It's time.
Change is needed in the Texas Baseball program at the head coaching position.
It's not that David Pierce isn't a fine coach. Hell, he might even be damn good when you consider his resume. I think everyone needs to remember this if and when Chris Del Conte pulls the plug on his tenure at Texas at some point in June.
It's just that there's something that's missing in this program as Texas Athletics prepares itself to move to the SEC for 2024-25. There are actually multiple things missing ... momentum, talent and a clear plan that will make the Longhorns the type of outfit that is demanded of the program that Gus and Augie built.
The 10-2 butt-kicking that ... ahem ... Louisiana put on the Longhorns on Sunday to end the Texas season wasn't an accident. Everything that happened felt like a continuation of things we've seen all season. This was a pretty nice little team that wasn't anywhere close to being elite.
That's the rub. Pierce is very good, but he's not elite. The staff that he currently has assembled isn't elite. Talent acquisition isn't elite. The work in the Portal hasn't been elite.
The Texas baseball program demands excellence and sitting around waiting for a soon-to-be 62-year-old head coach to discover the magic touch in trying to find it simply can't be the answer.
It's time for Chris Del Conte to be that guy.
No. 2 - All Eyes on These ...
A number of key 2025 prospects began their official visit tours this weekend ... here's some of the buzz we've picked up from those visits. The common theme with each situation is that nothing ground-breaking or recruitment-shaking took place.
Talked to a source following Moore's visit to Columbus this weekend and was told that the Longhorns still feel very good about their positioning and that Ohio State might be the No. 2 school after the weekend, but it still has work to do to tackle Texas in this critical recruitment.
The Buckeyes came away feeling like they made a big impression on UT's biggest linebacker target, but there's a sense that they are still in chase mode behind the Longhorns.
Nothing changed within his recruitment much this weekend. The Tigers took a big swing, but it seems like they know what's up here.
The Tigers feel like they are squarely in the mix, but there's certainly not a sense of false confidence knowing that visits to Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma all loom in the coming weeks.
Lockett came away from his visit to Baton Rouge talking up the Tigers, but I haven't talked to anyone yet who believes his recruitment was shaken up by this weekend.
No. 3 - Breaking down the OL data ...
One week after diving into the defensive tackle data from the last two decades using the Rivals rankings, I thought I would do the same with the offensive linemen from the state of Texas, especially since it has been a few years since I've done so and this is the first time I've ever added three-star linemen to the number-crunching.
Before I give you some very specific info to chew on, let's take a look at each recruiting tier by NFL drafted players since 2000. Even though the high-end super blue chip offensive linemen don't produce at the levels of the defensive tackles, the numbers of the 5 stars and high 4 stars still tower over the tiers below them.
Some other interesting notes from the data dig ...
* All four of the 5-star offensive linemen that have been drafted from the last two decades have been drafted on either the first or second day of the draft. Here's the list: Justin Blalock (2nd round), Greg Little (3rd round), Walker Little (2nd round) and Kenyon Green (1st round).
* Of the other eight 5-star offensive linemen that didn't have NFL careers, six were pretty massive busts. Only Walters was a multi-year starter among the eight.
* There's good news in the recent 5-stars, as other than 2021's Tommy Brockermeyer, the other three 5-star offensive linemen since 2016 have evolved into first- or second-day NFL Draft picks.
* 2002's Justin Blalock (Texas) is the only 5-star interior prospect that has ever earned All-America honors or been selected by an NFL team. Only three guards earned 5-star status from 2003-2020, but three earned that recognition between 2021-2022 (Donovan Jackson, Bryce Foster and Devon Campbell).
* Six of the eight (75%) super blue chip offensive tackles produced since 2010 have played in the NFL and five have been drafted in the first three rounds of the draft.
* Only a single super blue chip offensive guard prospect has emerged as an NFL-drafted player since 2003 and that was 2017's Austin Deculus, who was selected in the 6th round)
* Only 1 of 17 mid 4-star prospects (5.9) has been drafted since 2003. Here's a look at the overall national rankings of those 17 players: 64, 67, 81, 82, 96, 97, 98, 102, 115, 126, 129, 132, 142, 151, 153, 160 and 169.
