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Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (Providing answers to what has happened with recruiting...)

Ketchum

Resident Blockhead
Staff
May 29, 2001
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Less than two months ago, all of Orangebloods was seemingly fit to be tied over the perceived lack of recruiting momentum in the 2020 recruiting class.

It wasn't without some rational basis. All everything running back Zach Evans had named the Longhorns outside of his top five list. Arizona prep star Bijan Robinson showed up at the Rivals Five-Star Challenge straight from his Texas official visit expressing Buckeye vibes. Folks were inches away from filing a petition to get Oscar Giles and Stan Drayton off the recruiting trail.

As I've detailed on numerous occasions, the Longhorns are finding the kind of hand-to-hand combat in almost every recruitment in-state that has never been seen before. The Longhorns, Aggies and Sooners all have momentum at the same time, while the doors for big-time out-of-state programs to walk through has probably never been wider and/or more inviting.

While it was too soon to panic when you consider the success this staff has had in recruiting in previous seasons, and the fact that this team is coming off of a Sugar Bowl win over Georgia in year two under Tom Herman, it wasn't too soon to admit some concern. Although the Longhorns have found better 2020 footing in the last month, not all of the concerns about the class have been completely wiped away.

As the calendar flipped from June to July, a quirky little thing happened to Texas recruiting...

a. The Kiss My Backside Tour, featuring Oscar Giles and Stan Drayton.
b. The most aggressive approach to a recruiting class in Texas Longhorns football history started to pay dividends.

The combination of the two together at the same time is mostly coincidental, but that they occurred together in sequence has recreated the shot in the arm the program sorely needed going into the 2019 season.

The question that everyone has been asking is how it all happened? How did the recruiting winds change to such a degree so quickly? What can we learn from what's happened?

Let's have fun breaking it all down.

No. 2 - Oscar and Stan do the damn thing...

Three things have happened in the last 60 days that have changed the mood of the room with regards to 2020 recruiting.

a. Duncanville's Ja'Quindin Jackson forever slammed the door shut on the "Why isn't Texas doing better in the Metroplex?" question that has surrounded the program for the first couple of years of the Herman eras.

b. Texas finally got a badass defensive line prospect [Vernon Broughton], probably its best since Malcom Brown.

c. Texas finally got a badass running back prospect (not including Jordan Whittington!!!!), probably its best since Johnathan Gray.

The importance of B and C are so critically outlined in the 2020 Texas football recruiting mission statement that the significance of Jackson's commitment probably hasn't been emphasized enough because of the blood-thirsty appetite that everyone had for Vernon Broughton and any five-star running back prospect that could be found (seriously, any would have done just fine).

'GIVE US OUR DAMN NATIONALLY ELITE DEFENSIVE LINEMAN AND RUNNING BACK TOYS OR WE'RE GOING TO RIOT," the natives seemed to be hinting at all times and for a moment it seemed like missing out on all of the most important prospects at those positions was a viable outcome.

It felt like some real Lord of the Rings stuff was about to go down with Giles and Drayton.

So, what happened?

It turns out nothing magical, just the kind of hard-close recruiting that Giles and Drayton were feared incapable of providing.

With Broughton, Giles played the part of the steady hand, as Broughton seemed to wobble a little in the decision-making process. With the mom on UT's side, Giles' has been given full credit behind the scenes for finishing the job.

With Robinson, Drayton might have had his finest moment as a recruiter at any job he's ever had. With Robinson fully admitting that Ohio State was surging for his commitment, Drayton stole victory from the jaws of defeat by putting his head down and out-positioning the competition.

In both cases, there's nothing flashy to point towards. In a game of "win some, lose some", the Longhorns finally had the bounces they needed go in their direction.

All the digging in the world the last couple of weeks with regards to what might have changed in both recruitments hasn't provided much more than sincere "attaboys" for the assistants the public has loved to hate throughout 2019.

Sometimes you just have to give folks some due.

No. 3 - Herman Goes For It in 2021 ...

Before you can completely understand what Tom Herman and the Texas coaching staff have done to juice up 2021 recruiting, you have to have at least a partial understanding of what it means in the context of 2020 recruiting.

