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One more year …
Nearly all of us have experienced the awkward moment when you’ve handed in your notice at your office, and in the meantime, a new person joins the team. You want to be polite and friendly, but truthfully, you don’t really care about getting to know the person because you’re going to be leaving soon.
Oh sure, you’ll happily tag along as everyone goes out to lunch for their first day, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to bother to learn his or her name.
Still, you have to work with them in the interim until you leave so you do so as politely as possible.
On July 1, 2024, Texas will officially become a member of the SEC.
But until then, it’s one more year of Big 12 football.
The Longhorns have probably the best and deepest roster in the conference.
Sarkisian is bringing Quinn Ewers, Xavier Worthy, Jordan Whittington, Jaylan Ford and Jahdae Barron with him to the Big 12 Media Days Wednesday. Three of those guys are going to be in serious contention for Big 12 player of the year awards when it’s all said and one.
Pre-season awards are pretty meaningless, but the Big 12 asked media members attending this year’s Big 12 Media Days to vote on different accolades so I’m going to break down my ballot of how I think things will go in the conference this year … Texas’ LAST in the Big 12.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
The Big 12 has already released it’s Preseason All Big 12 selections and Kansas QB Jalon Daniels was the media’s pick.
But I’m more interested in who will be the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year when the season wraps up. That’s how I voted when I put in my pre-season ballot.
Quinn Ewers, Xavier Worthy and Ja’Tavion Sanders all received consideration from me to be the pick. But at the end of the day, awards are nearly always given to the quarterbacks. If, as I expect, Texas finishes the season on top, then you have to believe Ewers will be a big part of that. For that reason alone, he’s getting my vote to be the preseason Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.
We’ve all read the reports about Ewers’ work ethic during the winter, spring and into the summer. He’s been hard at work on his footwork, his accuracy, deep ball and even his body.
(I know you’ve already seen it but this picture is just too incredible not to include again.)
Ewers told reporters after the spring game that he expected more from himself. I think he’s a man on a mission to prove that all of the accolades about him coming out of high school were accurate.
This year is the time when he gets to prove it.
Xavier Worthy was also in consideration for my pick. He has been so dominant during his first two seasons that he was the only unanimous selection to the Preseason All Big 12 team.
Worthy took a slight step back (statistically) last season from his freshman season while he dealt with a broken hand. Despite that, he still posted 60 catches for 760 yards and nine touchdowns.
It won’t take much at all to show marked improvement this season.
If Worthy picks up two more catches per game, he’s going to be looking at 80 catches. If he gets to that number, then he will likely eclipse the 1,000 yard receiving mark with double digit touchdowns.
Granted, he’ll have more competition for receptions this year with all of the talented pass catchers on the offense. However, he can get to 80 catches with the same number of targets as last season if he holds on to a few more. Certainly having a broken hand contributed to some of those drops.
Worthy will have a game or two where he is so dominant, he steals headlines. I’m just not sure he’s going to get enough media attention to beat out a quarterback for the player of the year.
Ja’Tavion Sanders is another Texas player that I considered for the award. Sanders may just be the best player on a very talented team. But will he have an award worthy season statistically? With Sark wanting to emphasize the deep ball, it seems unlikely. Sanders will have to wait for next year’s NFL draft where I think he may be the first Longhorn selected.
Outside of the Texas players, Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels, Kansas State quarterback Will Howard and OU quarterback Dillon Gabriel all drew consideration as well. Daniels is probably the most exciting of that bunch, I’m just not sure he’ll win enough games to win the individual awards.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Heading into the season, Jaylan Ford is the clear choice to be the preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year (and the rest of the media agreed, tabbing him with the Preseason honors).
Ford finished the 2022 season second in the conference in total tackles, tied for third in interceptions and tied for 12th in tackles for loss. He did all of that without registering a single tackle in the season opening win against UL Monroe (which is just mind boggling).
How much of Ford’s production came as a result of offenses keying in on DeMarvion Overshown remains to be seen. However, just because Overshown is gone, it doesn’t mean Ford will see a downtick in production. Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s scheme frees up linebackers to make plays. Plus, I expect most offenses to have their hands full with the defensive line this season which means Ford should have plenty of time to eat. And Anthony Hill certainly has the talent to step in and dominate during his freshman season.
The conference leaders in tackles last season is returning as well which means OU linebacker Danny Stutsman will be in consideration for the award again this year. Stutsman had a huge sophomore season racking up 126 total tackles. Clearly Brent Venables knows a thing or two about defenses (despite last year’s disaster) so I don’t know that you can expect a huge drop off in production. However, I’m not sure he’ll have a repeat of last year either. Two Sooner transfers, DE Rondell Bothroyd and LB Dasan McCullough will likely eat into Stutsman’s stats. That’s why even though he will get Big 12 honors from many, he didn’t even make it onto my preseason All Big 12 team. Of course, that could very well be a mistake on my part.
Other players under consideration include TCU’s Josh Newton was an All Big 12 DB last year and returns for his fifth season. If he’s able to get a little increase in production then he could make some noise this year. I just don’t know if TCU is going to be strong enough as a team to get postseason awards. Iowa State’s T.J. Tampa is already drawing some NFL interest and could have a breakout year. Oklahoma State’s Kendal Daniels was the Big 12’s freshman defensive player of the year last season, as well as a second team All Big 12 honoree.
The rest of my Pre-season All Big 12 Conference ballot looked like this:
PRESEASON ALL BIG 12 OFFENSE:
QB: Quinn Ewers, Texas
RB: Jonathon Brooks, Texas
RB: Devin Neal, Kansas
FB: C.J. Donaldson, West Virginia
WR: Xavier Worthy, Texas
WR: Brennan Presley, Oklahoma State
WR: Javon Baker, UCF
TE: Ja’Tavion Sanders, Texas
OL: Kelvin Banks, Texas
OL: Andrew Raym, OU
OL: Cooper Beebe, Kansas State
OL: Mike Novitsky, Kansas
OL: Zach Frazier, West Virginia
PK: Griffin Kell, TCU
KR/PR: Phillip Brooks, Kansas State
PRESEASON ALL BIG 12 DEFENSE:
DL: Byron Murphy, Texas
DL: Barryn Sorrell, Texas
DL: Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati
DL: Jaylon Hutchings, Texas Tech
DL: Lonnie Phelps, Kansas
LB: Jaylan Ford, Texas
LB: Dasan McCullough, OU
LB: Johnny Hodges, TCU
DB: T.J. Tampa, Iowa State
DB: Billy Bowman, OU
DB: Josh Newton, TCU
DB: Cobee Bryant, Kansas
DB: Kobe Savage, Kansas State
P: Mason Fletcher, Cincinnati
Offensive Player of the Year: Quinn Ewers, Texas
Defensive Player of the Year: Jaylan Ford, Texas
Newcomer of the Year: Dasan McCullough, OU
10 Random thoughts on my picks.
WHO WILL WIN THE BIG 12?
