As I was sorting through just what layer of hyperbole I would use at the top of this week's lede, one that would properly push potential A&M readers on a level of tilt fitting of their inferiority complex, the obvious sort of just revealed itself to me in an awesomely organic way.
Just how big of a deal is the signing of Bru McCoy on Friday for the Texas football program?
Well, for starters, he might just be the highest-rated wide receiver prospect in the history of the school. At worst, we're talking about the No. 2 highest-rated receiver in the history of the school.
Given that the data from the last 15 years worth of recruiting classes reveals that in any given year, a five-star prospect is between 60-70 percent likely to become an NFL drafted player, we're basically talking about a future pro player, barring setbacks in grades, injuries, arrests and so-on as it relates to things that can sidetrack a guy.
Yet, I still find myself a little mind-blown with the history of it all. Consider that in the 20 years I've been working with Rivals.com, the Longhorns have signed only four five-star wide receiver prospects (including "athletes" recruited to play wide receiver):
2000 B.J. Johnson (South Grand Prairie)
2000 Roy Williams (Odessa Permian)
2002 Marquis Johnson (Champaign, IL)
* 2019 Bru McCoy (Santa Ana, Ca.)
(* Listed as an Athlete in the Rivals.com Database)
Back in 2000, B.J. Johnson was rated the nation's No. 2 receiver behind Charles Rogers. One of the reasons why I remember his ranking so clearly is that he was scheduled to attend the Hula Bowl with the rest of the Rivals All-America team in Maui, which I was a chaperone for, but he didn't attend. If I'm not mistaken, Williams was either the No. 5 or No. 6 wide receiver in the 2000 class, a year in which Rivals awarded five-star status to six wide receivers. Meanwhile, Marquis Johnson was a five-star ranked No. 23 overall in the Rivals100, which means if we compare individual rankings between classes (mostly a waste of time, but still) you'll find Johnson ranked 12 spots behind where McCoy is currently ranked in the Rivals100. Plus, Marquis Johnson didn't qualify academically in 2002 and never enrolled at Texas, so there's that.
Only if we wanted to quibble with the argument of possibly putting Johnson ahead of him by the slightest of margins (or maybe even Montrell Flowers) can you make a case that McCoy isn't the highest-rated receiver in the history of the program. At the very least, McCoy IS the highest-rated receiver the Texas program has ever signed in the true modern era of recruiting (post-2000) and the only one since 2000 to actually make it to the 40 Acres.
Say whatever you want of Williams and Johnson, they’re first and seventh in career receiving yards, respectively. Fifteen seasons have gone by since both finished up their eligibility in 2003, which means that not even the Big 12 offensive explosion in the last decade can wipe them from dominating the Texas record books.
What happened on Friday is kind of a very big deal. No hyperbole needed.
No. 2 -All-Time Texas Wide Receiver Recruiting Rankings ...
Don't think I would leave you hanging on this one. Since 2002, the Longhorns have signed 10 receiver prospects (including a few listed as athletes) that have been regarded as five-star (6.1) or high four-star prospects (6.0). If we use their overall national rankings as tie-breakers, here's how the list breaks down.
1. No. 12 - 2019 Bru McCoy (Santa Ana, Ca.)
2. No. 23 - 2002 Marquis Johnson (Champaign, IL)
3. No. 31 - 2007 John Chiles (Mansfield Summit)
4. No. 33 - 2019 Jordan Whittington (Cuero)
5. No. 34 - 2010 Mike Davis (Dallas Skyline)
6T. No. 41 - 2010 Darius White (Fort Worth Dunbar)
6T No. 41 - 2012 Cayleb Jones (Austin High)
8. No. 44 - 2018 Brennan Eagles (Alief Taylor)
9. No. 48 - 2019 Jake Smith (Scottsdale, Arizona)
10. No. 52 - 2016 Devin Duvernay (Sachse)
What's obviously pretty crazy about the data is that five of the top 10 are going to be active members of the 2018 Texas Longhorns. Those numbers do not include possible 2018 All-American Collin Johnson.
No. 3 - The "Bru McCoy Rule" ...
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Excuse me, please allow me to compose mys...
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Ok, ok, ok ... let me pull myself together.
