A few days ago, I mentioned on Orangebloods that the recruiting momentum in the Texas football program wasn't quite at the levels that I would have expected back in December when the Longhorns won the Big 12 and qualified for the playoffs.
That's not to say that there's not momentum ... there is.
That's not to say that the Longhorns won't finish with a top 5-type of class ... it will probably happen.
That's not to say there's anything wrong with 2025 recruiting ... there's not.
At the time of the comment, I'm not sure that I did a good enough job explaining the comment, which is why I'm back for more. With a little more time to think on the best way to explain it, here's what I've come up with ...
I expected the Longhorns to finish with the No. 1 recruiting class in the country. Was that a fair expectation? I suppose that's a question asking for a subjective response. I simply thought that a Texas program already recruiting at an elite level would go to the mountaintop with a shot of momentum juice.
To the naked eye, I'm not sure that it looks like the Longhorns are going to finish with that kind of class. Just for the record, none of this is an indictment on Steve Sarkisian. It just means that I am probably going to be wrong about just how high the 2025 class might finish.
Guys, it happens.
What I find fascinating about the conversation is that all of this discussion probably comes down to only two or three more super blue chips. It's adding Jonah Williams. It's landing potentially one more super blue chip offensive lineman. Sometimes the margins on these things end up being really small, which is why it could still happen.
Never doubt Sark and Co. in June, amIright?
Adding a clarification on the discussion also provided somewhat of a segue to a larger conversation about the 2025 recruiting class. I'm going to use the moment to go position by position on 2025 recruiting, which will include analysis, projecting and maybe even a few hot takes.
Let's get on with it ...
No. 2 – Starting with the offense ...
Quarterbacks
Needs: 1-2
Commitments:
Scattershooting: As someone who believes that Arch Manning will stay through at least the 2026 season, it puts recruiting at this position in a pretty fascinating place because if you believe that Manning is going to be a success, it means that you're asking any quarterback in this class to be somewhat comfortable (at a minimum) with the idea that he might have to wait until his third year before he’ll be in a realistic position of competing for the starting job (barring an injury).
Therefore, it says a lot about the draw of playing quarterback for Sarkisian that a national top-25 overall prospect would commit to the Longhorns. If the Longhorns hold on to Lacey, you'd be hard-pressed to give quarterback recruiting anything but an "A grade," but I'll be honest when I tell you that I have doubts about Lacey being patient enough to wait until 2027 before he has his chance. Getting Arch to be this patient is already a historic statistical anomaly. Having it happen twice in a row feels like an extreme statistical anomaly. It's much more likely that the quarterback in the 2026 class will be the player that ultimately replaces Manning in 2027, barring Trey Owens sticking around until his FOURTH season on campus.
Hot Take: To my naked eye, Owens is at least as good of a college prospect as Lacey.
Running Backs
Needs: 2-3
Commitments:
Projected Commitments:
Scattershooting: I think this is a duo that would register as a very solid pair, but it doesn't rate as high as last year's pairing of Christian Clark and Jerrick Gibson. Between Stewart or Simon (set to announce his commitment in 10 days), the former is probably the one that gets me out of my seat the most, but Simon is the kind of old school throwback that could either be gone in a couple of years or finish with 3,000 career rushing yards.
The bottom line for me on the 2025 running backs recruiting is that the Longhorns aren't likely to land a super blue chip level prospect and that historically has meant that you probably aren't going to land a difference-making type of college player.
Hot Take: Rivals has former top target Jordan Davison as a five-star prospect and the No. 1 running back in the class ... I don't see it.
Wide Receivers
Needs: 4-5
Commitments: None
Projected Commitments:
Scattershooting: This has the makings of being one of the best wide receiver classes that the Longhorns have ever signed ... and I mean ever. A combination of Moore and Ffrench might represent the best 1-2 punch that the Longhorns will have landed since signing Roy Williams and BJ Johnson in 2000. There's a part of me that wants to add Kaliq Lockett to this group, especially since he has such a strong relationship with Moore, but the smart money might have him landing somewhere where he's more likely to be a strong No. 1 at his position in the class that he signs with.
Hot Take: Nine different wide receivers have been rated as 5-star prospects from the state of Texas since 2018 and I think Moore is the guy I would rank No. 1 among them all at this point in their developments.
