Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (No clutching your pearls, Nick)
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@Ketchum - B/S That Meyer and Florida documentary is going to paint Meyer in a positive light so his re-imagining can begin to allow him to get back into coaching? People are going to see what kind of headaches he was dealing with on that team during those years and people will give him the benefit of the doubt. Besides just like life the really good people in their professions get not just 1 Chance but multiple chances to right their wrongs.
As the queso dripped down his blue Polo shirt at Guero's down on South Congress more than two decades ago, I'll never forget the laughter that sounded like it was coming from Santa Claus, rather than an assistant football coach from an SEC school that would eventually get himself in his own NCAA hot water.
Yet on this day, this particular assistant coach was in Austin to scout a few players in person, eat the kind of Mexican food that you can't find in a basketball state and gossip about the cheating being committed in football recruiting by other schools.
There was so much glee in the storytelling that the coach couldn't even keep himself from doubling over. It was the kind of visual that I've never been able to forget. I've definitely never forgotten the story.
The way it went was that Alabama had just hired a new football head coach and on the night of his announcement as coach, he met with a group of Alabama alums in a setting that reminded the storyteller of what awaited Norman Dale when he was hired as the basketball coach at Hickory High.
These affluent Alabama alums wanted to know whether the new coach was going to win "the Alabama way."
"We're going to be a tough, hard-nosed team," the new coach told them. "We're going to outwork our opponents. We're going to win the right way and we're going to make sure all of you are proud of us."
The eyes in that room bounced around each other with nervousness before one of the men in that room stood up and told the new coach, "I don't think you understand us. We want to know if you're going to win 'the Alabama way?’ "
According to the storyteller, the men in that room explained "the Alabama way" to the new coach and the very next morning, he delivered a suitcase full of money to a prospect that Alabama was recruiting. Not a bag man. They had the actual head coach do the deed so that they could rest at night knowing that he was ready to do whatever was needed.
One of the reasons that story has stood the test of time as a story that I've remembered is that "the Alabama way" has always been something that has lived on in the world of college football recruiting.
Nick Saban is the greatest coach in the history of college football, but not even the presence of the sport's king has kept Alabama from constantly being mentioned among the dirtier programs in the sport. Over the years, if there was a recruit that was looking for $250,000 for his signature, it sure has seemed like the Tide were forever in the thick of the rumor mill.
I'm not saying all of this to be judgmental.
I'm not saying all of this because I've got a tell-all book coming down the pike.
I'm saying this because there are plenty of people in the world of college football that can clutch their pearls over the current state of college football, but not a single person associated with Alabama is allowed to.
That most certainly includes Saban.
Seriously, take your fingers off of those pearls, Nick.
In case you missed it, Saban had the gall this week to express his frustrations with the way ... ahem ... money ... double ahem ... is being used in the new NIL universe that exists.
“You think (parity) is here?” Saban said after stepping away from the press conference podium at the SEC meetings. “I think the way Southern Cal, Texas and Texas A&M are spending money … it hasn’t hit yet. What are you willing to spend?”
You have to be kidding me, right? It's as if we've just watched the owner of the Island of Misfit Toys call someone out for having a button missing on their clothing.
As it relates to Texas, having its name mentioned with USC and Texas A&M in this capacity, and irking Saban in such a way that the Longhorns got a special shout-out from the king of the sport tells me one very critical thing ... Texas is kicking some NIL booty.
It's a reminder of the two tiers of NIL ...
a. The TexasOneFund. This takes care of all the athletes. Some sports do better than others. This is the one that includes charitable acts of kindness.
b. Then there's the NIL work that gets real stuff done. This is what we don't see, but it's what leads to the nice cars and dreamy vacations.
I'll let you guess which one has taken care of Xavier Worthy for each of the last two years. Or helped land A.D. Mitchell. Or Isaiah Neyor. Or any number of football players with options.
I'll let you guess which one has Saban on mini-tilt.
