texas is stacked at quarterbacks right now but I’m going to try my best to get him there. And then it’s on from there.”
* The Texas coaches didn’t find out that the choice was UT until Simmons made his announcement. As we reported all week, there was confidence in Austin but nobody truly knew.
* Jeff Banks was the coach that Simmons said was his primary recruiter, but he then noted it was a group effort.
“Really it was everybody. The whole staff,” he said.
* The thought has been that Texas really started to gain control of this one following Simmons’s June official visit. Simmons said he really didn’t decide until Wednesday of this week and said the race was much closer than most realize.
“It’s always been Texas and LSU neck and neck. It was never really who was in front or who was behind. It really was 50/50,” he said.
* Simmons said he still plans on visiting LSU when the Tigers host Grambling State on September 9.
“For sure. I’m not missing that Grambling-Louisiana State University game for anything. I understand I’m committed. I understand I’m locked down, but I can’t miss that game,” he said.
* With Colin Simmons announcing his commitment on Thursday, the question turns to who might be next?
Defensive lineman Dominick McKinley has set a commitment date of September 1, and the Longhorns are strong contenders. In talking to some of the same sources we were checking with on Colin Simmons, there was some exchanging of McKinley information. Interestingly, there’s a degree of confidence at just about every school on McKinley’s list. LSU remains a factor. Texas A&M thinks it has a shot. So does Oklahoma. So does Ohio State, and one person in Louisiana told me I shouldn’t sleep on the Buckeyes’ chances.
McKinley plays things very close to the vest but I continue to think Texas is in a strong position, based in large part to academics and McKineley’s connection with Bo Davis.
* One of the rumors floating around last week was that 2025 five-star receiver Dakorian Moore was considering committing this week with Colin Simmons and Caden Durham. Moore shot those rumors down, but in talking to an LSU source this week he expressed confidence that the Tigers would be able to lock up Moore’s commitment in the not-too-distant future. Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me for Moore to commit so early, but there’s apparently quite a bit of confidence in Baton Rouge. Of course, that same source also thought earlier this week that LSU had Simmons locked up so take it with a grain of salt.
(Anwar)
* Several people behind the scenes worked overtime to secure the commitment of Colin Simmons before the 5-star EDGE defender announced his decision on Thursday. I was told one concern that needed to be addressed was defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s history of recruiting and developing NFL talent. The programs that were recruiting against Texas told Simmons that if he went to Texas, he would not have the opportunity to play in the NFL. They tried to make him think that playing for Kwiatkowski would be the death sentence to his NFL aspirations.
However, those associated with the Longhorns eliminated those concerns this week.
Simmons was presented with a graphic that showed every player Kwiatkowski recruited and developed into NFL draft picks throughout his career. The list included players from Boise State, Washington, and Montana State.
Here are the totals numbers that were presented to Simmons :
1st rounders: 6
2nd rounders: 10
3rd rounders: 3
4th rounders: 2
5th rounders: 5
6th rounders: 7
7th rounders: 1
Total: 34
Kwiatkowski’s final draft numbers were higher than the coordinators at other programs.
* NIL did play a role in the recruitment of Simmons, but it goes deeper than Texas offering more money. According to my sources, LSU’s pitch to Simmons lacked the appeal of Texas. I was told LSU emphasized to Simmons that he would simply be a football player in Baton Rouge. It was the traditional “come to our program, work hard, earn your spot, and eventually enter the NFL Draft.” On the surface, there was nothing wrong with that pitch.
However, the LSU coaches failed to connect with Simmons the way Steve Sarkisian and his staff did. The Texas pitch included the basic talking points coaches deliver to elite athletes.
More importantly, Texas added something else. Texas told Simmons he could be whoever he wanted to be in Austin. They embraced Simmons’ desire to be more than just a football player, but an athlete who could have his own brand. Sarkisian and the staff told Simmons he could pursue whatever dream or goals he had for himself off-the-field, and they would fully support him. Texas assured Simmons he would never be limited as a player on or off-the-field.
* Simmons was interested in Miami. As you know, the Hurricanes landed in his top three. Unfortunately, for Miami, there was one major problem. The Hurricanes were unable to assure Simmons their NIL offer was solid. Miami was never able to make Simmons feel comfortable with its offer. That factor ultimately hurt Miami’s opportunity with Simmons.
(Alex)
* One interesting note passed along to Orangebloods after Thursday's practice was that there are a few new things happening at the center position
* Jake Majors remains the No.1 center with the ones, but Hayden Conner is now working, at times, with the second group at center. This happened in the spring when Conner Robertson was out, but we had not seen or heard about it this fall.
* This could indicate that the staff is looking, as previously reported by Anwar, at the viability of Conner at center, although the source who gave the information did not lay it out like that -- only saying instead that Conner was working with the twos at center at times now, including at practice on Thursday.
* When Conner is with the twos at center, Cole Hutson fills his spot at left guard with the ones.
* To add to speculation that the staff is exploring options at center, we were also told that Cole Hutson is also receiving center snaps with the second group as of late, when Conner is with the first group at his usual LG spot.
(Keenan)
* Five-star 2024 SG Cam Scott is expected to commit to the Longhorns tomorrow. Stay tuned for the announcement.
* No new offers to speak of this week, as the most recent offer was Aug 2nd to 2024 4-star SG Billy Richmond. I’ll update as any new offers come out.
(Zach)
* Luke Storm, the switch hitting Duke transfer, will not be enrolling into classes at Texas until January, as he is finishing up his degree this Fall at Duke.
* The next big recruiting weekend for Texas baseball will be 8/19-8/20, as the Horns will host a number of prospects on campus during the camp.
