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(From Anwar)
Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian is about to lead his team into the fourth quarter of offseason preparations.
The first quarter focused on winter conditioning. This allowed Sarkisian and his staff to develop a relationship with their players. Texas eventually transitioned into spring football. When spring football ended, Sarkisian believed his squad accomplished many of the goals he wanted to achieve. The Longhorn recently concluded their summer workouts. Sarkisian praised his team on Thursday as his players prepare for training camp (fourth quarter), which begins on Friday night.
“I know our team is excited and our staff is excited to get started,” Sarkisian said. “I think we've had a really good summer. I think our strength and conditioning staff, and our players, worked extremely hard here for about eight weeks, and put our team in a position to now go compete in training camp. Like I've said previously, I don't by any means believe we're a finished product yet. That's why we need these essential five weeks here leading up to our first ballgame to get ourselves prepared to play the best of our capability. So, that's what we'll do.
“Every day we'll have a theme and a goal and a purpose to what we do that ultimately, we can get as close to that kind of perfection for the day as we can, the build off of that and keep stacking bricks to get ourselves in position to be in a position to play this opening ball game against Louisiana. It's an exciting time. It's exciting to get back on the field with our team. Fifteen spring practice seems a long time ago already. But it's amazing to think of what we've accomplished in eight months. So, now to crank it up for training camp and to see how far we can take it with this current team that we have is exciting.”
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Training camp will begin on Friday and players will practice until Monday before having a day off on Tuesday. Practice will resume on Wednesday and run through Sunday.
Here is a look at the Longhorn defense entering training camp.
Defensive Line
Scholarship players: Jacoby Jones, Moro Ojomo, Keondre Coburn, T’Vondre Sweat, Alfred Collins, Vernon Broughton, David Abiara, Jordon Thomas, Barryn Sorrell, Myron Warren, Sawyer Goram-Welch, Byron Murphy.
Key contributors in 2021: Jones, Ojomo, Coburn, Sweat, Collins
Key storyline: Coburn praised defensive line coach Bo Davis during Big 12 Media Days. Davis is a coach who connects with players through his sense of humor, but also a strong work ethic. Just look at Sweat’s production during the spring. Sweat seemingly took a major step this offseason under the guidance of Davis. In addition, we heard great things about Collins this offseason – nobody is surprised – and he is poised for a breakout season. However, Coburn is expected to anchor the line. One person inside the building recently said he believed Coburn has the opportunity to become an all-American this season.
Edge
Scholarship players: Ray Thornton, Prince Dorbah, Ovie Oghoufo, Jett Bush
Key contributors in 2021: Thornton, Oghoufo
Key storyline: Thornton received high praise from players and coaches on the record and behind-the-scenes. Most players said Thornton immediately established himself as a defensive leader and an athlete they respected. Thornton was the guy who consistently tried to get players to work out with him after practice. In addition, Thornton was often the last player to leave the Longhorn facility this offseason. However, Oghoufo has an opportunity to become Thornton’s backup and contribute on special teams this season.
Linebacker
Scholarship players: Devin Richardson, DeMarvion Overshown, Jaylan Ford, David Gbenda, Ben Davis, Terrence Cooks II, Marcus Tillman, Luke Brockermeyer, D.J. Harris Jr., Morice Blackwell, Jaden Hullaby, Ayodele Adeoye
Key contributors in 2021: Richardson, Overshown, Gbenda, Ford
Key storyline: This position group was a huge concern by Sarkisian and his staff earlier this year. The coaching staff heavily pursued linebackers that could improve that room through the transfer portal.
However, Sarkisian expressed his satisfaction with that position group when I asked him about it on Thursday.