If there's one part of this McCoy story from the weekend that generates a selfish smile, it's the fact that the Longhorns were involved in a situation that saw them gain a five-star prospect in extraordinary fashion that Rivals.com had to actually create a new rule for governing that is named after the prospect gained by Texas.
In case you missed it...
“We’re instituting what we’re calling the Bru McCoy Rule, which is anybody who transfers between the early signing period or early enrollment and the second signing period counts toward the class they transfer to,” Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell said.
Oh man, the folks in College Station have already lived their entire lives believing that everyone is against them. In their minds, every recruiting service in the universe exists to conspire against them in favor of the Longhorns. Rivals. 247. ESPN. All of them. It's one big damn anti-Aggie conspiracy.
And now they have Rivals announcing in a very public fashion that they've created a new rule that impacts the final rankings, one that has suddenly seen the Longhorns leap the Aggies in the national team rankings?
You'll have to forgive me one more time, but...
No. 4 - Two last Bru-related things ...
First of all, I'm officially declaring the 2019 wide receiver class as the greatest in the history of the school, at least in terms of its weight before arriving in college.
While the trio of Bru McCoy, Jordan Whittington and Jake Smith is essentially a wash with the trio of BJ Johnson, Roy Williams and Sloan Thomas, the fact that the 2019 class also includes Rivals250 member Marcus Washington and Melissa wide receiver Kennedy Lewis gives it an added strength in numbers that is superior to the 2000 group.
Second, I've officially revised my Top 10 All-Time Most Discussed and Debated Prospects in the history of Orangebloods. Here we go:
10. Martellus Bennett
9. Mitch Mustain
8. Rhett Bomar
7. Adrian Peterson
6. Kyler Murray
5. Jamarkus McFarland
4. Lache Seastrunk
3. Bru McCoy
2. Darrell Scott
1. Ryan Perrilloux
No. 5 - About Shaka ...
At the risk or burying the lead (and sidetracking all discussion about the rest of this column), I talked with several contacts inside the Texas athletic department on Sunday to get a feel for the vibe of Shaka Smart's footing following a pretty terrible loss in Athens, Georgia, one that has his program suddenly floating around .500 and in serious jeopardy of not making the NCAA Tournament.
Don't shoot the messenger, but the sense I have is that the heat isn't nearly as intense as it was when Charlie Strong went sideways in 2015 and then into the dumpster in the final months of 2016. While everyone seems incredibly frustrated, the three people I spoke with on Sunday all indicated they believed Smart would likely return next season.
"I think he gets another year," one high-level source texted me.
The money left on his contract is no small issue, as UT decision-makers were reluctant to eat a similar amount of money when it was related to the football program. Given the amount of money Smart is still owed and combine it with the money that would be required to replace him, you'd probably be talking about $25 million or so of coaching related debt added for the next few seasons, which is not a small number when you consider all of the expensive projects to which the athletic department is already committed.
On top of that, there's still faith among important supporters, which at this point still appears to include Chris Del Conte, that Smart will turn things around.
Add it all up and a return is definitely possible. Ultimately, the decision will be Del Conte's. Period. While multiple sets of hands have been involved in the decision-making for most of this decade when it comes to major coaching decisions, Del Conte has firmly established himself as the Wyatt Earp of the athletic department.
Could Del Conte decide to make a move if things keeping falling into the abyss? Absolutely.
Is it more complicated than the average level of discussion that takes place on the matter? Absolutely.
No. 6 – BUY or SELL (Bru McCoy Edition) …
BUY or SELL: Bru plays in five 2019 regular-season games for Texas?
(Buy) I'm expecting him to compete for reps as a starter from day one. I fully expect him to be fully eligible for the 2019 season.
BUY or SELL: Bru ends up having a better career at Texas than Collin Johnson?
(Sell) Johnson has a chance to finish his career as a clear-cut top 3 all-time player at his position with a monster season, putting him behind Jordan Shipley and Roy Williams. I'll take the bird in hand over the two in the bush.
BUY or SELL: Bru starts a game in 2019? Jake Smith starts a game in 2019? Jordan Whittington starts a game in 2019? Dicker is first-team all Big 12 in 2019?
(Sell) Give me three of the four. One of those true freshmen will play, but not start.
