War Room:
--- As recruiting heats up prior to the first signing day, I learned the two biggest priorities are offensive line and linebacker.
Here is a list of guys to keep an eye on:
JUCO LB
Caleb Johnson out of Cali. Pretty much down to Texas and Oregon. Has already visited Texas, taking his Oregon official visit this weekend.
LB
Vic Viramontes, Riverside City College. He finished with 66 tackles last season and is on the radar. A former QB, Viramontes transferred from Riverside C.C. to Minnesota before transferring back to Riverside, where he's excelled as a LB.
OL
Isaiah Hookfin
Recent offer, Texas leads. Committing in December.
OL
Myron Cunningham
Has already visited OU. Visits Arkansas next week. Told Suchomel he plans to visit Texas also and will decide in December
OL
Andrew Coker
Committed to TCU. TCU did in-home visit on Wednesday. Has told me he'll visit Texas, just a matter of Texas getting that one locked in.
--- After Texas plays in the Big 12 Championship Game, Longhorn coaches will hit the recruiting road.
I asked Herman to break down what life in Austin will look like with his coaches on the road, and he gave a detailed answer.
“This early signing period is crazy because the teams that are playing in the championship games, we miss one-third of the recruiting before signing day,” Herman said. “We’ll hit the road. The players will have Monday through Thursday off, in terms of on-the-field. They’ll lift Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This is the last week of classes, so, there will be a big study hall, tutor, learning specialist week. Then we’ll have a coordinator practice on Friday. Get all the guys back off the road on Friday night. Host official visits.
“Then we’ll practice in the morning in front of all our official visitors, and carry on with the official visit weekend.”
--- I spent Thursday afternoon speaking to multiple bowl representatives, and reached one conclusion.
Right now, nobody has a clue which team might play in their bowl game.
It was really quite funny to discuss the different bowl possibilities. There are so many scenarios, it reminds you of those old Choose Your Own Adventure books. At the end of the day, Texas will play in a pretty good bowl game.
Texas’ strongest possibilities are the Sugar Bowl (January 1), Fiesta Bowl (January 1), Peach Bowl (December 29) or Alamo Bowl (December 28). Simply put, if Texas defeats Oklahoma, it will play in the Sugar Bowl. If Oklahoma wins and advances to the college football playoffs, Texas will likely play in the Sugar Bowl.
However, if Texas does not win, or Oklahoma misses the playoffs, anything could happen.
From my conversations, I am not convinced the Fiesta Bowl or Peach Bowl would take a four-loss Texas team, especially if the Longhorns slide down the CFP rankings. If Texas is not in the Sugar Bowl, this team might play in the Alamo Bowl. It will be hard for the Alamo Bowl to pass on a nine-win Texas team.
The best-case scenario, for Texas, is beating Oklahoma and securing a Sugar Bowl bid.
If that does not occur, we will know which bowl game takes Texas on Sunday.
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(From Suchomel)
With the Texas coaches paring for the Big 12 Championship game on Saturday, it hasn’t been an incredibly active week on the recruiting front (that’ll change next week/weekend when the coaches hit the road and the Longhorns host some official visitors). I figured this would be a good time to take an overall look at UT’s commitments and top remaining targets:
QUARTERBACK
Roschon Johnson (committed) – Not much new here … Johnson is leading his team on a successful playoff run, he’s putting up big numbers and he’s locked into his Texas commitment. He and PN-G will square off against Fort Bend Marshall and 2020 QB Malik Hornsby on Friday night.
RUNNING BACK
Derrian Brown (committed) – The Buford (GA) standout’s senior season recently came to an end. He has been and continues to be rock solid with his Texas commitment.
Noah Cain – All eyes are on the IMG Academy standout as he heads towards the finish line. Last week, I felt like Texas had a decent lead over Penn State. Georgia really impressed Cain and his family last week which has kind of muddied the waters a bit. I still
slightly favor Texas (so much about Cain to UT makes sense) but this one is still undecided. Expect Texas to see Cain and his family next week, and we’ll have to wait to see if Cain takes his fifth and final visit.