Texas started this league by winning it all. “Roll Left” will forever be in Texas football lore.
Now the Longhorns have a chance to go out, the same way they came in … on top.
The Horns have the most talented and deepest roster in the league. More times than not, that translates to wins. Who knew recruiting mattered that much?
In truth, any one of the top five teams; Texas, OU, Kansas State, Texas Tech or TCU could end up in Arlington.
Kansas State is actually the team I’m picking to face Texas in the championship game. There are only eight teams in all of college football that return all five offensive line starters from last season. Texas is one, Kansas State is the other.
Cooper Beebe is the best of a talented line. He’s already on multiple preseason All American lists. The left guard would have been a high round draft pick had he gone into the NFL draft, but he chose to come back to Manhattan for his senior season. Beebe is already on preseason All American lists. One of the reasons he came back was to be able to play with his “little” brother Camden who signed with K-State this year.
That experienced, and talented, offensive line will be protecting returning QB Will Howard. Howard stepped in as the starter last season and showed himself to be one of the best in the league. Over his seven games as a starter, Howard completed nearly 60 percent of his passes for 1,633 yards, 15 touchdowns and four interceptions. That translated to a QB rating of 149.6. That 150 QB rating is about the minimum it takes to be good in this league (Ewers was at 132 last year).
The Wildcats skill position players are an unproven bunch. Deuce Vaughn is gone but the K-State coaches feel good about sophomore DJ Giddens who averaged 5.8 yards per carry last year playing behind Vaughn. Phillip Brooks is a better returner than receiver, but he is the best of the bunch coming into the season.
Kansas State lost DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah to the NFL draft. But the defensive line and linebackers will still be the strength of the team. Linebacker, in particular, is the best unit on defense. Austin Moore was the team’s leading tackler last season with 87 and he’s back again for 2023. Daniel Green is also back for his Super Senior season. Green has 219 career tackles during his time in Manhattan.
OU is the popular pick from many to make it to the Big 12 Championship Game as well. The Sooners went 6-7 in their first season under head coach Brent Venables. Maybe it was just too much water for Venables to handle?
Venables will be hoping for a rebound season this year with Dillon Gabriel leading his offense. Gabriel is a good, though not spectacular, college quarterback. His real strength is his consistency. Just look at how similar his stats are each and every year (but ignore the 2021 season which was cut short due to injury).
Gabriel knows offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby’s offense inside and out. The two were together at UCF during Gabriel’s freshman season and then reunited in Norman last year.
Gabriel doesn’t have a ton of great WR options. Jalil Farooq, Andrel Anthony and Drake Stoops are the starters. Farooq was last year’s leading receiver with 466 yards and five touchdowns. Anthony transferred in from Michigan where he had 248 yards receiving last year. Stoops is the ultimate coach(es son) on the field.
The offensive line should be good. Andrew Raym is probably the best center in the conference. However, he has battled injuries during his time in Norman. If he can stay healthy, he has NFL draft potential. Walter Rouse transferred from Stanford to OU (I’ll leave the academic jokes to the rest of you) and will take over as the starting left tackle. And Texas recruiting fans will remember the name Savion Byrd. There are high expectations for the redshirt sophomore who will work at left guard.
Defense is supposed to be head coach Brent Venables bailiwick. However, the Sooners finished 122nd in total team defense last year. Five different teams scored more than 40 points against OU last season, including the 49-0 shellacking in the Red River Shootout. Venables said he expects the 2023 defense to be “on another planet” compared to last year’s squad. I’m not entirely sold on that happening, which is why I did not pick them to play in the Big 12 Championship Game.
Texas Tech is the trendy Big 12 pick for many. Head Coach Joey McGuire has done a very good job of turning the Red Raiders around. The legendary Texas high school coach guided Tech to an 8-5 season. McGuire has proven himself to be a gambler going for it on fourth down more than any other team in the FBS (52 attempts). Those fourth down conversions were critical in guiding Tech to an upset of Texas.
Offensive coordinator Zach Kittley turned the offense around last year. The Red Raiders had the second best offense in the Big 12 churning out an average of 461.4 yards per game (probably 300 of those yards came on fourth down).
Defensively, the Red Raiders are going to count on fifth-year seniors Tony Bradford Jr. and Jaylon Hutchings to man the defensive line. The pair combined for 82 tackles and seven sacks last season. Of course, offenses were pretty focused on stopping Tyree Wilson who ended up being a first round draft pick. We’ll see how productive Bradford and Hutchings can be if they’re not seeing protections slide to the other side. Even with Wilson, the Red Raiders still gave up 29.2 points per game (7th in the 10 team Big 12).
I included TCU on the list of potential Big 12 Championship game contenders just out of respect for the season they had in 2022, I don’t really expect them to be one of the top two teams in the league. Of course, I probably would have had TCU about fifth going into last season as well and not only were they one of the top two teams in the Big 12, they were one of the last two teams standing at the end of the season.
Chandler Morris will likely be the starter this year. Morris, as you may have heard, did beat out Max Duggan at the start of the 2022 season as well so there is clearly talent there. However, the Horned Frogs lost a lot of talent at the skill position and I don’t see Alabama transfers JoJo Earle and Trey Sanders being equal replacements for Quentin Johnson and Kendre Miller. I’ve always liked Jared Wiley and he is a good tight tend.
Defensively, there’s a lot of players returning, including LB Johnny Hodges and DB Josh Newton. But TCU wasn’t very good defensively last season (outside of what they did to UT) and I don’t expect them to be much better this season.
BIG 12 PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH:
BIG 12’S NEW MEMBERS:
I know you’re all ready to kiss the Big 12 goodbye and run out with your new SEC sweeties, but there are four new members that will be competing this year (one more year).
Rather than forcing you to do a deep dive on the Big 12 newcomers, I thought it might be easier to give you a little breakdown of the new guys.
BYU COUGARS:
HEAD COACH: KALANI SATAKE
2022 RECORD: 8-5
2023 WIN TOTAL O/U: 5.5
QUARTERBACK: KEDON SLOVIS
Texas fans shirk off their PTSD from past BYU games. I assure you that transfer quarterback Kedon Slovis will not treat the Texas defense the way Taysom Hill treated the Horns in 2013 and 2014.
Slovis arrives in Provo after stops at Pittsburgh and USC. This is Slovis’ fourth season and each year he has thrown for fewer touchdowns, a lower completion percentage and a lower QB rating than the year prior. (For the record, Slovis is the counter argument every time I say experience matters and Ewers should be better in year two than year one. I mean, I will probably laugh at you if you try to compare Slovis and Ewers, but at least you’ll have some kind of statistical proof that not everyone gets better with age.)
