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(From Anwar)
The biggest Texas topics on Thursday were receiver Collin Johnson and defensive player Malcolm Roach announcing they intended to return for their senior season.
Those announcements were not a major surprise considering Roach was not viewed as an NFL-ready player at this point of his college career, while there never appeared to be a strong indication Johnson might leave school. It looks as if Johnson was doing his due diligence, and when I asked the receiver about his decision prior to the bowl game, he expressed a desire to play with his brother one more year.
The only other juniors who have not made announcements are safety Brandon Jones and receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Jones said he was pleased with the feedback he received from the college advisory committee prior to the Sugar Bowl, but now would be a great time to give you some insight.
First, my sources told me every Longhorn junior who submitted their name to the committee was advised to return for their senior season. Nobody was directed to take the plunge and enter this year’s draft.
Of course, the college advisory committee advised Connor Williams, Malik Jefferson, Holton Hill and DeShon Elliott to return last year, but each player decided to turn pro. Williams was a second-round pick, Jefferson was selected in the third round. Elliott slipped to the sixth round, while Hill was undrafted. Former running back Chris Warren’s decision to turn pro was strictly based on not having the grades to attend another program.
I hear a lot of misinformation about draft grades, and now would be a good time to shed some light on that topic.
The college advisory committee is comprised of five to eight NFL professionals. Those guys usually hold the job titles of general manager, director of player personnel, or head of college scouting. In other words, a scouting service does not have any input. This is strictly an NFL-run process.
A junior football player submits his name and requests that members of the committee watch his film and deliver professional feedback. At that point, it is up to people on the committee to watch that player’s film. Three members of the committee could choose to watch it. Everybody could elect to critique the film. Nobody is required to watch every tape submitted by juniors.
The committee members are given the player’s height, weight and film.
That is it.
They do not receive a biography. They are not informed of failed drug tests or if that player is a team captain. The only job is to use their expertise and breakdown film.
Once the film is dissected, that junior receives notes and a one-paragraph verdict.
Here are the draft grades players receive:
---- First round
--- Second round
--- Go back to school
That is all.
Basically, when you hear a player say he received a third-round grade, fourth-grade, or lower, they are giving you an agent’s opinion and nothing from the college advisory committee.
Typically, an agent will make calls to their team connections, see what he or she can find out, and give a player his or her own feedback.
File that information into your mental rolodex when it is time to read between the lines when you hear about draft grades in the future.
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Staying on topic, I spoke to multiple people on Thursday, and nobody is overly concerned about Brandon Jones skipping his senior season. From what I can tell, it would be a huge surprise to everyone in the program if Jones decided to go pro.
However,there is a lot of concern about Humphrey’s future at Texas.
Humphrey may not be a first- or second-round pick, but nobody associated with the program knows if that matters to him. It is Humphrey’s dream to play in the NFL, and there is some concern that he might just risk it and see what happens in the draft.
If Humphrey does decide to skip his senior season, he could leave a lot of money on the table.
Let me use a few random examples.
For instance, the Atlanta Falcons selected receiver Calvin Ridley in the first round (26th overall) and signed Ridley to a four-year, $10,900,711 contract including a $6,007,790 signing bonus, $8,454,251 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $2,725,178.
Meanwhile, Dallas selected receiver Michael Gallup in the third-round (81st overall) in 2018. Gallup signed a four-year, $3,523,980 contract with the Cowboys, including a $889,980 signing bonus, $889,980 guaranteed an average annual salary of $880,995.
Obviously, the guaranteed money decreases round-by-round.
Humphrey is aware of the discrepancies (he has spoken with multiple staff members about the decision), but we will find out soon if it matters.
The deadline for juniors to declare for this year’s draft is January 14.
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We always hear rumors. This was a week where we heard one story more than once.
The gossip this week was Shane Buechele intended to leave Texas and transfer to SMU.
On the surface, it made sense. Sam Ehlinger is firmly entrenched as the starter. If Buechele wants to start at quarterback, he probably will need to leave Texas. Transferring to SMU would allow Buechele to stay in-state and further his playing career.
However, Buechele is still a member of the Longhorns.
From what I was told, Buechele has not entered the transfer portal, nor has he indicated to anyone within the program he intends to leave. Clearly, that could change at any moment, but Buechele is still with Texas.
I thought it was worth passing along just in case our OB members heard the same rumor.
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Speaking of quarterbacks, freshman quarterbacks Casey Thompson and Cameron Rising are still with the program.
Thompson and Rising put their names into the transfer portal prior to the Sugar Bowl, and they are exploring options right now.
Here is what Herman and offensive coordinator Tim Beck said about the decision of their quarterbacks prior to the bowl game.