Consider these numbers, which represent total 2020 scholarship offers to prospects inside the state of Texas:

Texas A&M - 48
Texas 45
Oklahoma - 42
Alabama - 40
Georgia - 34
Ohio State - 27

Three things to remember moving forward:

a. Texas is -3 in total offers when compared to Texas A&M.
b. Texas has 45 total offers to members of the 2020 recruiting class heading into their senior seasons.
c. Schools like Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State are offering kids in volume inside the state of Texas at levels that have never been seen before. It's pretty mind-blowing to see Alabama essentially matching the Longhorns in offers to Lone Star State prospects.

Fast-forward to calendar turning to August of 2019 and the offers to 2021 prospects in the state of Texas looks like this:

Texas - 38
LSU - 30
Texas A&M - 25
Oklahoma - 24
Alabama - 21
Georgia - 18
Ohio State - 10

Remember those three things I asked you recall from the set of numbers above? Well...

a. Texas is +13 in total offers when compared to Texas A&M.
b. Texas has 38 total offers to members of the 2021 recruiting class heading into their junior seasons.
c. Schools like Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State have been out-offered at rates that range from 2:1 to nearly 4:1.

In the span of a single recruiting class, Herman and his staff have completely altered its approach from class to the next class, while still actively recruiting the class it seems to be in the process of learning from.

It cannot be stressed enough that the Longhorns have almost as many offers out to players getting ready to enter their junior seasons (38) as they have offers out to seniors getting ready to begin their senior seasons (45).

When you dig inside the numbers, it's pretty easy to see when the 2021 offer switch was flipped. Here are the offers Texas has made by month in the last 12 months.

August 2018: 1
September 2018: 5
October 2018: 0
November 2018: 1
December 2018: 4
January 2019: 4
February 2019: 6
March 2019: 0
April 2019: 2
May 2019: 1
June 2019: 13

Coming out of its spring and summer camp evaluations, the Texas staff blitzed the state in a 16-day stretch from 6/1-6/16, extending slightly more than 1/3 of its current 2019 in-state offers. Among the prospects offered during this window were quarterback Jalen Milroe (offered 6/16), athlete Billy Bowman (offered 6/15) and linebacker Derrick Harris Jr. (offered 6/15).

The commitment of Milroe (UT's second in-state quarterback offer), triggered the commitment of Hayden Conner two days later and before you could blink this weekend, the Longhorns had commitments from five of the state's top 15 prospects on the Lone Star Recruiting Top 100 list and four of the five had commitments with fingerprints from the June offers all over them.

It will be interesting to see if Herman simply trusted his staff's evaluations so much that he bucked his own offer history on the fly, or if this was a direct response to the combat his staff has faced with the 2020 recruiting class. It's probably a combination of both.

Regardless, for the first time in the history of Texas football, the Longhorns are leading the way with scholarship offers instead of dragging behind in an effort to historically make an offer feel like a ticket to Willy Wonka's. The foot is on the gas, and the aggressiveness has directly created recruiting momentum that wouldn't exist without it.

No. 4 - For those wondering ...

Here's the early 2022 in-state offer scorecard:

Oklahoma - 9
LSU - 8
Texas - 7
Texas A&M - 6
Alabama - 5
Ohio State - 3

(Note: Texas had zero offers out to the 2021 class at this time last year.)

No. 5 - The Full 2021 Offer By Month Breakdown

(Note: Texas commitments are listed in bold)

August 2018: Donovan Jackson (8/31)

September 2018: Shadrach Banks (9/3), Landon Jackson (9/8), Conner Hayden (9/15), Bryce Foster 9/15, Tunmise Adeleye (9/15)

October 2018: None

November 2018: Jojo Earle (11/17)

December 2018: Erick Cade (12/11), Latrell Neville (12/14), Kendrick Blackshire (12/19), Tommy Brockermeyer (12/21)

January 2019: Rueben Fatheree Jr. (1/13), Savion Byrd (1/30), Bryson Green (1/31) and Blaine Green (1/31)

