Let the very first words you read in this week's column represent a bit of a foot on the brakes before we get too deep into the weeds ...
What I'm about to opine on isn't me handing out a trophy. I'm not anointing anyone as the champion of the world. It's all just an observation from the cheap seats.
Ok ... you guys ready for this?
Ready?
Wait for it ...
In the current landscape that is more wild, wild West than anything else, Texas is proving to be quite the notable six-shooter. You don't necessarily have to take my word for it.
"Texas is on the map," one NFL agent. who acts as "advisor" to college athletes across the agent as part of their NIL teams, said. "A couple of things have happened that really help (Steve) Sarkisian. Everyone across college football watched the Jordan Addison situation and there has been a lot of talk about Texas being one of the two schools he chose between. You think a future first-rounder who won 11 games last season looked at a school that didn't go to a bowl game last year because of a relationship with his position coach or because of what Sark did at Alabama?
At this point in our conversation, I mentioned that without the relationship with Brennan Marion and the recruiting chops of Sarkisian, the Longhorns almost certainly would not have made it to the finish line with USC as one of his two options.
"Maybe so, but one of my players that was just drafted mentioned to me this week as a joke that he should have gone back to school for another year and transferred to Texas. This is a guy that played in the Big 10. He doesn't give a damn about Texas, except he knows what he's heard. It's not just Addison. I'd wager money that every single transfer that Texas got in the off-season will receive better NIL opportunities from Texas than anywhere else they were looking."
If there's anything about Sarkisian's arrival at Texas that warrants a pat on the back, it's probably his willingness to lean into the NIL advantages that Texas could potentially offer his players. When he's asked about junior running back Bijan Robinson, Sarkisian is the furthest thing away from being apologetic.
The Pancake Factory and the timing of its announcement wasn't an accident. Quinn Ewers committing to Texas after exploring all of his options wasn't an accident. Isaiah Neyor flipping his commitment to Texas from Tennessee just 12 days after he had committed to the Vols wasn't an accident.
Hell, Iowa State point guard Tyrese Hunter committing to Chris Beard on Friday wasn't an accident.
When NIL officially became a thing last summer, the dire request from almost every Texas fan was that he or she didn't want Texas to be reactive in the brave new world that existed in college athletics. After all these years of calling itself the Joneses, Texas fans wanted to see proof that being a financial heavyweight was actually good for something.
I'm not telling you that you have to believe me. I'm just telling you to look around. Use your eyes and some common sense. Again, I'm not going to tell you where Texas ranks among the best schools using NIL at the moment because I don't know how to quantify such a topic.
I'm just telling you that it's helping.
Understand that Texas isn't sliding hundreds of thousands of dollars in crypto or in a suitcase to high school prospects and their families. When Nick Saban complained about NIL, he was really speaking in code for the money that is currently involved in recruiting that isn't reported to the IRS. He just couldn't go all the way with his comments because he knows he's dirty from the neck down, as is so much of the top of the college athletics food chain.
If you want to suggest that UT's legal NIL operations aren't quite completely combating what is happening around it in the continued seedy world of college football recruiting ...
We all might just be living in a world where UT's path to stacking its roster in the future has less to do with landing the best of the best in recruiting before they sign National Letters of Intent and more to do with landing the same elite players one or two seasons after they've developed in college.
"No one really knows what the numbers looked like, but the USC coaches were definitely worried about Texas," a West Coast source with knowledge of the recruitment told me this weekend. "There were conversations that took place with Texas until the last 48 hours. They were never quite sure if they had him. I don't know what the opportunities at Texas looked like from an NIL standpoint, but it must have been good because it made for a hard situation for him to turn down."
The next step for the Longhorns in enhancing their reputation in the transfer market is winning more games on the field.
As impactful as Texas has been in Portal this off-season, the Longhorns still came up short for the likes of TCU defensive end Ochaun Mathis, Albany defensive end Jerad Verse, Alabama linebacker Drew Sanders, LSU linebacker Josh White, UNLV linebacker Jacoby Windmon and a cast of assorted others. Don't mistake passing along the message that Texas is doing well on the NIL front with a suggestion that Texas is cleaning everyone's clock that it comes into competition with.
This is all a huge work in progress, a truth that will be evidenced by the naked eye in the coming weeks when more Texas NIL initiatives are announced.
Rome wasn't built in a day. There's still a lot of building to do and success to achieve.
