2019 Recruiting Thread
- Thread starter Bwilk55
- Start date
As expected Toneil Carter is transferring. That might be three RBs that were holding up schollies off the ledger this upcoming cycle: Carter, Houston, Johnson.
Really, really need to land a difference maker at RB this cycle to compliment Ingram.
Really, really need to land a difference maker at RB this cycle to compliment Ingram.
The Mike Williams situation is weird, I'm going out on a limb and saying there are some serious personal issues he is dealing with. I don't think this is a matter of a guy being homesick.
Not hapenning. The difference makers are going elsewhere. Oline needs to get better.
OB War Room: A lot of words with zero idea where Sanders, Cain and McCoy end up
(From Anwar)
The biggest storylines surrounding Tom Herman’s program right now are the recruiting wars prior to signing day.
Longhorn observers are keeping close tabs on the battle for Bru McCoy, Trey Sanders and Noah Cain. Jason Suchomel will give his analysis of each situation in this War Room, but those are the biggest recruiting tussles right now. Those are the most obvious storylines this week.
(From Suchomel)
We have officially hit the recruiting home stretch, with only six days remaining (as I write this) before the early signing period begins next Wednesday.
Texas will host several recruits this weekend on official visits (more on that in a bit), but let’s start off by taking a look at the big three that Texas continues to chase … Noah Cain, Bru McCoy and Trey Sanders.
Let’s take a look at why you should feel good, and why you should be worried, with each guy …
Noah Cain
Pros for Texas
- Strong relationship with Stan Drayton
- Proximity to both his parents
- Open depth chart
- Wants to study business
- Likes the young depth of Texas’ OL
Cons for Texas
- Several visits after Texas that are more fresh
- Confidence by people close to the Penn State program
- Penn State’s recent history with RBs
Trey Sanders
Pros for Texas
- Wide open depth chart
- Word I received after his UT official visit was that he and his parents really enjoyed the visit (parents went home wearing UT gear)
- Early in the process, he told other recruits behind the scenes he might wind up at Texas
- Doesn’t seem to be settled on any one school out of Bama, Georgia or Florida, so Texas could be a viable solution for him and his family
Cons for Texas
- Texas official visit was a long time ago
- Georgia appears to be surging after his recent official visit
- Proximity to his family
- Likes the idea of playing in the SEC
Bru McCoy
Pros for Texas
- Family is very supportive of the idea of him at Texas
- Texas’ use of big receivers
- Environment at Texas games compared to USC
- Potential to be an early contributor
- Strong relationship with the Texas staff, including Drew Mehringer
Cons for Texas
- Lifelong USC fan
- Former and current teammates at Mater Dei recruiting him to USC
- USC has the obvious edge in proximity
- West Coast analysts feel USC has a sizeable lead
Everyone is looking for definitive answers to where each guy will wind up, but those just aren’t available. None of the three has told any school where he’s going, and these three truly could be decisions that won’t be known until next Wednesday (although Cain’s family has said his plan is to know before the early signing period begins).
The one thing I can tell you for sure is that there’s no real consensus on Texas’ chances with each. Truth be told, the confidence levels for all programs are pretty much all over the place.
--- In Sanders, there’s been growing confidence on the Georgia side and Rivals.com’s Trent Smallwood, who covers recruiting for UGASports.com, reported on Wednesday night that he was hearing good things about Georgia’s chances from multiple sources. Smallwood put in his Rivals forecast for UGA, but said he feels this one is still not fully decided and there could be movement before Sanders announces.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban was at IMG on Wednesday. Tom Herman, Stan Drayton and other members of the UT staff were at IMG on Thursday. Word is that Georgia head coach Kirby Smart wants the last visit and is expected to go in-home either on Thursday night or possibly on Friday. If it’s Friday, he may go to Sanders’ hometown in Port Saint Joe (FL) to meet with Sanders’ entire family.
Sanders does have one more official visit remaining, which he’ll take to Florida this weekend. At one point, the Gators were thought to be a major threat since Sanders’ brother is a walk-on for the Gators, but most of the talk of late has centered on Georgia, Bama and Texas.
One other note worth mentioning … Alabama hosted running back D.J. Williams on an official visit last week and Nick Saban did an in-home visit with Deondrick Glass this week. Glass, who has already taken an Alabama official visit, told me this week that he’s planning to take a January official visit to Texas after meeting with Drayton last week. But there is speculation that if Bama misses on Sanders, it could push for Glass to sign in the early window.
Lots of moving parts in this one …
--- In Bru McCoy, Texas has done an incredible job in winning over not only McCoy himself, but both of Bru’s parents as well.
Every time I’ve communicated with Horace McCoy, he’s mentioned how strong the family’s interest in Texas is and how much respect they have for the UT staff. When I had a lengthy phone conversation with Mr. McCoy fairly recently, he made it a point to tell me that the interest in UT wasn’t just lip service … he wanted to make it crystal clear that the entire family was looking at Texas very seriously.
Tom Herman and Drew Mehringer did an in-home on Wednesday and McCoy’s father told me it was another good visit, as was Mehringer’s in-home last week and as was Bru’s official visit in September.
The obvious question … Has Texas done enough?
McCoy will have an in-home visit with new USC offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury on Thursday night. That’ll be big. He’ll then take his official visit to USC this weekend … that’ll be huge. The Longhorns have put themselves in a very good position here and done about as good of a job in this one as could be expected, but will now have to sweat out what will be a critical 72-hour stretch with USC getting the last shot to win him over.
Confidence on the USC side remains high (extremely high in some cases) but the guess here is that people out West are underestimating UT’s chances a bit. Mater Dei kids usually wind up at USC and the Trojans have been the favorite program growing up, so it makes sense to predict USC, but I do feel Texas has made this one more interesting than some out West realize. It is tough to ignore the USC ties and the fact that the Trojans will get the last visits, but the vibe I’ve picked up is that this one is pretty close.
