In August, Texas Monthly released it’s 9 Texas Gins to Drink Now – Texas Monthly:
“This elegant gin is as pretty on the palate as its riveted-glass bottle is on the bar. Made from 100 percent winter wheat, this gin offers a soft, sweet palate with notes of grapefruit peel, chamomile, and aniseed. It’s an excellent base for building citrusy gin and tonics.”
My personal pride and joy, subjectively, I think it’s our best spirit and a perfect balance of floral, citrus and earthy notes.
12 botanicals consisting of Juniper, Coriander, Orris Root, Grapefruit Peel, Licorice Root, Galangal, Grains of Paradise, Orange Peel, Lemon Balm, Angelica Root, Chamomile Flower and Lemon Peel create the perfect balance of floral, citrus and earthy notes.
We’ve really muted down the juniper and other botanicals to make this Gin incredibly soft on the finish and not over-powering to drink straight.
Other Notes:
Blackland is the only Texas distillery to be nominated as 2021 Craft Distillery of the Year by USA Today.
It seems we don’t have too many offers out to receivers and offensive lineman. I assume we should view that as confidence but if that backfires do you see receptiveness from those if we come in late knowing full well they weren’t the first choice?
Texas actually has quite a few OL and WR offers out in this cycle, the problem is that most of the players that have been offered are off the board and already committed. If we’re talking uncommitted remaining targets, it’s certainly not a large number at those positions but Texas is still heavily involved on some players that have a decent chance of landing in Austin. If Texas misses on those guys the staff is currently recruiting and if the staff has to come in late with other offers, it’s probably not going to be to the elite of the elite guys. Usually in those situations you’re finding players who have turned in strong senior seasons and are maybe committed to “smaller” schools. Texas usually has pretty good success in flipping some of those players, but it’s never a guarantee and you’d love to land the guys that are on top of your board and not have to resort to that method of filling the class.
How did the game on Saturday affect the recruits that were at the game?
I’ve communicated with a handful of them either on the phone, via text or via DM and every single one of them has said it was an amazing experience, among the best they’ve ever encountered. Obviously, a Texas win would have been much more beneficial for the Longhorns but I still feel it was a net positive for UT’s recruiting efforts. Recruits aren’t as emotional as fans and they’re not going to be as disappointed in the way the game ended. They’re more likely to remember the environment of that game and the progress Texas is showing on offense, and some will want to play on that kind of stage. Of course A&M beating Alabama did Texas no favors either.
How bad did losing to OU affect recruiting?
I don’t think at all that it’ll have a negative impact, but not winning probably put a cap on the positive impact the game will have.
Walk me through a reasonably likely OL class for this current cycle. Focus on anyone who would play ASAP.
I don’t think any of the linemen would play ASAP. That’s never a good recipe for success. It’s very, very rare that a true freshman offensive lineman is thrown into the mix, and even more rare that those guys play well.
Devon Campbell is the obvious prize for Texas at this point and probably the most likely to join the class. Texas will host two OL official visitors this weekend in Malik Agbo and Earnest Greene. While the Longhorns probably aren’t leaders for either guy, the two do know each other and I could see Texas really selling both players on the idea of playing together at the next level to maybe line up beside each other. Kam Dewberry is still in the mix, but he’s down the list of likely commitments. Best guess, Texas gets Devon Campbell to go along with the two current commitments, and then the staff has to find someone who has a senior season that is seeing his stock rise.
When is Arch planning on making a decision? Because (dear baby Jesus) if he chooses UT early enough it might have an impact on recruits both this class and next.
There have been so many rumors of Arch Manning possibly committing that it’s been hard to keep up. I had always heard that a decision was not likely until the spring of his junior year, at the earliest, so Manning could evaluate the teams on his list this fall. He’s getting a good chance to do that with this round of visits he’s taking, including his stop in Austin this coming weekend. I don’t have a firm timetable for Manning’s decision but I certainly don’t think he’ll wait things out too long, and yes he’ll definitely have a positive impact on other recruits for whichever school he chooses.