Herman: “Well, one, we want them to stick around. We don't want to lose either one of them. Nowadays in college football that's their right, and that's something that the football oversight committee and the transfer oversight committee thought was a necessary next step. And we respect that. And we've been very communicative with both families, both young men. And they're happy to be here, happy to be a part of their team. And I think this is the way of the world now. And guys that want to explore their options have that right to do so. We also have the opportunity to communicate with them how important they are to our program.”
Beck: “Obviously, we live in a different time. Coaching this game is now ‑‑ you know, players have the opportunity to explore by using the portal. So, there's not a lot for us to say or be able to do. They're allowed to be able to do that. Obviously, we think a lot of both of those young men. That's why we recruited them. That's why they're here. They're very talented guys that we want to keep here. As far as their reasonings and things that they want to look or perhaps see what's out there, it's kind of really between us. I don't want to get into their reasonings behind what they are. That's something, if you wanted to ask them and they felt like they wanted to tell you, they could. But that's for them. It's not really for me to say necessarily. I don't want to air all that stuff out. But there's no ill feelings. I think you're going to see more of this. You are. It's going to happen. It's going to happen more at the quarterback position because you only play one guy, maybe the running back position because you only play one guy usually. But you're going to see this happen more and more every year because of this portal and guys having the opportunity to explore what else might be out there for them.”
If you are looking for a reason to be optimistic, here is something that might make you feel better.
Those who saw both quarterbacks daily in New Orleans told me those guys were very engaged in practice and team activities while on the road. Neither quarterback acted like he did not want to be there. It was quite the opposite.
“Both kids had a blast in New Orleans,” I was told.
In fact, I witnessed that after the game.
I saw Rising screaming in celebration and running around the Superdome after the victory. He even ran to a pile of Sugar Bowl Champions t-shirts and immediately put one on. Rising was slapping hands with teammates, giving them hugs, and acting like a person who felt like he was part of the victory. I did not see Thompson, but Rising’s celebration really stood out.
It may not mean much.
Nevertheless, everyone within the program hopes that special time in New Orleans convinces each quarterback to stay.
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Longhorn players have nearly three weeks of rest before returning back to the football grind.
Texas’ winter conditioning program is slated to begin when classes resume on January 22.
In other words, that is when strength and conditioning coach Yancy McKnight will take over.
By now, Longhorn fans know McKnight is one of the best at his position in the country. Herman never misses an opportunity to praise McKnight for his work. McKnight has a proven track record of making players faster and stronger. He has also worked wonders with early enrollees and dramatically transformed their bodies during a nine-month time span.
After a Sugar Bowl victory, McKnight should have a group of players eager to excel in his program.
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(From Suchomel)
It’s been an interesting week in covering five-star athlete Bru McCoy. On Monday, at check-in for the All-American Bowl, McCoy told OB in a brief interview that he had made up his mind, he had signed a letter of intent and coaches at USC and Texas knew where he was going.
When we caught up with McCoy again on Thursday, we had a little more time to talk and he clarified some things, saying not only has he not signed a letter of intent, he hasn’t even signed the non-binding financial aid paperwork for either school. Basically, he’ll announce his decision on Saturday and then show up to either the USC or Texas campus when classes start a couple weeks later.
Where was the disconnect from Monday to Thursday? Got me, but it’s not really McCoy’s style to play games with misinformation and to be fair to him, our conversation on Monday lasted all of about one minute while he was walking from one registration obligation to another, so I can’t say I’d fault him if he wasn’t completely focused on our talks. No big deal in the grand scheme of things … McCoy and his family have handled this entire process with about as much class and maturity s you could ever want.
So why the hold-up until the last minute to come up with a decision? Basically, he’s been genuinely torn and likes both schools so much, he’s having trouble telling one school no.
A Q&A with McCoy …
On where things stand as of Thursday afternoon and if there have been any shake-ups from Monday, when he said his mind was fully made up:
“For me, it’s just the factors that I take in, when I’m choosing a school, I kind of have made up my mind. A lot of stuff can change in the football business, so I kind of try to block that out and focus on the things I know matter like my degree, marketing myself and the whole network of where I go. I’m trying to just set myself up where I’m in position that no matter what happens, I know I’ll be okay and I’m in a good position where I feel safe, healthy. And I’m in an environment that’s conducive to getting better as well as learning. Because ultimately, plan A is to go to the league, but plan 1A is to fall back on my degree. For me, I wasn’t even looking at football when looking at the nitty-gritty of deciding on a school. Where do these degrees branch off too, how can I market myself well enough to where if football doesn’t work out, where I get injured or something happens, I can fall back and legitimately work a job, try to really make my way in the world outside of football.”
On what Texas did to put itself in a position to win his commitment:
“What they did, they showed me if I were to be from Austin, Texas, this is the way I’d perceive Texas, the same way I would being from L.A. looking at SC. They just gave me that whole background, they helped me understand the whole alumni networking, how much fan support there is, the amount of love the fans have from the school, how they support you outside of football. And then just how the city of Austin stands behind the school. … They tried to make me feel as comfortable as they could with the things that I mentioned to them are important to me.”