* All of the players in the 5.9, 5.8 and 5.7 Rivals tiers combine for an 11% drafted rated from 2003-2019.
* No in-state high three-star offensive lineman has emerged as an NFL-drafted level player since 2012.
* The only non-super blue chip offensive linemen that emerged as an NFL Draft choice from the mid 4-star, low 4-star and high 3-star tiers for the Longhorns is former low 4-star Connor Williams. The Longhorns are 1 for 30 overall from 2003-2020 when it comes to producing NFL drafted players from the mid-4, low-4 and high-3 star tiers.
No. 4 - Full Offensive Line Breakdown...
If you're interested in seeing the full list of names from the in-state data dig, here you go. If not, just skip to section 5.
(All bolded names were drafted by NFL teams.)
Let's look at the 5-stars.
2002 - Justin Blalock (Texas)
2003 - Jorrie Adams (Texas A&M)
2003 - Ofa Mohetau (BYU)
2005 - Reggie Youngblood (Miami)
2007 - Tray Allen (Texas)
2008 - Stephen Good (Oklahoma)
2009 - Mason Walters (Texas)
2015 - Maea Teuhema (LSU)
2016 - Greg Little (Mississippi)
2017 - Walker Little (Stanford)
2019 - Kenyon Green (Texas A&M)
2021 - Tommy Brockermeyer (Alabama)
Active 5-stars: 2021 Donovan Jackson (Ohio State), 2021 Bryce Foster (Portal) and 2022 D.J. Campbell (Texas)
Now let's look at the high four stars:
2002 - Kyle Williams (USC)
2002 - Tony Ugoh (Arkansas)
2004 - Herman Johnson (LSU)
2004 - Cedric Dockery (Texas)
2006 - J'Marcus Webb (Texas)
2007 - Michael Huey (Texas)
2009 - Garrett Porter (Texas)
2010 - Luke Joeckel (Texas A&M)
2010 - Jake Matthews (Texas A&M)
2013 - Darius James (Texas)
2013 - Kent Perkins (Texas)
2014 - Demetrius Knox (Ohio State)
2016 - Kellen Diesch (Texas A&M)
2016 - Patrick Hudson (Texas)
2017 - Austin Deculus (LSU)
Active Players: 2021 Reuben Fatheree II (Texas A&M), 2022 Kelvin Banks (Texas), 2022 Kam Dewberry (Texas A&M) and 2023 TJ Shanahan (Texas A&M)
Mid Four Stars
2005 - Michael Shumard (Texas A&M)
2007 - Jarvis Jones (LSU)
2007 - Jason Hannon (LSU)
2007 - Aundre McGaskey (Texas)
2008 - Daniel Campbell (USC)
2008 - J.B. Shugarts (Ohio State)
2008 - Ben Habern (Oklahoma)
2008 - Mark Buchanan (Texas)
2010 - Dom Espinosa (Texas)
2010 - Cedric Ogbuehi (Texas A&M)
2010 - Trey Hopkins (Texas)
2012 - Kennedy Estelle (Texas)
2012 - Curtis Riser (Texas)
2015 - Toby Weathersby (LSU)
2015 - Conner Dyer (Texas Tech)
2017 - Tyrese Robinson (Oklahoma)
2018 - Darrell Simpson (Oklahoma)
Active Players: 2019 Tyler Johnson (Texas/Houston), 2020 Garrett Hayes (TCU), 2020 Akinola Ogunbiyi (Texas A&M), 2021 Savion Byrd (Oklahoma/SMU), 2022 Neto Umeozulu (Texas), 2022 Patrick Williams (Texas A&M), 2023 Harris Sewell (Clemson), 2023 Ian Reed (Clemson), 2024 Daniel Cruz (Texas), 2024 Blake Frazier (Auburn), 2024 Ashton Funk (Texas A&M), 2024 Weston Davis (Texas A&M), 2024 Casey Poe (Alabama) and 2024 Michael Uini (Georgia)
Low Four Stars