Do I need to really bother with keeping up with Rueben Owens or is it just time wasted?
As the Malik Agbo fan club president, any good updates? I've just had a weird feeling he would commit to Texas for a long while.
Texas is definitely in play for Rueben Owens so it’s certainly not time wasted to follow his recruitment. He’ll be in Austin this week with his family to watch Texas take on Oklahoma State. He’s been very active this year in visiting a lot of different campuses so it’s hard to pin down what he might be thinking, but the Longhorns are consistently in his top five when he and I communicate.
Early in the process, shortly after Maalik Murphy committed to Texas, there seemed to be a lot of buzz that the Longhorns could be in a sneaky position to land Malik Agbo but things then faded between him and Texas. The talks are back on and he’ll be in town this weekend. When I spoke to him last week, he was really excited about getting down to Austin after having talked to some of the UT commitments. He’s got visits remaining to UT, Florida and Auburn so this is not a guy who is likely to stay out West. Can Texas win out for him? Absolutely, but it’s hard to predict anything before he’s ever seen the UT campus.
Kind of piggybacking here but I was going to ask you to list 5-10 OL recruits we're going after in order of likelihood that we land them.
I kind of addressed this one earlier, but of the guys Texas has offered, I’d rank their likelihood as follows:
Devon Campbell
Neto Umeozulu
Malik Agbo
Kam Dewberry
Cameron Williams
Earnest Greene
Kelvin Banks
Any word from Stewart or Campbell after the game? You’d think that both believe they could start as freshman based off this game alone.
I’ve reached out to both but they’ve both been quiet, which isn’t exactly unexpected. We’ll see if either (or both) make their way down to Austin this weekend. That would obviously be a good sign for Texas. Campbell’s a bit of a mystery as to why he hasn’t yet scheduled his UT official visit. He keeps saying it’s going to happen, but nothing is on the books yet.
When will we get our bell cow OL/LB to commit that will turn the tide?
Devon Campbell on OL but Devon’s not much of a talker, so he’s not necessarily a guy that’s going to bring other recruits with him. At LB, I genuinely think Texas could land Harold Perkins if the staff could give him some sort of date on when Texas will actually be playing in the SEC.
Realistically, what is our OL class for 2022? 2023?
Which transfers are out there who could make a noticeable difference to capitalize on Bijan’s last year next year? With the Big 3 around next year, it’d be a damn shame not to make hay because we don’t have enough beef.
I’ve touched on the 2022 OL class. That’s a tough group to pin down but 2023 is even tougher to predict. Andre Cojoe loves Texas so I’d certainly include him in that group. He was at the game last weekend and expressed disappointment in Texas not getting the win. Recent offer Jaydon Chatman really likes Texas but doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to make a decision. Harris Sewell likes Texas a lot but it’ll be a battle to land him. TJ Shanahan Jr. should be mentioned since Texas will have guys like Connor Robertson in his ear nonstop.
I thought Sark sticking with Worthy after the fumbled kickoff and making him the key player on that drive showed great confidence in the kid. I also thought that it has to resonate with recruits that the coach didn't bury him for one (albeit huge) mistake. Is that the sort of thing recruits care about?
I thought that was a pretty cool moment as well. I’m not sure if it’s the type of thing that a guy like Evan Stewart was going to notice from the stands, but you can bet Texas will have Worthy talk to Stewart about his trust in Sark at some point. If anything, it might be the type of thing that parents/coaches pay more attention to than the actual recruit.
Who do we have committed or still a realistic shot at landing that can actually come in and make an impact next season? No corollary on position. Who do you feel is ready to come in and take someone's starting job either day 1, or before conference play starts?
Honestly, I don’t think Texas has that player on its current commitment list. If that’s going to happen, you’re probably talking about someone in the defensive backfield or maybe at linebacker, so Denver Harris or Harold Perkins would be potential candidates.
Any news on Harold Perkins?