“The linebacker position, actually, it's pretty deep for us now. I think we've done a really good job of solidifying a position, not only on defense but also on special teams. Generally, your special teams are made up of a lot of those linebacker body types. Getting DeMarvion back, healthy, him rocking and rolling. And the addition of a Devin Richardson. The addition of Ben Davis and Ovie to go along with the ascension of Luke Brockermeyer, Jaylan Ford, and David Gbenda. I'm leaving a couple of guys out. The reality of it is it became a pretty deep position. Not to mention the influx of some new players. We got Derrick Harris back healthy now, who we didn't have this spring. We got Terrance Brooks now. We've got some pretty cool people coming in. It's created really cool depth. It's created great competition, which ultimately this program thrives on, that competition to drive each other to perform at a really high level. But also, I don't want to discount the value that these guys will have on special teams for us. I think that it helps us immensely to have versatility. I forgot to mention Dele [Ayodele Adeoye] having him back that we didn't have the spring. Versatility at the position. We've got athletic guys. We've got big guys. Again, we get a variety of opponents in this conference in some games. Some guys may be more active than others based on the style of play of the opponent, but all of them will definitely have a role on special teams.”
Nickleback
Scholarship players: Chris Adimora, Anthony Cook, Marques Caldwell
Key contributors in 2021: Adimora and Cook
Key storyline: Everyone inside the building loves Adimora’s versatility. Adimora is the top guy, but Cook remains in the mix. They are expected to rotate at the nickleback position during training camp.
Cornerback
Scholarship players: Josh Thompson, D’Shawn Jamison, Jamier Johnson, Darrion Dunn, Jahdae Barron, Kitan Crawford, Ishmael Ibraheem
Key contributors in 2021: Thompson and Jamison
Key storyline: Thompson and Jamison are the top players in this group. Jamison is a breakout candidate. The staff is seemingly happy with their starting cornerbacks.
Safety
Scholarship players: Brenden Schooler, Jerrin Thompson, B.J. Foster, Tyler Owens, JF Coffey III
Key contributors in 2021: Schooler, Thompson, Foster
Key storyline: We were told Schooler is a great hitter, Foster is a strong hitter, and Thompson has tremendous cover skills. It is also hard to ignore the lack of experience with this position. Schooler was switched to safety from receiver earlier this year. Thompson has played in 10 games with two starts. Foster has the most experience (16 starts in 31 games) but remains in a fight for playing time this season.
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(From Alex)
With Texas set to take to the practice field for the first time on Friday night, we thought we’d go position by position to and look at how things stack up heading into fall camp.
OFFENSE
- all class designations based on the 2020 season not counting toward eligibility
QUARTERBACK
ON SCHOLARSHIP: Casey Thompson (SO), Hudson Card (FR), Charles Wright (FR)
EXPECTED KEY CONTRIBUTORS: Thompson, Card
FALL CAMP STORYLINES: I don't need to tell anyone on this website about a storyline brewing at the QB position. After Casey Thompson took the world by storm in the Alamo Bowl to end the 2020 season, he was not as dominant in practice to keep a QB battle with Hudson Card lingering through spring ball without any major and emphatic separation between the two. At some point in the next 2-3 weeks, Sarkisian is going to have to name a starter to begin the 2021 campaign. It's not only the biggest storyline of THIS camp, it's the biggest storyline we've had in a fall camp -- period -- since ... (???)
RUNNING BACK
ON SCHOLARSHIP: Daniel Young (SR), Gabriel Watson (SR), Roschon Johnson (SO), Keilan Robinson (SO), Bijan Robinson (FR), Jonathan Brooks (FR)
EXPECTED KEY CONTRIBUTORS: B Robinson, K Robinson, Johnson
FALL CAMP STORYLINES: Bijan Robinson is a phenom at the running back position who is poised to do monster things in 2021 after showing elite efficiency on limited touches to end the 2020 season. Sarkisian, in every year as a head coach, has put a 1,000-yard back on the football field, a fact he reiterated at Big 12 Media Days in regard to his expectations for Bijan. So, it's established that Bijan Robinson is very, very good and a star in the making. The true storyline here is how the RB group is utilized as a platoon. Will Stan Drayton continue to utilize a committee? Will Sark be the Anti-Herman and tell his assistants that HE, not the position coach, dictates individual player usage about key offensive pieces? Alabama transfer Keilan Robinson surely didn't come to Texas to ride the bench as a gadget-type player and Roschon Johnson, while no Bijan, has actually been a really good runner for Texas who can create on his own and always falls forward for a few more yards than you'd expect. So, the question is: how are the touches going to get split up? Major storyline to follow.
