He will e dealing with a dominant UGA and Alabama soon enough.
Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (The times are a-changin')
- Thread starter Ketchum
- Start date
If you watch the NFL Films video on You Tube about Earl you just can’t come to any other conclusion. Absolute terrifying greatness. IMO.
If @Ketchum is correct with his below reply, which I highly doubt, I'll buy him a XXXXL (bigger than he uses now) big gulp cup to use while he hosts the OB youtube channel. 
(Sell) I think he plays in more than four games. Just a hunch.
(Sell) I think he plays in more than four games. Just a hunch.
I'm going to hold you to that!If @Ketchum is correct with his below reply, which I highly doubt, I'll buy him a XXXXL (bigger than he uses now) big gulp cup to use while he hosts the OB youtube channel.
(Sell) I think he plays in more than four games. Just a hunch.
I hate ou and Billy Sims and his obnoxious behavior at the Heisman ceremony every year
But it would be hard for me to vote Jamal Charles ahead of him
As usual great write up
But it would be hard for me to vote Jamal Charles ahead of him
As usual great write up
Sark has been completely underwhelming so far. NIL gives a bump for recruiting- Big 12 Championship game 23 or he is dun.
Let that sink in for a minute!
Ketch- I find it interesting that AJ Milwee isn't being groomed by Sark to call plays. He's been with him for a while now.
WilliamsDavid
One thing is certain about life, it goes on.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_College_Football_All-America_Team
2. https://americanfootballdatabase.fandom.com/wiki/2005_College_Football_All-America_Team
3. I was viewing the above two references to determine 2005 All Americans. I looked further and did notice that Aaron Harris actually made the AP's Third Team All American list.
"Hook Em"
In a 12 team playoff world, we need to play patsies out of conference.
We need to be very comfortable not seeing conference titles. Of course, given we only one a decade now I guess we are all used to it by now, but if we cannot win this shitty concerned we have no shot in the sec.
Both basketball teams showing some intestinal fortitude. Men taking show on road. Hope they can steal a few more road wins. Ladies playing monster defense. Keep it going 🤘
"Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
And you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'"
Bob Dylan
***
It's kind of hard to fully process what will be happing to Texas football over the course of the next 24 months.
A generation of fans that have known nothing but the Big 12 and another generation of fans that can remember the Southwest Conference are expected to have roughly a year and a half before everything they've ever known turns in a new direction to the SEC.
Ready or not, the times are a-changin' for Texas Longhorns football.
As someone that has been up to my neck in Texas football since I first started working in the Texas SID office in 1994 as a 17-year-old high school intern, one of the things that's been on my mind a lot since the end of this season is the finality that awaits all of us on this journey into a new unknown.
What should expectations look like? How long will it take to completely settle in? What will it be like to play Texas A&M again on an annual basis? What happens to the Oklahoma rivalry? What does life look like where Texas isn't the J.R. Ewing on the block?
So many questions.
The one I've been thinking about the most over the last couple of weeks centers around the notion of what defines success in these times that are a-changin'?
As it specifically relates to football, I've long since believed that defining success is fairly easy:
a. Win the conference title
b. Play in a major bowl game.
Anything less than playing in a major bowl game translates to failure. It means that the Texas football program has had only five successful seasons since 2000 ... 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2018. That's it. Seasons that ended in San Antonio or San Diego need not apply, 10-win seasons be damned.
Even Tom Herman agreed with me on the subject of defining success by such high standards when he was still working these streets a few years ago, and we rarely agreed on much.
Yet, it doesn't feel so cut and dry when I think ahead to life in the SEC for a couple of key reasons.
a. Winning the SEC will be more difficult than winning any conference title that Longhorns will have ever attempted to win in the last 50 years.
b. The 12-team playoff is coming to college football in 2024.
Wouldn't you know it, but the 2024 season just happens to be the expected beginning of the SEC journey for the Longhorns.
Frankly, I don't think the average fan across the country completely understands how the expanded playoff is going to change everything we've ever thought about the sport. Our brains have been programmed to treat games involving teams competing for the four playoff spots to be important, which means that the nation as a whole might treat an average weekend like this:
* No. 1 Georgia beating unranked Mississippi State matters.
* No. 2 Ohio State beating unranked Indiana matters.
* No. 3 Michigan beating unranked Nebraska matters.
* No. 4 TCU beating No. 18 Texas matters.
* No. 5 Tennessee beating unranked Missouri matters.
* No. 25 Washington beating No. 6 Oregon matters
That's it. Beyond that, the games largely didn't matter. No one in Big 12 country paid attention to the Alabama/Ole Miss game because they believed it would impact them in any fashion and not a single crazy Paul Finebaum caller gave a hoot about Arizona upsetting No. 12 UCLA.
Out of sight, out of mind.
That's all about to change ... big-time.
Just like the NCAA Tournament, every team that's remotely within striking distance of the top 25 is going to rightfully feel that it has a chance of squeezing into the final 12 that make the playoff with a few weeks to go.
Moving forward, No. 12 UCLA losing to an unranked Arizona in November is a pretty massive deal. Same with No. 16 NC State losing to Boston College. Can you believe the hoopla that would surround No. 22 UCF beating No. 17 Tulane and the discussion about the impact such a win might have?
Hell, No. 9 Alabama beating No. 11 Ole Miss would represent the single biggest game of the weekend in such a way that none of the games outside of the TCU/Texas game would have mattered from the games previously receiving all of the focus. With teams like Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan all likely having a get out of jail card by being undefeated at that stage of the season, the collective focus on the season as a whole changes significantly.
Speaking of the match-up between No. 4 TCU and No. 18 Texas, can you imagine how much more weight that game would have carried for a team like the Longhorns, who would surely have playoff dreams entering that point of the season by only being a few spots away from No. 12?