For so long, the theory behind the scenes was that the Longhorns would be a financial titan in the world of paying players, if they could ever do it above board. While the program doesn't have all of the Joneses pointed in the same direction on the larger NIL business that's getting done, it hasn't kept the Longhorns from being able to get things done.
Mitchell didn't just arrive at Texas because it was closer to home. Neyor didn't flip off of a commitment to Tennessee because of the Tex-Mex. Your favorite five-stars didn't say "I do" without a plan for how NIL would go.
That's the name of the game in 2023 and the Longhorns are playing the game well.
Of course, don't take my word for it. Take the word of the last man on earth that should be complaining about the new gray area that exists in college football.
Nick Saban is clutching his pearls. Of the three schools he specifically mentioned this week, you'll notice that none are the kind of SEC blue bloods that have historically been known to throw around a suitcase full of cash or two.
No, the irony isn't lost on anyone.
It's not that Nick's moral compass is broken. It's that the cost of business has gone up.
It's not a call for virtue that we witnessed this week in Florida. It was a call to the Alabama masses to get their wallets in the game. Nick needs more money.
To be fair, everyone needs more money. The Texas One Fund needs more money. The Aggies and Trojans need more money. The bills coming due never stop. It's critical for the Longhorns that they are able to keep their foot on the gas at the exact time coaches like Saban are upset about the changing tides.
It's been so long since Texas has had it that they don't recognize what they have, but it's called ... leverage.
Now ... inside of Saban's tears ... isn't the time to give it up. Instead, it's the time to take more.
No. 2 - A few more thoughts on new Texas commitment K.J. Lacey ...
A few more thoughts with 24 hours to think about the implications of Lacey's commitment.
a. This is going to put a lot of pressure on Alabama. When it's all said and done, Lacey has a chance to be regarded as one of the state of Alabama's three best quarterback prospects of the last two decades. After receiving a commitment from 2024 star Julian Saying, the Tide haven't been very urgent on the 2025 quarterback recruiting front. Despite offering, there's a general sense that the Tide have slow-played Lacey. Now that Texas has swooped in and landed a commitment from Lacey, the Tide will almost certainly increase the level of attention that they will give him.
Lacey isn't just some kid from a random school. He's the best prep quarterback in the entire state, which just happens to be the Class 6A state champions and he's friends with arguably the nation's No. 1 2025 wide receiver ... from the same high school.
The Longhorns might very well hold on to Lacey, but there will be a lot of pressure inside the state of Alabama for him to eventually flip to the Tide and you can expect that they will try to get him on campus more than a handful of times.
b. The wildcard in the recruitment is Ryan Williams.
You can be certain that Saban knows that this was posted on Saturday night,.
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c. I think there's a very good chance that Lacey's ranking will climb in the next 12 months. His size is his size, but he's got an unreal arm talent that jumps off of film and he's a legit winner at the highest level of Alabama high school football. He might end up being the most talked-about high school quarterback of the 2025 class.
d. I kind of feel bad for Beaumont West Brook's Roy Thomas Jenkins (ranked No. 7 on my initial LSR Top 25). That's a kid that I believe would have been really tempted by a Texas offer and that's not likely to occur with the commitment of Lacey.
No. 3 - More Paul Chryst talk ...
Kudos to former Texas All-American Rod Babers for bringing this up on Twitter this weekend because it's not something I had given a lot of thought to prior to his bringing it up, but you would have to believe that one of the elements of having new special assistant head coach Paul Chryst on staff that might make for immediate fingerprints on this year's team is the high-concept use of deploying more offensive linemen onto the field on any given play by any means needed.
While he was at Wisconsin, Chryst would often use as many as seven offensive linemen through a variety of techniques, whether through extra jumbo tight ends or within the "hippo formation" (two OL used as blocking tight ends and two more used as offset fullbacks.
Back in 2019, Wisconsin actually ran a formation that featured nine offensive linemen, a quarterback and a running back.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, it allowed the Badgers to get nearly 2,500 pounds of beet on the field.
