I can honestly say that I have never seen anything like the official visit schedule for the Texas Football program over the course of the June 16th and 23rd weekends.
By my count, 37 different prospects will be coming in on those weekends.
THIRTY FREAKING SEVEN.
Of course, it's not impossible to think the Longhorns might bring in a few more. Might as well aim for 40, amiright?
(For the complete list, click here.)
A quick breakdown of the numbers:
* 3 of the 37 are Rivals 5-stars
* 3 more are ranked as high 4 stars by Rivals, which means that a total of six super blue chips are in the 37.
* 18 are scheduled to visit on the weekend of June 16th.
* 19 are scheduled to visit on the weekend of June 23rd.
Here's a quick breakdown of each of those weekends.
June 16th
The headliner for the weekend is St. Louis five-star wide receiver Ryan Wingo, who many believe will end up at UGA when the dust settles on his announcement. Still, you can't hit a home run if you don't swing the bat, which is exactly what the Texas staff will be doing on his visit.
The other big dog from the weekend of the 16th is Phoenix, Arizona running back Christian Clark, who might just be my favorite running back in the 2024 recruiting class after Duncanville's Caden Durham. He's already taken an official to USC and has visits lined up to Florida State (6/2) and Georgia (6/23), to go along with his OV to Austin. The Trojans are probably the betting favorite, but it's a hell of a thing to ask the Trojans to keep all of their momentum with the slate of visits coming down the pike.
June 23rd
This is the big mamma jamma. It's the one that Texas coaches have been trying to establish as the big recruiting event of the year.
These are the Rolls Royces that will be on hand.
The biggest two names on the list are in-state five-stars Micah Hudson and Colin Simmons. The Longhorns will be looking to make up ground on the likes of Texas Tech for Hudson and LSU for Simmons. It's not quite do or die time for each prospect, but it's hard to imagine that Texas can pull either without ground-shaking visits for both.
Three other super blue-chip prospects that will be on hand are Waco Connelly cornerback Kobe Black, Florida safety Jordan Johnson-Rubell and Long Beach Poly superstar linebacker Dylan Williams. Texas has as good of a chance with Johnson-Rubell as anyone, but his visits to USC (6/1), Michigan (6/9), Ohio State (6/16) and Texas this month means that his recruitment probably becomes a bit of a free-for-all in the coming weeks.
No. 2 - Future Longhorns From Those Weekends ...
One of the very first players that Texas could receive a commitment from is IMG running back Jerrick Gibson, who @Suchomel and I have had FutureCasted to the Longhorns for the last three months. Gibsonis perceived to be such a strong Texas lean that it actually wouldn't shock me if he committed prior to his visit in the name of creating some Texas momentum going into the June 23rd weekend. Even if he waits until after his visit, he's expected to be a Longhorn.
The wide receiver most likely to join the Longhorn commitment list following the June 23rd weekend might be Lucas Lovejoy's Parker Livingstone. I actually entered a Texas FutureCast for Livingstone on Sunday afternoon when I realized I hadn't done so yet.
Another seemingly slam-dunk future commitment is North Richland Hills offensive lineman Daniel Cruz, even if he does have visits to Ohio State (6/2), Texas A&M (6/9) and Oklahoma (6/16) before he arrives in Austin on the 23rd.
Just like with Livingstone, I had just assumed I had already entered in a FutureCast for Duncanville defensive tackle Alex January, who is the son of former Texas letterman Michael January.
It's not impossible to think that Kobe Black will be the highest-rated recruit in the Texas class if UT can't close with Hudson and/or Simmons. I've had him pegged for the Longhorns since the end of February.
Although he hasn't yet been ranked by Rivals, Langham Creek tight end Jordan Washington makes a lot of sense as a future member of this class when you consider that he has an incredibly high ceiling as a tight end prospect and the scarcity at the position doesn't leave Jeff Banks with a lot of options. As things stand, he's the only tight end scheduled to visit on the weekends of the 16th and 23rd. I put in a FutureCast for him as well on Sunday.