February 2019: Jordan Thomas (2/2), Cody Jackson (2/16), J'Tavion Sanders (2/16), Camar Wheaton (2/16), Quay Davis (2/17) and Var'Keyes Gumms (2/21)

March 2019: None

April 2019: James Brockermeyer (4/13) and Lake McRee (4/24)

May 2019: Juan Davis (5/23)

June 2019: Latrell McCutchin (6/1), Clayton Smith (6/4), J.D. Coffrey (6/5), E'Maurion Banks (6/5), Marcus Burris (6/6), Ishmael Ibraheem (6/6), LJ Johnson (6/10), Jaeden Roberts (6/15), Billy Bowman (6/15), Derrick Harris Jr. (6/15), Jalen Milroe (6/16), Brandon Campcell (6/18) and Shermar Turner (6/18)

No. 6 - With an eye on LSU in September ...

It's never too early to have an eye on a big game like the one waiting for Texas in September when LSU comes to town. Will all due respect to La. Tech, it's another team in the state that already has my attention just a few days into August.

Here's a look at a few things LSU-related that stood out to me from the weekend.

a. He barely played a year ago because of injury and most of you will only know his name because of his recruitment, but third-year sophomore K'Lavon Chaisson was recently given the No.18 jersey, which goes to the player that best represents the team on and off the field. He's officially one of the faces of LSU football, even though he only made five tackles in a single game a year ago. Ed Orgeron believes he can be a 12-15 sack guy this season.

Man, this Texas defense could use that dude.

b. In a seven-game stretch from week three at Auburn to week 10 vs. Alabama, the Tigers defense only recorded 10 sacks. The coaches hope the answer to this pass rush problem from a year ago is with its Green Team, a pass-rushing quartet that will feature the team's four best pass rushers.

c. Possible starting senior wide receiver Dee Anderson has been suspended from all team activities until "he passes conditioning". The former DeSoto star played in 12 games (made four starts), catching 20 passes for 274 yards and a touchdown. Maybe it's just me, but "conditioning" felt like some potential code talk. Just something to keep an eye on.

No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
BUY-SELL.gif


B/S: with the recent momentum the 2020 class finishes in the top 10? Top 5?

(Sell) I think it's likely going to finish as a borderline top 10 class. If we're talking big-time commitments rolling in from the 2020 class from here on out, Temple's Quentin Johnson is the only undecided top 20 prospect in the state that you'd project to Texas at this point. I'm just not sure there will be enough of a punch in the remaining portion of this class to carry Texas into the top 10.

B/S Jalen Milroe is the most influential recruiting commit you have seen?

(Sell) I think we're getting slightly carried away, but if he keeps it up, he's going to make any list of most influential commits we make. Here's an oldie, but a goodie... Marques Johnson from the 2002 class was the quiet non-stop recruiter of the greatest recruiting class of all-time.

Buy or Sell: The continuity on the coaching staff is the most underrated aspect of the team’s success so far.

(Sell) It's an underrated aspect of the success Herman's program has seen, but I don't know if I would say it's "the" most underrated. Frankly, Herman's ability to quickly learn from his mistakes might be the aspect I'd point to the most for being underrated.

B/S- Texas adds at least 3 additional commits to the 2021 class by the Sunday after the LSU game.

(Sell) That seems like a big ask.

B/S: Texas, a&m and ou cannot all continue to recruit at elite levels. One will eventually go thru a lull and odds are it’s ou.

(Sell) I find it curious that you believe that the team most likely to fall is the team that has dominated the other two teams more times than not in terms of success for the better part of the last 20 years. I'd vote ou as the most likely to keep on, keeping on.

B/S: JQJ will sign with Texas in December

(Buy) Absolutely.

B/s: with Texas landing Bijan Robinson, even if Texas wins vs LSU, ou, and wins the big 12 championship, Jase McClellan is a sooner now in 2020?

(Buy) Yeah, I'd think so. Even with all of that happening.