--- Not much new to report on Noah Cain from what was discussed earlier in the week. He’ll take a Tennessee visit this weekend and then should come to a decision early next week. Most of the recent buzz is focused on Penn State and I’m told that there is confidence inside the Penn State program, but Cain has not given any staff a clear indication of what he’s going to do.
--- Lastly, I’ll leave you with this as it relates to the trio of McCoy, Cain and Sanders … the opinions on all three are wildly varied, and it is all a bit of a guessing game at this point. But those of you who have completely discounted Texas’ chances with any of the three are making a mistake. Will Texas get any of them? I honestly don’t know and I do think Texas has ground to make up on all three, but the staff has done an incredible job to position itself in the lead pack as they approach the finish line, and there is some confidence on the Texas side of things. This could be a wild last week and Longhorn fans should not abandon all hope just yet.
******
Some background the Peyton Powell decommitment, which unraveled pretty quickly on Thursday night ...
As I mentioned on the message board, this was definitely a mutual decision, if you will, and Texas was fine with each side moving in a different direction.
Remember, Powell took an unexpected visit to Baylor last weekend, something that probably didn’t exactly put him in the good graces of the Texas staff. We’ve seen it before this cycle (Demariyon Houston was also considering visits) … if you’re committed and going to take visits, you’re putting your spot at risk. Especially if you take visits late in the process that are a bit off the radar, like Powell did.
From what I’ve been told, Texas is very comfortable with its receiver situation in this year’s class and the situation with Powell was one that Texas feels it can comfortably absorb.
******
Top Texas LB target Caleb Johnson will visit Colorado this weekend before announcing his final decision on Monday. On Monday of this week, Tom Herman and Todd Orlando paid Johnson a visit, and the Fullerton Community College product said it was good to spend some time with the UT coaches and hear how he’s a top priority for the Texas staff.
“Coach Orlando and I had talked a couple times, but this was the first time he had come to see me so it was good,” Johnson said. “They were just letting me know how much they need me, how much value I’d bring to the team, the opportunity that’s there as far as Texas. They’re on their way back, trying to make it to College Football Playoffs. Aside from football, they said it’s a great degree and great city. They were just asking me where my head is at.”
And where is Johnson’s head as he closes in on his decision?
“I just told them about the visit to Colorado this weekend. I’m just trying to see what coaches there have to say. I already went there before. I’m just pretty much seeing what they have to say, see who all is staying (after the head coaching change). I know the linebacker coach is staying.”
Colorado will swing for the fences, but I still like Texas’ position here.
******
Texas is set to host a handful of prospect on official visits this weekend, including some prospects who aren’t committed to Texas (yet). A look at some of the top guys expected to be on campus …
Commitments
Roschon Johnson – The first commitment of the UT class, Johnson is completely locked in. He’ll enroll in January.
De'Gabriel Floyd – Floyd is another guy who will enroll in January and he’ll be an active recruiter for Texas this weekend … as he always is.
Chris Adimora – There was a time not too long ago when Adimora was looking at taking another visit, but he’s locked in and will sign next week.
Jordan Whittington – Another early enrollee, Whittington will play in a playoff game on Friday before starting his official visit.
Myron Warren – Big visit here. Warren has said he’ll wait to sign until February, but the guess here is that Texas has a solid chance of getting him to sign during the early period, especially since LSU didn’t do an in-home visit during the current visit period. If the staff can convince him to do sign next week, it would be a huge development for UT’s d-line recruiting.
Uncommitted prospects
Jalen Catalon – Arkansas feels confident it’s going to land him, but Catalon has a good relationship with Craig Naivar and Texas will look to make a strong move this weekend. It won’t be easy, but not out of the question either.
Isaiah Hookfin – Hookfin looks like a good bet to be in this class, and Texas will look to seal the deal this weekend.
This staff has been known to have some tricks up its sleeve, as it did last week when IMG DT Antoine Whitner was brought in. We’ll see if there are any surprises this week as well on the last official visit weekend before the early signing period.
******
(From Alex Dunlap)
One NFL scouting contact who covers Texas as part of his area was nice enough to share his notes with me on the Texas Longhorns who are (or might be) coming out for the 2019 NFL draft. The notes have his thoughts and suggestions for draft grades. It should be noted that these are not a specific team's draft grades, only those of one scout who will turn the work in to the decision-makers. I'll have more of this info to share in the coming days regarding all the Texas players, but first, here in the War Room, I'll give an overview of a few things that really stuck out to me regarding this one scout's set of evaluations:
This scout likes Collin Johnson much more than Lil'Jordan Humphrey as a prospect. A lot more, when considering the round projections. He notes that Johnson should be thought of as highly as a fringe first-rounder, although his official projection for him is in the 2nd/3rd. Whereas, he gives Humphrey a Round 5 grade.
Here are some of the notes on Johnson:
- Johnson made major improvements in 2018 as a red zone receiver after struggling with high-pointing the football and winning contested catches against smaller defenders (got shut down by 5’9” DJ Reed/Kansas State in 2017) and his amplified his touchdown production inside the 20. Johnson is a feisty run blocker on the perimeter or out of the slot and shows great enthusiasm in engaging defenders and using leg drive to create seals.
- Johnson compares in body type and play style to Kenny Golladay and is best suited to play as an X Receiver in a West Coast Offense due to his wide catch radius and ability to turn short, high completion passes for big gains with his deceptive speed and acceleration. Johnson projects as a fringe first round player at the next level due to his elite size, athleticism, and versatility as a receiver.
Here are some of the notes on Humphrey:
- Humphrey does a good job of calculating his stride length on lofted passes to generate as much jumping power as possible to give him an advantage to pull in contested catches against taller, more physical defensive backs. Humphrey shows great body control on Corner and Out routes along the sideline and does well to keep his feet in bounds through contact. Humphrey does a good job of identifying and settling into soft spots against Zone coverage, especially in the middle of the field on Seams.