It's going to make every game that every team near the top 25 plays much more significant than they've ever been before, the same way that every game involving every team on a 66-team Tournament bubble begins to matter in mid-February in college basketball.
From my perspective, the sport is about to be defined by whether you consistently make the playoffs or not. Once you're consistently getting in, the pressure on programs will demand that they win or else. But, first and foremost, you have to get in.
That means that Texas football will soon start defining itself by that measure.
So, what's the impact of that?
I think more than anything, it simply increases the anxiety within the entire season for all of the teams that do business in major colleges. As bad as that loss to Texas Tech was in September when Bijan Robinson fumbled in overtime, imagine how off the rails the fan base will feel if there's a sense that the loss could mess up top-12 chances in 10 weeks.
Fan bases all over the country will live and die by every single result in ways that have never existed before. B-a-n-a-n-a-s.
Meanwhile, for Steve Sarkisian, the real target inside the building should be the following:
a. Win the Big 12 in 2023.
b. Have the team ready to compete for the top 12 in 2024.
As he heads into years three and four of his tenure in Austin, those will be the marks that define his program.
Oddly enough, after decades of football being defined by conference championships, the future of Texas football's expectations will completely change in roughly 11 months.
Once making the top 12 becomes the key target each year, there's likely no going back.
You'll either be in or you'll be out. Everything else will feel like the NIT.
Oh yeah, the times are a-changin'.
No. 2 -Discussing the Portal ...
Hey, I'm just like the rest of you in that I'm waiting to see how things shake out for the Longhorns when the Portal closes on Monday.
Here's what you need to know:
a. Monday is the final day for players to enter the Portal. Those that enter on Monday will have until the end of Wednesday to make a decision.
b. At the risk of having rocks thrown at me, keep your eyes and ears open on Monday. There continues to be an expectation that the Longhorns will add a transfer piece before the deadline closes on Wednesday.
c. There are still positions where the Longhorns would like to add firepower through the Portal for starting/depth purposes, but that activity might not take place until the spring Portal window, which takes place from May 1-15.
While the Longhorns have been very selective so far in the Portal, having taken Stanford punter Ryan Sanborn, Wake Forest cornerback Gavin Holmes and Arkansas safety Jalen Catalon, other schools in the Big 12 have taken different approaches.
For instance, Oklahoma has taken 10 players through the Portal so far and I don't get the sense that OU is done. Here are the players that OU has landed through the weekend:
WR Andrel Anthony (Michigan)
DL Rondell Bothroyd (Wake Forest)
DL Trace Ford (Oklahoma State)
DL Jacob Lacey (Notre Dame)
LB Dasan McCullogh (Indiana)
DB Reggie Pearson (Texas Tech)
OL Walter Rouse (Stanford)
DL Davon Sears (Texas State)
OL Caleb Shaffer (Miami-Ohio)
TE Austin Stogner (South Carolina)
I'd guess that the Sooners are looking for 7 of the 10 to start for them in 2023. with guys like Bothroyd, Ford, McCullogh, Pearson, Rouse and Shaffer representing impact-level plus-players.
Meanwhile, TCU has also been very active in the portal. Here's TCU's current transfer haul:
RB Trey Sanders (Alabama)
WR Jojo Earle (Alabama)
WR Jack Bech (LSU)
WR John Paul Richardson (Oklahoma State)
OL Tommy Brockermeyer (Alabama)
CB Avery Helm (Florida)
In addition to those six names, there's growing speculation that former LSU quarterback Walker Howard could be the next name to the Portal haul.
It'll be interesting to see how the strategies toward team building impacts the Big 12 race in 2023. No single plan toward building for the upcoming season seems to be the same.
No. 3 - I'm not sure what to tell you ...
Here's some stream of consciousness writing on Jacksonville wide receivers coach Chris Jackson, who has emerged as a favorite for the vacant Texas wide receivers coach.
* I'm a big proponent of hiring quality NFL coaches. When it comes to the football component of the job, those dudes know ball.
* Jackson has gone from being a mostly unknown former pro in 2018 to being a position coach in the NFL less than five years later. Yes, his coaching resume is fairly light, but the fact that he's climbed the ranks so quickly is all kinds of impressive from my perspective. It's hard to get jobs in the NFL and he made it happen by scrapping his way up the ladder.
* The thing I like the least about Jackson is that he doesn't have any connections inside the state of Texas. Maybe it's not absolutely needed, but in an optimal world, he'd have those. There's a reason why all of the other names that we've connected to this job search have history in the state of Texas as a recruiter.
* Maybe you don't need a rainmaker recruiter in 2023 if your NIL program is considered your rainmaker. I don't know that I completely believe that, but I'm open-minded.
* Jackson played in the Arena League until he was 39 years old. He caught 13,355 yards and 325 touchdowns as a receiver in the Arena League. That man must loves the hell out of football.
No. 4 - Ford Playing for an all-time legacy ...
In the last 50 years, this is the list of Texas linebackers that have earned All-America honors:
1972 - Glen Gaspard
1983 - Jeff Leiding*
1988 - Britt Hager
2001 - D.D. Lewis
2003 - Derrick Johnson*
2004 - Derrick Johnson*
2005 - Aaron Harris
2008 - Sergio Kindle
2016 - Jordan Hicks
2017 - Malik Jefferson
2022 - Jaylan Ford
* Consensus All-American
Only once in the last half-century has a Texas linebacker won All-America honors in consecutive seasons and only two players during the same timeframe have been consensus All-Americans at the position.
Hell, in the history of the Texas program, only Johnson and Tommy Nobis have been multi-year All-Americans.
With a season similar to the one that he just enjoyed, returning All-American Jaylan Ford will have a chance to place his name in some rarified air.
Nobis ... Johnson ... Ford.
That's the legacy that Ford is playing for in 2023.
