Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (A recruiting stat I almost can't believe...)

[Ketchum]

Let’s be honest, you left off coach Boone in your 10th thought just to stir the pot. You know you did.

You guys love to think of me as a hell-raiser. I guess I've earned it.

 

[Ketchum]

Major programs seem to do very well signing out of state players.. While Mack had some good years and an opportunity to win 2 National titles and went 2 out of 3 against Ohio State he really was the poster child for losing winnable games..

Certainly it would be nice to get kids like Okudah, Dobbins and several others.. But the kids that Tom has been able to convince to come to Texas has resulted in Texas having pretty damn good recruiting classes... Ranking consistently ahead of OU and taking the top spot in the conference with the exception of his first year.. and we both know what caused that..

The one thing that has allowed OU to have the success that they have had is the QB's that Lincoln has been able to entice to come to OU.. But Sam has gotten better every year and was positioned this year to have a real opportunity to break Colts records and that speaks volumes about how that kid developed...

And we now have Card, JJ and Milroe.. the future looks pretty good to me.. And Lincoln has blown every playoff game that he has been in.. Yes he got there but they are more vulnerable than everyone likes to pretend..

Tom, and you and I have spared over this, when you assess where Texas is in relation to where Texas was has done a pretty good damn job of moving the program forward.. And who would you prefer he sign in place of a lot of the kids we have on the roster now..??

The Texas roster looks better than it has in a long long time.. And truth be told Mack and Charlie along with the Admin put Tom in a huge hole and yet, and yes there have been a few missteps and I have been critical of them, he keeps moving forward in meaningful ways...

Tom is doing a good job of recruiting out of state to supplement an in-state problem (same as A&M in some ways).

The concern I'd have is that so few of this year's OOS commitments fall in to the category of big-time prospects that perform so well.

Texas is hitting that area of four-stars isn't the same as the others.

 

[Ketchum]

Yoda

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I'd say Yoda was more teacher than coach.

 

[Ketchum]

How many more does this class finish out with and who are a few you think will join it? Finish with 23 players in the class, who is our other RB?

We know who they are hoping for. Not sure a great answer can be giving to the million dollar question.

 

[Ketchum]

Don’t forget Jim Jordan of OSU.

amen

 

[Ketchum]

When is the new Rivals update coming?

which one?

 

[PepperedAngus]

like giving someone permission to dream big.

 

[Ketchum]

Couple thoughts-
1. If you’re Maryland, recruiting 95% in-state would be a very narrow focus.
When you’re Texas, I don’t feel like it is. This is a huge state with LOTS of football and football players.
Add to that, part of what made Mack such a great recruiter was his relationship with the HS coaches. Hard enough to do that in the entire state of Texas, much less all over the country.

2. I think Jimmy Duggan should be higher! One of my absolute favorite Tom Hanks roles.

3. Your last point- I’ve been having the very same thought. The stance Texas has had just feels rather un-Texas in recent years. Kinda refreshing, but definitely puzzling.

a. The issue is that the state of Texas has about 10 elite of the elite prospects every year. You can recruit Texas only when you're getting 70-percent of the difference makers.

Texas isn't.

b. Ab absolute case can be made he's underrated.

 

[Ketchum]

#6 not bad for Coach Finstock

I’m kinda partial to him.

Also Lou Brown is a legend and him answering the call from Charlie Donovan saying Tire World is legendary.

There were about 8 coaches on the list I wanted to rank No.1.

Lou is definitely one of the.

 

[Ketchum]

Excuse me but where's Aaron Eckhart aka. Darrell Royal in My All American? The Freddie Steinmark story.

Love the movie, can't rank him ahead of those on the list.

 

[Ketchum]

MR MIYAGI AT NUMBER TWO, BUT HERMAN BOONE @ 5, and COACH TAYLOR NOT EVEN LISTED?

I've never disagreed with something you wrote any more. Appalling.

Coach Taylor is a TV coach.

 

[challenge_accepted]

Coach Taylor is the TV coach.

FIFY

 

[Ketchum]

FIFY

Craig T. Nelson's Coach Fox might have something to say about that.