San Marcos offensive lineman Ory Williams will make what will be at least his sixth visit to the 40 Acres in the last 14 months. No team has shown him more love since his recruitment began, so he feels like a safe bet at this point.
Bellflower (Ca.) St. John Bosco linebacker Khmore House only has official visits to Texas (6/16) and Washington (6/23) lined up at this point and when you consider how much he has raved about the Texas coaching staff, the Longhorns have to be the betting favorite.
That’s eight.
Others to keep an eye on are Jasper linebacker Tyanthony Smith (possibly a coin-flip with A&M going into this month), Lafayette (La.) Christian Academy defensive end Melvin Hills (will Texas push for his commitment?) and Carthage wide receiver Aeryn Hampton (will Texas push for his commitment?)
It'll be interesting to see just how aggressive the staff will be in accepting commitments because there are higher-rated players at some positions that they will want to wait on before loading up.
No. 3 - Sark strengthened the program this weekend ...
Here are a smattering of thoughts following the additions of former Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst, defensive coach Payam Saadat and long-time NFL special teams coach Joe DeCamillis to the football staff as special assistants to the head coach.
* The news of Chryst joining the program, if even only for a year, will generate the most amount of buzz when you consider that he's only a few years removed from winning 52 games over a five-year window as the head coach at Wisconsin. Outside of the three years spent at Pittsburgh as its head coach from 2012-2014, Chryst has spent almost all of his career since 2005 in Madison as either the OC or head coach. Expect him to be heavily involved in advanced scouting of the teams on the schedule and with schemes. He's a hell of a football coach that has enjoyed a lot of success over the years with a hard-nosed approach to offensive football.
* When it comes to having an offensive voice in the program that can challenge everyone's thinking, Chryst probably represents the strongest resume and set of offensive coaching chops that Sarkisian has had in the program since taking over in 2021. Just like with Gary Patterson a year ago, the goal should be to squeeze as much insight as possible from Chryst while he's here, even if it's just for a season.
* The hire that I might like the most is bringing in DeCamillis, who was a special teams coordinator in Dallas, Chicago, Denver, Jacksonville and most recently with the Rams. This is a guy that has won a pair of Super Bowl rings as a special teams coordinator in the NFL and as someone that has long felt that the Longhorns should have a special teams coordinator on the staff, his being around to potentially make that phase of the ball stronger could absolutely impact the team's win-loss record this season. On paper, it's hard to imagine that anyone in college football will have someone better than DeCamillis on staff to help with special teams. Although Jeff Banks has done a fine job with the special teams, DeCamillis needs to be like EF Hutton with this unit ... everyone needs to listen. The man has done nothing but coach special teams for more than three decades.
* DeCamillis is a tough dude. In addition to being an All-American wrestler at Wyoming back in the 80s, you might remember that he fractured a vertebra in his neck when heavy winds caused the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility to collapse back in 2009 and the man was back coaching nine days after the incident occurred. I'd be careful about what you say about him on the message boards. You don't want him searching for you.
* I don't know a lot about Payam Saadat, but he's been a defensive coordinator at Portland State for the last four years and is a coaching lifer that has been in the college game for nearly three decades. Like Chryst, I'm sure he'll be heavily involved in advanced scouting and game plans.
* Sadaat's defensive scheme at Portland State was the old flex scheme, popularized by Tom Landry. Per this article (a good read), the goal of the Flex was to have one more defensive player in the box than the opposing offensive has blockers to block, with the intentions of not allowing the defense to ever have a chance to double-team anyone on the defense. Those that have played against him have described his defenses as masters of disguise.
No. 4 - More incoming players on the way ...
Outside of Portal additions Trill Carter (DT from Minnesota) and Ryan Sanborn (punter from Stanford), I'm not sure I'm expecting much of a 2023 impact from the players that will arrive for summer workouts (and summer school) this week.
Both Derek Williams and Jelani McDonald are massive talents, but there's already a log-jam of players fighting for playing time before their arrival and it's tough to know whether either can climb the ranks fast enough to make the two-deep when the season begins.