No. 5 - DJ Campbell's big advantage ...
A year ago, Cole Hutson got the jump on fellow freshman DJ Campbell by coming into the program in January instead of waiting until the summer (which Campbell did).
Heading into this off-season with the starting right guard job looking fairly even, the news this weekend that Hutson has undergone should surgery would seem to give Campbell a big-off season edge in two critical areas.
a. Off-season conditioning
At best, it would seem like Hutson is going to be limited in the amount of lifting he's about to do in the off-season.
b. Spring football
Although nothing was revealed this weekend with regards to Hutson's availability for spring football, it's not crazy to think he'll be limited in that department as well.
I think we probably have learned not to discount the gutsy warrior that Hutson proved to be as a true freshman, but the door would appear to be open for Campbell to put a marker down at one of the interior positions while Hutson is out.
No. 6 - Best of the Best ...
Eight different former high school players from the state of Texas were named as an NFL All-Pro selection this week and I thought it would be interesting to look back at how they were viewed as prospects.
1st Team Quarterback Patrick Mahomes
LSR: High 3 stars and No.80 in Texas
Rivals: High 3 stars and No.49 in Texas
247: High 3 stars and No.82 in Texas
ESPN: High 3 stars and No.99 in Texas
Thoughts: It's a modest win for Rivals, which only handed out 4-star rankings through the top 28 players in the state that year. In a normal year, the top 50 prospects in the state typically get four stars. On one hand, the top 50 is an arbitrary number that doesn't matter, but on the other hand, Rivals had him rated 33 spots higher than anyone else.
2nd Team Quarterback Jalen Hurts
LSR: Mid 4 stars and No.19 in Texas
Rivals: Low 4 stars, No.231 nationally overall and No.31 in Texas
247: Mid 4 stars, No.104 overall nationally and No.18 in Texas
ESPN: High 3 stars and No.61 in Texas
Thoughts: Two things stand out about his ranking ... The LSR and 247 lists had the best ratings on Hurts and ESPN was a distant third.
2nd Team Wide receiver Ceedee Lamb
LSR: 5 stars and No.6 in Texas
Rivals: High 4 stars, No.72 overall nationally and No.8 in Texas
247: Low 4 stars, No.246 overall nationally and No.33 in Texas
ESPN: Low 4 stars, No.290 overall nationally and No.46 in Texas
Thoughts: You guys think I bring up Drew Brees too often, but Lamb might just replace him in the "Rankings I talk about too much" department.
1st Team Left Tackle Trent Williams
LSR: High 3 stars
Rivals: High 3 stars, No.63 in Texas
ESPN: Mid 3 stars
Thoughts: Back in the day, there was a lot of thought that Williams was just too heavy to make it at the major college level. Coming out of his junior year, he was 350+ and Mac McWhorter basically had zero interest, preferring the likes of J'Marcus Webb, Roy Watts, Steve Moore and Buck Burnette. Oops.
1st Team Right Tackle Lane Johnson
LSR: NR
Rivals: NR
247: NR
ESPN: NR
Thoughts: From an unrated pro-style quarterback prospect to a multi-year All-Pro tackle in the NFL. His story is nothing short of a Disney movie.
2nd Team Defensive End Myles Garrett
LSR: 5 stars and No.1 in Texas
Rivals: 5 stars, No.2 overall nationally and No.1 in Texas
247: 5 stars, No.1 overall nationally and No.1 in Texas
ESPN: 5 stars, No.4 overall nationally and No.1 in Texas
Thoughts: One of the most perfect prospects the state of Texas has ever produced.
2nd Team Punter Justin Tucker
LSR: High 3 stars
Rivals: Low 3 stars and No.4 kicker
247: NR
ESPN: High 3 stars and No.3 kicker
Thoughts: Tucker is the last kicker that I've ever rated as a state top 100 prospect, but by the time the LSR rankings were final that year, I took him out of the top 100. I don't actually remember doing that, but the final rankings say that I did.
2nd Team Punt Returner Kene Nwangwu
LSR: Mid 3 stars
Rivals: Low 3 stars
247: High 3 stars and No.107 in Texas
ESPN: Low 3 and No.175 in Texas
Thoughts: Nwangwu was barely a starter at Iowa State, but he's always been a great return guy and that remains the case in the NFL.
No. 7 - The comeback kids ...
No lead was safe for the teams that played the Fightin' Rodney Terrys this week.
TCU let an 18-point lead go the way of the dodo in mid-week and on Saturday night, Texas Tech let the Longhorns turn a 14-point lead into extinction.
In a 5-pack of teams that includes Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and TCU, the Longhorns sit in second place in the Big 12 with a 4-1 record. It's hard to gripe about where the team currently resides, given the circumstances. Hell, 11 ranked teams lost on Saturday and Texas wasn't one of them.
You don't get too high or too low in college basketball in January. You just keep trying to win as many games as you can for seeding purposes in March and Texas went 2-0 in that department this week, despite trailing by large scores both of them. BOOM!
Up next this week are road games in Ames and Morgantown. The following week, the Longhorns are at home at Oklahoma State and then on the road in Knoxville.
The games just keep coming. Just keep staking up the wins.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) I think Anthony Hill and Malik Muhammad will be just as hyped.
(Buy) If Ewers isn't hitting a real stride by the 1/3 part of the season, there becomes a really strong chance Manning plays, especially if Sarkisian believes deep down that Manning is his starter in 2024.
(Double buy) Kelvin Banks is going to be the consensus All-American and Jaylan Ford might join him. I would count Xavier Worthy, Ja'Tavion Sanders, Kelvin Banks and Jahdae Barron as players that would join them as potential first-team All-Big 12 level players.
(Sell) I think he plays in more than four games. Just a hunch.
(Sell) The thing that is supposed to make Sark a guy worthy of running a program is his ability to run the offense at an elite level.