(From Anwar)
The biggest storylines surrounding Tom Herman’s program right now are the recruiting wars prior to signing day.
Longhorn observers are keeping close tabs on the battle for Bru McCoy, Trey Sanders and Noah Cain. Jason Suchomel will give his analysis of each situation in this War Room, but those are the biggest recruiting tussles right now. Those are the most obvious storylines this week.
(From Suchomel)
We have officially hit the recruiting home stretch, with only six days remaining (as I write this) before the early signing period begins next Wednesday.
Texas will host several recruits this weekend on official visits (more on that in a bit), but let’s start off by taking a look at the big three that Texas continues to chase … Noah Cain, Bru McCoy and Trey Sanders.
Let’s take a look at why you should feel good, and why you should be worried, with each guy …
Noah Cain
Pros for Texas
- Strong relationship with Stan Drayton
- Proximity to both his parents
- Open depth chart
- Wants to study business
- Likes the young depth of Texas’ OL
Cons for Texas
- Several visits after Texas that are more fresh
- Confidence by people close to the Penn State program
- Penn State’s recent history with RBs
Trey Sanders
Pros for Texas
- Wide open depth chart
- Word I received after his UT official visit was that he and his parents really enjoyed the visit (parents went home wearing UT gear)
- Early in the process, he told other recruits behind the scenes he might wind up at Texas
- Doesn’t seem to be settled on any one school out of Bama, Georgia or Florida, so Texas could be a viable solution for him and his family
Cons for Texas
- Texas official visit was a long time ago
- Georgia appears to be surging after his recent official visit
- Proximity to his family
- Likes the idea of playing in the SEC
Bru McCoy
Pros for Texas
- Family is very supportive of the idea of him at Texas
- Texas’ use of big receivers
- Environment at Texas games compared to USC
- Potential to be an early contributor
- Strong relationship with the Texas staff, including Drew Mehringer
Cons for Texas
- Lifelong USC fan
- Former and current teammates at Mater Dei recruiting him to USC
- USC has the obvious edge in proximity
- West Coast analysts feel USC has a sizeable lead
Everyone is looking for definitive answers to where each guy will wind up, but those just aren’t available. None of the three has told any school where he’s going, and these three truly could be decisions that won’t be known until next Wednesday (although Cain’s family has said his plan is to know before the early signing period begins).
The one thing I can tell you for sure is that there’s no real consensus on Texas’ chances with each. Truth be told, the confidence levels for all programs are pretty much all over the place.
--- In Sanders, there’s been growing confidence on the Georgia side and Rivals.com’s Trent Smallwood, who covers recruiting for UGASports.com, reported on Wednesday night that he was hearing good things about Georgia’s chances from multiple sources. Smallwood put in his Rivals forecast for UGA, but said he feels this one is still not fully decided and there could be movement before Sanders announces.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban was at IMG on Wednesday. Tom Herman, Stan Drayton and other members of the UT staff were at IMG on Thursday. Word is that Georgia head coach Kirby Smart wants the last visit and is expected to go in-home either on Thursday night or possibly on Friday. If it’s Friday, he may go to Sanders’ hometown in Port Saint Joe (FL) to meet with Sanders’ entire family.
Sanders does have one more official visit remaining, which he’ll take to Florida this weekend. At one point, the Gators were thought to be a major threat since Sanders’ brother is a walk-on for the Gators, but most of the talk of late has centered on Georgia, Bama and Texas.
One other note worth mentioning … Alabama hosted running back D.J. Williams on an official visit last week and Nick Saban did an in-home visit with Deondrick Glass this week. Glass, who has already taken an Alabama official visit, told me this week that he’s planning to take a January official visit to Texas after meeting with Drayton last week. But there is speculation that if Bama misses on Sanders, it could push for Glass to sign in the early window.
Lots of moving parts in this one …
--- In Bru McCoy, Texas has done an incredible job in winning over not only McCoy himself, but both of Bru’s parents as well.
Every time I’ve communicated with Horace McCoy, he’s mentioned how strong the family’s interest in Texas is and how much respect they have for the UT staff. When I had a lengthy phone conversation with Mr. McCoy fairly recently, he made it a point to tell me that the interest in UT wasn’t just lip service … he wanted to make it crystal clear that the entire family was looking at Texas very seriously.
Tom Herman and Drew Mehringer did an in-home on Wednesday and McCoy’s father told me it was another good visit, as was Mehringer’s in-home last week and as was Bru’s official visit in September.
The obvious question … Has Texas done enough?
McCoy will have an in-home visit with new USC offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury on Thursday night. That’ll be big. He’ll then take his official visit to USC this weekend … that’ll be huge. The Longhorns have put themselves in a very good position here and done about as good of a job in this one as could be expected, but will now have to sweat out what will be a critical 72-hour stretch with USC getting the last shot to win him over.
Confidence on the USC side remains high (extremely high in some cases) but the guess here is that people out West are underestimating UT’s chances a bit. Mater Dei kids usually wind up at USC and the Trojans have been the favorite program growing up, so it makes sense to predict USC, but I do feel Texas has made this one more interesting than some out West realize. It is tough to ignore the USC ties and the fact that the Trojans will get the last visits, but the vibe I’ve picked up is that this one is pretty close.
--- Not much new to report on Noah Cain from what was discussed earlier in the week. He’ll take a Tennessee visit this weekend and then should come to a decision early next week. Most of the recent buzz is focused on Penn State and I’m told that there is confidence inside the Penn State program, but Cain has not given any staff a clear indication of what he’s going to do.
--- Lastly, I’ll leave you with this as it relates to the trio of McCoy, Cain and Sanders … the opinions on all three are wildly varied, and it is all a bit of a guessing game at this point. But those of you who have completely discounted Texas’ chances with any of the three are making a mistake. Will Texas get any of them? I honestly don’t know and I do think Texas has ground to make up on all three, but the staff has done an incredible job to position itself in the lead pack as they approach the finish line, and there is some confidence on the Texas side of things. This could be a wild last week and Longhorn fans should not abandon all hope just yet.