Not buy/sell format, but I’m curious how you would quick hit these compared with how others see it.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited should we be about:

1. Jalen Green At DB in 2019.
2. Joseph Ossai at LB in 2019.
3. Jake Smith in 2019.
4. Devin Duvernay as a team leader and expected top producer in 2019.
5. Brennan Eagles in 2019.
6. M. Epps in 2019.
7. Junior Angilau in 2019.
8. D. Overahown at b-backer in 2019.
9. Thompson as QB #2 in 2019.
10. Ingram as RB #1 in 2019.
11. John Burt at WR in 2019.
12. Coburn as a freshman DL.


1. Jalen Green At DB in 2019 (8).
2. Joseph Ossai at LB in 2019 (8).
3. Jake Smith in 2019 (8).
4. Devin Duvernay as a team leader and expected top producer in 2019 (9).
5. Brennan Eagles in 2019 (8).
6. M. Epps in 2019 (6).
7. Junior Angilau in 2019 (6).
8. D. Overahown at b-backer in 2019 (6).
9. Thompson as QB #2 in 2019 (5).
10. Ingram as RB #1 in 2019 (7).
11. John Burt at WR in 2019 (6).
12. Coburn as a freshman DL (9).

No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …

... Chris Thompson is a hell of a football player, so losing him to Auburn on Sunday stings, but the Longhorns have recruited so well in the secondary in the last few classes, it has reached the point where it can withstand a loss or two on the recruiting trails. If you're the Longhorns, I think you just have to keep staying on him because all kinds of things could change between now and December.

... D'Onta Foreman getting cut because he was out of shape, while he is still a guy trying to come all the way back from an Achilles injury, speaks horribly about his long-term NFL future.

... I've never seen a better Hall of Fame bust than Ed Reed's.
EBGEULhXUAAcyju


... Rest in peace, Cliff Branch.

... Draymond Green got his money. Go ahead and put me down in the camp of those that believe that contract will feel ugly by the end of the fourth year. His decline is already under way.

... Liverpool and Man City are the two best teams in the world. I get a sense they'll see each other in the Champions League again this season... before the final.

No. 9 - The List: Top 10 Texas running back commitments of the Rivals era ...

To put Bijan Robinson's commitment in proper perspective, I thought I would show you guys the top 10-rated running backs signees in the modern Rivals era (2002-current) of the rankings.

Honestly, it's amazingly unimpressive when you consider how many highly rated classes Texas has signed over the years.

(Note: Jordan Whittington was not recruited as or evaluated as a running back prospect, but if we included him in the process, he'd rank 4th on the list as a high four star that finished No.33 overall in the nation.)

10. Toneil Carter (Low four stars, No. 181 overall nationally)

9. Chris Warren (Mid four stars, No.159 overall nationally)

8. Cody Jonson (Mid four stars, No.118 overall nationally)

7. Selvin Young (High four stars, No.75 overall nationally)

6. Vondrell McGee (High four stars, No.57 overall nationally)

5. Jamaal Charles (High four stars, No.57 overall nationally)

4. DeSean Hales (High four stars, No.53 overall nationally)

3. Bijan Robinson (High four stars, No.26 overall nationally)

2. Malcolm Brown (Five stars, No.10 overall nationally)

1. Johnathan Gray (Five stars, No.5 overall nationally)

No. 10 – And Finally ...

If you missed anything from our coverage of the opening weekend of football training camp, here is a set of links to all of it.

Sunday: Jordan Whittington's importance cannot be overstated
Sunday: Derrian Brown update
Sunday: Day Three General Practice Notes
Sunday: Alex's Day Three Practice Observations
Sunday: Day Three Quarterback Notes
Sunday: Longhorns dealing with higher expectations
Saturday: Sam Ehlinger breaks down the state of the Longhorns
Saturday: Herb Hand's "Matrix" and the importance of Derek Kerstetter
Friday: Alex's Day One Practice Observations
Friday: Keeping Jake Smith off the field will prove tough to do
Friday: Day One Photo Gallery
Friday: Day Three General Practice Notes
Friday: Herman breaks down day one
Friday: Day One Quarterback Notes
 
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It’s been a positive turn around. Texas for sure needed to flip the switch. I definitely feel we could’ve closed the door on 2020 prospects a lot sooner than we did which ultimately let other rival schools slide in with a wedge. Another winning season and I don’t think you will see Texas dominated against in state top talent again for awhile.
 