(Sell/Buy/BuySell) - I'm not so sure that Deion to FSU happens so seamlessly. Sometimes timing is everything. Just ask Les Miles. Jimbo ain't making it to 2026 IMO. Yes, the Dawgs are that loaded. I think Dykes keeps roots in the state of Texas.
(Sell) If Chris Jackson is going to hire, it will likely take more time.
(Buy/Sell) I think OU will have a better record than A&M< but I don't see Texas winning three more games than either of them.
(Sell/Sell) I'm curious of the final split between in-state and out of state, but I still think we'll see more than 50% from in-state. That being said, the in-state talent in 2024 isn't nearly as high as the last couple of years and that reality will likely keep Texas from a top 5 class. Of course, that's my opinion a year out and things could change.
(Buy) Georgia players are the new Alabama players.
(Sell/Buy) Jaylan Ford would be gone if he had a true day one or two Draft grade. Those types of players will still leave early. At some point, the Longhorns have to start keeping players longer than a year or two.
(Buy/Sell/Buy/Sell) As long as the Bubble is a thing, the answer is yes to the facilities part of this. I'm not sure how to judge the staff, but elite based off of results isn't what jumps to mind. The support staff and university support is top notch.
No. 9 - Scattershooting on anything and everything ...
* Excuse me, LHN, are we sure this was really an upset?
* I'm prepared for the worst as a Cowboys fan. I know how this season ends, whether it's on Monday night or the following week.
* That Buffalo/Miami game was a weird one. Am I wrong to have questions about the Bills after that game? A terrible Skylar Thompson nearly pulled that off.
* Has anyone ever met an LA Chargers fan? I can only imagine how they are still feeling. How did that happen?
* I still don't know how I completely feel about Trevor Lawrence as a pro quarterback.
* I don't even know what to think about Brock Purdy other than he'll eventually revert to the mean. It's almost impossible to believe that he has the same number of playoff wins as a starter as Dak Prescott.
* The Cowboys have drafted well over the years, but taking Kelvin Joseph three spots before Asante Samuel Jr. in the second round of the 2021 Draft wasn't one of their finest moments. Ugh.
* I'm not sure that we're ever going to see Kliff ever again.
* Rest in peace Devin Willock and Chandler LeCroy. My heart aches for your families.
* Liverpool hurt my soul this weekend. We're pure shambles at the moment.
* Arsenal is going to win the Premier League. I can't believe I just typed those words.
* Gavi really bossed the pitch with a trophy on the line against Real Madrid. Ok, young man. Rumble on.
* Believe it or not, the boxer (Anthony Taylor) singing Jodeci's "Freek N You" within an inch of another boxer's face on the eve of their fight ... lost the fight.
* Ja Morant is freaking fearless, man.
No. 10 - The List: Top 10 All-Time running backs from the state of Texas ...
I found myself weighing the resumes of Thurman Thomas, Adrian Peterson and Earl Campbell while I was in the shower on Saturday (weird, I know), and it felt like a perfect time to do a Top 10 list on the best in-state running backs that ever lived.
Four of the top five on the list all won NFL MVPs at various points in their careers, which is kind of wild to think about.
Let's get to the list.
Received consideration: Barry Foster, Aaron Jones, Cedric Benson, Joseph Addai, Donny Anderson, Walt Garrison, Harvey Williams, Bam Morris and Robert Newhouse.
10. Joe Washington (Port Arthur Lincoln)
I went with three different players in the final spot before settling on the three-time OU All-American, who led the NFL in receptions in 1979 and was one of the top dual-threat running backs in the late 90s and early 80s.
9. Priest Holmes (San Antonio Marshall)
A three-time first-team All-Pro player, who was almost as good as anyone that has ever played from this state over a three-year window (2001-03).
8. Billy Simms (Hooks)
In addition to winning the Heisman with the Sooners in 1979, Simms was a two-time All-Pro running back in the early 1980s when Earl Campbell, Walter Payton and Tony Dorsett were the competition for those honors.
7. Doak Walker (Highland Park)
I mean ... he has a running back award named after him. A three-time consensus All-American in the 40s with SMU, Walker also was a four-time All-Pro in the NFL with the Lions. One of 5 current Texas running backs who are members of the NFL Hall of Fame.
6. Jamaal Charles (Port Arthur Memorial)
No running back in NFL history (post-1960) has ever averaged more yards per carry in a career than Charles, who was a three-time All-Pro and totaled more than 10,000 all-purpose offensive yards in his career.
5. Thurman Thomas (Willowridge)
A five-time All-Pro player who won the MVP in the NFL in 1991 and was the best offensive player on a team that played in 4 straight Super Bowls. Was named to the NFL Hall of Fame in his second ballot.
4. Eric Dickerson (Sealy)
A five-time, first-team All-Pro player who led the NFL in rushing four times between 1983-1988. As a college player, Dickerson twice won All-America honors and Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors. A first-ballot NFL Hall of Famer.
3. Adrian Peterson (Palestine)
A seven-time All-Pro in the NFL who was also the league MVP in 2012 after rushing for 2,097 yards. Peterson was the third-fastest player to rush for 10,000 yards in league history. Finished his career fifth all-time in NFL rushing yards, the most of any player on the list.
2. Ladainian Tomlinson (Waco University)
A six-time All-Pro in the NFL who won MVP honors in 2006 after establishing a new league record for touchdowns in a season. Tomlinson currently ranks seventh in career rushing yards (13,684), sixth in yards from scrimmage (18,456), second in career rushing touchdowns (145), and third in total touchdowns (162). A first-ballot Hall of Famer who was named as the No. 61 player of all-time by NFL Films in 2010.