WIDE RECEIVER
ON SCHOLARSHIP: Montrell Estell (JR), Joshua Moore (SO), Marcus Washington (SO), Al'Vonte Woodard (SO), Kai Money (SO), Jordan Whittington (RS FR), Troy Omeire (FR), Kelvontay Dixon (FR), Xavier Worthy (FR), Jaden Alexis (FR), Dajon Harrison (FR), Casey Cain (FR), Keithron Lee (FR - suspended)
EXPECTED KEY CONTRIBUTORS: Whittington, Omeire, Worthy, Moore
FALL CAMP STORYLINES: This is a whopper of a storyline. Picture this: Texas' best 3WR set looks like it will consist of 1) Jordan Whittington in the slot, who Texas fans have seen in all of 5 total games at Texas over two seasons and 115 total snaps; 2) Troy Omeire at the X, who was injured in his true freshman fall camp and has never seen action in an actual college football game; and 3) Xavier Worthy at the Z, who is a true freshman phenom that seems to be on the tip of every source's tongue when asked about players to be watching out for as big-time breakouts in camp. As crazy as it sounds, given the talent, raw athleticism and recruiting pedigree of all three -- and despite being collectively almost entirely unknown entities -- the group has the upside to be special. Brennan Eagles, Devin Duvernay and Collin Johnson special? No. More special than that.
TIGHT END
ON SCHOLARSHIP: Cade Brewer (SR), Jared Wiley (SO), Brayden Liebrock (RS FR), Gunnar Helm (FR), Juan Davis (FR), Ja'Tavion Sanders (FR)
EXPECTED KEY CONTRIBUTORS: Brewer, Wiley, TBD
FALL CAMP STORYLINES: The "TBD" above is the biggest storyline. Texas has a lot of TEs and TEs, especially if we consider the fact that one of the 2021 class's highest-profile players (Sanders) is likely to start out there. (Talk about a storyline -- what if Sanders starts camp lined up on defense at the EDGE spot?!) Regardless, Sanders has all the looks of a three-years-and-gone college player at whatever position he's pegged at, so you'll want to get him involved early. If that is indeed at TE, well, what about Gunnar Helm? He was actually one of the big surprises of spring practices as an early enrollee, or Juan Davis who showed nice flashes in the spring game as an early enrollee himself? We know that Jared Wiley is a beast and Cade Brewer is the group's grizzled vet, so how is this going to shake out? Does Sark want to run more 2TE sets than the previous regime? If so, which one of the excellent WR options listed above are you going to take off the field to get into 12-personnel?
OFFENSIVE LINE
ON SCHOLARSHIP: Denzel Okafor (SR), Derek Kerstetter (SR), Tope Imade (SR), Christian Jones (SO), Junior Angilau (SO), Rafiti Ghirmai (SO), Tyler Johnson (RS FR), Isaiah Hookfin (RS FR), Jake Majors (FR), Jaylen Garth (FR), Andrej Karic (FR), Hayden Conner (FR), Max Merrill (FR), Logan Parr (FR)
EXPECTED KEY CONTRIBUTORS: Jones, Okafor, Kerstetter, Angilau, Karic, Majors, Conner
FALL CAMP STORYLINES: Very simple: Derek Kerstetter is back, which throws our easy OL projection right into the dumpster. Here's what we know: Christian Jones will be the LT. Hopefully he has improved and my instincts say he has as Coach Flood talks him up in his coaching clinic video we broke down earlier in July. Denzel Okafor, despite having one of the worst seasons in Deep Dig history for an OL disruption-allowed-wise, seems to be a favorite of the new staff and should start out as entrenched at the LG. Now we get to center. We know Derek Kerstetter can play both center and RT. Does Jake Majors (who was really good in relief of Kerstetter last season in two games) get relegated to being an immediate backup to the three interior positions, or does Kerstetter bump out to RT? That would allow Majors to stay at center, but would then presumably relegate another extremely promising young player in Andrej Karic to sixth-man swing tackle duties. Of course we know that Junior Angilau is entrenched at the RG and poised for a monster year. The evolving storylines to follow here are: 1) which one of the very good young prospects (Karic and Majors) are initially relegated to field what Flood views as the best five on the field now that Kerstetter is back; and 2) will Denzel Okafor once again turn into a pumpkin once the clock strikes midnight -- and if so, what is the fallout?
