Wide receivers coach Drew Mehringer has been fired. Offensive coordinator Tim Beck has been-reassigned, as has inside receivers coach Corby Meekins. Let’s take a look at how those shake-ups could impact the Longhorns from a recruiting perspective …
The big picture: All three of these coaches were regarded as pretty good recruiters (Drew Mehringer was actually Rivals.com’s national recruiter of the year last year), but I wouldn’t expect a lot of major recruiting moves off of this news, especially with Beck staying on staff.
Mehringer has had some big recruiting wins during his time in Austin, but if we’re being objective, he had a lot of help on some of those victories and he’s also missed on quite a few big targets as well. He does have two big commitments in this year’s class in Quentin Johnston and Troy Omeire. Neither guy talks much so it’s hard to gauge what they’re really thinking, but both have indicated in previous conversations that there was a lot more than just Mehringer that sold them on Texas, and they’ve both given no reason to think they’ll waiver. In fact, Omeire has been very pro-Texas on social media of late and is an early enrollee. Dajon Harrison is a new commitment who was a bit of a group effort, so I wouldn’t expect any impact there.
Removing Beck from his offensive coordinator duties might give a few recruits a bit of a reason for pause due to the unknowns of the scheme moving forward, but by keeping him on staff, Texas should be able to mitigate those concerns. Beck is a fantastic recruiter – arguably the best on the staff – and if he’s allowed to continue to work with the quarterbacks, I wouldn’t think this will be much of a factor for guys like Hudson Card, Ja’Quinden Jackson or Jalen Milroe. All three seem completely locked in, although other schools are sniffing around on Jackson so Texas may have to do a bit of damage control there.
Meekins has been a solid recruiter for Texas, but moving him into a support role should really impact any of the program’s current commitments or targets.
Which guys it will impact the most: You have to start with the quarterbacks with this one. It would be a huge shock if Hudson Card even flinched at the news since he committed to Texas for so many reasons besides just relationships with assistants. As mentioned above, Ja’Quinden Jackson might be a guy that will have a couple questions, but he’s said all the right things about his commitment status when I’ve talked to him and with him still having a chance to work with Beck (I’m assuming), that should carry some weight. The same with Milroe, who really has a good relationship with Beck and other members of the staff.
Receivers Omeire and Johnson will certainly have questions about their future position coach, but if Herman can assure them that he’ll make a big-time hire and continue to sell them on the other positive assets the University of Texas has at its disposal, I think both will be fine. The Longhorns are still targeting a guy like Kelvontay Dixon, but that’s been more of a group effort so I certainly wouldn’t expect Mehringer’s firing to move the needle much there. LV Bunkley-Shelton, if Texas decides to push there, would still consider Texas. For him, it’s more about the overall vibe of the program than it was any relationships he had with the UT staff.
Overall impact: I think Tom Herman played this one perfectly. The loss of Mehringer is manageable, and by keeping Beck on staff he can really ease any concerns that could have popped up with a guy like Ja’Quinden Jackson. And with these changes, he’s created an extra “assistant” spot that can be filled by Bryan Carrington on an interim basis, allowing Carrington to hit the road beginning on Monday to meet with recruits. I’d send him and Beck to Duncanville first thing Monday morning if it’s my call.
The big picture: All three of these coaches were regarded as pretty good recruiters (Drew Mehringer was actually Rivals.com’s national recruiter of the year last year), but I wouldn’t expect a lot of major recruiting moves off of this news, especially with Beck staying on staff.
Mehringer has had some big recruiting wins during his time in Austin, but if we’re being objective, he had a lot of help on some of those victories and he’s also missed on quite a few big targets as well. He does have two big commitments in this year’s class in Quentin Johnston and Troy Omeire. Neither guy talks much so it’s hard to gauge what they’re really thinking, but both have indicated in previous conversations that there was a lot more than just Mehringer that sold them on Texas, and they’ve both given no reason to think they’ll waiver. In fact, Omeire has been very pro-Texas on social media of late and is an early enrollee. Dajon Harrison is a new commitment who was a bit of a group effort, so I wouldn’t expect any impact there.
Removing Beck from his offensive coordinator duties might give a few recruits a bit of a reason for pause due to the unknowns of the scheme moving forward, but by keeping him on staff, Texas should be able to mitigate those concerns. Beck is a fantastic recruiter – arguably the best on the staff – and if he’s allowed to continue to work with the quarterbacks, I wouldn’t think this will be much of a factor for guys like Hudson Card, Ja’Quinden Jackson or Jalen Milroe. All three seem completely locked in, although other schools are sniffing around on Jackson so Texas may have to do a bit of damage control there.
Meekins has been a solid recruiter for Texas, but moving him into a support role should really impact any of the program’s current commitments or targets.
Which guys it will impact the most: You have to start with the quarterbacks with this one. It would be a huge shock if Hudson Card even flinched at the news since he committed to Texas for so many reasons besides just relationships with assistants. As mentioned above, Ja’Quinden Jackson might be a guy that will have a couple questions, but he’s said all the right things about his commitment status when I’ve talked to him and with him still having a chance to work with Beck (I’m assuming), that should carry some weight. The same with Milroe, who really has a good relationship with Beck and other members of the staff.
Receivers Omeire and Johnson will certainly have questions about their future position coach, but if Herman can assure them that he’ll make a big-time hire and continue to sell them on the other positive assets the University of Texas has at its disposal, I think both will be fine. The Longhorns are still targeting a guy like Kelvontay Dixon, but that’s been more of a group effort so I certainly wouldn’t expect Mehringer’s firing to move the needle much there. LV Bunkley-Shelton, if Texas decides to push there, would still consider Texas. For him, it’s more about the overall vibe of the program than it was any relationships he had with the UT staff.
Overall impact: I think Tom Herman played this one perfectly. The loss of Mehringer is manageable, and by keeping Beck on staff he can really ease any concerns that could have popped up with a guy like Ja’Quinden Jackson. And with these changes, he’s created an extra “assistant” spot that can be filled by Bryan Carrington on an interim basis, allowing Carrington to hit the road beginning on Monday to meet with recruits. I’d send him and Beck to Duncanville first thing Monday morning if it’s my call.