Tight Ends
Needs: 2
Commitments:
Projected Commitments:
Scattershooting: Armstrong is the tight end prospect that Jeff Banks has been waiting his entire life to coach and I refuse to believe that a super recruiter like Banks won't land him when push comes to shove. After all, Texas is the better program with the better offense and more proven coaches if this comes down to a Texas vs. Texas A&M battle. Throw in the fact that his first cousin TyAnthony Smith just signed with Texas a few months ago and ... in Banks, I trust.
Hot Take: Armstrong is the best tight end prospect from the state of Texas since Martellus Bennett in 2005.
Offensive Line
Needs: 4-5
Commitments:
Projected Commitments:
Scattershooting: As a five-man class, this group doesn't come close to the 2022 group that Kyle Flood signed. Landing Fasusi would give them a true superstar in the making, but I'm not sure there's a D.J. Campbell in this group, which means that if Fasusi hits, it'll probably be a win if one of the next four becomes a high-level starting player. If the Longhorns can find a way to land Lamont Rogers, it would go a long way to having me potentially give this group truly high marks. Honestly, the current projections make for what I would describe as a pretty good, but far from great group of five.
Hot Take: I don't really have one.
No. 3 - Moving to the Defense ...
Defensive Tackles
Needs: 3-4
Commitments:
Projected Commitments:
Scattershooting: Even if the Longhorns find a way to hold on to Brown, who definitely still has a wandering set of eyes, the Longhorns won't have really landed a recruiting class that's much better than anything Bo Davis was able to put together. One way or another, the Longhorns have to start landing some super blue chip interior line prospects and it doesn't appear to be in the cards for this class unless Texas pulls a rabbit out of a hat. Expect the Longhorns to be heavily involved in anything that goes down in the Portal in December.
Hot Take: The Longhorns aren't a factor for any of the top 7 defensive tackle prospects in America in the 2025 class. This can't keep happening.
Defensive Ends/Edge
Needs: Two
Commitments:
Projected Commitments: 🤷♂️
Scattershooting: The commitment of Jackson gives the Longhorns a nuclear weapon at the position and a foundation piece that takes some of the pressure off when it comes to what happens next at this position in this class. That's good news because at the moment, there's not another super blue chip prospect at the position that seems like a smart bet for the Longhorns.
Hot Take: As long as Smith isn't ranked as a consensus top 5-10 player in this recruiting class, I'm going to consider him one of the most under-valued recruits in the entire state of Texas.
Linebackers
Needs: 3-4
Commitments:
Projected Commitments:
Scattershooting: I know I must sound like a broken record, but if you can assume that the Longhorns are going to land Pettijohn to go along with Barnes, you'd like to be able to find a way to land another super blue chip prospect to go along with them. It's how you'd get this group from being very good to one of the best (if not the best) linebacker classes in the entire country.
Hot Take: A commitment from Pettijohn would give the Longhorns one of their three best linebacker commitments of the last decade ... or since 2010.
Defensive Backs
Needs: 3-4
Commitments: None
Projected Commitments:
Kade Phillips 2025 Cornerback
Kade Phillips - 2025 4 Star Cornerback for Hightower (Missouri City, TX) on Rivals.com
Scattershooting: I've got the Longhorns landing Brew because without him, I'm, not sure there will be another super blue chip prospect in this class and my expectations for every single recruiting class is that Texas will have at least one.
Hot Take: The defensive backs recruiting on paper at this point simply isn't good enough. Not landing Brew would mean that the Longhorns wouldn't be in line to land any of the top defensive backs in the state of Texas in the 2025 class.
No. 4 - Maybe Texas won't punt in 2024 ...
Pop quiz: Name the player that took the first snap with the punt team in the spring game.
Think about it.
Take your time.
You're not going to get it.
Answer: Junior Charlie Feris
The junior from Cypress Ranch isn't even listed as a punter on the official online roster. His bio doesn't reflect that he's even been a punter.
Beyond that, the only other player in the spring game that punted was sophomore Ian Ratliff, who shanked one pretty badly in the first half. If you're wondering, he was a second-team all-district player as a senior at Humble Atascocita.
I've been a major proponent of the Longhorns signing a punter in the Portal for about six months, but it seems as if Steve Sarkisian and Jeff Banks are content on leaning on this pair and incoming true freshman Michael Kern with the duties this season barring a late take through the Portal, but the Portal looks pretty barren on this point.