Trey Sanders – The Longhorns have done a great job on this one, including blowing Sanders away on his visit back in September, but I’ve always thought that Bama and Florida would be tough to beat the long this one went on. I still feel that way.
DJ Williams – He’s visited Auburn and Miami. He’ll visit Georgia on December 14. Williams told us a couple weeks ago he’d likely be in Austin on December 7, but told another Rivals reporter this week that he’s undecided on a visit for that date. If he does make it into Austin, you have to figure Texas will make a strong impression but right now the smart money might be on Miami.
Rhamondre Stevenson – A new name to the mix, Stevenson told OB this week that he plan on visiting Texas, Oklahoma and Utah. He doesn’t plan on making any sort of decision until February, so there’s time for Texas to see what happens with its other targets before turning up the heat on this one.
WIDE RECEIVER
Jordan Whittington (committed) – Nothing to see here. Whittington and Cuero are mowing down playoff opponents and he’ll be enrolling at Texas in January.
Jake Smith (committed) – Smith is locked in with his Texas commitment. He and his team play for a state title this weekend.
Marcus Washington (committed ) – He’s a man of few words but based on his and his family’s social media presence, Washington is locked in.
Peyton Powell (committed) – There’s been some scuttlebutt that Powell might take another visit or two (more on that in a bit), but I’m expecting him to stick.
Demariyon Houston (committed) – Houston has always been a guy to watch for the possibility of other visits, so we’ll keep an eye on this one down the stretch (more on him in a bit as well).
Bru McCoy –Some have felt like UT has had the lead. USC people believe he’s been locked in for a while. I’m somewhere in the middle. I don't think he's locked in to stay in state, but have felt Texas needed to find a way to close the gap, especially with USC still having its official visit remaining. If USC officially hires Kliff Kingsbury, that’s not going to help UT’s chances. I still think this one is leaning USC’s way.
Elijah Higgins – It’s been pretty quiet with the Austin Bowie standout. Florida was in-home last night. Stanford will be in next week (Texas likely as well). Higgins doesn’t have a firm date for a decision so this one’s tough to predict, but it does feel like UT is still playing catch-up.
Kennedy Lewis – It’ll be interesting to see if things heat up here if Texas has numbers later in the process. If they do, the Longhorns would have a great shot at landing him.
TIGHT END
Brayden Liebrock (committed) – There were random rumors recently that Liebrock might be looking around, but that’s simply not true. He’s locked in.
Jared Wiley (committed) – He’s rock-solid as well. Willey will take his Texas official visit on December 14.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Tyler Johnson (committed) – Johnson doesn’t say much at all, but he’s never given any indication he’s even remotely interested in any other schools.
Javonne Shepherd (committed) – Shepherd was in Austin this week, which is a big step in the right direction for Texas. Don’t be surprised to see him take other visits, but I expect him to stick with his Texas pledge.
Isaiah Hookfin – He’ll be in Austin on December 14 for his official visit and Hookfin plans to have a decision in the days after that trip. The Longhorns look to be in a great spot here.
Myron Cunningham – He’s already taken an official visit to Oklahoma. He’ll be at Arkansas next weekend. Cunningham has told me he’ll decide in December, so that would only leave the December 14 weekend open for a possible visit (unless he came in midweek). I’ve got a message into him to see if he’s made any progress towards locking in a UT visit.
Andrew Coker – He’s still committed to TCU and the Horned Frogs did an in-home visit on Wednesday night. Don’t be surprised to see Texas make a stop to see Coker early next week, and if the staff does that and can get him in for a visit, this one will be trending UT’s way. We should have a much better handle on this one in the next week or so.
DEFENSIVE LINE
T'Vondre Sweat (committed) – He’s been committed forever, and he’s said repeatedly that he’s not interested in anyone else.
Peter Mpagi (committed) – He’s locked in and will enroll at Texas early.
Myron Warren (committed) – He gave Texas a recent commitment and told OB that he’s sticking with Texas no matter what happens with other schools. This still feels like it could be one to watch if LSU winds up offering, but Texas did a great job to get him in the fold so quickly.