1. Earl Campbell (Tyler John Tyler)
His career numbers don't match up with a few others on the list, but there's just never been a better, more terrifying running back than Campbell was from 1978-1980, when he earned MVP honors in 1979 and three first-team All-Pro honors. Named as the No. 55 player of all-time by NFL Films in 2010. Throw in the Heisman Trophy in 1977 and my eyeballs simply tell me there has never been another Earl.
Funny to see you list Harvey Williams as an honorable mention. We were classmates and played together.
Spot on take on what the measure of future success will be. I hadn’t thought about how much a 12-team playoff changes expectations for Texas (and everyone else). That’s what I pay OB for! That said, like last week, if you had a different No. 1 on your Top 10 list, it would have been time to cancel that sub. For all the great plays when Earl pancaked tacklers, one of his most memorable runs for me was the Monday Night game against Miami when he went the distance down the sideline for a long TD. Jim Brown is the only other runner with his combination of power and speed.
@Ketchum, tell me more about the Georgia transfer?"Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
And you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'"
Bob Dylan
***
It's kind of hard to fully process what will be happing to Texas football over the course of the next 24 months.
A generation of fans that have known nothing but the Big 12 and another generation of fans that can remember the Southwest Conference are expected to have roughly a year and a half before everything they've ever known turns in a new direction to the SEC.
Ready or not, the times are a-changin' for Texas Longhorns football.
As someone that has been up to my neck in Texas football since I first started working in the Texas SID office in 1994 as a 17-year-old high school intern, one of the things that's been on my mind a lot since the end of this season is the finality that awaits all of us on this journey into a new unknown.
What should expectations look like? How long will it take to completely settle in? What will it be like to play Texas A&M again on an annual basis? What happens to the Oklahoma rivalry? What does life look like where Texas isn't the J.R. Ewing on the block?
So many questions.
The one I've been thinking about the most over the last couple of weeks centers around the notion of what defines success in these times that are a-changin'?
As it specifically relates to football, I've long since believed that defining success is fairly easy:
a. Win the conference title
b. Play in a major bowl game.
Anything less than playing in a major bowl game translates to failure. It means that the Texas football program has had only five successful seasons since 2000 ... 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2018. That's it. Seasons that ended in San Antonio or San Diego need not apply, 10-win seasons be damned.
Even Tom Herman agreed with me on the subject of defining success by such high standards when he was still working these streets a few years ago, and we rarely agreed on much.
Yet, it doesn't feel so cut and dry when I think ahead to life in the SEC for a couple of key reasons.
a. Winning the SEC will be more difficult than winning any conference title that Longhorns will have ever attempted to win in the last 50 years.
b. The 12-team playoff is coming to college football in 2024.
Wouldn't you know it, but the 2024 season just happens to be the expected beginning of the SEC journey for the Longhorns.
Frankly, I don't think the average fan across the country completely understands how the expanded playoff is going to change everything we've ever thought about the sport. Our brains have been programmed to treat games involving teams competing for the four playoff spots to be important, which means that the nation as a whole might treat an average weekend like this:
* No. 1 Georgia beating unranked Mississippi State matters.
* No. 2 Ohio State beating unranked Indiana matters.
* No. 3 Michigan beating unranked Nebraska matters.
* No. 4 TCU beating No. 18 Texas matters.
* No. 5 Tennessee beating unranked Missouri matters.
* No. 25 Washington beating No. 6 Oregon matters
That's it. Beyond that, the games largely didn't matter. No one in Big 12 country paid attention to the Alabama/Ole Miss game because they believed it would impact them in any fashion and not a single crazy Paul Finebaum caller gave a hoot about Arizona upsetting No. 12 UCLA.
Out of sight, out of mind.
That's all about to change ... big-time.
Just like the NCAA Tournament, every team that's remotely within striking distance of the top 25 is going to rightfully feel that it has a chance of squeezing into the final 12 that make the playoff with a few weeks to go.
Moving forward, No. 12 UCLA losing to an unranked Arizona in November is a pretty massive deal. Same with No. 16 NC State losing to Boston College. Can you believe the hoopla that would surround No. 22 UCF beating No. 17 Tulane and the discussion about the impact such a win might have?
Hell, No. 9 Alabama beating No. 11 Ole Miss would represent the single biggest game of the weekend in such a way that none of the games outside of the TCU/Texas game would have mattered from the games previously receiving all of the focus. With teams like Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan all likely having a get out of jail card by being undefeated at that stage of the season, the collective focus on the season as a whole changes significantly.
Speaking of the match-up between No. 4 TCU and No. 18 Texas, can you imagine how much more weight that game would have carried for a team like the Longhorns, who would surely have playoff dreams entering that point of the season by only being a few spots away from No. 12?
It's going to make every game that every team near the top 25 plays much more significant than they've ever been before, the same way that every game involving every team on a 66-team Tournament bubble begins to matter in mid-February in college basketball.
From my perspective, the sport is about to be defined by whether you consistently make the playoffs or not. Once you're consistently getting in, the pressure on programs will demand that they win or else. But, first and foremost, you have to get in.
That means that Texas football will soon start defining itself by that measure.
So, what's the impact of that?
I think more than anything, it simply increases the anxiety within the entire season for all of the teams that do business in major colleges. As bad as that loss to Texas Tech was in September when Bijan Robinson fumbled in overtime, imagine how off the rails the fan base will feel if there's a sense that the loss could mess up top-12 chances in 10 weeks.
Fan bases all over the country will live and die by every single result in ways that have never existed before. B-a-n-a-n-a-s.
Meanwhile, for Steve Sarkisian, the real target inside the building should be the following:
a. Win the Big 12 in 2023.
b. Have the team ready to compete for the top 12 in 2024.
As he heads into years three and four of his tenure in Austin, those will be the marks that define his program.
Oddly enough, after decades of football being defined by conference championships, the future of Texas football's expectations will completely change in roughly 11 months.