*****
(From Suchomel)
When Texas picked up a commitment from Ronald “Champ” Lewis on Thursday night, he was still an unknown commodity to many of you reading this story. Can’t say I’m much different. Lewis picked up his UT offer on Wednesday night and I didn’t know a ton about him before talking to him on Thursday afternoon.
In talking to the New Orleans Warren Easton DB, it was plainly obvious that a commitment was coming. He mentioned things would be moving quickly and he used phrases like “when I get up to Texas” in our conversation. Texas needs to hope he’s a better football player than poker player.
Lewis was actually committed to Colorado until Texas offered on Wednesday. As soon as that offer was extended and finalized, Lewis publicly decommitted.
“I got a call from coach (Terry) Joseph. He was very excited to let me know I received that offer after my performance at a camp in June,” Lewis said. “He told me when I was there I had some big news coming.
Lewis has some familiarity with Texas after his former teammate Casey Cain signed with UT in the 2021 class. Those two hung out during Lewis’s camp appearance in June and Cain helped sell Lewis on Texas.
“I hung with Casey at the camp, asked what he likes about it,” Lewis said. “Casey was just telling me how much of a home environment it is for him, how he’s expecting to have a good career up there.”
Speaking of Cain … what’s Lewis’s scouting report after matching up with him in practice?
“Here’s definitely one of the best wide receivers I’ve ever got a chance to go up against,” Lewis said. “Practicing against him made me better. No player I went against was as physical and talented as I when I went against him.”
West Virginia, Indiana, Mississippi State and Tulane were among the other schools on Lewis’s list.
At 6-1 ½ and about 170 pounds, Lewis has good size and Texas has talked to him about being a versatile DB who will play corner but could also line up at safety.
Lewis really opened the eyes of the UT staff during his camp performance in June, where he made several big plays.
“I showed my physicality, my ball skills. I left the camp with about three picks at safety and corner,” Lewis said. “I showed my versatility and speed. Showed that I can play, my talent.”
Lewis made it to the state championship last year in both the 110M hurdles and 300M hurdles. He’s going to talk to his school counselor when classes start to discuss the possibility of graduating early.
“Texas is a really big football franchise. They take football really seriously up there. It seems like a place I can play at, play football to get to next level,” Lewis said. “The coaches there will develop me not only as a better player, but a better person.”
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Texas receiver commitment Armani Winfield has been the topic of constant speculation in recent months. There have been off-and-on rumors about the Lewisville standout opening up his recruitment, only to have Winfield publicly shoot those down. Those rumors would once again pick up steam in June, when Winfield took official visits to Michigan State and LSU in addition to his Texas OV.
Winfield was back in Austin last weekend for UT’s pool party and while he didn’t say he’s completely done talking to other programs, his words and actions feel like a guy who is pretty happy with his commitment, including Winfield trying to recruit other players to Austin.
“We had lot of other recruits come out, some that are committed and uncommitted, so I was just out trying to recruit, trying to just talk to the young bucks, fill their heads up with knowledge and really just have fun,” Winfield said.
He mostly worked on receivers in the 2023 class and said he sold them on a variety of factors that should make Texas an intriguing option for other players.
“The new NIL rules, that’s going to affect big here. And then Texas joining the SEC. A lot of people want to play in the SEC so that’s big,” Winfield said. “That's blowing up right now. I was just telling them that.”
Winfield said the SEC move doesn’t impact him “that much” because ball is ball, but he did say he’s excited about the prospect of playing in that league. As for him taking other visits, he said it’s mostly because he’d never had a chance to take visits before he committed due to the year-plus dead period.