BUY or SELL: Bru signing with Texas adds almost as much momentum to the 2020 class as does winning the Sugar Bowl?
(Sell) And it's not even close.
BUY or SELL: USC will be a dumpster fire for the next 7-10 years reminiscent of what UT just went through?
(Buy) Pity the fools ...
BUY or SELL: By 2020, Jimbo realizes aggy is the wrong kind of crazy and enters his name in the portal?
(Sell) Where's he going to go? College Station is as good as it’s ever going to get.
BUY or SELL: Bru will be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to recruiting California for the next two years? Of the top 25 for 2019 in the state of California only 4 players stayed in the state ... 3 to USC, 1 to Stanford, 3 to Texas, with Oregon reaping the most 7 and UCLA only 1.
(Buy) I think Texas is about to set up some serious shop in California.
BUY or SELL: In the 2019 recruiting class, at least two players will make All-American status by the time they leave Austin?
(Buy) - I might even double that number.
BUY or SELL: We get some not so instant analysis on Bru at some point?
(Sell) You pretty much just got an entire 10 Thoughts From the Weekend. It's better.
No. 7 - Super Bowl LIII mini-rant ...
Watching C.J. Anderson bowling ball his way to a prominent story this week tastes a little bit sour when you consider that former Longhorn running back Malcolm Brown has worked very diligently for the last few years to become a critical role player as the back-up running back for the Rams behind Todd Gurley.
When he injured his clavicle in December and was forced to miss the rest of the 2018 season, he was averaging nearly 5.0 yards per carry and had pulled off one of the best touchdowns of the 2018 season.
With Gurley going down in December to injury, the role that belongs to Anderson would belong to Brown if he had been able to stay healthy. This could have been the former five-star's time to add something substantial to his resume, which includes 40 career games in four seasons.
The timing just didn't work out. It's one of the stories of his career, which is what makes it so frustrating to watch from afar as a fan.
Oh well, no matter what happens, he'll always have this.
No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
... The Patriots have to stop with this underdog narrative the team seems to want to cling to. Dynasties aren't underdogs. Good grief. Be better.
... Kevin Durant is headed to OKC in March for the jersey retirement of Nick Collison. Twitter is going to be amazing when this happens.
... Warriors/Celtics would be one heck of an NBA Finals.
... Still waiting, Bryce ... patiently.
... Tottenham had a rough week and is having a brutal month.
... Novak Djokovic has very quietly put himself in the GOAT conversation. It pains me to say this, but if Rafa > Federer because of head-to-head, then Novak must be greater than Rafa using the same logic.
... Naomi Osaka might be the best, most underrated by the public American athlete in the world
... Ryan Bader is a two-division champion in Bellator, which is a fact that couldn't turn me off of Bellator any more than it already does.
... Josesito lost the fight, but he won the Internet this weekend.
No. 9 - The List: 2019 Oscars nominations are out ...
Here's how I would rank things based on the movies I've actually seen. I've got homework to do in these final six weeks or so.
Best Picture:
1. A Star Is Born
2. Roma
3. BlacKkKlansman
4. Green Book
5. Black Panther
6. Bohemian Rhapsody
Unseen: The Favourite and Vice
Lead Actor:
1. Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
2. Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born”
3. Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”
Unseen: Christian Bale, “Vice” and Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate”
Lead Actress:
1. Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born”
2. Yalitza Aparicio, “Roma”
Unseen: Glenn Close, “The Wife”, Olivia Colman, “The Favourite” and Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Supporting Actor:
1. Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”
2. Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman”
3. Sam Elliott, “A Star Is Born”
Unseen: Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” and Sam Rockwell, “Vice”
Supporting Actress:
1. Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
2. Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”.
Unseen: Amy Adams, “Vice”, Emma Stone, “The Favourite”\ and Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”
Director:
1. Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”
2. Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman”
Unseen: Pawel Pawlikowski, “Cold War”, Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Favourite” and Adam McKay, “Vice”
No. 10 – And Finally ...
Because everyone needs a good laugh. I give you Jason Witten at the Pro Bowl.
I’d like some highly rated Olineman and get even more excited about how we dominate in the running game versus WRs who may or may not be a star.
The Favourite is the best movie. Best acting as well.