Once making the top 12 becomes the key target each year, there's likely no going back.
You'll either be in or you'll be out. Everything else will feel like the NIT.
Oh yeah, the times are a-changin'.
No. 2 -Discussing the Portal ...
Hey, I'm just like the rest of you in that I'm waiting to see how things shake out for the Longhorns when the Portal closes on Monday.
Here's what you need to know:
a. Monday is the final day for players to enter the Portal. Those that enter on Monday will have until the end of Wednesday to make a decision.
b. At the risk of having rocks thrown at me, keep your eyes and ears open on Monday. There continues to be an expectation that the Longhorns will add a transfer piece before the deadline closes on Wednesday.
c. There are still positions where the Longhorns would like to add firepower through the Portal for starting/depth purposes, but that activity might not take place until the spring Portal window, which takes place from May 1-15.
While the Longhorns have been very selective so far in the Portal, having taken Stanford punter Ryan Sanborn, Wake Forest cornerback Gavin Holmes and Arkansas safety Jalen Catalon, other schools in the Big 12 have taken different approaches.
For instance, Oklahoma has taken 10 players through the Portal so far and I don't get the sense that OU is done. Here are the players that OU has landed through the weekend:
WR Andrel Anthony (Michigan)
DL Rondell Bothroyd (Wake Forest)
DL Trace Ford (Oklahoma State)
DL Jacob Lacey (Notre Dame)
LB Dasan McCullogh (Indiana)
DB Reggie Pearson (Texas Tech)
OL Walter Rouse (Stanford)
DL Davon Sears (Texas State)
OL Caleb Shaffer (Miami-Ohio)
TE Austin Stogner (South Carolina)
I'd guess that the Sooners are looking for 7 of the 10 to start for them in 2023. with guys like Bothroyd, Ford, McCullogh, Pearson, Rouse and Shaffer representing impact-level plus-players.
Meanwhile, TCU has also been very active in the portal. Here's TCU's current transfer haul:
RB Trey Sanders (Alabama)
WR Jojo Earle (Alabama)
WR Jack Bech (LSU)
WR John Paul Richardson (Oklahoma State)
OL Tommy Brockermeyer (Alabama)
CB Avery Helm (Florida)
In addition to those six names, there's growing speculation that former LSU quarterback Walker Howard could be the next name to the Portal haul.
It'll be interesting to see how the strategies toward team building impacts the Big 12 race in 2023. No single plan toward building for the upcoming season seems to be the same.
No. 3 - I'm not sure what to tell you ...
Here's some stream of consciousness writing on Jacksonville wide receivers coach Chris Jackson, who has emerged as a favorite for the vacant Texas wide receivers coach.
* I'm a big proponent of hiring quality NFL coaches. When it comes to the football component of the job, those dudes know ball.
* Jackson has gone from being a mostly unknown former pro in 2018 to being a position coach in the NFL less than five years later. Yes, his coaching resume is fairly light, but the fact that he's climbed the ranks so quickly is all kinds of impressive from my perspective. It's hard to get jobs in the NFL and he made it happen by scrapping his way up the ladder.
* The thing I like the least about Jackson is that he doesn't have any connections inside the state of Texas. Maybe it's not absolutely needed, but in an optimal world, he'd have those. There's a reason why all of the other names that we've connected to this job search have history in the state of Texas as a recruiter.
* Maybe you don't need a rainmaker recruiter in 2023 if your NIL program is considered your rainmaker. I don't know that I completely believe that, but I'm open-minded.
* Jackson played in the Arena League until he was 39 years old. He caught 13,355 yards and 325 touchdowns as a receiver in the Arena League. That man must loves the hell out of football.
No. 4 - Ford Playing for an all-time legacy ...
In the last 50 years, this is the list of Texas linebackers that have earned All-America honors:
1972 - Glen Gaspard
1983 - Jeff Leiding*
1988 - Britt Hager
2001 - D.D. Lewis
2003 - Derrick Johnson*
2004 - Derrick Johnson*
2005 - Aaron Harris
2008 - Sergio Kindle
2016 - Jordan Hicks
2017 - Malik Jefferson
2022 - Jaylan Ford
* Consensus All-American
Only once in the last half-century has a Texas linebacker won All-America honors in consecutive seasons and only two players during the same timeframe have been consensus All-Americans at the position.
Hell, in the history of the Texas program, only Johnson and Tommy Nobis have been multi-year All-Americans.
With a season similar to the one that he just enjoyed, returning All-American Jaylan Ford will have a chance to place his name in some rarified air.
Nobis ... Johnson ... Ford.
That's the legacy that Ford is playing for in 2023.
No. 5 - DJ Campbell's big advantage ...
A year ago, Cole Hutson got the jump on fellow freshman DJ Campbell by coming into the program in January instead of waiting until the summer (which Campbell did).
Heading into this off-season with the starting right guard job looking fairly even, the news this weekend that Hutson has undergone should surgery would seem to give Campbell a big-off season edge in two critical areas.
a. Off-season conditioning
At best, it would seem like Hutson is going to be limited in the amount of lifting he's about to do in the off-season.
b. Spring football
Although nothing was revealed this weekend with regards to Hutson's availability for spring football, it's not crazy to think he'll be limited in that department as well.
I think we probably have learned not to discount the gutsy warrior that Hutson proved to be as a true freshman, but the door would appear to be open for Campbell to put a marker down at one of the interior positions while Hutson is out.
No. 6 - Best of the Best ...
Eight different former high school players from the state of Texas were named as an NFL All-Pro selection this week and I thought it would be interesting to look back at how they were viewed as prospects.