2004 - Greg Dolan (Texas), 2006 - Matt Allen (LSU), 2006 - Cory Brandon (Oklahoma), 2006 - Buck Burnette (Texas), 2006 - Chris Stewart (Notre Dame), 2006 - Curtis Bailey (Oklahoma), 2007 - Lonnie Edwards (Texas Tech), 2007 - Kyle Hix (Texas), 2008 - David Snow (Texas), 2009 - Kyle Clark (Texas Tech), 2009 - Ivory Wade (Baylor), 2009 - Stavion Lowe (LSU), 2009 - Thomas Ashcraft (Texas), 2010 - Tyrus Thompson (Oklahoma), 2010 - Shep Klinke (Texas A&M), 2010 - Evan Washington (LSU), 2010 - Austin Woods (Oklahoma), 2010 - Cam Feldt (Arkansas), 2010 - Daryl Williams (Oklahoma), 2011 - Garrett Greenlea (Texas), 2011 - Tony Morales (Texas Tech), 2011 - Sedrick Flowers (Texas), 2011 - Joseph Cheek (Texas A&M), 2011 - Spencer Drango (Baylor), 2011 - Josh Cochran (Texas), 2012 - Camrhon Hughes (Texas), 2012 - John Michael McGee (2012), 2012 - Mike Matthews (Texas A&M), 2013 - Caleb Benenoch (UCLA), 2013 - Ishmael Wilson (Texas A&M), 2013 - Rami Hammad (Texas), 2014 - Zach Ledwik (Texas A&M), 2015 - Connor Lanfear (Texas A&M), 2015 - Travis Elbert (Texas A&M), 2015 - Keaton Sutherland (Texas A&M), 2015 - Connor Williams (Texas), 2015 - Bobby Evans (Oklahoma), 2015 - Patrick Vahe (Texas), 2016 - Denzel Okafor (Texas), 2016 - Jean Delance (Texas), 2016 - Austin Anderson (Texas A&M), 2016 - J.P. Urquidez (Texas), 2-17 - Stephan Zabie (UCLA), 2017 - Wes Harris (TCU), 2017 - Jack Anderson (Texas Tech), 2017 - Grayson Reed (Texas A&M), 2017 - Xavier Newman (Baylor), 2017 - Edward Ingram (LSU), 2018 - Barton Clement (2018), 2018 - Chasen Hines (LSU), 2018 - Cole Blanton (Texas A&M), 2018 - Demarcus Marshall (Texas Tech), 2019 - Javonne Shepard (Texas), 2019 - isaiah Hookfin (Texas), 2019 - Brandon Bragg (Stanford) and 2019 - Layden Robinson (Texas A&M)
* Active players: 2019 - Marcus Alexander (Oklahoma/Texas State), 2020 - Ty'kiest Crawford (Oklahoma/Arkansas), 2020 - Nate Anderson (Oklahoma/SMU), 2020 - Chad Linberg (Georgia/Rice), 2020 - Jake Majors (Texas), 2021 - Ezra Dotson-Oyetade (Arizona State/TCU), 2021 - James Brockermeyer (Alabama/TCU), 2021 - Rimington Strickland (Texas A&M/TCU), 2022 - Cam Williams (Texas), 2022 - Cole Hutson (Texas), 2023 - Colton Thomasson (Texas A&M), 2023 - Isaiah Robinson (Baylor) and 2023 - Jaydon Chatman (Texas)
High Three Stars
2004 Randy McAdams (Oklahoma), 2004 Jeray Chatham (Oklahoma State), 2004 Adam Ulatoski (Texas), 2005 Colin Tucker (Arkansas), 2005 Ciron Black (LSU), 2005 Brock Unruh (Kansas State), 2006 Ian Symonette (Miami), 2006 Trent Williams (Oklahoma), 2008 Chris Lathrop (Texas A&M), 2008 Luke Peohlmann (Texas), 2008 Thomas Parsons (LSU), 2008 Osaze Idumwonyi (Kentucky), 2008 Brian Thomas (Texas A&M), 2008 Leroy Chevalier (Texas A&M), 2008 Devric Gallington (Texas Tech), 2009 Rhontae Scales (Texas A&M), 2009 Josh Aladenoye (Oklahoma), 2009 Joel Gray (Texas Tech), 2009 Ty Horn (TCU), 2009 Paden Kelley (Texas), Stephen Barrera (Texas A&M), 2009 Nick Ash (Nebraska), 2010 Zach Bolton (Utah), 2010 Cameron Fleming (Stanford), 2010 Mitch Morse (Missouri), 2010 Josh Allen (La-Monroe), 2010 Chad Lindsey (Alabama), 2010 Troy Baker (Baylor), 2010 Adam Shead (Oklahoma), 2010 Cole Underwood (Stanford), 2011 Devin Davis (Oklahoma State), 2011 Bobby Thompson (TCU), 2011 Taylor Doyle (Texas), 2011 Le'Raven Clark (Texas