Jacoby Jones (committed) – Jones will enroll in January and is coming in with the mindset that he’ll be able to contribute right away.
LINEBACKER
De'Gabriel Floyd (committed) – This guy may be more dialed in than any person on the Texas commitment list.
Marcus Tillman (committed) – There was a time when Tillman told OB he was slightly considering taking a couple other visits, but that no longer appears to be the case. He’ll graduate this month and enroll in January.
David Gbenda (committed) – He’s been weirdly quiet of late, but no need to worry here. He’s been solid with his decision.
Caleb Johnson – He’s told OB Texas is still the team to beat, but with an Oregon visit coming up this weekend, we’ll be watching this one very closely. Look for Texas to get out to see him early next week to try to crush any momentum Oregon could possibly build. Tough one to call, but Texas is still in the lead as of right now.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Kenyatta Watson (committed) – There was some talk recently that Watson might take another visit or two, but in talking to people close to him they’ve never actually scheduled anything and Watson seems very happy with his decision.
Chris Adimora (committed) – He has talked about taking other visits but every time I’ve talked to Adimora, he’s basically said he couldn’t even think of a way another school could pry him away from Texas. I wouldn’t worry about this one, but it is worth watching. Adimora has gone quiet on me of late, so it’s been tough to really pinpoint what he’s thinking. I’ll continue to work on that. He does still have his Texas OV so I’d be shocked if anything really happened here.
Marques Caldwell (committed) – He’s still on the mend from a torn labrum, but there’s nothing really new to report from a recruiting perspective.
Tyler Owens (committed) – There’s been discussions about the possibility of him taking some other visits, but with the way his offer/commitment went down, I just don’t think it matters. Even if Owens did hit another campus or two, I can’t see him not coming back to Texas.
Jalen Catalon – Arkansas insiders feel like he’s completely locked in, but Catalon will visit Texas on the weekend of December 14, so there’s clearly still a strong interest in the Longhorns. Can UT win him and his family over enough to get Texas over the hump? We’ll see, but don’t close the door on this one just yet.
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As always is the case this time of the year, recruiting rumors are going to pop up at a fast and furious pace.
Earlier this week, reports surfaced elsewhere that Oklahoma was giving Texas wide receiver commitment
Demariyon Houston a close look and there’s been speculation that the Sooners could even be close to extending an offer.
I did some checking on Thursday, and here’s what I can tell you ... Oklahoma hasn’t made any sort of move on Houston yet and if the Sooner coaches are going to turn up the heat, people close to Houston haven’t been told of any renewed interest on OU’s behalf.
I was told this week that Houston remains locked in with his Texas commitment and has been saying and doing all the right things this week in terms of wearing UT gear and his conversations about his Texas pledge.
Houston’s teammate at Oklahoma City Millwood, Marcus Major, is committed to Oklahoma, so it stands to reason that the OU staff will be by the school in the near future. And Houston’s a talented enough prospect that other schools have continued to recruit him ever since he committed to Texas back in July.
Bottom line … recruiting can always change in a hurry, but I’m told as of right now, Houston is still very much pro-Texas and excited about his UT commitment. Houston does still have his Texas official visit to take as well.
******
There are reports that Texas commitment
Peyton Powell could take an official visit to Baylor along with his Odessa Permian teammate Landon Peterson. Powell’s normally pretty easy for me to track down, but he’s been quiet this week so I’m still working to gather details/confirmation.
It is worth nothing that Powell did tell us after he committed to Texas he probably wouldn’t sign until February because he wanted to enjoy the process some. But he was also supposed to visit Texas Tech shortly after committing to Texas (per Tech people) but that visit never happened. And just prior to committing to UT in late October, Baylor wasn’t one of the schools Powell told OB was in his top five. We’ll keep an eye on this one to see if (a) the visit happens and (b) there’s anything to be concerned with, but I’d be mildly surprised to see Powell wind up signing with anyone other than Texas.