1st Team Quarterback Patrick Mahomes
LSR: High 3 stars and No.80 in Texas
Rivals: High 3 stars and No.49 in Texas
247: High 3 stars and No.82 in Texas
ESPN: High 3 stars and No.99 in Texas
Thoughts: It's a modest win for Rivals, which only handed out 4-star rankings through the top 28 players in the state that year. In a normal year, the top 50 prospects in the state typically get four stars. On one hand, the top 50 is an arbitrary number that doesn't matter, but on the other hand, Rivals had him rated 33 spots higher than anyone else.
2nd Team Quarterback Jalen Hurts
LSR: Mid 4 stars and No.19 in Texas
Rivals: Low 4 stars, No.231 nationally overall and No.31 in Texas
247: Mid 4 stars, No.104 overall nationally and No.18 in Texas
ESPN: High 3 stars and No.61 in Texas
Thoughts: Two things stand out about his ranking ... The LSR and 247 lists had the best ratings on Hurts and ESPN was a distant third.
2nd Team Wide receiver Ceedee Lamb
LSR: 5 stars and No.6 in Texas
Rivals: High 4 stars, No.72 overall nationally and No.8 in Texas
247: Low 4 stars, No.246 overall nationally and No.33 in Texas
ESPN: Low 4 stars, No.290 overall nationally and No.46 in Texas
Thoughts: You guys think I bring up Drew Brees too often, but Lamb might just replace him in the "Rankings I talk about too much" department.
1st Team Left Tackle Trent Williams
LSR: High 3 stars
Rivals: High 3 stars, No.63 in Texas
ESPN: Mid 3 stars
Thoughts: Back in the day, there was a lot of thought that Williams was just too heavy to make it at the major college level. Coming out of his junior year, he was 350+ and Mac McWhorter basically had zero interest, preferring the likes of J'Marcus Webb, Roy Watts, Steve Moore and Buck Burnette. Oops.
1st Team Right Tackle Lane Johnson
LSR: NR
Rivals: NR
247: NR
ESPN: NR
Thoughts: From an unrated pro-style quarterback prospect to a multi-year All-Pro tackle in the NFL. His story is nothing short of a Disney movie.
2nd Team Defensive End Myles Garrett
LSR: 5 stars and No.1 in Texas
Rivals: 5 stars, No.2 overall nationally and No.1 in Texas
247: 5 stars, No.1 overall nationally and No.1 in Texas
ESPN: 5 stars, No.4 overall nationally and No.1 in Texas
Thoughts: One of the most perfect prospects the state of Texas has ever produced.
2nd Team Punter Justin Tucker
LSR: High 3 stars
Rivals: Low 3 stars and No.4 kicker
247: NR
ESPN: High 3 stars and No.3 kicker
Thoughts: Tucker is the last kicker that I've ever rated as a state top 100 prospect, but by the time the LSR rankings were final that year, I took him out of the top 100. I don't actually remember doing that, but the final rankings say that I did.
2nd Team Punt Returner Kene Nwangwu
LSR: Mid 3 stars
Rivals: Low 3 stars
247: High 3 stars and No.107 in Texas
ESPN: Low 3 and No.175 in Texas
Thoughts: Nwangwu was barely a starter at Iowa State, but he's always been a great return guy and that remains the case in the NFL.
No. 7 - The comeback kids ...
No lead was safe for the teams that played the Fightin' Rodney Terrys this week.
TCU let an 18-point lead go the way of the dodo in mid-week and on Saturday night, Texas Tech let the Longhorns turn a 14-point lead into extinction.
In a 5-pack of teams that includes Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and TCU, the Longhorns sit in second place in the Big 12 with a 4-1 record. It's hard to gripe about where the team currently resides, given the circumstances. Hell, 11 ranked teams lost on Saturday and Texas wasn't one of them.
You don't get too high or too low in college basketball in January. You just keep trying to win as many games as you can for seeding purposes in March and Texas went 2-0 in that department this week, despite trailing by large scores both of them. BOOM!
Up next this week are road games in Ames and Morgantown. The following week, the Longhorns are at home at Oklahoma State and then on the road in Knoxville.
The games just keep coming. Just keep staking up the wins.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) I think Anthony Hill and Malik Muhammad will be just as hyped.
(Buy) If Ewers isn't hitting a real stride by the 1/3 part of the season, there becomes a really strong chance Manning plays, especially if Sarkisian believes deep down that Manning is his starter in 2024.
(Double buy) Kelvin Banks is going to be the consensus All-American and Jaylan Ford might join him. I would count Xavier Worthy, Ja'Tavion Sanders, Kelvin Banks and Jahdae Barron as players that would join them as potential first-team All-Big 12 level players.
(Sell) I think he plays in more than four games. Just a hunch.
(Sell) The thing that is supposed to make Sark a guy worthy of running a program is his ability to run the offense at an elite level.
(Sell/Buy/BuySell) - I'm not so sure that Deion to FSU happens so seamlessly. Sometimes timing is everything. Just ask Les Miles. Jimbo ain't making it to 2026 IMO. Yes, the Dawgs are that loaded. I think Dykes keeps roots in the state of Texas.
(Sell) If Chris Jackson is going to hire, it will likely take more time.
(Buy/Sell) I think OU will have a better record than A&M< but I don't see Texas winning three more games than either of them.
(Sell/Sell) I'm curious of the final split between in-state and out of state, but I still think we'll see more than 50% from in-state. That being said, the in-state talent in 2024 isn't nearly as high as the last couple of years and that reality will likely keep Texas from a top 5 class. Of course, that's my opinion a year out and things could change.
(Buy) Georgia players are the new Alabama players.
(Sell/Buy) Jaylan Ford would be gone if he had a true day one or two Draft grade. Those types of players will still leave early. At some point, the Longhorns have to start keeping players longer than a year or two.
(Buy/Sell/Buy/Sell) As long as the Bubble is a thing, the answer is yes to the facilities part of this. I'm not sure how to judge the staff, but elite based off of results isn't what jumps to mind. The support staff and university support is top notch.