"From left to right, the line was tackle Cole Van Lanen (312 pounds), guard Kayden Lyles (321), Biadasz (321), guard Josh Seltzner (327) and tackle Logan Bruss (310). Cormac Sampson (280), who is working at tight end because injuries have decimated the depth, lined up on the right and left side of the line. Jason Erdmann (328) and tackle David Moorman (307) lined up in the backfield, with Erdmann behind the right guard and Moorman behind the right tackle.
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For those keeping score at home, that is 2,506 pounds of linemen."
My first thought after reading that article was that if Chryst is a fan of large humans, he's going to get along great with Kyle Flood, who collects large humans like he's a big game hunter.
After losing last year's extra lineman (Andre Karic) to the Portal, one of the elements of the offense that hasn't yet formally been replaced is that spot in the team's power running game. Yet, perhaps it's not a matter of replacing Karic as much as it’s a matter of opening our eyes to the possibility of the Longhorns doing something even bigger.
No. 4 - By my count ...
Of the top 11 prospects from my initial Lone Star Recruiting Top 100 list for 2025, six were on the 40 Acres this weekend.
No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, No. 9, No. 10, No. 11
No. 5 - The roller ride just won't stop...
Boy, that was some kind of impressive performance.
Just a week after its train wreck performance in the Big 12 Tournament, the Texas Baseball Team saved possibly its best weekend performance of the season.
Of course.
Suddenly, a lot of things feel possible in this season, as a Super Regional spot has fallen into this team's hands.
This team might not be perfect, but it has two bad ass starting pitchers a lot of runs at any given moment. This weekend that proved to be enough. Other than game three, the Longhorns didn't really need to depend on the bullpen as much as everyone feared.
Now we wait to see what happens in the Stanford regional. Is Texas going to Palo Alto? College Station? Might it stay home in Austin? Everything is on the table.
Buckle up, folks, the roller coaster ride continues. No vomit this weekend.
No. 6 - Shout out to LBJ ...
It just felt like special mention in this week's column needed to go to Jacksonville, Florida native Lebarron Johnson Jr., who put the Longhorns on his back Saturday night to the tune of a 129-pitch, nine-inning jewel of a performance against Miami.
At the end of the second inning, Johnson had loaded the bases twice, thrown 45 pitches and had caused a lot of folks to wonder if he could give the Longhorns the workload they sorely needed. All Johnson did was buckle down and put game two on lockdown.
It reminded me of Austin Wood's 13-inning, 169-pitch masterpiece back in 2009 against Boston College. Or Chad Hollingsworth's complete game against the Aggies back in 2014.
That's the kind of rarified air he hit on Saturday.
No. 7 - Aggies Are The Director's Cup Best Friend?
Stanford softball is doing everything it can to lead the Cardinal to a Director's Cup title, but it's possible that the baseball team floundering in its regional (needs to beat A&M twice in the next 24 hours to salvage the weekend) will open the door for the Longhorns to slide through the backdoor.
Per Director's Cup Updates on Twitter, Texas advancing to the Super Regionals, while Stanford bows out and loses soon in the Women's College World Series, and the Longhorns might just be where they need to be.
My how things can change in a week ...
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) Push comes to shove, I think he eventually signs with Alabama, along with 5-star teammate Ryan Williams. JMO.
(Sell) No, I don't believe this gets settled before 2025. It might be closer to 2030 than 2025.
(Buy) I don't think the Longhorns land Williams, but they will become a player.
(Sell) I think such a decision might have a lot more to do with the latter than the former.
(Sell) The Aggies would scream bloody murder and everyone wants to avoid the boycotts.
(Buy) Yes, that is less than optimal.
(Buy) Pooooooooooor Aggies.
(Sell) Not even a little.
(Buy) It surely doesn't hurt.
(Sell) TCU making it to the national title game was an even bigger surprise.
(Five) We don't really know where things stand and some things can only be revealed in games. Regardless, expect some growing pains.
(Sell) That seems a little high, even while acknowledging that it's likely a job that he privately covets.
(Sell) Texas Tech was not mentioned by Nick Saban for a reason.
(Sell) No, I don't know that I believe that. Do you?