I'm just pointing out that there's one obvious area at the moment that is worthy of feeling pretty confident about.
No. 2 - A look at the scholarship board and what could come next ...
A few thoughts on what happens in the name of talent acquisition between now and August.
a. The Longhorns are currently sitting on 85 scholarships.
b. Although there would be restrictions with regards to immediate eligibility, it's quite common for pieces of attrition to occur during the summer. It happens every year, which means that it would not be unusual if at least one or two players leave the program before the team reports in August.
c. Just a few weeks ago, Sarkisian was pretty definitive in saying that he expected the Longhorns to have 36 or even 37 new players in the program by August. It would appear that the Texas staff will have its eyes out for a couple of additions to add to the roster.
d. Although the Longhorns are sitting on 85 scholarships, it should be noted that there are probably a number of ways for that number to be massaged. For instance, although both players are expected to return to the program, there still hasn't been an official announcement on the returns of suspended players Ishmael Ibraheem and Jaylon Guilbeau.
e. Any players that the Longhorns bring in at this point will either have already been in the Portal for a while or will announce themselves as a grad transfer, similar to new linebacker addition Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey. It wouldn't be a surprise if the staff has been having steady conversations with a couple of remaining options from the Portal and we'll see announcements in the coming days or weeks, similar to Iowa State wide receiver transfer Tarique Milton.
f. If and when a space opens up on the 85-man roster, it makes all the sense in the world to bring in a senior from the Portal to fill that void. There's no real benefit to staying underneath the 85-man number, especially when a senior coming in would come off the books in a few months and have zero impact on the numbers available to the program in 2023.
No. 3 - Players in the Portal worth taking a flyer on ...
Here are a few seniors in the Portal that might warrant a double-take from Sarkisian and Co. if they are looking to add one or two more pieces of talent.
1. Louisiana LB Lorenzo McCaskill - This is a name I keep coming back to when I think of possible additions. The 6-0, 220-pound McCaskill mentioned Texas numerous times back in January when he first entered the Portal, but it's been silent on his front for months. This is a guy that twice earned All-Sunbelt honors. With one season of eligibility remaining, he fits the profile of what Texas should be looking for.
2. Iowa wide receiver Charlie Jones - One of the nation's top punt returners over the course of the last two seasons. Looking to enhance his wide receiver skill in his final season of eligibility.
3. Vanderbilt LB Alston Orji - An off-and-on starter for the Commodores over the last two seasons, Orji posted 21 tackles a season ago. While his addition would only add depth to a position that needs it, perhaps it might also serve as a "hello" to his brother Anfernee Orji, who is an All-SEC level linebacker with another season of eligibility remaining after the 2022 season.
4. Texas Tech edge Nelson Mbanasor - I'm just throwing mud against the wall at this point, but he's a senior that has seemingly always been in the Tech defensive line rotation, but he's never been able to stay healthy.
One non-senior
5. LSU linebacker Navonteque Strong - A player who has had his name connected to the Longhorns over the spring. Played in 5 games last season for the Tigers after arriving from junior college. Just file the name away, just in case.
Yeah, folks, it's fairly slim pickings.
No. 4 - Tweets that will make you smile ...
No. 5 - Texas baseball did what it needed to this weekend ...
I'm not going to sit here and try to convince you that what happened on Sunday night in the Big 12 Tournament game didn't matter, although it kind of doesn't.
What I am going to tell you is that Texas emerged from the weekend with...
a. Establishing itself as a regional host for the upcoming weekend.
b. Has a new single-season home run record-holder.
Nothing else really matters. Winning the Big 12 Baseball Tournament is about as valuable as the Big 12 Basketball Tournament if you don't get it done when the regionals begin. Nothing Texas has done this season matters more than what will soon happen.
Just ask Shaka Smart.
No. 6 - Texas Softball returns to the CWS ...
Memo to the rest of the college softball world ... careful.
Sometimes you mess with Bevo and end up getting the horns. In the process of sending Arkansas home short of the College World Series in the greatest season in the history of its program, the Longhorns under Mike White are back in Oklahoma City in June for the first time since 2013.
White's teams have been knocking on the door of a return for the last few seasons and it felt like he would eventually get the program back, but I'm not sure that this is the team that anyone thought would get there. Going on the road to Washington and then Arkansas to punch its return ticket is some kind of achievement.
I suppose playing those monsters in Oklahoma and Oklahoma State during the season will pretty much make everyone else look pretty beatable by comparison.