******
Some background the Peyton Powell decommitment, which unraveled pretty quickly on Thursday night ...
As I mentioned on the message board, this was definitely a mutual decision, if you will, and Texas was fine with each side moving in a different direction.
Remember, Powell took an unexpected visit to Baylor last weekend, something that probably didn’t exactly put him in the good graces of the Texas staff. We’ve seen it before this cycle (Demariyon Houston was also considering visits) … if you’re committed and going to take visits, you’re putting your spot at risk. Especially if you take visits late in the process that are a bit off the radar, like Powell did.
From what I’ve been told, Texas is very comfortable with its receiver situation in this year’s class and the situation with Powell was one that Texas feels it can comfortably absorb.
******
Top Texas LB target Caleb Johnson will visit Colorado this weekend before announcing his final decision on Monday. On Monday of this week, Tom Herman and Todd Orlando paid Johnson a visit, and the Fullerton Community College product said it was good to spend some time with the UT coaches and hear how he’s a top priority for the Texas staff.
“Coach Orlando and I had talked a couple times, but this was the first time he had come to see me so it was good,” Johnson said. “They were just letting me know how much they need me, how much value I’d bring to the team, the opportunity that’s there as far as Texas. They’re on their way back, trying to make it to College Football Playoffs. Aside from football, they said it’s a great degree and great city. They were just asking me where my head is at.”
And where is Johnson’s head as he closes in on his decision?
“I just told them about the visit to Colorado this weekend. I’m just trying to see what coaches there have to say. I already went there before. I’m just pretty much seeing what they have to say, see who all is staying (after the head coaching change). I know the linebacker coach is staying.”
Colorado will swing for the fences, but I still like Texas’ position here.
******
Texas is set to host a handful of prospect on official visits this weekend, including some prospects who aren’t committed to Texas (yet). A look at some of the top guys expected to be on campus …
Commitments
Roschon Johnson – The first commitment of the UT class, Johnson is completely locked in. He’ll enroll in January.
De'Gabriel Floyd – Floyd is another guy who will enroll in January and he’ll be an active recruiter for Texas this weekend … as he always is.
Chris Adimora – There was a time not too long ago when Adimora was looking at taking another visit, but he’s locked in and will sign next week.
Jordan Whittington – Another early enrollee, Whittington will play in a playoff game on Friday before starting his official visit.
Myron Warren – Big visit here. Warren has said he’ll wait to sign until February, but the guess here is that Texas has a solid chance of getting him to sign during the early period, especially since LSU didn’t do an in-home visit during the current visit period. If the staff can convince him to do sign next week, it would be a huge development for UT’s d-line recruiting.
Uncommitted prospects
Jalen Catalon – Arkansas feels confident it’s going to land him, but Catalon has a good relationship with Craig Naivar and Texas will look to make a strong move this weekend. It won’t be easy, but not out of the question either.
Isaiah Hookfin – Hookfin looks like a good bet to be in this class, and Texas will look to seal the deal this weekend.
This staff has been known to have some tricks up its sleeve, as it did last week when IMG DT Antoine Whitner was brought in. We’ll see if there are any surprises this week as well on the last official visit weekend before the early signing period.
******
(From Alex Dunlap)
One NFL scouting contact who covers Texas as part of his area was nice enough to share his notes with me on the Texas Longhorns who are (or might be) coming out for the 2019 NFL draft. The notes have his thoughts and suggestions for draft grades. It should be noted that these are not a specific team's draft grades, only those of one scout who will turn the work in to the decision-makers. I'll have more of this info to share in the coming days regarding all the Texas players, but first, here in the War Room, I'll give an overview of a few things that really stuck out to me regarding this one scout's set of evaluations:
This scout likes Collin Johnson much more than Lil'Jordan Humphrey as a prospect. A lot more, when considering the round projections. He notes that Johnson should be thought of as highly as a fringe first-rounder, although his official projection for him is in the 2nd/3rd. Whereas, he gives Humphrey a Round 5 grade.
Here are some of the notes on Johnson:
- Johnson made major improvements in 2018 as a red zone receiver after struggling with high-pointing the football and winning contested catches against smaller defenders (got shut down by 5’9” DJ Reed/Kansas State in 2017) and his amplified his touchdown production inside the 20. Johnson is a feisty run blocker on the perimeter or out of the slot and shows great enthusiasm in engaging defenders and using leg drive to create seals.
- Johnson compares in body type and play style to Kenny Golladay and is best suited to play as an X Receiver in a West Coast Offense due to his wide catch radius and ability to turn short, high completion passes for big gains with his deceptive speed and acceleration. Johnson projects as a fringe first round player at the next level due to his elite size, athleticism, and versatility as a receiver.
Here are some of the notes on Humphrey:
- Humphrey does a good job of calculating his stride length on lofted passes to generate as much jumping power as possible to give him an advantage to pull in contested catches against taller, more physical defensive backs. Humphrey shows great body control on Corner and Out routes along the sideline and does well to keep his feet in bounds through contact. Humphrey does a good job of identifying and settling into soft spots against Zone coverage, especially in the middle of the field on Seams.
TFB 12/14:
Marcus Washington | Update + Insider Note
– Super K
Marcus’ father said in no uncertain terms that this decision will be Marcus’ decision. He talked at length about how he knows from his own life experiences how important it is that the final decision be made by the person who will live the experience – in this case, Marcus.
It sounds like Marcus feels comfortable with Texas which as his father said, is ultimately what will matter most.
Quick-Hitters | Catalon and Unnamed Visitor
– Super K
***2019 DB, Jalen Catalon tells me he will take his official visit to Texas this weekend. Catalon’s top schools were Arkansas, Texas, TCU and Oklahoma. Oklahoma has since bowed out of the race. Catalon has always maintained that he wouldn’t be making a decision until January.
