"It's not even close."
That happened eight years ago today.
For those that need a refresher on the history of those four little words, let me take you back in time. We were about three weeks away from Texas taking on Notre Dame to open up the 2016 season and everyone that wears burnt orange was of the mindset that incoming freshman quarterback Shane Buechele was going to start at quarterback because ... well ... there just wasn't any way the Longhorns could afford to roll out Tyrone Swoopes as the starting quarterback or Rome was going to burn.
It was just that simple. Except it wasn't.
A source very, very, very, very, very close to the thinking of Texas head coach Charlie Strong believed otherwise.
“Like I said, it’s not even close,” the source told Orangebloods. “Tyrone is running away with this position.”
I'll never forget receiving the call from
@Anwar Richardson to discuss the matter that night. We knew it would cause a meltdown. We knew people would attack us. Whatever you think we should have known when the information was reported, believe me ... we knew.
Yet, our jobs as reporters is to report the news. Always. The information was coming from the very top of the 2016 Texas Football food chain. There was never any hesitation in doing our jobs. Specific detail was included. We also knew that any situation in a Strong-coached team could go sideways in the blink of an eye.
While we reported the information, we were very open about our personal opinions regarding the matter.
My first remarks on the matter on the site were, "I've been speechless all day."
"For the record, I'm still in shock myself. Not sure I can bring myself to believe it. Has to be some sort of mind game, right?"
@Suchomel remarked.
"I'm reading this thread from a bomb shelter," former Orangebloods columnist
@DustinMcComas wrote.
"I was in disbelief," Anwar said in describing in his reaction to what he was told the next morning.
The unanimous collective opinion from every member of the Orangebloods staff was that the idea was lunacy and that the move to start Buechele was the only way to proceed.
One of the more ironic moments of the entire episode occurred on other websites, as folks that are 100-percent still in this marketplace laughed at the reporting and questioned our sourcing, only to turn around and eventually confirm our reporting in the week that followed that expectations were continuing to build that Swoopes would start in the opener. Every single competing site eventually reported exactly what we reported.
Of course, we all know what happened. Common sense prevailed. The story has always been that the assistant coaches on Strong's staff implored to him that Swoopes simply couldn't be the starter against the Irish and the Texas head coach finally gave in.
I can tell you that I personally spoke with Strong for a little less than an hour on the Friday afternoon before the Notre Dame game and he told me that Anwar's reporting was 1,000-percent correct. He was concerned that Anwar was going to lose his job over the matter.
Yeah, that happened ...
Through it all, zero nuance was allowed. It didn't matter that Anwar had quickly established himself as the best beat guy covering the team after a Hall of Fame career of covering the NFL. It didn't matter that every media outlet covering the team eventually reported the same. It didn't even matter that Strong went on national television the day of the Notre Dame game and confirmed Anwar's reporting.
All that mattered was that Anwar worked for Orangebloods and any time a catch-phrase can be made to taunt an Orangebloods writer when any perceived mistake is ever made, it must be done. Those are just the rules. Well, those are the rules about 85-percent of the time.
Why am I bringing all of this up?
It kind of feels like we're in that territory again with my reporting in the last two weeks that the vibe behind the scenes with regards to Texas' 2025 football recruiting is "very, very confident".
As soon as DJ Sanders committed to Texas A&M on Wednesday night, there was a semi-flood of condescending remarks from Orangebloods members that suggested that the sourcing on the mood of the program was unfounded.
Never mind that the Longhorns had just recently flipped their No. 1 defensive tackle target Josiah Sharma away from Oregon or that five-star(ish) wide receiver Kaliq Lockett had committed to Steve Sarkisian and Co. only the day before or that Sanders was hardly the level of prospect that will eventually define the class or that Sanders was never even associated with the remarks in question.
It was a chance for the pitchforks to come out and any time there's a reason for that to occur, a fair share of fanatics around these parts will take glee in taking them out of their pitchfork closets.
Rinse. Wash. Repeat.