The offensive line was instrumental in the Cougars averaging 31 points per game last season. Even though they lost three starters from last year’s team, the BYU coaches believe the unit will be a team strength again this season.
Former Oregon 5-star lineman Kingsley Suamataia started at right tackle last year and will move to left tackle this season, Connor Pay returns at center, and the Cougars add Senior transfer guard Paul Maile from Utah.
“That is probably the biggest improvement on our offense, is our offensive line,” BYU offensive coordinator and line coach Aaron Roderick told the Desert News in February. “We are more athletic this year than we were last year. We are longer, bigger.”
Defensively, the Cougars have a new coordinator in Jay Hill who was at Weber State last year. BYU was 94th in the country last year giving up 408.1 yards per game. Of course, the 95th team in the country, giving up 408.2 yards per game was TCU and all they did was play in the national championship game.
Linebacker Ben Bywater is the leader of the defense. The junior is already BYU’s career tackle leader and will likely be on award watch lists this season.
CENTRAL FLORIDA KNIGHTS:
HEAD COACH: GUS MALZAHN
2022 RECORD: 9-5
2023 WIN TOTAL O/U: 6.5
QUARTERBACK: JOHN RHYS PLUMLEE
The very first time Texas played UCF was September 15, 2007. It was the first game in UCF’s new stadium which would go on to pick up the nickname, “The Bounce House” because of how much it bounces when Knights fans are into the game.
Beyond that, I don’t remember much of that game because I didn’t get to see it. September 15th, 2007 also happened to be my wedding day. Thankfully, the marriage is better than whatever happened that day.
I do remember checking the score and realizing that even though Texas won 35-32, it probably wasn’t going to be Texas’ year that season. And indeed, even though the Longhorns finished with 10 wins, they suffered losses to OU, Kansas State and Texas A&M. It was Colt McCoy’s sophomore slump.
The Knights are probably the strongest of the Big 12 newcomers thanks to the play of quarterback John Rhys Plumlee (which I always confuse with the actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers who plays a bunch of smarmy roles).
You’ll see plenty of votes for Plumlee when the Big 12 media accolades start rolling in, but his 2022 was only slightly better than Quinn Ewers.
The real difference between the two is that Plumlee is a senior while Ewers is a sophomore. Plumlee is also a real threat in the run game (while Ewers is not) running for 862 yards last season (5.4 per carry).
Gus Malzahn’s offense does most of its damage on the ground. The Knights averaged 228 yards per game last year which was good for ninth in the country. New offensive coordinator Darin Hinshaw was at UAB last season which finished eighth in the country in rushing offense so you can expect more of the same this year.
When the Knights do throw the ball, WR Javon Baker is one of the best in the Big 12. Baker, an Alabama transfer, caught 56 passes for 796 yards with UCF last year.
Teams that live by the sword die by the sword and UCF’s run defense was its real weakness last season giving up nearly 158 yards per game (78th in the country).
Given the run defense woes, you’d think the defensive line would be their weakest unit, but it’s actually a strength of the team. DT Ricky Barber along with DE’s Josh Celiscar and Tre’Mon Morris-Brash are the team’s top players on that side of the ball. Morris-Brash is the leading returning sack leader (6) and tackle for loss leader (13).
CINCINNATI:
HEAD COACH: SCOTT SATTERFIELD
2022 RECORD: 9-4
2023 WIN TOTAL O/U: 5.5
QUARTERBACK: EMORY JONES, JR.
Cincinnati has more college football playoff appearances than Texas.
Just let that sink in for a moment.
The Bearcats join the Big 12 with a strong recent run, including the 2021 CFP appearance. But a lot has changed since then and Cincinnati is probably not going to be able to compete for a Big 12 title – at least not this year.
Scott Satterfield is taking over for Luke Fickle who moved on to Wisconsin. Satterfield built up a very good reputation during his time coaching at his alma mater, Appalachian State. He played for and coached under one of the greats, Jerry Moore. Moore, a Texas native whose first coaching job was at Corsicana, went on to win three straight national championships as head coach of App State.
Satterfield won big at Appalachian State and then spent a couple of seasons at Louisville before moving to Cincinnati. He was only ok at Louisville, compiling a 25-24 record. But his reputation as an innovative offensive mind still helped him get the job at Cinci.
Satterfield is relying on a bunch of transfers to become key starters this season. Emory Jones Jr. transferred in from Arizona State and will be the signal caller. Jones is more of a dual-threat quarterback who has had some success in the Pac-12. Transfers will also be starters at WR and nearly the entire offensive line. That’s hardly a formula for success in its first season in a competitive conference.
Defensively, Dontay Corleone – “The Godfather” – is going to be one of the best DT’s in the conference. The sophomore got 44 tackles and three sacks during his freshman season last year.
The defensive line is the strength of the squad with Corleone, senior Malik Vann, junior Jowon Briggs and transfer DE Daniel Grzesiak.
There’s not much else to say about Cincinnati other than the facts that I actually like the city and I’m loving seeing Elly De La Cruz play this year. Also, Cincinnati chili sucks.
HOUSTON:
HEAD COACH:ERNIE MCCRACKEN DANA HOLGORSEN
2022 RECORD: 8-5
2023 WIN TOTAL O/U: 4.5
QUARTERBACK: DONOVAN SMITH, JR.
Dana Holgorsen is back in the Big 12, this time as head coach of the Houston Cougars.
Not since the old SWC days has Texas and Houston been conference mates. And of course, the Big 12 made sure the two teams played each other one more time, and it will be in Houston. But then again, having the Horns play in Houston again is probably a good thing for UT.
Texas will be facing another old foe in quarterback Donovan Smith Jr. If you close your eyes, it’s not hard to see Smith running for first down after first down when he stepped in at QB last year with Texas Tech.
Smith wasn’t going to start again in Lubbock so he’s now a Cougar.
Smith is not a bad passer, but he is prone to throw interceptions. Still, he should be a good fit with Holgorsen’s offense.
The Cougars top two WR’s from last season are gone. The one returning starter, Matthew Golden, did average 15.4 yards per catch and added seven touchdowns so he should be a pretty big target for Smith this year.
QB Clayton Tune was UH’s leading rusher in 2022 (if that tells you anything about their run game).
As for the o-line, left tackle Patrick Paul is a damn good one. He would probably have made my preseason All Big 12 list if there weren’t so many excellent linemen ahead of him. Senior center Jack Freeman is good as well. Beyond that, there’s not much.
Defensively, Houston has to replace their top five tacklers and top two pass rushers from last year’s team which finished 112th in points allowed. Who knows, maybe it will be an addition by subtraction situation in Houston.
That’s it for the Big, Big 12 preview!