 

[Craben]

All these years that I've covered Texas athletics, I've heard people around the university always mention that they company they'd love to keep in a perfect world are the Stanfords, Cal-Berkleys and and Michigans of the world.Yet, as college football seems to be at a crossroads with the idea of playing the 2020 season in the fall, it seems to be that those I'm speaking with are aligning with the Alabamas, LSUs and Floridas of the world because the sense I get is that Texas leadership wants to play football. It sure as hell wants to try.

I'm hearing from some big donors I know well that the Eyes of Texas issue was the final straw for a lot of long-time donors. They are disgusted with the overall campus radicalism, especially the influence of communist organizations. UT is faced with the tough task of moving its student and faculty outlook back to a more moderate, middle of the road perspective, or losing the massive endowments and political support upon which it depends.

 

[Heavy7602]

No love for Jimmy "No Crying in Baseball" Dugan?

 

[Ketchum]

No love for Jimmy "No Crying in Baseball" Dugan?

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He made the list.

 

[RLong68]

No. 2 - Back to regularly scheduled programming ...

Two things happened over the weekend that I viewed as a bit of a single intertwined event.

* Second-year defensive lineman Myron Warren out of Louisiana put his name into the transfer portal.

* 2021 wide receiver prospect Jaden Alexis out of Florida committed to the Longhorns.

In one door went a former out-of-state prospect right as another was coming in.

It got me to thinking about all of the things that go through my brain whenever an out-of-state commitment is made. How risky is out-of-state recruiting compared to in-state recruiting? Are out-of-state players more likely to leave a school via transfer than their in-state counterparts? Just how well has Texas recruited out of state over the years versus the national average and the national elite?

I'll be honest when I tell you that I'm not sure that I'm tackling a subject matter that can be completely handled in a weekend. The shot clock is going to get the best of me when it comes to answering all of my questions, especially when comparing UT's performance against the rest of the nation.

What I did want to accomplish was a complete analysis of UT's success in the department since the evolution of the Rivals.com rankings going all the way back to 2002.

Our OOS signees since '02:
'02 - Pickryl, Chase Pittman, Studdard, Sendlein, Marquis Johnson
Summary: 2 hits. 3 misses. Johnson never made it to campus. Pick's issue had nothing to do with being OOS. Pittman's issue probably went deeper,
'05 - Aaron Lewis, Michael Houston
Summary: 1 minor hit. 1 miss. Houston seemed to just be an odd duck.
'06 - L. Houston, Ben Alexander
1 hit. 1 contributor? Don't want to call Alexander a miss because he a) finished his career here and b) wasn't terribly celebrated coming out of HS
'07 - Irby
Oh what might have been. Irby was well on his way, IMO, to be simply the next in the line of NFL TEs after Scaife, Thomas & Finley. I'm calling that a hit because f*ck it, Irby would have been.
'08 - Brewster
Miss
'09 - Derek Johnson
Miss
'10 - Hicks, Will Russ
1 Hit. 1 miss(?) Honestly can't remember much if anything about Russ doing anything but I feel like he did some punting?
'11 - Josh Turner
He finished his career here but never attained status above JAG after being a pretty high profile recruit out of OK.
'12 - Shiro, C. Brewer, Donald Hawkins, Brandon Moore
1 miss (Brewer). I would guess another in Moore. Shiro falls in the Josh Turner category. Hawkins was a hit. Definitely mixed bag.
'13 - Harrison, Swaim
1 miss. 1 Hit
'14 - Poona, J. Roberts, Whitely, A Beck, Chris Nelson, Alex Anderson
Whew, lots to cover. 3 misses. Roberts and Anderson (although Anderson hung around up until 1 year left). Whitely was an injury issue. Hits in Poona, Beck and Nelson.
'15 - Dickson, Burt, Davis, Locksley, K. Johnson, Cherry, Hodges, Clarington, Lampkin, Gilbert Johnson
Whew. LOTS to cover. Dickson a major hit. Last 3 never made it to campus, and 2 of them were recruiting saga classics. A 4th, Cherry left after what, one day of fall camp? Locksley was a 5th miss. K Johnson battled injuries. Hodges is iffy. Got 2 years out of JUCO from him before he grad transferred to Pitt. We'll call Davis and Burt hits because, well, compared to their OOS brethren they look like AAs.
'16 - C. Johnson, Christmas, Wilbon, Roach, Aucoin
2 hits. 3 misses.
'17 - G. Johnson, Letaio, Pouncey, Chisolm, Rowland
1 hit. 1 TBD (not trending well). Misses although Chisolm and Rowland finished undergrad here.
'18 - Adeoye, Angilau, Rising, Grandy, M. Williams, D. Carson
2 trending to hits. 3 misses although Grandy was an injury. Carson still here but not sure his future will rise above JAG at this point.
'19 - Bru (duck), J. Smith, Floyd, Watson II, Marcus Washington, Liebrock, Adimora, Brown, Warren, Jacoby Jones, Marcus Tillman, Caleb Johnson, Willie Tyler, Mitchell
Whew, LOTS to cover part 3. This one has some potential But lets cover the misses first. 5. Warren, Johnson & Bru. Brown and Floyd were injury related. Moving on. Jones has been a contributor. But Admiora and Watson and Smith could have very bright futures. If we can managed to keep Mitchell on campus he could also. We'll get our first look at Liebrock soon (hopefully). Tyler is probably at least a year or 2 away from impacting.