Pains this Arsenal fan to type this but don’t sleep on Tottenham.
 
Casey Thompson looks to be the heir apparent once Sam moves on.
Your gut feeling, do you think Card or Jackson will eventually leapfrog roschon?
 
Man, this Texas defense could use that dude.

Maybe but IMO this defense is going to be very good. It will be much more athletic and it cannot stated enough how important it is to have the players playing in the same defense for the 3rd year....
 
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Less than two months ago, all of Orangebloods was seemingly fit to be tied over the perceived lack of recruiting momentum in the 2020 recruiting class.

It wasn't without some rational basis. All everything running back Zach Evans had named the Longhorns outside of his top five list. Arizona prep star Bijan Robinson showed up at the Rivals Five-Star Challenge straight from his Texas official visit expressing Buckeye vibes. Folks were inches away from filing a petition to get Oscar Giles and Stan Drayton off the recruiting trail.

As I've detailed on numerous occasions, the Longhorns are finding the kind of hand-to-hand combat in almost every recruitment in-state that has never been seen before. The Longhorns, Aggies and Sooners all have momentum at the same time, while the doors for big-time out-of-state programs to walk through has probably never been wider and/or more inviting.

While it was too soon to panic when you consider the success this staff has had in recruiting in previous seasons, and the fact that this team is coming off of a Sugar Bowl win over Georgia in year two under Tom Herman, it wasn't too soon to admit some concern. Although the Longhorns have found better 2020 footing in the last month, not all of the concerns about the class have been completely wiped away.

As the calendar flipped from June to July, a quirky little thing happened to Texas recruiting...

a. The Kiss My Backside Tour, featuring Oscar Giles and Stan Drayton.
b. The most aggressive approach to a recruiting class in Texas Longhorns football history started to pay dividends.

The combination of the two together at the same time is mostly coincidental, but that they occurred together in sequence has recreated the shot in the arm the program sorely needed going into the 2019 season.

The question that everyone has been asking is how it all happened? How did the recruiting winds change to such a degree so quickly? What can we learn from what's happened?

Let's have fun breaking it all down.

No. 2 - Oscar and Stan do the damn thing...

Three things have happened in the last 60 days that have changed the mood of the room with regards to 2020 recruiting.

a. Duncanville's Ja'Quindin Jackson forever slammed the door shut on the "Why isn't Texas doing better in the Metroplex?" question that has surrounded the program for the first couple of years of the Herman eras.

b. Texas finally got a badass defensive line prospect [Vernon Broughton], probably its best since Malcom Brown.

c. Texas finally got a badass running back prospect (not including Jordan Whittington!!!!), probably its best since Johnathan Gray.

The importance of B and C are so critically outlined in the 2020 Texas football recruiting mission statement that the significance of Jackson's commitment probably hasn't been emphasized enough because of the blood-thirsty appetite that everyone had for Vernon Broughton and any five-star running back prospect that could be found (seriously, any would have done just fine).

'GIVE US OUR DAMN NATIONALLY ELITE DEFENSIVE LINEMAN AND RUNNING BACK TOYS OR WE'RE GOING TO RIOT," the natives seemed to be hinting at all times and for a moment it seemed like missing out on all of the most important prospects at those positions was a viable outcome.

It felt like some real Lord of the Rings stuff was about to go down with Giles and Drayton.

So, what happened?

It turns out nothing magical, just the kind of hard-close recruiting that Giles and Drayton were feared incapable of providing.

With Broughton, Giles played the part of the steady hand, as Broughton seemed to wobble a little in the decision-making process. With the mom on UT's side, Giles' has been given full credit behind the scenes for finishing the job.

With Robinson, Drayton might have had his finest moment as a recruiter at any job he's ever had. With Robinson fully admitting that Ohio State was surging for his commitment, Drayton stole victory from the jaws of defeat by putting his head down and out-positioning the competition.