Not much new. He’s been to two Texas home games on back-to-back weeks so that’s a huge positive for UT, but I don’t expect that one to be decided until the very end. People that spent time with him when he was in town for the Texas Tech game seem to think the Longhorns have a great shot, but Perkins is tough to predict. I’m not sure yet if A&M’s win last weekend moved the needle for Perkins, but you’d have to think it probably did, even if he wasn’t able to attend in person.
Will we end up with 5 total OL in this class? (Not including the Deep Snapper.)
Will at least 3 of them be named Dewberry, Agbo, Green or Campbell?
% Perkins at LB
% Harris CB
I don’t see five OL, unless Texas can do something unexpected like land both of the guys that are visiting this weekend. Not impossible, but not likely.
I’m going with no on three of them being from that group you mentioned.
I’m going to update the recruiting board later this week so I’ll have predictions in there … want to poke around on a couple things first. But both percentages you asked about will be higher than the last update.
Did the slim chance Texas had in getting Bryce Anderson went out the window with the aggy upset of Alabama?
That didn’t help, that’s for sure. I’ve checked with people close to Bryce a couple times and I’ve always been told that he’s happy with his commitment. Texas will keep working there and he is planning to come to the UT game against Kansas State on Thanksgiving week, so it’s a situation we’ll continue to monitor.
Had we won Saturday's game there would have been at least one commitment made public
Good question. I don’t think you would have seen anyone actually verbally commit, but it would have put Texas in a really good position on some guys.
What do you consider the most realistic successful outcome with limited spots open in the 2022 recruiting class?
Tough to predict because we don’t know how many more Texas will take. The staff will be able to take an extra guy for every player who transfers out, so it’s a class that could very well go up to 32 depending on what kind of attrition Texas has. You have to figure they’ll add one more receiver, at least two more offensive linemen, a linebacker or two and another secondary piece or two. That would put the class at 27-28, and then you can fill in any additional spots (if available) with the best player on the board that’s willing to come.
Is the magic number now 30 and what are the realistic chances on OL and DBs? We seem to be fine at the other positions.
I haven’t been told of a firm number because some of that is still up in the air. If you have players transfer out after the season is over, you could see a few more open spots for the February NSD. The same guys we’ve talked about at length are still the priority along the OL and in the secondary. Texas will have two out-of-state DBs in town this weekend on official visits (Jacoby Mathews and Larry Turner-Gooden) so let’s see how things are trending with them after their visits.
I can only guess that recruits get annoyed by overbearing types from time to time. When you reach out to a prospect, how do you balance being pushy for a story vs. allowing the recruit some space? Do you get the opinion of the rest of the staff before it is published?
I don’t really get the opinion of the rest of the staff … I’ve been doing this long enough that I pretty much know what I can and cannot say at this point. Sometimes recruits, coaches, etc. will tell you things off the record that you’d love to go with, but you always have to respect their wishes on that. I’ll try to drop hints on things, but am never going to blatantly betray a source’s wish if they want their name off of a comment, or want something to stay off the record.
As for balancing pushing for a story versus allowing for space, it really comes down to what type of relationship I have with the recruit and just reading the room, if you will. You can tell sometimes guys just don’t want to talk – or even request time away from the media spotlight. I always try to honor those wishes and find other ways to get updates. Sometimes I’ll literally introduce myself to a parent/guardian/coach at the beginning of a kid’s recruitment knowing there’s going to be a time when the kid doesn’t want to be bothered. Adult guardians, coaches or even trainers are usually much more understanding and available with their time.
Are we better off going to the portal for OL at this point for next year? Only 5* can really help early, but still likely a year in the weight room.
Yes, I fully believe Texas needs to go to the portal for a quick fix and some depth along the offensive line, as it did with guys like Calvin Anderson and Parker Bruan. Those types can fill some immediate holes but I’m still a firm believer that if you want to truly have a dominant line (or really any other position), it has to be done by recruiting elite high school talent.