Just to whet your appetites for next season, @Anwar Richardson and I will be at the Big 12 Media Days tomorrow covering Sark and the boys. We'll also both be at the SEC Media Days next week bringing you complete coverage of UT’s future home.
But for now …
One more year.
TEXAS BASEBALL DRAFT THOUGHTS …
The Longhorns didn’t get everything out of the draft that they wanted, but it wasn’t exactly horrible either.
First off, congratulations to all of the UT players and recruits who got drafted this weekend.
Dylan Campbell was the first Longhorn drafted when the Los Angeles Dodgers selected him in the fourth round.
It’s still conceivable he could return to campus, but it’s honestly not likely.
DC will look good in Dodger blue robbing home runs from Giants hitters.
Lucas Gordon was picked a sixth round pick by the Chicago White Sox and will almost assuredly begin his professional career.
Travis Sykora, the big rightie from Round Rock, won’t make it to campus after being the first pick of the third round by the Washington Nationals.
However, the Longhorns are going to see some very talented players coming back.
Tanner Witt has decided he can do better. Witt came back from injury late in the season and showed some rust. A full offseason of workouts and a fully healthy senior season could see Witt climb back up in the draft to a spot where he belongs.
Witt will be joined in the rotation next season by Lebarron Johnson Jr.
LBJ had a breakout year in 2023 and will hope to keep it going. He too will be a high round draft pick next year if he has another year next year like he had this year.
That’s a Friday night/Saturday night rotation that probably any team in the country would kill to have. Now it will be up to new pitching coach David Pierce to figure out who his third starter will be as well as the bullpen (which was a real problem last year).
The Longhons will also see an influx of exciting young players who did not go as high in the draft as they would have hoped.
Will Gasparino, an outfielder from Los Angeles, CA’s Harvard-Westlake school, will end up coming to Austin after all.
Gasparino was MLB.com’s number 75 prospect in the draft.
The 6’-6”, 215 pound outfielder has a lot of promise. During the 2023 MLB Combine in Arizona, he had the fourth highest average exit velocity off the bat at 97.4 miles-per-hour.
Side note, Gasparino’s father, Billy, is the Dodger’s Vice President of Amateur Scouting. No doubt that Billy Gasparino’s familiarity with the Longhorn baseball team helped guide the selection of Dylan Campbell in the fourth round.
Or to put it another way … Billy Gasparino giveth and Billy Gasparino taketh away.
That’s really true in general when it comes to the MLB Draft.
TWEETS OF INTEREST
We're still waiting for the Pac-12 to announce it's new media deal (for more than a year now). You have to think they'll want to announce something before the Pac-12 Media Day (singular ... because they can cover it all in one day).
Speaking of media days, would it shock anyone if the Pac-12 rolled out their new deal while the Big 12 is holding their own Media Days this week? I would if I were them. Given the bad blood between the two conferences, it seems like a good chance to steal the Big 12's thunder.
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It is so rare that you see a college football coach fired in the summer. Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald was fired following allegations of hazing within his program.
Fitzgerald claims he had no knowledge of the hazing and has hired a law firm to fight his dismissal.
The university, after initially suspending him for only two weeks, has determined that as the head of the program, he should have known it was going on and let him go.
I don’t know what the truth is and I don’t really want to get into it.
I will say that hazing should not be tolerated.
I was hazed when I was in the Navy. I survived without any trauma. However, that doesn’t mean that others wouldn’t have some lasting impact. And, truthfully, I didn’t like it.
According to the University of Michigan, hazing does have negative consequences for those being hazed:
Hazing simply should not have any place in college football and it should not be tolerated.
Hazing doesn’t make people “stronger.” Hazing doesn’t bring a team together. Hazing doesn’t make a team better.
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Another issue we’ve seen in college sports (and professional sports) this summer is the prolific expansion of gambling.
The incomparable Pat Forde has an excellent breakdown of what led to the University of Alabama firing its baseball coach for gambling on the sport.
You don’t have to be Nostre Damus to know that this won’t be the last time we see gambling be an issue in college athletics.
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It is on my bucket list to one day play the World Series of Poker Main Event. I was in Vegas during the start of this year’s tournament but I was unsuccessful winning a satellite into the tournament.
Still, I had a pretty good run of play in cash games, catching a lot of cards. In fact, I got quads on three separate occasions during the week long Vegas visit. I even lost to quads once myself.
This year’s WSOP Main Event is the largest ever field of players. The final table will wrap up next Monday with the winner bagging more than $12 million.
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This is not sports related, but it is damn good advice for all of you storytellers out there.
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I love the new Leeds United home kits!
I’m hopeful that we’re going to see a yellow away jersey or third kit.
ESM is owned by Brandon, a longtime Orangebloods member, @Elite Sports Memorabilia . Elite Sports Media has THE BEST in Longhorn memorabilia anywhere. You can find memorabilia from UT legends such as Vince Young, Ricky Williams, Sam Ehlinger, Cat Osterman and Ivan Melendez. He also works with current Longhorns such as Quinn Ewers and Xavier Worthy.
Now is your chance to grab autographed memorabilia from UT wide receiver AD Mitchell - BEFORE he explodes onto the scene this season.
If there is some other kind of memorabilia you're looking for, please reach out to Brandon - he can probably get it.
You can reach Brandon via email at esmsportsut@gmail.com, or on facebook at Elite Sports Memorabilia if you have any questions or would like to place an order.
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One more year …
Nearly all of us have experienced the awkward moment when you’ve handed in your notice at your office, and in the meantime, a new person joins the team. You want to be polite and friendly, but truthfully, you don’t really care about getting to know the person because you’re going to be leaving soon.
Oh sure, you’ll happily tag along as everyone goes out to lunch for their first day, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to bother to learn his or her name.
Still, you have to work with them in the interim until you leave so you do so as politely as possible.
On July 1, 2024, Texas will officially become a member of the SEC.
But until then, it’s one more year of Big 12 football.
The Longhorns have probably the best and deepest roster in the conference.
Sarkisian is bringing Quinn Ewers, Xavier Worthy, Jordan Whittington, Jaylan Ford and Jahdae Barron with him to the Big 12 Media Days Wednesday. Three of those guys are going to be in serious contention for Big 12 player of the year awards when it’s all said and one.
Pre-season awards are pretty meaningless, but the Big 12 asked media members attending this year’s Big 12 Media Days to vote on different accolades so I’m going to break down my ballot of how I think things will go in the conference this year … Texas’ LAST in the Big 12.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
The Big 12 has already released it’s Preseason All Big 12 selections and Kansas QB Jalon Daniels was the media’s pick.
But I’m more interested in who will be the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year when the season wraps up. That’s how I voted when I put in my pre-season ballot.
Quinn Ewers, Xavier Worthy and Ja’Tavion Sanders all received consideration from me to be the pick. But at the end of the day, awards are nearly always given to the quarterbacks. If, as I expect, Texas finishes the season on top, then you have to believe Ewers will be a big part of that. For that reason alone, he’s getting my vote to be the preseason Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.