Tech), 2011 Shayvion Hatten (Texas A&M), 2011 Taylor Chappell (Missouri), 2011 Alfredo Morales (Texas Tech), 2011 Nila Kasitati (Oklahoma), 2012 Halapoulivaati Vaitai (TCU), 2012 Trey Keenan (Texas Tech), 2012 Adam Butler (Vanderbilt), 2012 Tim Hines, 2012 Simon Goines (UCLA), 2012 Kimo Tipoti (Texas A&M), 2012 Germain Ifedi (Texas A&M), 2012 Seaver Myers (SMU), 2012 Kyle Fuller (Baylor), 2012 Michael Wilson (Oklahoma State), 2013 Baylen Brown (Texas Tech), JJ Gustafson (Texas A&M), Joas Aguilar (Texas A&M), Zach Crabtree (Oklahoma State), 2013 Maurice Porter (Baylor), 2014 Jovan Pruitt (Arkansas), 2014 Kealvin Davis (Texas A&M), 2015 Sam Awolpe (TCU), 2015 Madison Akamnonu (Texas Tech), 2015 Zach Rogers (Arkansas), 2015 Tyler Higby (Michigan State), 2016 Parker Braun (Georgia Tech), 2016 Riley Anderson (Texas A&M), 2016 Chris Owens (Alabama), 2017 Alan Ali (SMU), 2017 Henry Klinge (Baylor), 2017 Brenden Jaimes (Nebraska), 2017 Jared Hocker (Texas A&M), 2017 Derek Kerstetter (Texas), 2017 Hyrin White (Missouri), 2017 Grant Polley (Colorado), 2018 Rafiti Ghirmai (Texas), 2018 Luke Matthews (Texas A&M), 2018 Reese Moore (Texas), 2018 Trey Stratford (Stanford), 2018 Jackson Kimble (Baylor), 2018 Thomas Shelmire (Boston College), 2019 Blake Trainor (Texas A&M), 2019 Trevor Robinson (Texas Tech), 2019 Andrew Coker (TCU), 2019 McKade Mettauer (California), 2020 Jaylen Garth (Texas) and 2020 Joshua Bankhead (Texas A&M)
Active Players: 2019 Cole Birmingham (Oklahoma State), 2019 Brant Banks (Nebraska), 2019 Justin Osborne (Auburn), 2019 EJ Ndoma-Ogar (Oklahoma), 2020 Logan Parr (Texas/SMU), 2020 Andrej Karic (Texas/Tennessee), 2020 Damieon George (Alabama), 2020 Smart Chibuzo (Texas A&M/Portal), 2020 Courtland Ford (USC), 2021 Jaeden Roberts (Alabama), 2021 Cole Carson (Arkansas), 2021 Ty Buchanan (USC), 2021 Connor Heffernan (Baylor), 2021 Hayden Conner (Texas), 2021 Matthew Wykoff (Texas A&M), 2022 Conner Robertson (Texas), 2022 Jaylen Early (FSU), 2022 Kaden Sieracki (Baylor), 2022 Timi Gagophien (Ole Miss), 2022 Austin Kawecki (Oklahoma State), 2022 Hunter Erb (Texas A&M), 2022 Johnny Dickson (Virginia Tech), 2022 Demetrius Hunter (Houston), 2023 Connor Stroh (Texas), 2023 Dylan Shaw (Texas Tech), 2023 Nick Fattig (Texas Tech), 2023 Andre Cojoe (Texas), 2023 Trevor Goosby (Texas), 2024 Jacob Ponton (Texas Tech), 2024 Ray'Quan Bell (Houston), 2024 Makai Saina (USC), 2024 Nate Kibble (Texas), 2024 Holton Hendrix (Texas Tech) and 2024 Ory Williams (LSU)
No. 5 – This befuddles me …
We all know that defensive tackle is the biggest need position in the 2025 recruiting class for the Longhorns. We also all know that finding impact defensive linemen in the state of Texas is next to impossible to find and land, as the Longhorns haven't landed a super blue chip defensive tackle prospect since 2012.
That's why I was stunned on Thursday In the middle of Thursday's Modcast when @Suchomel told me that the Longhorns hadn't offered any of the top four defensive tackles in the Rivals100. Surely, they've offered, right?
It turns out ... not so much.