It's probably an impossibility to fully project how the Longhorns will look in the punting department, as Kern hasn't so much as taken a practice swing of the leg as a college player yet (arrives later this month) and the other two options are unproven and lack plus-credentials.
Soooooooo ... never punt?
It's bold, but I kind of like it.
No. 5 – Bring on the Aggies …
Texas softball did not play around this weekend, as it discarded of Northwestern and Siena in three games by a combined score of 26-2.
Ho-hum.
With Texas A&M coming to Austin next weekend for best-of-three super regional action, it's very possible that the ho-hum moments for the season are over. I get the sense that the No. 1 team in the country will be ready for the moment.
A date in Oklahoma City with a certain Sooners squad in a couple of weeks feels like destiny.
No. 6 - The hottest No. 2 seed in college baseball ...
Since the BYU series in early April, Texas Baseball has been the hottest team in the Big 12, with its three-game sweep of Kansas giving the Longhorns six straight series wins.
That includes first-place Oklahoma and second-place Oklahoma State. No team in the Big 12 has more wins over quad one teams.
This team isn't going to win a national championship, but it's not going to be an easy out on the road (11-5 road record this season) as a No. 2 seed in a regional and it would be a dangerous team in a Super Regional.
You have to believe that the Longhorns would be the last No. 2 seed the Aggies would want in College Station, especially with the pressure that will be on the Aggies to get to the College World Series.
It's possible that this team just doesn't quite have the goods to win a regional on the road, but it has played the kind of baseball in the last six weeks that gives me reason to believe that it'll be worth tuning in to see if it can.
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) I just don't think the men's basketball and baseball programs are anywhere close to what Rick Barnes and Augie Garrido were producing, but it might be a buy if we're excluding those two important programs.
(Sell) I'm under that number at the moment and that includes Texas having a playoff win.
(Sell) Winning a regional is about the limit of this team's powers in my mind and I probably always expect that with Texas baseball.
(Buy) Yes, I'm comfortable saying that.
(Sell) Mack in his prime would have grown to love the Portal. I feel like everyone needs to put some respect on Mack's name.
(Buy) That feels very possible with just a little bit of improvement.
(Sell) I'm not sure it matters.
(Buy) We're talking 24 tackles for loss and 10 sacks. Sorrell and Burke combined for 13.5 TFL and 9.5 sacks in 2023. I think they'll get there.
(Sell) I think he goes in round five next year.
(Sell) He's scheduled to take a visit to Oregon on June 21. I think he'll visit all three of his top 3 before committing.
(Buy) Because that's what he is.
(Buy) YOLO.
(Buy) You read my mind.
(Sell) I think the worrying on the whole is probably just right. Very few are in panic mode and very few are completely ignoring it.
(Sell) Everyone has moved on.
(Buy) With all due respect to Deandre Moore.
(Sell) I barely remember what I said. Let me go look...
*checks notes*
James Simon
Kelshaun Johnson
Jaime Ffrench
Dakorien Moore
Kaliq Lockett
Kiotti Armstrong
Michael Fasusi
Zion Williams
Riley Pettijohn
Dorian Brew
Caleb Chester
Kade Phillips
I've changed my mind on Lockett and a few more of those offensive linemen could be among the next 12.
(Buy) The Longhorns look like a strong favorite.
No. 8 – The Last Goodbye ...
Some of you are just going to have to cut me some slack. Writing this section represents a little therapy for yours truly, so don't begrudge me of it.
Jurgen Klopp is no longer the manager of Liverpool FC after leading his last match on Sunday at Anfield. I've known it was coming for months and I think I've pretty much lived in denial until he said his goodbyes on Sunday, which made it real whether I was ready for it or not.
Honestly, it's a little unlike anything I've ever known in sports for any team that I have ever supported.
From a sports standpoint, he's given me some of the best moments in my life as a fan. In two seasons from 2018, the Reds tallied 97 points and won a European title, only to follow it up with a league title and 99 points. At one point, Liverpool ran off a stretch of 38 games in which it not only went unbeaten, but it won a stretch of 36 of 38 games.
As good as Man City has been over the last decade, it has never done that. 36 out of 38 and not even counting the Champions League glory in the middle of it? No team in the history of the sport has ever done such a thing and probably never will again.
What is Klopp's Liverpool legacy on the field? He produced the best stretch of football that the league has ever known. I'll never follow a team for the rest of my life that will prove to be so historically dominant. Most never know the feeling.