We’ve all read the reports about Ewers’ work ethic during the winter, spring and into the summer. He’s been hard at work on his footwork, his accuracy, deep ball and even his body.
(I know you’ve already seen it but this picture is just too incredible not to include again.)
Ewers told reporters after the spring game that he expected more from himself. I think he’s a man on a mission to prove that all of the accolades about him coming out of high school were accurate.
This year is the time when he gets to prove it.
Xavier Worthy was also in consideration for my pick. He has been so dominant during his first two seasons that he was the only unanimous selection to the Preseason All Big 12 team.
Worthy took a slight step back (statistically) last season from his freshman season while he dealt with a broken hand. Despite that, he still posted 60 catches for 760 yards and nine touchdowns.
It won’t take much at all to show marked improvement this season.
If Worthy picks up two more catches per game, he’s going to be looking at 80 catches. If he gets to that number, then he will likely eclipse the 1,000 yard receiving mark with double digit touchdowns.
Granted, he’ll have more competition for receptions this year with all of the talented pass catchers on the offense. However, he can get to 80 catches with the same number of targets as last season if he holds on to a few more. Certainly having a broken hand contributed to some of those drops.
Worthy will have a game or two where he is so dominant, he steals headlines. I’m just not sure he’s going to get enough media attention to beat out a quarterback for the player of the year.
Ja’Tavion Sanders is another Texas player that I considered for the award. Sanders may just be the best player on a very talented team. But will he have an award worthy season statistically? With Sark wanting to emphasize the deep ball, it seems unlikely. Sanders will have to wait for next year’s NFL draft where I think he may be the first Longhorn selected.
Outside of the Texas players, Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels, Kansas State quarterback Will Howard and OU quarterback Dillon Gabriel all drew consideration as well. Daniels is probably the most exciting of that bunch, I’m just not sure he’ll win enough games to win the individual awards.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Heading into the season, Jaylan Ford is the clear choice to be the preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year (and the rest of the media agreed, tabbing him with the Preseason honors).
Ford finished the 2022 season second in the conference in total tackles, tied for third in interceptions and tied for 12th in tackles for loss. He did all of that without registering a single tackle in the season opening win against UL Monroe (which is just mind boggling).
How much of Ford’s production came as a result of offenses keying in on DeMarvion Overshown remains to be seen. However, just because Overshown is gone, it doesn’t mean Ford will see a downtick in production. Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s scheme frees up linebackers to make plays. Plus, I expect most offenses to have their hands full with the defensive line this season which means Ford should have plenty of time to eat. And Anthony Hill certainly has the talent to step in and dominate during his freshman season.
The conference leaders in tackles last season is returning as well which means OU linebacker Danny Stutsman will be in consideration for the award again this year. Stutsman had a huge sophomore season racking up 126 total tackles. Clearly Brent Venables knows a thing or two about defenses (despite last year’s disaster) so I don’t know that you can expect a huge drop off in production. However, I’m not sure he’ll have a repeat of last year either. Two Sooner transfers, DE Rondell Bothroyd and LB Dasan McCullough will likely eat into Stutsman’s stats. That’s why even though he will get Big 12 honors from many, he didn’t even make it onto my preseason All Big 12 team. Of course, that could very well be a mistake on my part.
Other players under consideration include TCU’s Josh Newton was an All Big 12 DB last year and returns for his fifth season. If he’s able to get a little increase in production then he could make some noise this year. I just don’t know if TCU is going to be strong enough as a team to get postseason awards. Iowa State’s T.J. Tampa is already drawing some NFL interest and could have a breakout year. Oklahoma State’s Kendal Daniels was the Big 12’s freshman defensive player of the year last season, as well as a second team All Big 12 honoree.
The rest of my Pre-season All Big 12 Conference ballot looked like this:
PRESEASON ALL BIG 12 OFFENSE:
QB: Quinn Ewers, Texas
RB: Jonathon Brooks, Texas
RB: Devin Neal, Kansas
FB: C.J. Donaldson, West Virginia
WR: Xavier Worthy, Texas
WR: Brennan Presley, Oklahoma State
WR: Javon Baker, UCF
TE: Ja’Tavion Sanders, Texas
OL: Kelvin Banks, Texas
OL: Andrew Raym, OU
OL: Cooper Beebe, Kansas State
OL: Mike Novitsky, Kansas
OL: Zach Frazier, West Virginia
PK: Griffin Kell, TCU
KR/PR: Phillip Brooks, Kansas State
PRESEASON ALL BIG 12 DEFENSE:
DL: Byron Murphy, Texas
DL: Barryn Sorrell, Texas
DL: Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati
DL: Jaylon Hutchings, Texas Tech
DL: Lonnie Phelps, Kansas
LB: Jaylan Ford, Texas
LB: Dasan McCullough, OU
LB: Johnny Hodges, TCU
DB: T.J. Tampa, Iowa State
DB: Billy Bowman, OU
DB: Josh Newton, TCU
DB: Cobee Bryant, Kansas
DB: Kobe Savage, Kansas State
P: Mason Fletcher, Cincinnati
Offensive Player of the Year: Quinn Ewers, Texas
Defensive Player of the Year: Jaylan Ford, Texas
Newcomer of the Year: Dasan McCullough, OU
10 Random thoughts on my picks.
- I seriously considered putting Jonathon Brooks as the Newcomer of the Year. I expect him to be the Texas workhorse running back getting more than 1,000 yards rushing. At the end of the day, I just can’t see Texas players sweeping the awards being given out by Big 12 writers.
- I think new OU linebacker Dasan McCullough is going to have a big year. He was an honorable mention All Big Ten linebacker during his freshman season at Indiana last year. He portaled out and ended up at OU. Not only does McCullough come from good stock (his Dad was former NFL running back Deland McCullough) but he has been putting in work over the summer. If we’re going to brag about the Texas quarterback workout photos, it’s only fair to see how much weight gain McCullough has had during the offseason.
- I genuinely felt like I was making a mistake leaving all of UT’s DB’s off the list. I probably should have included Jahdae Barron, I could just have easily put Jerrin Thompson or Ryan Watts on there as well. I just wasn’t sure which one is going to be the standout player.
- Texas is going to have a really strong defensive line this season. I expect both Byron Murphy and Barryn Sorrell are going to have big seasons.
- Every one of those offensive linemen on that list are absolute studs. Obviously I think Kelvin Banks is going to be the best of the bunch.
- Christian Jones could end up making the All Big 12 team by the end of the year. For that matter, the same could be said of DJ Campbell or Cam Williams if they end up breaking into the starting lineup. The depth along the OL may be strong in the Big 12 this season but it is just as strong and deep at UT.