Here's a look at the 10 interior defensive linemen in the country (according to Rivals). There are only 10 that have a mid-4 star ranking or higher.
It turns out that the Longhorns have only offered four of the top 10-rated defensive tackle prospects, including the top four in America.
Given the need at the position and all of the national clout that the Longhorns have right now, it's mystifying that the Longhorns have the bat on their shoulder right now with the top players across the USA.
You can't hit a home run without swinging the bat.
No. 6 - Updated Scholarship Board ...
Here's the state of things following the commitment of Louisiana running back James Simon and the awarding of Bert Auburn a scholarship this weekend.
No. 7 – A WCWS collision course ...
With every inning that is completed in Oklahoma City, it feels pretty obvious that Texas and Oklahoma are on a path to meet in the championship series of the College World Series.
The two teams have outscored their opponents a combined 24-1 in four games thus far, with the Longhorns outscoring Stanford and Florida 14-0. Texas pitching has allowed two hits in two games.
We're watching a level of domination that you'd pray to see from all of your favorite teams and the only question for these Longhorns is whether they'll be able to manage the heat that will be in the kitchen if forced to play the Sooners in front of all of their friends and families. Earlier this season, the Longhorns bested the Sooners in a three-game series, but winning a national title in Sooners territory will require a performance never seen before in a Texas Softball uniform.
The last two performances suggest such a performance might be very possible. Bring on the Sooners. The whole season has been leading up to this moment.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) I don't think there's any one single reason for what I think is going to happen with the baseball program. There definitely can't be a lack of momentum in the program going into the SEC and that's where things stand at the moment. I don't think he'd return if the program was going to be in the Big 12 next year.
(Buy) Even with all of the departures this off-season, the Aggies still have the fifth most super blue chips on their roster of any team in the country.
(Sell) I'll go with four, but reserve the right to change my mind as the rankings change.
(Buy/buy/buy) I think Jaydon Blue will be drafted in 2025, the Longhorns will sign a Top 5 class and the staff will likely stay together through the 2025 season.
(Buy) I'll take Blue over UGA's Trevor Etienne. I ain't scared.
(Sell) The Longhorns showed interested in Ty Haywood, but he just hasn't really returned it at a level that has either side pretending that anything is going on. Given UT's position with Michael Fasusi and the tackle talent on campus, it might simply be unrealistic to think that Texas will sign more than one super blue chip tackle, unless they can do some convincing to Lamont Rogers.
(Buy) His character Gar might be the coolest movie character from the entire 1980s.