Off the pitch, he's a man of the people that has never had a word come out of his mouth that ethos has disagreed with. In a time when so many of my sports heroes have proven to be people that let others down, it's never happened with Klopp. He ALWAYS knows what to say in the moment of a crisis. He ALWAYS has the right touch. He ALWAYS makes me proud to be a Liverpool supporter.
Truthfully, I'll miss the man as much as anything else.
Yet, I'm not going to roll around in my sadness because it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.
I love Jurgen Klopp. I am so thankful to have had him in this chapter of my life, both as a sports fan and as a human being.
Danke, Jurgen. You will never walk alone.
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... Xander Schauffele felt like the right winner of the PGA Championship. It was a hell of a four-day performance.
... How does one even talk about the weekend that Scottie Scheffler had. I suppose at the end of the day, that third round performance was a killer and he just wasn't good enough this weekend. Yet, he still finished with a Top 10 finish.
... Thanks, Jerry.
... I really don't like Dallas' schedule this season. I'm fearful about what might happen this season.
... The Knicks really lost a game seven at home. I guess that's what might happen if four of your five best players get hurt at the same time, but still ... to lose by 21? Yikes.
... I'm really curious to see how Myles Turner plays on the biggest stage of his life against the Celtics. He scored 17 points, blocked 5 shots and finished with a +19 in the box score in game seven on Sunday.
... So, the Kyrie trade has worked out for the Mavs, huh?
... Tyson Fury got his ass whooped in the 9th round. I have no idea how to rank Fury as an all-time fighter.
... Time to put some respect on Oleksandr Usyk's name.
... I don't know what I expected from the Phillies this season, but a 34-14 start probably wasn't it.
... Go Edmonton. Beat Vancouver. What else do they have?
... Ok, I'm definitely rooting for him moving forward.
x.com
x.com
... Austin FC is third in the West after a win on Saturday night and I'm happy to say .... I was wrong about this team.
... One of these days, Man City will give way, but now isn't that time, Arsenal.
No. 10 - Top 10: Dabney Coleman ...
The Longhorn Universe lost one of its own this week when actor Dabney Coleman passed away in his Santa Monica home at the age of 92.
For those that didn't know, the actor was born in Austin and attended The University of Texas, which is where he met Zachary Scott and the idea of becoming an actor was born. Just like Scott, Coleman was probably best known for playing absolute scoundrels in a career that nearly spanned six decades.
I can't say that I've seen anywhere close to all of the movies and television shows he performed in over the years, but I've seen enough that I hope I can do his career some justice.
Let's get on with it.
Honorable Mention: Domino, Downhill Racer, Dragnet, Midnight Mile and The Towering Inferno
10. Boardwalk Empire
I had to squeeze this into the Top 10 because his role as the Commodore in Boardwalk might have been the last piece of acting that I remember him for and he was truly outstanding in this show.
9. The Muppets Take Manhattan
"Get back ... or the chicken gets it!"
8. Melvin and Howard
A Jonathan Demme movie that features one of the best Jason Robards performances and an Oscars-winning performance from a young Mary Steenburgen. This should probably rank a little higher on the list, but Coleman only has a small supporting role as a judge in the film.
7. Cloak and Dagger
The kids out there won't have seen this movie, but let me tell you ... when I was 9, this movie was HBO all the time and I had to have watched it at least 25 times.
6. North Dallas Forty
Another movie that might be too low in its ranking, but there are simply bigger roles that we're about to celebrate.
5. War Games
Another classic from my childhood. "The only winning movie is not to play."
4. You've Got Mail
One of my favorite rom-coms, Coleman plays the father of Tom Hanks and gets left by his wife, who runs away with the nanny.
3. On Golden Pond
This was a huge movie when it came out and for my money, this might be my favorite scene with Coleman in any movie.
On Golden Pond 1981 Henry Fonda
www.youtube.com
2. 9 to 5
One of the great comedies of the 1980s, Coleman plays the a-hole boss that Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton all want to kill/kidnap/expose to the world.
1. Tootsie
Am I wrong for having this in the No. 1 spot? It feels like the movie I most associate him with.
Tootsie: "Shame On You, You Macho Shithead!"
(1982: #Drama #Comedy #Film #Scene )Director: Sydney PollackStarring: Dustin Hoffman, Dabney Coleman, Doris Belack, Lynne Thigpen, Ellen Foley#Tootsie
www.youtube.com
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