The same is true of Ryan Niblett, who is also hugely talented, but will need to climb over DeAndre Moore in the battle to be the chief back-up in the slot to Jordan Whittington.
Of course, maybe the team's new special teams guru (DeCamillis) will find roles for them ...
No. 5 - The roller coaster team did a loopty-loop in Arlington ...
Honestly, what is there to say about what happened at the Big 12 Tournament this week?
Just when you think the 2023 edition of the Texas Baseball team has matured to the point that it might be beyond the kind of implosion that occurred in Arlington, it imploded.
Goodbye, hosting as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. We hardly knew you. Hello, No. 2 seed and going on the road.
We won't know what fate awaits the team with specifics to the Tournament until the bracket is announced on Monday at 11 a.m., but there seems to be a lot of thought that a trip to Palo Alto is in the cards.
Maybe going on the road is what's best for this team. It can play with an edge and maybe use the "nobody believes in us" card. One thing is certain, going on the road in a regional means that this team won't show up at the park taking anything for granted.
Giving a dog performance in two losses to the Kansas schools by a combined 12-3 score means that the Longhorns will be the underdog for the rest of the season.
It's a label that can't fit worse than being a favorite turned out to be.
No. 6 - Season ends in the blink of an eye ...
Just a week ago, the Texas softball team shook off a shock seeding by eliminating arch-rival Texas A&M in such a way that it made everyone forget that the prize for the result was a Super Regionals road trip to Knoxville.
On Friday and Saturday, the reality of Texas' seeding sunk in and it was all but impossible to think anything other than, "Uh oh".
Over the course of 14 innings, the Vols exposed Mike White's team as something short of good enough, as it scored a run for every inning that was played over two games, while the Longhorns committed more than three times as many errors as runs scored.
Two and BBQ.
As it turns out, it's not just Oklahoma that proved to be this team's kryptonite.
One season after knocking on the door of a national championship, the Longhorns simply weren't good enough to compete with the top of the 2023 food chain, as evidenced by the Keystone Cops routine on Saturday when the team committed five errors in a 9-0 loss. To be fair, it was a 1-0 game going into the 6th inning, but the Longhorns simply couldn't get the offense going ... at all.
So, back to the drawing board White goes as he looks to sculpt a team that can get back to the World Series and eventually get over the championship hump.
There's still a lot of work to do.
No. 7 - Another Director's Cup?
It's probably a wrap after a disappointing weekend on several fronts.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) The history of the two programs suggests this is a smart bet.
(Sell) The volleyball program is pretty freaking good. See the next question.
(Buy) Put it ink.
(Sell) I've currently got them going 9-3, but winning the Big 12 title in the process.
(Sell) Slow? Read section 1 all over again.
(Sell) Who the hell is Flatland Cavalry?
(Sell) I don't see it.
(Sell) Forgive me if I'm still not convinced that they are better than the Astros.
(Sell) Hudson feels like Garrett Wilson 2.0 and I'm not sure that there's much of a basement there. While Simmons has more positional value as an edge player, I think there's more risk involved. It's probably more like 6 out of 10.
(Sell) I'm not sold on Texas going on the road and winning this game. It was literally just seven months ago when Sark hadn't won a single road game as the coach at Texas. The Longhorns have some proving to do before I get all silly with my predictions.
(Buy) I'll say he finishes with 30 more tackles than the second-place finisher.
(Sell) I don't believe for a second that any of these coaches will ever be on staff, partly because they don't like to recruit, have never been asked to recruit or don't have any kind of rep for it.
(Sell) It's really close because both are freaks, but I'll take Perkins, who might have been the best prospect at two different positions as a prospect.
(Sell) VY signed a $58-million contract with a $25.7 million signing bonus. Not even NIL could compete with that.
(Sell/Sell) The three new coaches won't impact recruiting, but they could translate to another victory, but I'm not quite ready to go all-in with that possibility.
No. 9 - Scattershooting on anything and everything ...
... Saw the newest version of "The Little Mermaid" this weekend and I have to say, I actually liked it a lot. My 9-year-old daughter gave it an "A-plus-plus".