(Sell) I think there will be a marriage of sorts, but NIL isn't going away.
(Sell) Barring a long-term injury that would allow Manning to truly cement himself over the course of 5-7 weeks, I'm going to say Ewers gets his job back if he gets hurt.
(Sell) I'm not sure Texas would jump to No. 1 with a win.
(Buy) I'm down with that.
(Sell) Texas would take OU mid 4-star defensive tackle commitment Trent Wilson, given that the Longhorns offered and it's such a need.
(Sell) I wonder what his next step up on the ladder might look like and I wonder if it’s straight to being a head coach somewhere. Maybe the Georgia Tech job in 2026 after the Yellow Jackets fire Brent Key.
(Sell) Change is likely coming.
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... Shout out to the Texas rowing team for channeling its inner-Oklahoma softball team in winning its third natty in the last four years.
... Give me the Mavs in 6.
... Darryl Strawberry got his number 18 retired by the Mets this weekend ... what took so long?
... It's a summer love affair in Philly ...
... My thoughts on what's happening with Caitlin Clark and opposing teams? The Fever need to trade for the Rick Mahorn of the Dub and make her the enforcer of pain to anyone that pops Clark. I have zero respect for her teammates standing by and letting goon behavior take place without some kind of response.
... Real Madrid is a machine. Its last two Champions League titles included championship games where it was grossly outplayed for most of the games and it just didn't matter. They win.
... I just couldn't find myself motivated to pay any attention to UFC 302 this weekend. Zzzzzzzzzz.
... 10 years later and I'm still not ready for what happened here.
No. 10 - Top 10: Gene Hackman Movies ...
I'll be honest ... I was ill-prepared to do a Hackman list a week ago. I just had too many holes in his catalog, as I'd either not seen movies or it had been decades since I'd seen them.
Well, I put my concerns to rest by watching the following movies this week: Night Moves, Scarecrow, Enemy of the State, Bonnie and Clyde, No Way Out, The Conversation, The French Connection, The French Connection 2, Reds, I Never Sang For My Father and The Royal Tenenbaums.
Now I'm refreshed and ready. Let's do this!
Honorable Mention: Mississippi Burning, Superman: The Movie, The French Connection 2, Superman II, Enemy of the State, I Never Sang for My Father, Scarecrow, A Bridge Too Far, Wyatt Earp, The Birdcage, The Replacements, Young Frankenstein, Postcards From The Edge, The Quick and the Dead, The Poseidon Adventure, Get Shorty, Heist, Prime Cut, Twice in a Lifetime, Under Fire, Downhill Racer and Reds
10. Bonnie and Clyde
There are other movies in the honorable mention section that I enjoy more, but this is the movie that served as his true breakout role and it just feels like it HAS to be on the list. The role of Buck Burrow earned his first Oscars nomination.
9. The Firm
Arguably, it's the best John Grisham movie adaptation of them all. I have it behind A Time to Kill, but a lot of people have this in the top spot.
8. Night Moves
Roger Ebert gave the film four stars upon its release and called it "one of the best psychological thrillers in a long time." He was right. This might be a few spots too low.
7. No Way Out
A case can be made that this is one of the 10 most underrated movies of the 1980s. I watched it this week and it is still a banger.
6. The Royal Tenenbaums
For my money, this is the best of Wes Anderson's movies and it's all because Hackman delivers an A+ comedic/dramatic performance in the twilight of his career.
5. Crimson Tide
It's Hackman vs. Denzel on a nuclear sub. They should have made 10 of these movies.
4. Unforgiven
3. The Conversation
Absolutely incredible. I gave it some No. 1 overall thought in my head. That's how good it is.
2. The French Connection
I understand the shouts for No. 1. I actually think he might have given a better performance in the sequel.
1. Hoosiers
This movie makes me feel something every time I watch it and I have to be in triple digits pretty easily when it comes to views. Hell, I'm friends with Jimmy Chitwood on Facebook! It might be both the best sports movie ever made, but also it might be my favorite.
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