As I mentioned a few days ago, the vibe around the sourcing that I've communicated with hasn't changed. There is a belief that the Longhorns are going to finish very strongly in 2025 recruiting, which will include a handful of uncommitted players with 5-star ratings among the major services and several major flips from prospects committed elsewhere. Hell, there's even confidence about what's ahead in the next off-season through the Portal.
Nothing has changed.
I suppose the thing I want to get across more than anything else is that our job around here is to report. The day that I ever hold or restrict information from high-level sourcing because I'm afraid of getting hit with metaphorical tomatoes from the Orangebloods mob is the day that I need to hang it up and find a new passion. This job requires an ounce of fearlessness. You can't live in fear of what might happen in the event that a source ends up being slightly wrong.
So, do your snarky best. Suggest that we've lost our fastball. Hit me with your taunts that I will eventually put on a t-shirt.
We're going to always do our jobs and do the absolute best we can in providing the most amount of insight on the happenings inside the Texas football program that we can.
"It's not even close."
No. 2 - The most exciting development in a week of practice ...
It's not so much that redshirt freshman defensive tackle Sydir Mitchell and true freshman defensive tackle Alex January have set the world on fire in the last 10 days to such a degree that it's starting to feel like both will be impact players this season as much as it's nice to see them in the mix for playing time at this stage of training camp.
One of the things this program needs in the long-term is for as many young interior defensive linemen as possible to start developing for 2025 and beyond because at some point this program needs to start developing players at defensive tackle the way it has been at other positions on the roster.
Well, as this team heads into week two of camp, both Mitchell and January are getting snaps with the first-team defense, which is a fantastic sign for the long-term future of the program, especially when you start to consider that it's fair to start wondering if it's simply not going to happen for third-year players Jaray Bledsoe and Aaron Bryant. Among a flood of older players on the roster, both have been passed up by younger players, which is a better sign than nothing happening at all.
It's too early to get carried away with hyperbole, but it's a hell of a good sign that some young guys are developing at defensive tackle.
No. 3 - Scattershooting on the first full week of practice ...
... Call me crazy, but I'd like to start hearing more about Quinn Ewers kicking ass and taking names as the season approaches. This team will only go so far as his right arm takes it and I haven't had anyone mention that they believe that Ewers is performing at a newfound elite ability. It certainly didn't happen in the first scrimmage. Here's hoping that a higher level of play arrives soon ...
... Put me on the record as believing that Jaydon Blue is going to rush for 1,300+ yards this season if he stays healthy.
... The Longhorns have six linebackers on scholarship. Questions about depth and the long-term viability of the position exist beyond this season. Given that I don't think I've had anyone so much as whisper redshirt freshman linebacker Derion Gullette's name since he arrived on campus as a player that looks like a sure-fire contributor in the spring or early portion of the fall, the idea that the coaches want to tinker with him at the running back position is a major red flag in my mind when it comes to his development on defense. If he proves to be a failure as a defensive player, it means the Longhorns will enter next season with only Anthony Hill, Liona Lefau and Tyanthony Smith as viable options with a season of college football under their belt.
... It's interesting how quickly things can change with a single injury. It felt like the Longhorns were sitting pretty with five scholarship running backs a week ago. Six felt like too many because there are only so many carries to go around. Five felt just right. Yet, with C.J. Baxter's injury, the team is down to four and moves like tinkering with Gullette on offense feel like a chance worth taking.
... Love hearing that Jahdae Barron is creating turnovers in practice. More of that, please.
... Was talking with someone this week about true freshman offensive lineman Brandon Baker. The big man is running third string right now and might be a couple of years away from emerging as a starter. Basically, he's a project, even if one with a very high upside. Still, he's a player making a LOT of money in NIL and isn't on the field. It makes one wonder how NIL dollars on young offensive linemen might get spent in the future. If you're going to spend big NIL money on an offensive lineman, maybe a clearer pathway to immediate playing time needs to exist in order to justify it.
... Love hearing that Anthony Hill looks like a beast in his new role.
... It feels like Andrew Mukuba might be making the move everyone has been wanting him to make.
No. 4 - 5-star misses ...
There were a lot of thoughts that raced through my mind this week when the news of C.J. Baxter's knee injury arrived, but two kind of stood out from the pack.