In both cases, there's nothing flashy to point towards. In a game of "win some, lose some", the Longhorns finally had the bounces they needed go in their direction.

All the digging in the world the last couple of weeks with regards to what might have changed in both recruitments hasn't provided much more than sincere "attaboys" for the assistants the public has loved to hate throughout 2019.

Sometimes you just have to give folks some due.

No. 3 - Herman Goes For It in 2021 ...

Before you can completely understand what Tom Herman and the Texas coaching staff have done to juice up 2021 recruiting, you have to have at least a partial understanding of what it means in the context of 2020 recruiting.

Consider these numbers, which represent total 2020 scholarship offers to prospects inside the state of Texas:

Texas A&M - 48
Texas 45
Oklahoma - 42
Alabama - 40
Georgia - 34
Ohio State - 27

Three things to remember moving forward:

a. Texas is -3 in total offers when compared to Texas A&M.
b. Texas has 45 total offers to members of the 2020 recruiting class heading into their senior seasons.
c. Schools like Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State are offering kids in volume inside the state of Texas at levels that have never been seen before. It's pretty mind-blowing to see Alabama essentially matching the Longhorns in offers to Lone Star State prospects.

Fast-forward to calendar turning to August of 2019 and the offers to 2021 prospects in the state of Texas looks like this:

Texas - 38
LSU - 30
Texas A&M - 25
Oklahoma - 24
Alabama - 21
Georgia - 18
Ohio State - 10

Remember those three things I asked you recall from the set of numbers above? Well...

a. Texas is +13 in total offers when compared to Texas A&M.
b. Texas has 38 total offers to members of the 2021 recruiting class heading into their junior seasons.
c. Schools like Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State have been out-offered at rates that range from 2:1 to nearly 4:1.

In the span of a single recruiting class, Herman and his staff have completely altered its approach from class to the next class, while still actively recruiting the class it seems to be in the process of learning from.

It cannot be stressed enough that the Longhorns have almost as many offers out to players getting ready to enter their junior seasons (38) as they have offers out to seniors getting ready to begin their senior seasons (45).

When you dig inside the numbers, it's pretty easy to see when the 2021 offer switch was flipped. Here are the offers Texas has made by month in the last 12 months.

August 2018: 1
September 2018: 5
October 2018: 0
November 2018: 1
December 2018: 4
January 2019: 4
February 2019: 6
March 2019: 0
April 2019: 2
May 2019: 2
June 2019: 13

Coming out of its spring and summer camp evaluations, the Texas staff blitzed the state in a 16-day stretch from 6/1-6/16, extending slightly more than 1/3 of its current 2019 in-state offers. Among the prospects offered during this window were quarterback Jalen Milroe (offered 6/16), athlete Billy Bowman (offered 6/15) and linebacker Derrick Harris Jr. (offered 6/15).

The commitment of Milroe (UT's second in-state quarterback offer), triggered the commitment of Hayden Conner two days later and before you could blink this weekend, the Longhorns had commitments from five of the state's top 15 prospects on the Lone Star Recruiting Top 100 list and four of the five had commitments with fingerprints from the June offers all over them.

It will be interesting to see if Herman simply trusted his staff's evaluations so much that he bucked his own offer history on the fly, or if this was a direct response to the combat his staff has faced with the 2020 recruiting class. It's probably a combination of both.

Regardless, for the first time in the history of Texas football, the Longhorns are leading the way with scholarship offers instead of dragging behind in an effort to historically make an offer feel like a ticket to Willy Wonka's. The foot is on the gas, and the aggressiveness has directly created recruiting momentum that wouldn't exist without it.

No. 4 - For those wondering ...

Here's the early 2022 in-state offer scorecard:

Oklahoma - 9
LSU - 8
Texas - 7
Texas A&M - 6
Alabama - 5
Ohio State - 3

(Note: Texas had zero offers out to the 2021 class at this time last year.)