- It absolutely would not surprise me if AD Mitchell ends up being an All Big 12 wide receiver this year. He has first round NFL draft talent. The only thing holding me back is that there are just so many talented options for Ewers to throw to that I don’t know if Mitchell will get enough catches to stand out statistically.
- Cincinnati’s Mason Fletcher is one of the country’s best punters. Fletcher was a Ray Guy award finalist last season, ranking fifth in punting average 46.2 yards per punt. The Australian, ProKick product (the same school that churned out Michael Dickson) is a big boy at 6’-7” and 205 pounds. He put that big leg to work last season and had an 84-yarder at SMU.
- TCU’s Griffin Kell was the All Big 12 kicker last season and he returns to TCU for another year. Kell helped the Horned Frogs during their magical run to the national championship game last season. I don’t think TCU can duplicate that kind of production again, but if they do fall off it won’t be because of Kell.
- Kansas State’s Phillip Brooks is electric in the return game. The Super Senior is currently second in school history in punt return touchdowns (with four).
WHO WILL WIN THE BIG 12?
Texas started this league by winning it all. “Roll Left” will forever be in Texas football lore.
Now the Longhorns have a chance to go out, the same way they came in … on top.
The Horns have the most talented and deepest roster in the league. More times than not, that translates to wins. Who knew recruiting mattered that much?
In truth, any one of the top five teams; Texas, OU, Kansas State, Texas Tech or TCU could end up in Arlington.
Kansas State is actually the team I’m picking to face Texas in the championship game. There are only eight teams in all of college football that return all five offensive line starters from last season. Texas is one, Kansas State is the other.
Cooper Beebe is the best of a talented line. He’s already on multiple preseason All American lists. The left guard would have been a high round draft pick had he gone into the NFL draft, but he chose to come back to Manhattan for his senior season. Beebe is already on preseason All American lists. One of the reasons he came back was to be able to play with his “little” brother Camden who signed with K-State this year.
That experienced, and talented, offensive line will be protecting returning QB Will Howard. Howard stepped in as the starter last season and showed himself to be one of the best in the league. Over his seven games as a starter, Howard completed nearly 60 percent of his passes for 1,633 yards, 15 touchdowns and four interceptions. That translated to a QB rating of 149.6. That 150 QB rating is about the minimum it takes to be good in this league (Ewers was at 132 last year).
The Wildcats skill position players are an unproven bunch. Deuce Vaughn is gone but the K-State coaches feel good about sophomore DJ Giddens who averaged 5.8 yards per carry last year playing behind Vaughn. Phillip Brooks is a better returner than receiver, but he is the best of the bunch coming into the season.
Kansas State lost DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah to the NFL draft. But the defensive line and linebackers will still be the strength of the team. Linebacker, in particular, is the best unit on defense. Austin Moore was the team’s leading tackler last season with 87 and he’s back again for 2023. Daniel Green is also back for his Super Senior season. Green has 219 career tackles during his time in Manhattan.
OU is the popular pick from many to make it to the Big 12 Championship Game as well. The Sooners went 6-7 in their first season under head coach Brent Venables. Maybe it was just too much water for Venables to handle?
Venables will be hoping for a rebound season this year with Dillon Gabriel leading his offense. Gabriel is a good, though not spectacular, college quarterback. His real strength is his consistency. Just look at how similar his stats are each and every year (but ignore the 2021 season which was cut short due to injury).
| CMP | ATT | CMP% | YARDS | AVG | TD | INT | RATING | ||
| 2019 | 236 | 398 | 59.3 | 3,653 | 9.2 | 29 | 7 | 156.9 | |
| 2020 | 238 | 413 | 60 | 3,570 | 8.6 | 32 | 4 | 156.3 | |
| 2021 | 70 | 102 | 68.6 | 814 | 8.0 | 9 | 3 | 158.9 | |
| 2022 | 230 | 367 | 62.7 | 3,168 | 8.6 | 25 | 6 | 154.4 |
Gabriel knows offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby’s offense inside and out. The two were together at UCF during Gabriel’s freshman season and then reunited in Norman last year.
Gabriel doesn’t have a ton of great WR options. Jalil Farooq, Andrel Anthony and Drake Stoops are the starters. Farooq was last year’s leading receiver with 466 yards and five touchdowns. Anthony transferred in from Michigan where he had 248 yards receiving last year. Stoops is the ultimate coach(es son) on the field.
The offensive line should be good. Andrew Raym is probably the best center in the conference. However, he has battled injuries during his time in Norman. If he can stay healthy, he has NFL draft potential. Walter Rouse transferred from Stanford to OU (I’ll leave the academic jokes to the rest of you) and will take over as the starting left tackle. And Texas recruiting fans will remember the name Savion Byrd. There are high expectations for the redshirt sophomore who will work at left guard.
Defense is supposed to be head coach Brent Venables bailiwick. However, the Sooners finished 122nd in total team defense last year. Five different teams scored more than 40 points against OU last season, including the 49-0 shellacking in the Red River Shootout. Venables said he expects the 2023 defense to be “on another planet” compared to last year’s squad. I’m not entirely sold on that happening, which is why I did not pick them to play in the Big 12 Championship Game.
Texas Tech is the trendy Big 12 pick for many. Head Coach Joey McGuire has done a very good job of turning the Red Raiders around. The legendary Texas high school coach guided Tech to an 8-5 season. McGuire has proven himself to be a gambler going for it on fourth down more than any other team in the FBS (52 attempts). Those fourth down conversions were critical in guiding Tech to an upset of Texas.
Offensive coordinator Zach Kittley turned the offense around last year. The Red Raiders had the second best offense in the Big 12 churning out an average of 461.4 yards per game (probably 300 of those yards came on fourth down).
Defensively, the Red Raiders are going to count on fifth-year seniors Tony Bradford Jr. and Jaylon Hutchings to man the defensive line. The pair combined for 82 tackles and seven sacks last season. Of course, offenses were pretty focused on stopping Tyree Wilson who ended up being a first round draft pick. We’ll see how productive Bradford and Hutchings can be if they’re not seeing protections slide to the other side. Even with Wilson, the Red Raiders still gave up 29.2 points per game (7th in the 10 team Big 12).
I included TCU on the list of potential Big 12 Championship game contenders just out of respect for the season they had in 2022, I don’t really expect them to be one of the top two teams in the league. Of course, I probably would have had TCU about fifth going into last season as well and not only were they one of the top two teams in the Big 12, they were one of the last two teams standing at the end of the season.
Chandler Morris will likely be the starter this year. Morris, as you may have heard, did beat out Max Duggan at the start of the 2022 season as well so there is clearly talent there. However, the Horned Frogs lost a lot of talent at the skill position and I don’t see Alabama transfers JoJo Earle and Trey Sanders being equal replacements for Quentin Johnson and Kendre Miller. I’ve always liked Jared Wiley and he is a good tight tend.