So there you go @Ketchum. How we stack up against other programs I don't know. Of course some nuance might be required beyond a simple hit/miss. Some guys simply weren't big contributors but at least stayed the course so not sure if that makes them a miss unless they just grossly underperformed. Obviously there are some injury cases. Off the top of my head, going back to '02, My ALL-OOS first teamers are:

Studdard, Sendlein, Houston, Hicks, Poona, Dickson, C. Johnson, G. Johnson. Those are guys were slam dunk hits here at Texas. But that's only 8 out of that list. Beyond that you sorta have to begin to make some rationalizations.

 

[Anwar Richardson]

Remove Bobby Finstock from Teen Wolf and replace him with Al Pacino playing Tony D'Amato from Any Given Sunday.

 

[Heavy7602]

He made the list.

So he did... my apologies. Its time for another monster, I guess.

 

[RLong68]

10. Molly McGrath (Wildcats)
9. Jimmy Dugan (A League Of Their Own)
8. Apollo Creed (Rocky)
7. Lou Brown (Major League)
6. Bobby Finstock (Teen Wolf)
5. Herman Boone (Remember The Titans)
4. Morris Buttermaker (Bad News Bears)
3. Mickey Goldmill (Rocky)
2. Mr. Miyagi (Karate Kid)
1. Norman Dale (Hoosiers)

Solid list.

A single line that completely defined Norman Dale

 

[Ketchum]

Our OOS signees since '02:
'02 - Pickryl, Chase Pittman, Studdard, Sendlein, Marquis Johnson
Summary: 2 hits. 3 misses. Johnson never made it to campus. Pick's issue had nothing to do with being OOS. Pittman's issue probably went deeper,
'05 - Aaron Lewis, Michael Houston
Summary: 1 minor hit. 1 miss. Houston seemed to just be an odd duck.
'06 - L. Houston, Ben Alexander
1 hit. 1 contributor? Don't want to call Alexander a miss because he a) finished his career here and b) wasn't terribly celebrated coming out of HS
'07 - Irby
Oh what might have been. Irby was well on his way, IMO, to be simply the next in the line of NFL TEs after Scaife, Thomas & Finley. I'm calling that a hit because f*ck it, Irby would have been.
'08 - Brewster
Miss
'09 - Derek Johnson
Miss
'10 - Hicks, Will Russ
1 Hit. 1 miss(?) Honestly can't remember much if anything about Russ doing anything but I feel like he did some punting?
'11 - Josh Turner
He finished his career here but never attained status above JAG after being a pretty high profile recruit out of OK.
'12 - Shiro, C. Brewer, Donald Hawkins, Brandon Moore
1 miss (Brewer). I would guess another in Moore. Shiro falls in the Josh Turner category. Hawkins was a hit. Definitely mixed bag.
'13 - Harrison, Swaim
1 miss. 1 Hit
'14 - Poona, J. Roberts, Whitely, A Beck, Chris Nelson, Alex Anderson
Whew, lots to cover. 3 misses. Roberts and Anderson (although Anderson hung around up until 1 year left). Whitely was an injury issue. Hits in Poona, Beck and Nelson.
'15 - Dickson, Burt, Davis, Locksley, K. Johnson, Cherry, Hodges, Clarington, Lampkin, Gilbert Johnson
Whew. LOTS to cover. Dickson a major hit. Last 3 never made it to campus, and 2 of them were recruiting saga classics. A 4th, Cherry left after what, one day of fall camp? Locksley was a 5th miss. K Johnson battled injuries. Hodges is iffy. Got 2 years out of JUCO from him before he grad transferred to Pitt. We'll call Davis and Burt hits because, well, compared to their OOS brethren they look like AAs.
'16 - C. Johnson, Christmas, Wilbon, Roach, Aucoin
2 hits. 3 misses.
'17 - G. Johnson, Letaio, Pouncey, Chisolm, Rowland
1 hit. 1 TBD (not trending well). Misses although Chisolm and Rowland finished undergrad here.
'18 - Adeoye, Angilau, Rising, Grandy, M. Williams, D. Carson
2 trending to hits. 3 misses although Grandy was an injury. Carson still here but not sure his future will rise above JAG at this point.
'19 - Bru (duck), J. Smith, Floyd, Watson II, Marcus Washington, Liebrock, Adimora, Brown, Warren, Jacoby Jones, Marcus Tillman, Caleb Johnson, Willie Tyler, Mitchell
Whew, LOTS to cover part 3. This one has some potential But lets cover the misses first. 5. Warren, Johnson & Bru. Brown and Floyd were injury related. Moving on. Jones has been a contributor. But Admiora and Watson and Smith could have very bright futures. If we can managed to keep Mitchell on campus he could also. We'll get our first look at Liebrock soon (hopefully). Tyler is probably at least a year or 2 away from impacting.