***And, as I mentioned in the comments section in a post earlier this week, Texas will host an unnamed 4-star played who is committed elsewhere. The player asked us not to release his name.
Once he’s made it on campus we can confirm it.
Updates | Trey Sanders & Bru McCoy
– Super K
***Source on the Alabama side told me today that they are feeling Georgia and Texas are more of a threat than they expected for 2019 5-star running back, Trey Sanders.
I’ll bottom line this for you, if Sanders wasn’t in that region I do think Texas could win. It’s a tough game recruiting in that SEC territory. So, I still lean towards Sanders staying in the SEC.
***On Bru McCoy, I continue to believe USC will ultimately win out in this one but McCoy’s have their final visit to USC this weekend so we should get a clear picture towards the end of the weekend.
***I know Charlie has already commented about the two shhh’s that are out. I’ll just add, they are on opposite sides of the ball and both very much positions of need.
This class may not end up with the stars but to keep this train moving Texas needs to continue to get quality players that they can turn into exceptional players and I think both of these guys are that.
***As you all know, there is a lot of smoke right now around Noah Cain and Penn State. I’ve had quite a few conversations about this in the past few days. You’ll recall my note from earlier in the week that Cain’s mother really likes Franklin.
I’ll post a more complete picture of what I’ve heard and offer my thoughts in a forthcoming update.
Peyton Powell Decommits
– Charlie S
Texas lost the commitment of 2019 athlete Peyton Powell.
Powell committed to the Longhorns back in October and was being recruited as an athlete and under the assumption he would get a shot to play quarterback with wide receiver being another option.
If you’ve been following our notes, this doesn’t come as a huge surprise. On Wednesday, Super K noted the following:
I’ve heard rumblings that Peyton Powell is indeed looking around. As we’ve previously noted, Powell’s father played at Baylor. Peyton took an official visit to Baylor this past weekend and from what I’m told this remains one to watch.
I’m told Texas is aware of the possibility that they could lose him but nothing seems to be concrete at the moment.
Freshman DL Mike Williams Leaving the Team
– Will Baizer
We have received confirmation from multiple sources that freshman DL Mike Williams has quit the football team.
Hailed as the next Malcolm Roach, the Baton Rouge (La.) native was ranked as the #21 recruit in Louisiana in 2018, and was an exciting prospect because of his versatility on the defensive line. Mike Williams was best known during recruiting as having played quarterback for his team. He last measured in at Texas at 6’2” and 275lbs.
We have been told that he just packed up all his stuff and is no longer on campus. According to one source the staff did not get did not get much of a warning. The same source noted that one of the biggest factors in his decision is that he wanted to be closer to home. He will look for a college in Louisiana to attend to continue his football career.
We are currently digging to find out more behind the story, and will update this article as we receive more information.
Marcus Washington | Update + Insider Note
– Super K
Marcus’ father said in no uncertain terms that this decision will be Marcus’ decision. He talked at length about how he knows from his own life experiences how important it is that the final decision be made by the person who will live the experience – in this case, Marcus.
It sounds like Marcus feels comfortable with Texas which as his father said, is ultimately what will matter most.
Quick-Hitters | Catalon and Unnamed Visitor
– Super K
***2019 DB, Jalen Catalon tells me he will take his official visit to Texas this weekend. Catalon’s top schools were Arkansas, Texas, TCU and Oklahoma. Oklahoma has since bowed out of the race. Catalon has always maintained that he wouldn’t be making a decision until January.
***And, as I mentioned in the comments section in a post earlier this week, Texas will host an unnamed 4-star played who is committed elsewhere. The player asked us not to release his name.
Once he’s made it on campus we can confirm it.
Updates | Trey Sanders & Bru McCoy
– Super K
***Source on the Alabama side told me today that they are feeling Georgia and Texas are more of a threat than they expected for 2019 5-star running back, Trey Sanders.
I’ll bottom line this for you, if Sanders wasn’t in that region I do think Texas could win. It’s a tough game recruiting in that SEC territory. So, I still lean towards Sanders staying in the SEC.
***On Bru McCoy, I continue to believe USC will ultimately win out in this one but McCoy’s have their final visit to USC this weekend so we should get a clear picture towards the end of the weekend.
***I know Charlie has already commented about the two shhh’s that are out. I’ll just add, they are on opposite sides of the ball and both very much positions of need.
This class may not end up with the stars but to keep this train moving Texas needs to continue to get quality players that they can turn into exceptional players and I think both of these guys are that.
***As you all know, there is a lot of smoke right now around Noah Cain and Penn State. I’ve had quite a few conversations about this in the past few days. You’ll recall my note from earlier in the week that Cain’s mother really likes Franklin.
I’ll post a more complete picture of what I’ve heard and offer my thoughts in a forthcoming update.
Peyton Powell Decommits
– Charlie S
Texas lost the commitment of 2019 athlete Peyton Powell.
Powell committed to the Longhorns back in October and was being recruited as an athlete and under the assumption he would get a shot to play quarterback with wide receiver being another option.
If you’ve been following our notes, this doesn’t come as a huge surprise. On Wednesday, Super K noted the following:
I’ve heard rumblings that Peyton Powell is indeed looking around. As we’ve previously noted, Powell’s father played at Baylor. Peyton took an official visit to Baylor this past weekend and from what I’m told this remains one to watch.
I’m told Texas is aware of the possibility that they could lose him but nothing seems to be concrete at the moment.
Freshman DL Mike Williams Leaving the Team
– Will Baizer
We have received confirmation from multiple sources that freshman DL Mike Williams has quit the football team.
Hailed as the next Malcolm Roach, the Baton Rouge (La.) native was ranked as the #21 recruit in Louisiana in 2018, and was an exciting prospect because of his versatility on the defensive line. Mike Williams was best known during recruiting as having played quarterback for his team. He last measured in at Texas at 6’2” and 275lbs.