Defensively, there’s a lot of players returning, including LB Johnny Hodges and DB Josh Newton. But TCU wasn’t very good defensively last season (outside of what they did to UT) and I don’t expect them to be much better this season.
BIG 12 PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH:
- Texas
- Kansas State
- OU
- Texas Tech
- TCU
- Oklahoma State
- Kansas
- Baylor
- UCF
- Cincinnati
- Iowa State
- BYU
- Houston
- West Virginia
BIG 12’S NEW MEMBERS:
I know you’re all ready to kiss the Big 12 goodbye and run out with your new SEC sweeties, but there are four new members that will be competing this year (one more year).
Rather than forcing you to do a deep dive on the Big 12 newcomers, I thought it might be easier to give you a little breakdown of the new guys.
BYU COUGARS:
HEAD COACH: KALANI SATAKE
2022 RECORD: 8-5
2023 WIN TOTAL O/U: 5.5
QUARTERBACK: KEDON SLOVIS
Texas fans shirk off their PTSD from past BYU games. I assure you that transfer quarterback Kedon Slovis will not treat the Texas defense the way Taysom Hill treated the Horns in 2013 and 2014.
Slovis arrives in Provo after stops at Pittsburgh and USC. This is Slovis’ fourth season and each year he has thrown for fewer touchdowns, a lower completion percentage and a lower QB rating than the year prior. (For the record, Slovis is the counter argument every time I say experience matters and Ewers should be better in year two than year one. I mean, I will probably laugh at you if you try to compare Slovis and Ewers, but at least you’ll have some kind of statistical proof that not everyone gets better with age.)
The offensive line was instrumental in the Cougars averaging 31 points per game last season. Even though they lost three starters from last year’s team, the BYU coaches believe the unit will be a team strength again this season.
Former Oregon 5-star lineman Kingsley Suamataia started at right tackle last year and will move to left tackle this season, Connor Pay returns at center, and the Cougars add Senior transfer guard Paul Maile from Utah.
“That is probably the biggest improvement on our offense, is our offensive line,” BYU offensive coordinator and line coach Aaron Roderick told the Desert News in February. “We are more athletic this year than we were last year. We are longer, bigger.”
Defensively, the Cougars have a new coordinator in Jay Hill who was at Weber State last year. BYU was 94th in the country last year giving up 408.1 yards per game. Of course, the 95th team in the country, giving up 408.2 yards per game was TCU and all they did was play in the national championship game.
Linebacker Ben Bywater is the leader of the defense. The junior is already BYU’s career tackle leader and will likely be on award watch lists this season.
CENTRAL FLORIDA KNIGHTS:
HEAD COACH: GUS MALZAHN
2022 RECORD: 9-5
2023 WIN TOTAL O/U: 6.5
QUARTERBACK: JOHN RHYS PLUMLEE
The very first time Texas played UCF was September 15, 2007. It was the first game in UCF’s new stadium which would go on to pick up the nickname, “The Bounce House” because of how much it bounces when Knights fans are into the game.
Beyond that, I don’t remember much of that game because I didn’t get to see it. September 15th, 2007 also happened to be my wedding day. Thankfully, the marriage is better than whatever happened that day.
I do remember checking the score and realizing that even though Texas won 35-32, it probably wasn’t going to be Texas’ year that season. And indeed, even though the Longhorns finished with 10 wins, they suffered losses to OU, Kansas State and Texas A&M. It was Colt McCoy’s sophomore slump.
The Knights are probably the strongest of the Big 12 newcomers thanks to the play of quarterback John Rhys Plumlee (which I always confuse with the actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers who plays a bunch of smarmy roles).
You’ll see plenty of votes for Plumlee when the Big 12 media accolades start rolling in, but his 2022 was only slightly better than Quinn Ewers.
| CMP | ATT | CMP% | YARDS | TD | INT | RTG | |
| PLUMLEE | 218 | 346 | 63.0% | 2,586 | 14 | 8 | 134.5% |
| EWERS | 172 | 296 | 58.1% | 2,177 | 15 | 6 | 132.6% |
The real difference between the two is that Plumlee is a senior while Ewers is a sophomore. Plumlee is also a real threat in the run game (while Ewers is not) running for 862 yards last season (5.4 per carry).
Gus Malzahn’s offense does most of its damage on the ground. The Knights averaged 228 yards per game last year which was good for ninth in the country. New offensive coordinator Darin Hinshaw was at UAB last season which finished eighth in the country in rushing offense so you can expect more of the same this year.
When the Knights do throw the ball, WR Javon Baker is one of the best in the Big 12. Baker, an Alabama transfer, caught 56 passes for 796 yards with UCF last year.
Teams that live by the sword die by the sword and UCF’s run defense was its real weakness last season giving up nearly 158 yards per game (78th in the country).
Given the run defense woes, you’d think the defensive line would be their weakest unit, but it’s actually a strength of the team. DT Ricky Barber along with DE’s Josh Celiscar and Tre’Mon Morris-Brash are the team’s top players on that side of the ball. Morris-Brash is the leading returning sack leader (6) and tackle for loss leader (13).
CINCINNATI:
HEAD COACH: SCOTT SATTERFIELD
2022 RECORD: 9-4
2023 WIN TOTAL O/U: 5.5
QUARTERBACK: EMORY JONES, JR.
Cincinnati has more college football playoff appearances than Texas.
Just let that sink in for a moment.
The Bearcats join the Big 12 with a strong recent run, including the 2021 CFP appearance. But a lot has changed since then and Cincinnati is probably not going to be able to compete for a Big 12 title – at least not this year.
Scott Satterfield is taking over for Luke Fickle who moved on to Wisconsin. Satterfield built up a very good reputation during his time coaching at his alma mater, Appalachian State. He played for and coached under one of the greats, Jerry Moore. Moore, a Texas native whose first coaching job was at Corsicana, went on to win three straight national championships as head coach of App State.
Satterfield won big at Appalachian State and then spent a couple of seasons at Louisville before moving to Cincinnati. He was only ok at Louisville, compiling a 25-24 record. But his reputation as an innovative offensive mind still helped him get the job at Cinci.
Satterfield is relying on a bunch of transfers to become key starters this season. Emory Jones Jr. transferred in from Arizona State and will be the signal caller. Jones is more of a dual-threat quarterback who has had some success in the Pac-12. Transfers will also be starters at WR and nearly the entire offensive line. That’s hardly a formula for success in its first season in a competitive conference.
Defensively, Dontay Corleone – “The Godfather” – is going to be one of the best DT’s in the conference. The sophomore got 44 tackles and three sacks during his freshman season last year.
The defensive line is the strength of the squad with Corleone, senior Malik Vann, junior Jowon Briggs and transfer DE Daniel Grzesiak.