No. 5 - The Full 2021 Offer By Month Breakdown

(Note: Texas commitments are listed in bold)

August 2018: Donovan Jackson (8/31)

September 2018: Shadrach Banks (9/3), Landon Jackson (9/8), Conner Hayden (9/15), Bryce Foster 9/15, Tunmise Adeleye (9/15)

October 2018: None

November 2018: Jojo Earle (11/17)

December 2018: Erick Cade (12/11), Latrell Neville (12/14), Kendrick Blackshire (12/19), Tommy Brockermeyer (12/21)

January 2019: Rueben Fatheree Jr. (1/13), Savion Byrd (1/30), Bryson Green (1/31) and Blaine Green (1/31)

February 2019: Jordan Thomas (2/2), Cody Jackson (2/16), J'Tavion Sanders (2/16), Camar Wheaton (2/16), Quay Davis (2/17) and Var'Keyes Gumms (2/21)

March 2019: None

April 2019: James Brockermeyer (4/13) and Lake McRee (4/24)

May 2019: Preston Stone (5/4) and Juan Davis (5/23)

June 2019: Latrell McCutchin (6/1), Clayton Smith (6/4), J.D. Coffrey (6/5), E'Maurion Banks (6/5), Marcus Burris (6/6), Ishmael Ibraheem (6/6), LJ Johnson (6/10), Jaeden Roberts (6/15), Billy Bowman (6/15), Derrick Harris Jr. (6/15), Jalen Milroe (6/16), Brandon Campcell (6/18) and Shermar Turner (6/18)

No. 6 - With an eye on LSU in September ...

It's never too early to have an eye on a big game like the one waiting for Texas in September when LSU comes to town. Will all due respect to La. Tech, it's another team in the state that already has my attention just a few days into August.

Here's a look at a few things LSU-related that stood out to me from the weekend.

a. He barely played a year ago because of injury and most of you will only know his name because of his recruitment, but third-year sophomore K'Lavon Chaisson was recently given the No.18 jersey, which goes to the player that best represents the team on and off the field. He's officially one of the faces of LSU football, even though he only made five tackles in a single game a year ago. Ed Orgeron believes he can be a 12-15 sack guy this season.

Man, this Texas defense could use that dude.

b. In a seven-game stretch from week three at Auburn to week 10 vs. Alabama, the Tigers defense only recorded 10 sacks. The coaches hope the answer to this pass rush problem from a year ago is with its Green Team, a pass-rushing quartet that will feature the team's four best pass rushers.

c. Possible starting senior wide receiver Dee Anderson has been suspended from all team activities until "he passes conditioning". The former DeSoto star played in 12 games (made four starts), catching 20 passes for 274 yards and a touchdown. Maybe it's just me, but "conditioning" felt like some potential code talk. Just something to keep an eye on.

No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
BUY-SELL.gif




(Sell) I think it's likely going to finish as a borderline top 10 class. If we're talking big-time commitments rolling in from the 2020 class from here on out, Temple's Quentin Johnson is the only undecided top 20 prospect in the state that you'd project to Texas at this point. I'm just not sure there will be enough of a punch in the remaining portion of this class to carry Texas into the top 10.



(Sell) I think we're getting slightly carried away, but if he keeps it up, he's going to make any list of most influential commits we make. Here's an oldie, but a goodie... Marques Johnson from the 2002 class was the quiet non-stop recruiter of the greatest recruiting class of all-time.



(Sell) It's an underrated aspect of the success Herman's program has seen, but I don't know if I would say it's "the" most underrated. Frankly, Herman's ability to quickly learn from his mistakes might be the aspect I'd point to the most for being underrated.



(Sell) That seems like a big ask.



(Sell) I find it curious that you believe that the team most likely to fall is the team that has dominated the other two teams more times than not in terms of success for the better part of the last 20 years. I'd vote ou as the most likely to keep on, keeping on.



(Buy) Absolutely.



(Buy) Yeah, I'd think so. Even with all of that happening.