We have been told that he just packed up all his stuff and is no longer on campus. According to one source the staff did not get did not get much of a warning. The same source noted that one of the biggest factors in his decision is that he wanted to be closer to home. He will look for a college in Louisiana to attend to continue his football career.
We are currently digging to find out more behind the story, and will update this article as we receive more information.
IT:
STATE OF RECRUITING
It’s the last weekend for official visits before NSD1 next Wednesday. Texas is hosting a handful and then some, maybe. T-minus five days. Buckle up.
2019
Jordan Whittington, WR - Cuero (TEXAS): He has a State Semifinal game tonight versus Silsbee (good luck, Coach!) before heading to ATX. Having Whittington and Floyd in the same weekend to work on Catalon can't hurt. Whittington's an early enrollee and will play day-one.
Myron Warren, DE - Many (LA) (TEXAS): His plan is still to sign in February, but his official visit could change that. LSU has not prioritized him, or really done a good job of keeping him warm, and it doesn't look like that's going to change. Him signing next week wouldn't be a big shock at this point.
Isaiah Hookfin, OT - Sugar Land Dulles: Orange house. A nice developmental piece, Yancy McKnight played a role in this recruitment by telling the staff he can work with Hookfin's frame.
De’Gabriel Floyd, LB - Westlake Village (CA) (TEXAS): Lead recruiter of this class at a key spot. The biggest recruit of the Herman era.
Chris Adimora, S - Mayfair (CA) (TEXAS): He’s a dog in the secondary and natural fit on the 40 Acres. Could he be the SUPERNICKEL?
Roschon Johnson, QB - Port Neches-Groves (TEXAS): He’ll enroll in a couple weeks. His play is as loud on the field as he is quiet off of it. Expect him to get to work day-one. The mental eval here is as strong as it was with Shane Buechele and Sam Ehlinger coming out -- he'll just benefit from having time to develop.
Jalen Catalon, S - Mansfield Legacy: The multi-sport four-star has seen Texas half a dozen times in the last year. Unfortunately, without an outstanding visit, this looks like an Arkansas-TCU battle. UT isn't confident and TCU is thinking Arkansas leads.
Surprise Visitor, ? - [REDACTED]: It's a player at a position of need but not some huge elite recruit that should cause a frenzy. If he makes it to campus we'll put the name out. He would tuck neatly into the class, and if he does visit, I feel like we'll be adding his name to the list of commits.
RUNNING BACK ROULETTE
This is quickly moving from the tuxedos and Monte Carlo variety to the revolver to your head variety. I much prefer the former.
In times like these I revert back to my optimistic source who last year asserted the Texas class would finish strong when thinks looked their most dire. He said the staff always has a plan and I think we've seen enough evidence of that to agree for the most part.
As we know the staff is zeroed in on five-star Trey Sanders, high four-star Noah Cain, JUCO three-star Rhamondre Stevenson, and four-star Deondrick Glass. The staff liked DJ Williams out of Florida, but like Sanders, he'll likely end up at one of Georgia and Alabama.
Sanders: There are enough rumors behind the scenes for some writers to offer hope to their readership of Texas landing Sanders. One staffer at a Texas rival heard Sanders to Texas yesterday, in fact. Sanders likes Texas enough to pick UT but I can't see Georgia and Alabama letting him leave the Southeast. I don't think Texas is prepared to compete with those schools. After the staff visited IMG yesterday, I checked in with a Florida source and asked about Sanders, Cain, and defensive line prospect Antoine Whitner. When I asked about Sanders my guy just laughed. His feeling is Georgia leads with Alabama fading -- and he's been way ahead of the Georgia push. Those two schools are really going at it behind the scenes. This is a recruitment that's susceptible to a wild, late swing (which is why the staff continues to work), but if it does I have a very difficult time seeing it swing in UT's favor. Sanders will take an official visit to Florida this weekend. It wouldn't be a total surprise to me if his recruitment wasn't over on the 19th.
Cain: Florida source, "with him, whatever's in his head on Wednesday will be the school." I don't think he's a done deal to Penn State, though they may hold the slight edge. Cain is holding a pretty big shin-dig for his announcement and I don't think he wants the cat out of the bag beforehand. A Fong Crystal Ball pick is pretty much that. There's still some optimism in Austin but there have been times that optimism has been unfounded.
Stevenson: He's visiting Oklahoma this weekend and I bet they were going to try and shut him down ahead of NSD1, but his USC offer has many thinking he'll end up staying in Southern California. As far as I know he still intends to visit Austin in January. He would be a May arrival.
Glass: The Katy running back has his advocates in Austin, but if he's a front-line back-up plan it's curious to me that Herman didn't talk to his father at the Houston Touchdown Club on Wednesday. Is UT feeling confident elsewhere? Mike Gundy was there and did talk to Dandrick Glass and I feel like if Alabama doesn't push for him then he'll likely end up in Stillwater. I know people think it's outlandish that Alabama would take Glass but they feel prioritized by Alabama and the Tide's finish at the position is up in the air. Texas will have a lot of ground to make up if they need to push. As of now, Glass is penciled in for a January visit. If the staff needs him, it'll push for the first weekend coming out of the dead period.
Texas has Derrian Brown committed and is in need of a second. The running back room is about to thin drastically. The one that "hurts" is Toneil Carter, who will transfer. Look for Texas to trade one transfer for a grad transfer who is yet to be determined. Also, a grad transfer who is determined.
UPGRADE U(T)
Probably didn't think you'd get a Beyonce reference, but it'll probably be good for an Ash jersey pic. I probably should have gone with a Missy, or Melissa, Elliott one.