“I committed during COVID so I didn’t really take any visits for so long. So I'm really just looking at what other schools have to offer,” he said. “They (the Texas coaches) say just see what you need to see and you’ll come back to us. We have trust. Coach Coleman knows what’s up. He knows I'm just out there just trying to see what other schools got.”
If you remember, Winfield actually called Andre Coleman to commit at halftime of the national championship game while watching Sark’s offense go off. He said he’s even more excited about his commitment now than he was when he made it.
“It's honestly more. It's way more because it's like a family vibe here,” Winfield said. “Plus a great offense. Plus a great city. It's everything that I want and everything that I need to be successful and goes to the next level.”
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For those still interested, Bryce Anderson will announce his decision tomorrow morning at about 11 a.m. Don’t revolve your day around that announcement.
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We’ll see if Texas can maintain the momentum built with Omari Abor during his visit last weekend, but the Duncanville standout really did enjoy his UT visit after not really having Texas on his radar during most of his recruitment.
At one point early on, it looked like OU might be the team to beat but the Sooners are pretty much out of the race, which certainly helps UT’s chances. Abor said he hasn’t talked to Oklahoma in about a month-and-a-half. A&M could wind up being a factor, but Abor mentioned that the Aggies may be close to full with defensive linemen so he wasn’t sure how that would factor in.
Texas still has a lot of work to do in this one with schools like Alabama and Ohio State expected to be big factors, but there is time with Abor not planning to announce until the Under Armour All-American game. Getting him back on campus for an official visit will be key, and Abor said there’s a solid chance that visit will happen.
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A quick update on defensive lineman Jaray Bledsoe …
The Marlin defensive lineman was unable to make it into Austin last weekend for his planned visit for the pool party. He did make it to College Station on Saturday, which obviously gives A&M a bit of a boost.
In talking to someone close to Bledsoe this week, he doesn’t yet have an official visit to Texas set up for the fall but I’m told he’s excited to get to Austin for that weekend stay and he wants to get it set up soon.
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(From Cole)
Arlington Martin linebacker Trevell Johnson has been committed to Texas since February. The 6-1, 200-pound defender chose the Longhorns over Arkansas, Baylor, Tennessee, Texas Tech, and a handful of other programs.
However, things appear to be trending in a different direction in Johnson’s recruitment. The Arlington native has used two of his five official visits – one to Texas and one to Texas Tech, both in June. It appears that Tech has made a strong impression on the Longhorn commit.
Including the June 25 official visit, Johnson has made three trips to Lubbock this summer. He visited Tech in the beginning of June for a camp, in the middle for his OV, and then last weekend for Tech’s big recruiting weekend. Despite being in the Texas class, the Arlington Martin recruit opted to bypass a visit to Austin in favor of another trip to West Texas.
Sources on the Texas Tech side are growing more and more confident about the possibility of Johnson flipping his commitment. Johnson has family in the Lubbock area and, according to a source, his girlfriend would like for him to play at Tech.
It is important to put more stock in a recruit’s actions than his words. If just going by his actions, it is clear that there is real interest from Johnson in the Red Raiders. Additionally, while it might not be directly related to Johnson, the Longhorns have added two linebacker commits to the 2022 class in the last week: Derrick Brown out of Texas High and Eoghan Kerry from Mater Dei.
That said, there is always a possibility of Johnson remaining firm and electing to spend his college life in Austin. Johnson’s former high school teammate and fellow Arlington Martin product Morice Blackwell is a true freshman at Texas, so that’s an important connection that the Longhorns have going for them. And, at least for the time being, Johnson is a member of the Texas class and hasn’t decommitted.
This is certainly something worth keeping an eye on. Texas needs to find a way to be able to get Johnson back on campus if they want to hold on to his commitment.
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DeSoto star wide receiver Johntay Cook was in Austin for an unofficial visit last weekend. The class of 2023 four-star playmaker has made multiple trips to Austin, but it is always a plus to get those kinds of prospects on campus repeatedly.