The first thought was just one of immense disappointment for Baxter. After a freshman season filled with nagging injuries that seemed to keep us from ever truly finding out just how good the Florida super blue chip is as a player, this was supposed to be his season. The likes of Nick Saban were raving about his talent and the SEC media tabbed him with pre-season second-team All-SEC honors last month.
This just sucks. That's the sum total of my first thought.
My second thought turned to Johnathan Gray. Just like Baxter, the former five-star running back averaged 4.7 yards per carry as a true freshman. Just like Baxter, Gray's sophomore season was supposed to be his breakthrough and it was in a way, as he was well on his way to a 1,000+ yard rushing season in 2013 when an achilles tendon tear ended his campaign and changed his career forever more.
* Injuries
* Off-field issues
* Academics
* Homesickness
* Domestic problems
* Drugs
* Poor fits at the schools they attend
* Just not being good enough
There's a long list of reasons for why elite prospects never reach their potential and this is one of them. Of course, a knee injury is not the same as an achilles tendon tear, but it's also not something that can be casually dismissed. Baxter suffered a major injury. Moving forward, he might come back better than ever. Another thing that could happen is that his Texas career could never be the same. There are no guarantees that when he returns to the field that the dynamics at his position looks exactly the same as they did when he was carted off the field this week.
We're entering the great unknown moving forward with his Texas career.
Finally, I found myself curious about the reasons why every 5-star that Texas has signed since 2002 that didn't make it to the NFL (practice squads included). I thought I would go through them and see if there are any trends to be aware of.
(Academics/Off-field issues)
Johnson was not only one of my favorite all-time prospects when he was coming out of Tim Brewster's old high school in 2002, but he was one of the pied pipers of the school's most famous recruiting class. Ultimately, Johnson didn't qualify academically, but Johnson suffered an ACL injury playing basketball as a senior and was later involved in a car accident that had some concerning elements to it. Once you add in the fact that Brewster left the Texas staff soon after he signed with Texas and Johnson ended up not having the advocates on the staff he needed to keep him on the Texas radar as he tried to deal with all of it. By the time he got to Texas Tech as a JUCO signee, he was a shell of the player that existed in high school.
Academics
McCulloch was UT's Defensive Newcomer of the Year as a true freshman in 2002, but he flamed out very quickly because of scholastic issues. When he tried to transfer to Oregon State after a stellar JUCO career, academics sidetracked him again. Even though he never played major college football, he did sign with Jacksonville in 2006, but was among the final cuts. Played in the NFL Europa League in 2007.
Injuries
Pickryl had 5.5 sacks as a true freshman (started four games) defensive end and started three games as a sophomore, but shoulder issues ended his career. Man, he would have been a great one.
Not good enough
There's a part of me that wants to put the reasons for his not making it as a player on injuries because he did miss the 2010 season because of a foot injury, but he was never a plus-player at the collegiate level, although he did make 6 starts as a senior at left tackle in 2011. If I'm being honest, he was a poor evaluation in retrospect.
Injuries/Not good enough
On one hand, Walters did start 38 games for the Longhorns and just never emerged as a plus-player. On the other hand, he suffered a foot injury in 2009 after playing in only one game as a true freshman and I never thought he ever moved the same again. Walters was rated as a five-star because of how well he moved and when he came back in 2010, it just seemed like he labored to move around the field and things never really changed.
Injuries
As mentioned previously, the achilles injury as a sophomore was a killer.
Academics/Not Good Enough
Fowler last a single season in Austin before having to leave because of academic issues. Ended up having a solid career at Sam Houston State, but ultimately since he didn't ever emerge as a star at that level, you'd have to say he was a missed evaluation on the talent side.
Homesickness
McCoy has emerged as a very good starter at Tennessee and might be in the NFL right now had it not been for a broken ankle injury last September. Lasted about 15 minutes at Texas after signing in 2019 before transferring back to USC.
No. 5 - The UT sales pitch to Michael Fasusi ...
UT's Kyle Flood and OU's Bill Bedenbaugh are elite offensive line coaches and among the best in college football.
There is one major difference between the two.