On a special note, it has been pretty wonderful to see the Big 12 hit queen Janae Jefferson have a big-time finish to her career. She's one of my favorite people in all of Texas athletics and she's part of a small group of players that have seen it all in their careers and have had their adventure capped off with a trip to Oklahoma City. Really cool stuff.
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) On paper, he's one of the best and most proven players on the defensive side of the ball, with all due respect to every player that returns from such a disappointing defense from last season. It's the job of the coaches to get their best players on the field.
(Sell) I expect both to play more than that.
(Sell) Maybe not on the depth chart, but very possibly when it comes to practice reps with the second-team offense. With Arch Manning potentially on the way, the coaches will likely need to show Murphy that he's valued if they want to keep him.
(Sell) That's way more benefit of the doubt than I'm willing to give a head coach that has never won nine games in his head coaching career and a coaching staff that helped lead this team to a full Christmas holidays with their loved ones just six months ago.
(Sell) Barron was playing pretty well by the end of last season and I think the possibility exists that he could become that kind of player, but he's going to emerge as more of a playmaker to get there and I haven't seen that from him ... yet.
(Sell) I'd guess linebacker or wide receiver. He literally said a couple of weeks ago that he expected to bring in two more receivers, which means that one spot is still open if they can find the right player.
1 - sell
2 - sell
3 - sell
4 - Buy (at least three)
5 - sell
6 - sell
7 - buy
8 - sell
(Sell) I just don't see enough difference-makers to believe it will be at that level.
(Sell) I think there's a better chance he'll be the defensive coordinator than GM.
(Buy) It's not that they didn't try to go all-in on the best defensive talent available in the Portal, it's just that they couldn't close the deal with those players. I think by the end of January at the latest, he knew the score.
(Sell) The OU softball team is 54-2, man. The right person won the award.
(Buy) Nothing has occurred to get me to change my mind.
No. 8 - Scattershooting on the sports weekend ...
... Can the Celtics out-will Jimmy Butler? I'm not sure.
... Steph Curry is on the verge of elevating his all-time status with another ring in the next few weeks. Can he be the Finals MVP?
... Rafa vs. Djoker on Tuesday at the French Open quarterfinals. Advantage Djoker?
... I'm still hurting as a Liverpool fanatic after Saturday's Champions League Final defeat to Real Madrid. No excuses, though. The Reds just didn't put the ball in the back of the net. It's a tough pill to swallow when you consider that Liverpool had more shots (24-4), shots on target (9-1) and Xg (2.55-0.9). Yet, numbers don't win games. Goals do. Shout out to Thibaut Courtois. That dude won Real the title.
... I'm feeling even more pain with the news that Sadio Mane plans to leave Liverpool. It's a blow to the sports soul when you consider he's really and truly my first favorite soccer player. I just adore the guy. I'll root for him wherever he goes. Not going to lie, though ... it stings.
... 500,000 fans showed up for the Liverpool parade on Sunday. YNWA.
No. 9 - The List: Top Ray Liotta movies...
Rest in peace, Ray.
10. Smokin Aces - I considered several movies for the last spot, but I really remember liking this movie when it first came out and I'm not sure that I've seen since. Is it good enough to revisit in the next week or two?
9. No Sudden Move - Maybe the most underrated movie of last year. A dope Steven Soderbergh crime movie.
8. Killing Them Softly - Another movie that I remember really liking, but I don't think I've seen it more than once.
7. Narc - This might be too low. It's Liotta giving a great performance next to Jason Patric, who might be giving his best-ever performance.
6. Something Wild - Talk about taking over the screen. From the moment he first shows up on screen in this 1986 Jonathan Demme-directed movie, he just oozes star appeal.
5. Unlawful Entry - Kurt Russell, Ray Liotta and Madeleine Stowe ... enough said.
4. Cop Land - It's hard for a crime movie with Liotta, De Niro and Keitel to be underrated, but I kind of think this movie is underrated.
3. Marriage Story - This is a tough movie to get through, but his scenes in the court room opposite Laura Dern is a top three all-time performance.
2. Field of Dreams - He's pretty much perfect as Shoeless Joe Jackson. I'm not sure anyone else could have done it better.
1. Goodfellas - Has there ever been an easier, no-doubt-about-it No. 1 selection in any list I've ever done?
No. 10 - And Finally ...
Last, but certainly not least, stand up and applaud yet another national championship.
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