Speaking of making trades, the staff wasted no time finding a replacement for Odessa Permian's Peyton Powell. Powell didn't have enough leverage in his recruitment to be dishonest with the staff. I like clean projections and to me it's clear they upgraded. We're not going to ruin it for the kid but some of the more discerning readers (my favorite kind) have put the pieces together.
BRU MCCOY
Texas has done as good of a job in this recruitment as can be expected. The McCoy's are fantastic, intelligent people, and it's quite the compliment for the staff that they're the one fighting Fight On to the bitter end.
Drew Mehringer has emerged as the coach McCoy has become the closest to. Mehringer deserves some credit for helping UT get to this point. It's been an interesting cycle for him but he may be coming into his own as a recruiter.
You know what's coming.....But, I just don't think it will be enough. USC retaining Helton, which led to the hiring of Kingsbury, and holding on to their official visit until the final weekend has me giving Texas a 30% chance.
McCoy won't announce until early January. While I don't think that favors either staff, the layoff between his USC official visit and ultimate decision may benefit UT ever so slightly, but I'd have to give the edge to SC in the end.
STATE OF RECRUITING
It’s the last weekend for official visits before NSD1 next Wednesday. Texas is hosting a handful and then some, maybe. T-minus five days. Buckle up.
2019
Jordan Whittington, WR - Cuero (TEXAS): He has a State Semifinal game tonight versus Silsbee (good luck, Coach!) before heading to ATX. Having Whittington and Floyd in the same weekend to work on Catalon can't hurt. Whittington's an early enrollee and will play day-one.
Myron Warren, DE - Many (LA) (TEXAS): His plan is still to sign in February, but his official visit could change that. LSU has not prioritized him, or really done a good job of keeping him warm, and it doesn't look like that's going to change. Him signing next week wouldn't be a big shock at this point.
Isaiah Hookfin, OT - Sugar Land Dulles: Orange house. A nice developmental piece, Yancy McKnight played a role in this recruitment by telling the staff he can work with Hookfin's frame.
De’Gabriel Floyd, LB - Westlake Village (CA) (TEXAS): Lead recruiter of this class at a key spot. The biggest recruit of the Herman era.
Chris Adimora, S - Mayfair (CA) (TEXAS): He’s a dog in the secondary and natural fit on the 40 Acres. Could he be the SUPERNICKEL?
Roschon Johnson, QB - Port Neches-Groves (TEXAS): He’ll enroll in a couple weeks. His play is as loud on the field as he is quiet off of it. Expect him to get to work day-one. The mental eval here is as strong as it was with Shane Buechele and Sam Ehlinger coming out -- he'll just benefit from having time to develop.
Jalen Catalon, S - Mansfield Legacy: The multi-sport four-star has seen Texas half a dozen times in the last year. Unfortunately, without an outstanding visit, this looks like an Arkansas-TCU battle. UT isn't confident and TCU is thinking Arkansas leads.
Surprise Visitor, ? - [REDACTED]: It's a player at a position of need but not some huge elite recruit that should cause a frenzy. If he makes it to campus we'll put the name out. He would tuck neatly into the class, and if he does visit, I feel like we'll be adding his name to the list of commits.
RUNNING BACK ROULETTE
This is quickly moving from the tuxedos and Monte Carlo variety to the revolver to your head variety. I much prefer the former.
In times like these I revert back to my optimistic source who last year asserted the Texas class would finish strong when thinks looked their most dire. He said the staff always has a plan and I think we've seen enough evidence of that to agree for the most part.
As we know the staff is zeroed in on five-star Trey Sanders, high four-star Noah Cain, JUCO three-star Rhamondre Stevenson, and four-star Deondrick Glass. The staff liked DJ Williams out of Florida, but like Sanders, he'll likely end up at one of Georgia and Alabama.
Sanders: There are enough rumors behind the scenes for some writers to offer hope to their readership of Texas landing Sanders. One staffer at a Texas rival heard Sanders to Texas yesterday, in fact. Sanders likes Texas enough to pick UT but I can't see Georgia and Alabama letting him leave the Southeast. I don't think Texas is prepared to compete with those schools. After the staff visited IMG yesterday, I checked in with a Florida source and asked about Sanders, Cain, and defensive line prospect Antoine Whitner. When I asked about Sanders my guy just laughed. His feeling is Georgia leads with Alabama fading -- and he's been way ahead of the Georgia push. Those two schools are really going at it behind the scenes. This is a recruitment that's susceptible to a wild, late swing (which is why the staff continues to work), but if it does I have a very difficult time seeing it swing in UT's favor. Sanders will take an official visit to Florida this weekend. It wouldn't be a total surprise to me if his recruitment wasn't over on the 19th.
Cain: Florida source, "with him, whatever's in his head on Wednesday will be the school." I don't think he's a done deal to Penn State, though they may hold the slight edge. Cain is holding a pretty big shin-dig for his announcement and I don't think he wants the cat out of the bag beforehand. A Fong Crystal Ball pick is pretty much that. There's still some optimism in Austin but there have been times that optimism has been unfounded.
Stevenson: He's visiting Oklahoma this weekend and I bet they were going to try and shut him down ahead of NSD1, but his USC offer has many thinking he'll end up staying in Southern California. As far as I know he still intends to visit Austin in January. He would be a May arrival.
Glass: The Katy running back has his advocates in Austin, but if he's a front-line back-up plan it's curious to me that Herman didn't talk to his father at the Houston Touchdown Club on Wednesday. Is UT feeling confident elsewhere? Mike Gundy was there and did talk to Dandrick Glass and I feel like if Alabama doesn't push for him then he'll likely end up in Stillwater. I know people think it's outlandish that Alabama would take Glass but they feel prioritized by Alabama and the Tide's finish at the position is up in the air. Texas will have a lot of ground to make up if they need to push. As of now, Glass is penciled in for a January visit. If the staff needs him, it'll push for the first weekend coming out of the dead period.