(Sell) Moore is a different class of athlete.
No. 9 - Scattershooting on anything and everything ...
... Oklahoma State baseball really should apologize to its entire fan base. What a crash that was ...
... The Denver Nuggets feel inevitable. So, does Nikola Jokic being regarded as a possible top 10 all-time player in the sport.
... I'm rooting for Jimmy Butler, but feelings ain't got nothing to do with what is happening in these NBA playoffs.
... A Las Vegas/Miami Stanley Cup Finals is a reporter's dream and a hockey purist's worst nightmare. Can you imagine covering this series for two weeks?
... I'm sure this will be perfectly fine...
... Never seen this before...
... Go Inter Milan.
... Come on Hany, this man has a family.
No. 10 - The List: Miley Cyrus ...
@drunk randoke issued a double-dog dare to me a couple of weeks ago and ... well ... it seemed like a funny thing to do.
Sometimes life is as simple as that. I can't believe it's taken this long. She actually has a much deeper catalog than most of you are going to ever believe.
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Just missed the cut: Malibu, Slide Away, River, Nothing Breaks Like a Heart, Fly on the Wall, See You Again and 7 Things
10. Angels Like You
This might have been the song when Miley stopped being a young adult and became a full-fledged one.
9. Adore You
What can I say ... I like it when Miley hits me in the feels with a ballad.
8. The Climb
Yes, there's a song from the Hannah Montana Soundtrack. It's an inspirational anthem that touches all the right chords.
7. Jaded
My second favorite track from her latest album. She doesn't get enough credit for her power ballad chops.
6. You
Miley kills this song live. Kills it.
5. Edge of Midnight (Midnight Sky Remix featuring Stevie Nicks)
Cyrus and Nicks are the power girl power duo that we never knew we needed but did in fact need.
4. Wrecking Ball
Per Rolling Stone: "The Bangerz era was meant to upend Cyrus’ career. It was bold, brash, and abrasive in its delivery, from the first tongue-out twerk. But beneath the surface was a big broken heart, mending itself together again. “Wrecking Ball” serves as the emotional core of Cyrus’ fourth album and a true turning point in her pop career post-Disney. Though the song was originally written for Beyoncé, Cyrus meets its vocal challenges with both flourish and theatricality. Above a wash of moving, neon synths, she belts out a power ballad about the end of a relationship she can’t quite shake, one that has left her demolished. Her natural twang gives the song a great country essence, like her godmother Dolly Parton’s original take on “I Will Always Love You.” In an era focused on shocking visuals, Cyrus made sure that big voice of hers was heard. And it was loud and clear"
3. We Can't Stop
It was a banger 10 years ago. It's still a banger today.
2. Party in the USA
I can remember going to my wife's school reunion more than a decade and hearing this on the speakers of the bar the event was held in. All these years later, it's played on the speakers at my kids’ schools when they walk into school in the mornings.
1. Flowers
This is a flat out banger. It's basically the song of 2023.
I know for a fact Bama was behind on legitimate NIL deals. My girl is the social media rep for an Alabama starter. The school took so long to approve deals it absolutely cost him money.
He also had to go out and find his own deals. No one at Bama helped. This starters girlfriend reached out to the management company on Instagram.
Sounds like the scheme to convince kids to walkon and use their NIL to pay scholarship that's floated around, correct? IIRC, for that to work they would have to have been recruited as a walkon from Day 1, which I doubt is happening.
That's such an interesting version of that song. Her voice is a chameleon of sorts.
Back in 2019, Wisconsin actually ran a formation that featured nine offensive linemen, a quarterback and a running back.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, it allowed the Badgers to get nearly 2,500 pounds of beet on the field.
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That's a lot of brats and kringles.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, it allowed the Badgers to get nearly 2,500 pounds of beet on the field.
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That's a lot of brats and kringles.
Who are the most organized NIL programs in the SEC? Is it Aggy at the top of the conference alone right now? Surely Georgia has something decently ran...
Not enough smoke that anyone has ever so much as suggested it publicly, to my knowledge,