Cook spoke highly of his relationship with head coach Steve Sarkisian and wide receivers coach Andre Coleman. NCAA rules prohibits schools from calling recruits until September 1, but Texas has been in constant contact with the Rivals100 wideout. He joked that Texas will call him at 11:59:59 the night before to make sure that they are first to talk to him.
The Longhorns have seemingly done a great job in his recruitment thus far. Cook is close with fellow 2023 stars Arch Manning and Rueben Owens, both of whom are also being heavily recruited by Texas. Perhaps that plays a role in each of their recruitments. Cook said that the three schools that he is focused on are Alabama, UT, and A&M.
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2022 defensive tackle prospect Aaron Bryant recently announced that he will make his commitment on August 26, which is the day before his senior season begins. Bryant released a top-5 in July that consisted of Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Texas, and Texas A&M. However, Ole Miss is in the picture now after getting him on campus for an unofficial visit last weekend and being just one hour from his home in Mississippi.
In talking to him, I get the sense that Texas, Georgia, and Ole Miss are three schools most in the mix for him. He spoke well of his relationship with UT defensive line coach Bo Davis. He loves that Davis will push him to get better and said that Davis showed him how he will coach him, which he really liked. Bryant also said that Sarkisian personally recruited him more than any other head coach. He enjoyed his visit to Austin and is adamant that he doesn’t mind leaving home.
Texas is in a great position to add one of the best players in Mississippi. The Magnolia State historically produces a ton of talent along the defensive line, and Bryant has a chance to be next in that line. 100% of the Rivals FutureCast predictions are in favor of the Longhorns.
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Ryan Yaites was back in Austin last weekend, and the Texas staff continues to make a strong impression on the four-star Denton Guyer defensive back. Yaites is very open to leaving the state – he is looking at Notre Dame, Ole Miss, USC, and Miami – but the Longhorns are obviously looking to keep him near home.
Yaites said that his most recent visit to Texas was the best visit that he has taken, which says a lot because he has spoken highly of his visits to Notre Dame and Ole Miss. Relationships and academics will play the biggest role in where Yaites ultimately chooses to go. Special teams coordinator Blake Gideon has established a strong connection with the Denton native.
I like where Texas is with Yaites right now. Long way to go, though.
*****
(Ari/Ketch)
In news from the Big 12 offices in Irving, Texas, rumors continue to swirl around Kansas and the Big 10. It’s important to point out that there are reputable folks, with proven sourcing around the KU program, that have discussed this possibility. Suddenly there are a lot of Rock Chalk Jayhawk fans around Austin and Norman, because the more dominoes that fall, the more likely the conference is to collapse, and with it that pesky $80 million bill.
But, nothing is imminent. As quickly as the SEC deal came together for Texas and Oklahoma, don’t expect any corresponding moves to transpire as quickly.
I have no doubt that there is legitimate interest in Kansas and the Big 10. I bet there’s also legitimate interest in Oklahoma State and the Pac-12, especially if the Cowboys come around to their senses and continue playing Bedlam. Texas and Oklahoma provided the early fireworks, but we’ve hit a stage of purgatory in conference realignment.
In talking with a source from Lawrence on Thursday afternoon, it was expressed to be that Kansas officials have been telling high-level donors that if the Longhorns and Sooners want chaos, they aren't getting it from the Jayhawks, as those high-level donors are being told that Kansas plans to take its time and sort through its options. While Texas and OU would love to start in the SEC as soon as possible, Jayhawks officials are telling people that they are expecting a couple more seasons in the Big 12.
Notre Dame is at the center of all of this. They’re the only remaining puzzle piece that equals the seismic shift of Texas or Oklahoma. What Notre Dame does, or does not do, in terms of conference affiliation will set in motion everything else in conference realignment.
The Pac-12, ACC and Big 10 all might not feel much desperation at the moment, but none of those three conferences can afford to stand pat when the SEC is projecting $60-$70m per school with their new television deal. That’s twice as much as the Pac 12 and ACC currently earn.
Maybe the Big 12 will get creative and figure out a way to make up for the revenue shortfall with an unforeseen splash. Or maybe, they’re on a timeline, and running out the clock until 2024.
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