Texas has Derrian Brown committed and is in need of a second. The running back room is about to thin drastically. The one that "hurts" is Toneil Carter, who will transfer. Look for Texas to trade one transfer for a grad transfer who is yet to be determined. Also, a grad transfer who is determined.
UPGRADE U(T)
Probably didn't think you'd get a Beyonce reference, but it'll probably be good for an Ash jersey pic. I probably should have gone with a Missy, or Melissa, Elliott one.
Speaking of making trades, the staff wasted no time finding a replacement for Odessa Permian's Peyton Powell. Powell didn't have enough leverage in his recruitment to be dishonest with the staff. I like clean projections and to me it's clear they upgraded. We're not going to ruin it for the kid but some of the more discerning readers (my favorite kind) have put the pieces together.
BRU MCCOY
Texas has done as good of a job in this recruitment as can be expected. The McCoy's are fantastic, intelligent people, and it's quite the compliment for the staff that they're the one fighting Fight On to the bitter end.
Drew Mehringer has emerged as the coach McCoy has become the closest to. Mehringer deserves some credit for helping UT get to this point. It's been an interesting cycle for him but he may be coming into his own as a recruiter.
You know what's coming.....But, I just don't think it will be enough. USC retaining Helton, which led to the hiring of Kingsbury, and holding on to their official visit until the final weekend has me giving Texas a 30% chance.
McCoy won't announce until early January. While I don't think that favors either staff, the layoff between his USC official visit and ultimate decision may benefit UT ever so slightly, but I'd have to give the edge to SC in the end.
What does this mean? (The part in bold above) Does he mean on the field? I don't think so... we are about to play jawja in the SB so yes we will be competing against them. I think this refers to the red suitcases these schools offer that are filled with bundled c notes in zip lock bags.
Actually Chip is saying Kirk Johnson is probably coming back for final year, but Porter is likely to transfer. Either way there will probably only be two RB's on the roster for next season that have played a down of college football: Ingram, Young.
Cuero and Jordan Whittington defeated Silsbee 29-24. They will face Pleasant Grove in the state championship next week.
Not a huge offensive night for Jordan, as Cuero's two RBs both rushed for over 100 yards, but he was literally everywhere. He had 60 yards receiving, 38 rushing with the game winning TD, and a 70 yard TD pass.
He also added an interception, blocked extra point, and another interception of a two point conversion attempt that he returned 103 for two.
Not a huge offensive night for Jordan, as Cuero's two RBs both rushed for over 100 yards, but he was literally everywhere. He had 60 yards receiving, 38 rushing with the game winning TD, and a 70 yard TD pass.
He also added an interception, blocked extra point, and another interception of a two point conversion attempt that he returned 103 for two.
I'll be on the sidelines at the Lake Travis/North Shore game today. I'm interested to get a close up look at Hudson Card and Garrett Wilson, and of course North Shore is absolutely loaded with D1 kids. Should be one helluva game.
North Shore won 51-10. Card is a good looking QB. He throws a great ball and has good running ability and is elusive. He's 6' 2" 170 lbs and is a junior. Another year in HS will help him learn and put on some more weight. Wilson looked very good. He's 6' 0" 178 lbs., but plays a lot taller. Great athlete and great speed. It's too bad that he's leaving the state and going to OSU right out of UT's backyard.
North Shore is a rolling ball of butcher knives. They have so many weapons. Zach Evans went nuts again. Thing most of their best players are sophs or juniors. They have three JV teams that only had one loss between them and are loaded. They may win state three years in a row. The top NS players are Corey Flagg LB, jr, Zach Evans RB, jr, Dematrius Davis QB, jr, Shadrach Banks WR, jr, Damieon George OL, jr, Ed'zavier Deblaw OL, soph, Tony Bradford DL, sr. I'll post the stats from the game tomorrow. This was my fourth NS game to attend this year. I've watched Texas HS football for 40+ years, and this NS team has the most collective talent that I've ever seen.
North Shore is a rolling ball of butcher knives. They have so many weapons. Zach Evans went nuts again. Thing most of their best players are sophs or juniors. They have three JV teams that only had one loss between them and are loaded. They may win state three years in a row. The top NS players are Corey Flagg LB, jr, Zach Evans RB, jr, Dematrius Davis QB, jr, Shadrach Banks WR, jr, Damieon George OL, jr, Ed'zavier Deblaw OL, soph, Tony Bradford DL, sr. I'll post the stats from the game tomorrow. This was my fourth NS game to attend this year. I've watched Texas HS football for 40+ years, and this NS team has the most collective talent that I've ever seen.
The way NS rolled through Region III I was not surprised they throttled LT. The level of football in the greater Houston blows away Centex top to bottom. Same for DFW. Westlake and LT have very good teams, but they benefit from playing relatively weak competition week after week.
I did not see him there yesterday. He was on the sideline at NRG on 12/8. I thought about getting a cart and running him over.
What I don't want to see is aggy getting in the mix for the athletes at North Shore. RB Evans is a must get for Texas next year.
I know these were 2020 guys going at it this weekend but dang North Shore and Zach Evans:
North Shore 51 – Lake Travis 10
2020 RB Target Zachary Evans (North Shore HS)
2020 QB Commit Hudson Card (Lake Travis HS)
North Shore 51 – Lake Travis 10
2020 RB Target Zachary Evans (North Shore HS)
- Rushing: 196 yards and 4 TD
- Receiving: 3 receptions, 39 yards and a TD
2020 QB Commit Hudson Card (Lake Travis HS)
- Passing: 13/33 for 158 yards and a TD.
- Card was also intercepted once and fumbled once.
Yes, but North Shore was annihilating his OL on almost every single play, and his WRs weren’t getting any separation. Total mismatch in team talent.
Is there any recent update on Kennedy Lewis? I saw somewhere that he visited WA this past weekend and that it's down to TX, Baylor, and WA. Is he going to commit this week?
North Shore's defense is legit. They were all over Card the whole game. Hard to complete passes when you're running for your life.
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