There’s not much else to say about Cincinnati other than the facts that I actually like the city and I’m loving seeing Elly De La Cruz play this year. Also, Cincinnati chili sucks.
HOUSTON:
HEAD COACH:
2022 RECORD: 8-5
2023 WIN TOTAL O/U: 4.5
QUARTERBACK: DONOVAN SMITH, JR.
Dana Holgorsen is back in the Big 12, this time as head coach of the Houston Cougars.
Not since the old SWC days has Texas and Houston been conference mates. And of course, the Big 12 made sure the two teams played each other one more time, and it will be in Houston. But then again, having the Horns play in Houston again is probably a good thing for UT.
Texas will be facing another old foe in quarterback Donovan Smith Jr. If you close your eyes, it’s not hard to see Smith running for first down after first down when he stepped in at QB last year with Texas Tech.
Smith wasn’t going to start again in Lubbock so he’s now a Cougar.
Smith is not a bad passer, but he is prone to throw interceptions. Still, he should be a good fit with Holgorsen’s offense.
The Cougars top two WR’s from last season are gone. The one returning starter, Matthew Golden, did average 15.4 yards per catch and added seven touchdowns so he should be a pretty big target for Smith this year.
QB Clayton Tune was UH’s leading rusher in 2022 (if that tells you anything about their run game).
As for the o-line, left tackle Patrick Paul is a damn good one. He would probably have made my preseason All Big 12 list if there weren’t so many excellent linemen ahead of him. Senior center Jack Freeman is good as well. Beyond that, there’s not much.
Defensively, Houston has to replace their top five tacklers and top two pass rushers from last year’s team which finished 112th in points allowed. Who knows, maybe it will be an addition by subtraction situation in Houston.
That’s it for the Big, Big 12 preview!
Just to whet your appetites for next season, @Anwar Richardson and I will be at the Big 12 Media Days tomorrow covering Sark and the boys. We'll also both be at the SEC Media Days next week bringing you complete coverage of UT’s future home.
But for now …
One more year.
TEXAS BASEBALL DRAFT THOUGHTS …
The Longhorns didn’t get everything out of the draft that they wanted, but it wasn’t exactly horrible either.
First off, congratulations to all of the UT players and recruits who got drafted this weekend.
Dylan Campbell was the first Longhorn drafted when the Los Angeles Dodgers selected him in the fourth round.
It’s still conceivable he could return to campus, but it’s honestly not likely.
DC will look good in Dodger blue robbing home runs from Giants hitters.
Lucas Gordon was picked a sixth round pick by the Chicago White Sox and will almost assuredly begin his professional career.
Travis Sykora, the big rightie from Round Rock, won’t make it to campus after being the first pick of the third round by the Washington Nationals.
However, the Longhorns are going to see some very talented players coming back.
Tanner Witt has decided he can do better. Witt came back from injury late in the season and showed some rust. A full offseason of workouts and a fully healthy senior season could see Witt climb back up in the draft to a spot where he belongs.
Witt will be joined in the rotation next season by Lebarron Johnson Jr.
LBJ had a breakout year in 2023 and will hope to keep it going. He too will be a high round draft pick next year if he has another year next year like he had this year.
That’s a Friday night/Saturday night rotation that probably any team in the country would kill to have. Now it will be up to new pitching coach David Pierce to figure out who his third starter will be as well as the bullpen (which was a real problem last year).
The Longhons will also see an influx of exciting young players who did not go as high in the draft as they would have hoped.
Will Gasparino, an outfielder from Los Angeles, CA’s Harvard-Westlake school, will end up coming to Austin after all.
Gasparino was MLB.com’s number 75 prospect in the draft.
The 6’-6”, 215 pound outfielder has a lot of promise. During the 2023 MLB Combine in Arizona, he had the fourth highest average exit velocity off the bat at 97.4 miles-per-hour.
Side note, Gasparino’s father, Billy, is the Dodger’s Vice President of Amateur Scouting. No doubt that Billy Gasparino’s familiarity with the Longhorn baseball team helped guide the selection of Dylan Campbell in the fourth round.
Or to put it another way … Billy Gasparino giveth and Billy Gasparino taketh away.
That’s really true in general when it comes to the MLB Draft.
TWEETS OF INTEREST
We're still waiting for the Pac-12 to announce it's new media deal (for more than a year now). You have to think they'll want to announce something before the Pac-12 Media Day (singular ... because they can cover it all in one day).
Speaking of media days, would it shock anyone if the Pac-12 rolled out their new deal while the Big 12 is holding their own Media Days this week? I would if I were them. Given the bad blood between the two conferences, it seems like a good chance to steal the Big 12's thunder.
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It is so rare that you see a college football coach fired in the summer. Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald was fired following allegations of hazing within his program.
Fitzgerald claims he had no knowledge of the hazing and has hired a law firm to fight his dismissal.
The university, after initially suspending him for only two weeks, has determined that as the head of the program, he should have known it was going on and let him go.
I don’t know what the truth is and I don’t really want to get into it.
I will say that hazing should not be tolerated.
I was hazed when I was in the Navy. I survived without any trauma. However, that doesn’t mean that others wouldn’t have some lasting impact. And, truthfully, I didn’t like it.
According to the University of Michigan, hazing does have negative consequences for those being hazed:
One study has shown that 71% of those who are hazed suffer from negative consequences. These consequences may include:
- Physical, emotional, and/or mental instability
- Sleep deprivation
- Loss of sense of control and empowerment
- Decline in grades and coursework
- Relationships with friends, significant others, and family suffer
- Post-traumatic stress syndrome
- Loss of respect for and interest in being part of the organization
- Erosion of trust within the group members
- Illness or hospitalization with additional effects on family and friends
Hazing doesn’t make people “stronger.” Hazing doesn’t bring a team together. Hazing doesn’t make a team better.
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Another issue we’ve seen in college sports (and professional sports) this summer is the prolific expansion of gambling.
The incomparable Pat Forde has an excellent breakdown of what led to the University of Alabama firing its baseball coach for gambling on the sport.
You don’t have to be Nostre Damus to know that this won’t be the last time we see gambling be an issue in college athletics.
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It is on my bucket list to one day play the World Series of Poker Main Event. I was in Vegas during the start of this year’s tournament but I was unsuccessful winning a satellite into the tournament.
Still, I had a pretty good run of play in cash games, catching a lot of cards. In fact, I got quads on three separate occasions during the week long Vegas visit. I even lost to quads once myself.
This year’s WSOP Main Event is the largest ever field of players. The final table will wrap up next Monday with the winner bagging more than $12 million.
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This is not sports related, but it is damn good advice for all of you storytellers out there.
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I love the new Leeds United home kits!
I’m hopeful that we’re going to see a yellow away jersey or third kit.