... The Dallas Stars simply will not go quietly into that good night. They have my attention going into game six in Dallas.
... Would Major League Baseball be better if it just played three games over the weekend each week? I feel like I'd watch more games if each game meant a little more than .006 of the season. Ignore me, purists ... I'm just thinking out loud.
... I'm all for the Cowboys going after DeAndre Hopkins, but it's a hell of a thing that the Cardinals were willing to take a $22.6 million dead cap hit in the name of getting rid of him. Just don't go crazy with the contract.
... Holy hell, the Miami Heat are going to choke away a 3-0 lead to the Celtics, aren't they? Even Dortmund (see below) are blushing over such a choke job.
... I don't even quite know what to say about what happened to Dortmund in its quest to end a 10-year run of dominance of Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. All it needed to do was beat mid-table Mainz at home to win its first league title in 11 seasons. The parade for the next day was planned. The club let its fans into the stadium 6 hours before the final match started. It was all set up for one hell of a glorious day and the team simply vomited all over itself in the first half hour of the match. It allowed Bayern to back-door its way to another title, made even crueler by the fact that the goal that clinched the title occurred in the 89th minute. No one wants to say it in the immediate aftermath, but it's the type of loss that could scar the club for quite a while. If not then ... when? The fans of the club might not want to know the answer to that question.
... Damnit, nobody told me that when I became a soccer fan that it would move me to tears as much as it does. I'm not ready to say goodbye to Bobby!
No. 10 - The List: The Goddess Tina Turner ...
I was seven years old when I first saw Tina Turner's video for "What's Love Got To Do With It" on MTV.
There was just something about her hair. And the voice. And her strutting around New York City in that blue jean jacket and black mini skirt.
Plus, the song was and still is an absolute banger.
She had me at hello when I was seven years old.
Therefore, when the news broke this week that she had passed away at the age of 83, it didn't matter that I hadn't gone out of my way to listen to her music in a long time, I found myself transported back to the 80s when the bomb that was her music and sexiness was dropped on me for the first time.
Brownsville, Tennessee's finest will always have a special place in my heart.
Let's get to the Top 10 ...
Just missed the Cut: Nutbush City Limits, I Don't Wanna Fight, Typical Male, Better Be Good to Me, Missing You, Let It Be and Whole Lotta Love
10. I've Been Loving You Too Long
There's a part of me that wanted to list this in the Top 5. It's just a tremendous cover of Otis Redding's infamous track. She comes across as the female version of Otis. BTW, this not safe for work version from a concert in Ghana in 1971 will leave you...uh.... it'll leave you something.
9. River Deep, Mountain High
Phil Spector knew Turner had greatness in her, so he made sure Ike stayed home and she knocked out this banger of a song. According to Rolling Stone Mahazine, Turner said, “I must have sung that 500,000 times,” Tina later said. “I was drenched with sweat. I had to take my shirt off and stand there in my bra to sing.”
8. We Don’t Need Another Hero
The best part of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
7. Private Dancer
There are a number of other tracks (especially covers) that I'd personally rank over this song, but it feels like it has to be on the list, so I'm slotting it here.
6. Funkier Than a Mosquita's Tweeter
Released on the same album as the Proud Mary cover, this underrated gem was actually written by Tina's sister, Alline Bullock.
5. A Fool in Love
This was Tina's breakout hit (along with the abusive Ike) back in 1960. It's hard to believe it's been 63 years since she announced herself to the music world.
4. Let's Stay Together
This New Wave spin on the Al Green classic might have saved her career and set the stage for the Private Dancer album to take over the world upon its release.
3. The Best
Tina took Bonnie Tyler's song and made it her own. Since then, it's been the backdrop for a million sports videos. On a side-note, the sax play in this song is fantastic.
2. Proud Mary
There's a strong case for this to be in the No. 1 spot, but f*** Ike Turner. There's no way any song he participated in is going to be inserted into her No. 1 song. Not on my watch.
1. What's Love Got to Do With It
It's a clear-cut No. 1 selection for me.
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