In Bedenbaugh's entire history as an offensive line coach, he's never landed and successfully developed an elite offensive lineman into a high-level NFL draft prospect.
Never. Ever.
He's never signed a 5-star lineman. He's only signed four high 4-star prospects and not a single one of them finished their careers at Oklahoma, let alone emerging into a high level player. 2023 super blue chip Cayden Green bounced this off-season for Missouri. 2020's Aaryn Parks is at South Carolina. 2018's Tramonda Moore was thrown off the team. 2018's Bray Walker is at Texas State.
That's his resume with elite prospects. He hasn’t worked with a single elite prospect in 20 years as a coach that is worthy of discussion. Oh, he can coach up average prospects and make them better than anyone thought they would be. But, elite guys? Someone like Kelvin Banks? Jedrick Willis? Alex Leatherwood? Evan Neal? Anthony Davis?
Not a single one.
If I'm Texas, this has to be a piece of my sales pitch. Do you want to play for a guy that historically turns 5-stars into first-round picks or do you want to take a chance on a guy that has never done it.
Not even once.
That's not a subjective take. Those are literally the facts.
No. 6 - Just a something I've been thinking about ...
The Longhorns have averaged more than 21 players worth of attrition in the last three years under Steve Sarkisian.
That's while operating with a 85-man scholarship limit.
How large is the annual number of losses going to be when the scholarship limit climbs to 105 in the next year?
30+ each year?
No. 7 – About the Slim Reaper ...
After winning a record fourth Olympic gold medal for the USA men's basketball team this weekend, it occurred to me that we need to start appreciating Durant for the things he's been and done in his career instead of focusing on the things we believe he should have done.
Seriously, look at this resume ...
This doesn't even include the fact that he's the NBA's eighth all-time leading scorer. Or the NBA's seventh all-time leading scorer in the playoffs. Or USA Basketball's all-time leading scorer and rebounder.
Folks, I don't know how much time Durant has left in him, but I would suggest we enjoy this spectacular talent as much as we have while we still have it because he's 35 years old and he isn't going to be around forever.
Just enjoy him.
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No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) The Longhorns need as many quality reps going into the Michigan game, which means I think Manning will play no more than a quarter and with the game being out of hand at the point, he'll probably get one quality series where he gets to do more than hand the ball off.
(Sell) If Jaydon Blue turns pro after the season, the program will still be projected to have six players on campus at the position, barring future departures.
(Buy) He's going to be a star.
(Buy) ESPN. The mothership. Not the Ocho.
(Sell) That feels like about 3-5 too many.
(Sell) That's not what Sark would prefer to be doing on offense.
(Buy) It's a soft buy, but there's a very real chance that 2024 produces three starters while the 2023 class produces two.
(Buy) Of course.
(Sell) I would imagine we'll organically discuss former players that much, but probably not with an organized, pre-planned segment.
(Sell) Don't base anything on the first scrimmage,
(Sell) DeAndre Moore will start in the slot with Isaiah Bond and Johntay Cook on the outside.
(Buy) Correct.
(Sell) This is the only one I have seen.
(Buy) Absolutely. Of course.
(Sell) Put some respect on Banks' name!
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... Loved seeing Jordan Whittington making in a big play early in the preseason.
... Welcome back to the field, D-Mo!!!!!!!!
... I'm going to miss the Olympics this week. I've enjoyed the competition in more sports in 2024 than I can remember in a long time.
... This might be the greatest shot of Steph Curry's career.
... It's beyond messed up with IOC in taking Jordan Chiles bronze medal five days after the competition ended on a technicality that is all of their own doing. Shame on them.
... I'm not getting cocky, but I love what I'm seeing from Liverpool early under Arne Slot.
... It pleased me to see Manchester United lost a glorified scrimmage.
... I went down a weird rabbit hole on Saturday night when I watched a 2-hour episode of Solid Gold that counted down the Top 40 songs from 1982. It's crazy how many artists showed up to lip synch their hits.
... Still haven't seen Deadpool and Wolverine. I need to get out to the movies!!!!!!