So there you go @Ketchum. How we stack up against other programs I don't know. Of course some nuance might be required beyond a simple hit/miss. Some guys simply weren't big contributors but at least stayed the course so not sure if that makes them a miss unless they just grossly underperformed. Obviously there are some injury cases. Off the top of my head, going back to '02, My ALL-OOS first teamers are:

Studdard, Sendlein, Houston, Hicks, Poona, Dickson, C. Johnson, G. Johnson. Those are guys were slam dunk hits here at Texas. But that's only 8 out of that list. Beyond that you sorta have to begin to make some rationalizations.

The bottom line is that when Texas lands big-time prospects, they hit at a high-rate.

When they sign players below mid four-star status, they struggle to perform at national norms in terms of development.

 

[Ketchum]

So he did... my apologies. Its time for another monster, I guess.

 

[Ketchum]

Remove Bobby Finstock from Teen Wolf and replace him with Al Pacino playing Tony D'Amato from Any Given Sunday.

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Can't do it.

I quote Finstock three times a week. I saw a woman with a dagger on her arm last week and we talked about Finstock's rules on life.

 

[Anwar Richardson]

Can't do it.

I quote Finstock three times a week. I saw a woman with a dagger on her arm last week and we talked about Finstock's rules on life.

Please don't tell me you quote a horrible movie three times a week. It's too early in the morning for this lol

 

[Ketchum]

Please don't tell me you quote a horrible movie three times a week. It's too early in the morning for this lol

@CoachBobbyFinstock

Are we going to stand for this aggression?

 

[Ketchum]

Please don't tell me you quote a horrible movie three times a week. It's too early in the morning for this lol

I don't just quote it three times a week. It's a life creed.

 

[Ketchum]

Pacino couldn't pull this off.

 

[Anwar Richardson]

(Buy) He's waited his entire life for his senior season. I can't see him never having one.

If football season is pushed back to next year, there's no telling what kids with options might do. Sam dreamed of playing in front of 100,000 people at DKR, which won't happen this year, and may not occur in the spring. He also expressed to me at the Alamo Bowl his biggest dream is the play in the NFL. Ehlinger may be forced to make a business decision. I wouldn't rule out anything in this era on the unknown.

 

[Ketchum]

If football season is pushed back to next year, there's no telling what kids with options might do. Sam dreamed of playing in front of 100,000 people at DKR, which won't happen this year, and may not occur in the spring. He also expressed to me at the Alamo Bowl his biggest dream is the play in the NFL. Ehlinger may be forced to make a business decision. I wouldn't rule out anything in this era on the unknown.

No doubt. That's completely fair. I just don't think his stock would warrant jumping, but hey, I get it.

 

[Anwar Richardson]

Pacino couldn't pull this off.

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You're right. Pacino has never been a D-list actor. No way he could ever pull off a role he would have slapped his agent for ever suggesting