No. 9 - Scattershooting on anything and everything ...
* Excuse me, LHN, are we sure this was really an upset?
* I'm prepared for the worst as a Cowboys fan. I know how this season ends, whether it's on Monday night or the following week.
* That Buffalo/Miami game was a weird one. Am I wrong to have questions about the Bills after that game? A terrible Skylar Thompson nearly pulled that off.
* Has anyone ever met an LA Chargers fan? I can only imagine how they are still feeling. How did that happen?
* I still don't know how I completely feel about Trevor Lawrence as a pro quarterback.
* I don't even know what to think about Brock Purdy other than he'll eventually revert to the mean. It's almost impossible to believe that he has the same number of playoff wins as a starter as Dak Prescott.
* The Cowboys have drafted well over the years, but taking Kelvin Joseph three spots before Asante Samuel Jr. in the second round of the 2021 Draft wasn't one of their finest moments. Ugh.
* I'm not sure that we're ever going to see Kliff ever again.
* Rest in peace Devin Willock and Chandler LeCroy. My heart aches for your families.
* Liverpool hurt my soul this weekend. We're pure shambles at the moment.
* Arsenal is going to win the Premier League. I can't believe I just typed those words.
* Gavi really bossed the pitch with a trophy on the line against Real Madrid. Ok, young man. Rumble on.
* Believe it or not, the boxer (Anthony Taylor) singing Jodeci's "Freek N You" within an inch of another boxer's face on the eve of their fight ... lost the fight.
* Ja Morant is freaking fearless, man.
No. 10 - The List: Top 10 All-Time running backs from the state of Texas ...
I found myself weighing the resumes of Thurman Thomas, Adrian Peterson and Earl Campbell while I was in the shower on Saturday (weird, I know), and it felt like a perfect time to do a Top 10 list on the best in-state running backs that ever lived.
Four of the top five on the list all won NFL MVPs at various points in their careers, which is kind of wild to think about.
Let's get to the list.
Received consideration: Barry Foster, Aaron Jones, Cedric Benson, Joseph Addai, Donny Anderson, Walt Garrison, Harvey Williams, Bam Morris and Robert Newhouse.
10. Joe Washington (Port Arthur Lincoln)
I went with three different players in the final spot before settling on the three-time OU All-American, who led the NFL in receptions in 1979 and was one of the top dual-threat running backs in the late 90s and early 80s.
9. Priest Holmes (San Antonio Marshall)
A three-time first-team All-Pro player, who was almost as good as anyone that has ever played from this state over a three-year window (2001-03).
8. Billy Simms (Hooks)
In addition to winning the Heisman with the Sooners in 1979, Simms was a two-time All-Pro running back in the early 1980s when Earl Campbell, Walter Payton and Tony Dorsett were the competition for those honors.
7. Doak Walker (Highland Park)
I mean ... he has a running back award named after him. A three-time consensus All-American in the 40s with SMU, Walker also was a four-time All-Pro in the NFL with the Lions. One of 5 current Texas running backs who are members of the NFL Hall of Fame.
6. Jamaal Charles (Port Arthur Memorial)
No running back in NFL history (post-1960) has ever averaged more yards per carry in a career than Charles, who was a three-time All-Pro and totaled more than 10,000 all-purpose offensive yards in his career.
5. Thurman Thomas (Willowridge)
A five-time All-Pro player who won the MVP in the NFL in 1991 and was the best offensive player on a team that played in 4 straight Super Bowls. Was named to the NFL Hall of Fame in his second ballot.
4. Eric Dickerson (Sealy)
A five-time, first-team All-Pro player who led the NFL in rushing four times between 1983-1988. As a college player, Dickerson twice won All-America honors and Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors. A first-ballot NFL Hall of Famer.
3. Adrian Peterson (Palestine)
A seven-time All-Pro in the NFL who was also the league MVP in 2012 after rushing for 2,097 yards. Peterson was the third-fastest player to rush for 10,000 yards in league history. Finished his career fifth all-time in NFL rushing yards, the most of any player on the list.
2. Ladainian Tomlinson (Waco University)
A six-time All-Pro in the NFL who won MVP honors in 2006 after establishing a new league record for touchdowns in a season. Tomlinson currently ranks seventh in career rushing yards (13,684), sixth in yards from scrimmage (18,456), second in career rushing touchdowns (145), and third in total touchdowns (162). A first-ballot Hall of Famer who was named as the No. 61 player of all-time by NFL Films in 2010.
1. Earl Campbell (Tyler John Tyler)
His career numbers don't match up with a few others on the list, but there's just never been a better, more terrifying running back than Campbell was from 1978-1980, when he earned MVP honors in 1979 and three first-team All-Pro honors. Named as the No. 55 player of all-time by NFL Films in 2010. Throw in the Heisman Trophy in 1977 and my eyeballs simply tell me there has never been another Earl.
upset?
“* I'm prepared for the worst as a Cowboys fan. I know how this season ends, whether it's on Monday night or the following week. “
Unfortunately many of us olds that have followed the Cowboys since their inception have known this ultimate and honest reality for the past 6 weeks. It’s just another year of frustration with the post Landry/ Jimmy Johnson years. Jerry just can’t figure out that he needs a real GM and a real Head Coach.
“* I'm prepared for the worst as a Cowboys fan. I know how this season ends, whether it's on Monday night or the following week. “
Unfortunately many of us olds that have followed the Cowboys since their inception have known this ultimate and honest reality for the past 6 weeks. It’s just another year of frustration with the post Landry/ Jimmy Johnson years. Jerry just can’t figure out that he needs a real GM and a real Head Coach.
The loss to the Bills was in the Wild Card round. The Oilers needed that game plus 2 more to go to the SB.
I have been curious about Milwee in general and his role with Ewers.