... Finished season two of Tokyo Vice. Although the final episode wasn't an A+, I think I'd give the season an A-grade. At its best, it was some of the best TV I've seen in 2024.
No. 10 – The List: American Hero Snoop Dogg ... wait wut?
November 23, 1993.
It was a Tuesday and I was a senior at McCallum High School in Austin. After being the sports editor of the award-winning school newspaper The Shield for 3+ years, I somehow not only convinced everyone associated with the decision-making with the paper to let me write an album review of Snoop Dogg's debut album "Doggystyle" for our December issue, but I was able to bill it to the Austin Independent School District.
Honestly, I ran a lot of hustles during my time as a student at McCallum (I may or may not have run a black market yearbook sale out of my locker for three years), but nothing ever felt so good as going to Highland Mall on the day that "Doggystyle" was released and buying a copy of the album on cassette on the school district's dime, while also picking up a copy of Howard Stern's Private Parts for good measure.
The music on the album felt life-changing in real time. The varsity basketball team had a game that night and that cassette got passed along to every single person on the bus to and from the game. It was fun. It was dangerous. It felt wrong and right at the same time. It was instantly the music that largely defined the rest of my high school experience. I mean ... Gin and Juice basically played 10 times a night at every party on every weekend for the rest of my senior year in high school.
Somehow three decades later, Snoop is an American mascot. Videos of him watching event after event at The Olympics the last two weeks, while wearing red, white and blue have been seen by tens of millions. A guy that once caught a murder case and was one of the first successful mainstream rappers to flaunt his gang associations in the wide open for all to see has become as American as apple pie.
If I'm being honest, I'm can't say that I was a major consumer of Snoop's music as I got older and went through my college years and young adulthood. At some point, the misogyny (there was so much of it) and general themes of his music that never really evolved got old pretty quickly for me, but there's no question that Snoop's original flow like nothing we had ever heard before. I don't think I've listened to any of his new music (20 albums made from 1993-2024) in more than two decades, but his earliest stuff is as iconic as any music in rap and hip hop from the era.
So, let's get to it ...
Last 5 Out: Still a G Thang, Lodi Dodi, Signs, Riders on The Storm and Doggy Dogg World
10. Beautiful
Snoop + Pharell = Success.
9. 2 of Amerikas Most Wanted
Per Wikipedia, this was the last song from the last recorded performance of 2Pac's career. A personal fav.
8. The Next Episode
One of three songs from the 2000s that make the list.
7. Who Am I (What’s My Name)?
Just an absolute banger.
6. Murder Was the Case
Yes, this Top 10 is stacked with songs from Doggystyle. It's kind of unavoidable.
5. Drop It Like It's Hot
Snoop's best song from the 2000s. A Devil's Cove anthem from 2004-2010.
4. Deep Cover
Technically, this is a Dr. Dre song from the movie soundtrack of the movie Deep Cover, but this was the song that introduced the world to Snoop and the verses from the song are still some of my absolute favorites from his career. It kills me that this song isn't available on Spotify.
3. Nuthin' But A G Thang
Again ... technically this is a Dr. Dre song that includes a feature from Snoop, but Snoop owns this song the same way Pimp C owns Jay-Z's Big Pimpin. It cannot be stressed enough that this song played at least a million times at every high school party I attended during the final 18 months of my high school life.
2. Gin and Juice
If it weren't for my absolute love of another song from "Doggystle", it would rank as a possibly pretty obvious No. 1 on the list.
1. Gz and Hustlas
I don't care what any of you say. This is his best song and this has been my hot take for as long as I can remember. When I started a Playlist on Spotify in 2013 that featured all of my favorite songs of every artist that I like, this is the song from Snoop that I chose (only one song per artist is allowed on the Playlist).
It's still every bit as much of a banger today as it was when it came out. The bass line ? It might be my favorite song featuring bass play that has ever been recorded. It's up there with Seven Nation Army, Come Together, Billie Jean, Another One Bites The Dust and Sex Machine.
Therefore, I am standing on the table for it and will fight against the notions that other bigger, more popular songs are his true No. 1. I'm taking the song that doesn't even have a Wikipedia page.