1. Jalen Green At DB in 2019 (8).
2. Joseph Ossai at LB in 2019 (8).
3. Jake Smith in 2019 (8).
4. Devin Duvernay as a team leader and expected top producer in 2019 (9).
5. Brennan Eagles in 2019 (8).
6. M. Epps in 2019 (6).
7. Junior Angilau in 2019 (6).
8. D. Overahown at b-backer in 2019 (6).
9. Thompson as QB #2 in 2019 (5).
10. Ingram as RB #1 in 2019 (7).
11. John Burt at WR in 2019 (6).
12. Coburn as a freshman DL (9).

No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …

... Chris Thompson is a hell of a football player, so losing him to Auburn on Sunday stings, but the Longhorns have recruited so well in the secondary in the last few classes, it has reached the point where it can withstand a loss or two on the recruiting trails. If you're the Longhorns, I think you just have to keep staying on him because all kinds of things could change between now and December.

... D'Onta Foreman getting cut because he was out of shape, while he is still a guy trying to come all the way back from an Achilles injury, speaks horribly about his long-term NFL future.

... I've never seen a better Hall of Fame bust than Ed Reed's.
EBGEULhXUAAcyju


... Rest in peace, Cliff Branch.

... Draymond Green got his money. Go ahead and put me down in the camp of those that believe that contract will feel ugly by the end of the fourth year. His decline is already under way.

... Liverpool and Man City are the two best teams in the world. I get a sense they'll see each other in the Champions League again this season... before the final.

No. 9 - The List: Top 10 Texas running back commitments of the Rivals era ...

To put Bijan Robinson's commitment in proper perspective, I thought I would show you guys the top 10-rated running backs signees in the modern Rivals era (2002-current) of the rankings.

Honestly, it's amazingly unimpressive when you consider how many highly rated classes Texas has signed over the years.

(Note: Jordan Whittington was not recruited as or evaluated as a running back prospect, but if we included him in the process, he'd rank 4th on the list as a high four star that finished No.33 overall in the nation.)

10. Toneil Carter (Low four stars, No. 181 overall nationally)


9. Chris Warren (Mid four stars, No.159 overall nationally)


8. Cody Jonson (Mid four stars, No.118 overall nationally)


7. Selvin Young (High four stars, No.75 overall nationally)


6. Vondrell McGee (High four stars, No.57 overall nationally)


5. Jamaal Charles (High four stars, No.57 overall nationally)


4. DeSean Hales (High four stars, No.53 overall nationally)


3. Bijan Robinson (High four stars, No.26 overall nationally)

2. Malcolm Brown (Five stars, No.10 overall nationally)


1. Johnathan Gray (Five stars, No.5 overall nationally)


No. 10 – And Finally ...

If you missed anything from our coverage of the opening weekend of football training camp, here is a set of links to all of it.

Sunday: Jordan Whittington's importance cannot be overstated
Sunday: Derrian Brown update
Sunday: Day Three General Practice Notes
Sunday: Alex's Day Three Practice Observations
Sunday: Day Three Quarterback Notes
Sunday: Longhorns dealing with higher expectations
Saturday: Sam Ehlinger breaks down the state of the Longhorns
Saturday: Herb Hand's "Matrix" and the importance of Derek Kerstetter
Friday: Alex's Day One Practice Observations
Friday: Keeping Jake Smith off the field will prove tough to do
Friday: Day One Photo Gallery
Friday: Day Three General Practice Notes
Friday: Herman breaks down day one
Friday: Day One Quarterback Notes

Definitely one of your best 10FTFTW this year that I can recall. Call it optimism and finally some real football substance now that the offseason is OVER.

Can you speak to some of the lessons learned that Tom has had that you think are the most underrated aspect of the teams success?
 
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Definitely one of your best 10FTFTW this year that I can recall. Call it optimism and finally some real football substance now that the offseason is OVER.

Can you speak to some of the lessons learned that Tom has had that you think are the most underrated aspect of the teams success?
I think what we've seen in 2021 recruiting is an example of Tom adjusting post a set of previous decisions that didn't pay off well enough. The Herb Hand hire was a very fast-moving decision in the aftermath of season one in which he nipped his Warehime problem in the bud. I think his team management is another example. Honestly, it's a theme all over the place.
 
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