On if he’s back to being open after saying on Monday he had come to a decision:
“My mind is made up. My mind is made up. I made my mind up before I came out here. I made a point to do that, so my mind is made up. I’m solid with where I’m going. Now it’s just weird trying to play the game, still playing both sides in my head but I’m like, I know where I’m going.”
On how much he’s talked to Texas and USC coaches since he’s been in San Antonio:
“Every day. Both, every day. That’s just the way it is.”
On if he’s told both schools what his decision is:
“I’m going to tell them tomorrow (Friday). Tomorrow I’ll tell whichever school no and yes, which is going to suck.”
On if it’s hard to tell one of the schools no:
“It’s pretty gut-wrenching. For me, relationships are pretty important and honesty, so I made sure I’ve developed good relationships. These dudes walked into my house, looked me in my eye, tell me some things. You earn a certain level of respect for each other. Especially the coaches from Texas, having a long-distance relationship, we’re on the phone all the time just trying to keep that relationship just as strong.”
On if he’s thought about the rumors of Kliff Kingsbury possibly leaving USC and if that impacts his thinking:
“I can’t even think about it. I have to understand it’s a business. It could happen anywhere. You never know what could happen, there are always scandals and things. Things happen all the time. The most important thing is education, get that degree, set myself up beyond football. I know I thrive on the football field, I have to see how I thrive off the football field. That’s what I’m really going to college for.”
On if he completely shuts things down after announcing on Saturday or if he could keep the door cracked a bit until he enrolls in mid-January:
“It’s done. Just for my sake, my family’s sake, we’re going to shut it down regardless. Peace of mind and then just kill it there.”
My thoughts: Early in the week, during check-in, all the buzz with McCoy was focused on Southern Cal. Texas has done a terrific job with this one throughout and is fighting all the way to the finish, but if McCoy is true to his word that his mind was made up before he got to San Antonio and he hasn’t changed it, the smart money is still on him staying close to home. Is it out of the question that the Longhorns could surge through the finish line? Of course not, but the ties to USC are going to be tough to beat. Frankly, the fact that Texas has fought and clawed its way to staying alive into January is a pretty impressive. We’ll have our final answer on McCoy on Saturday afternoon.
******
Sherman Oaks (CA) Notre Dame Catholic athlete McKel Broussard visited Texas late in the summer for the Stars at Night camp. Broussard, a cousin of UT commitment De’Gabriel Floyd’s, was in Austin training with Floyd and decided to swing by to work out for the UT staff. Things had been pretty quiet since that time, but Broussard said Floyd has talked to UT about him of late and the staff has indicated it will be watching to see how he does in Saturday’s All-American Bowl.
“Now that I’m on defense, they’re definitely in the picture. I’ll probably play some safety (at the All-American Bowl), so this is really my test week,” Broussard said. “I’m just trying to get my name out there and do me.”
When he camped at Texas in the summer, Broussard worked out as an offensive player. Now that he’s being looked at as a safety, he feels it could be opening some new doors for him.
“That was at H-back. I can do that too, but the opening is at safety so we’ll see,” Broussard said. “They’ve just told me to ball out here and maybe I could have a job, so I’m just trying to do that because that’s really a dream school for me.”
The 6-0, 192-pound Broussard hasn’t taken any official visits yet. He said he’d like to visit schools like Texas, LSU, Utah State, New Mexico and Boise State.
“I’m a late bloomer. Not a lot of people know me so I’m waiting patiently,” Broussard said.
Broussard has only a small handful of offers, so it’s not a shock to hear that Texas would vault up his list if the Longhorns were to offer. LSU is another school he likes a lot, as well as New Mexico (where he’s originally from).
What does Broussard bring to the table?
“I’m physical, I may not look big but I can hit somebody,” Broussard said. “I can guard you, I can read well in coverage and make picks, make plays, and I can tackle.”
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As you’d expect, the Texas commitments in the All-American Bowl enjoyed watching the Sugar Bowl, including some good-natured trash talk with some Georgia commitments who are playing in the game.
De'Gabriel Floyd, Tyler Owens and Trey Sanders (who let that guy in!?!) watched the game together, and Floyd said Texas played exactly the way he expected the Longhorns to play.
“They did exactly what I’d hoped they would do, expected them to do. They brought the fire and said they don’t care who is in front of them,” Floyd said. “SEC, ACC, it doesn’t matter who it is, we’re going to bring ours and you better bring yours. They didn’t bring what they were supposed to and that was the outcome.”
Whittington said he loved what he saw from the Longhorns, and he especially enjoyed watching the game around some players who are committed to Georgia.
“It was exciting. They came out fast. They continued the whole game,” Whittington said. “We were bragging with all the Georgia commits.
“We were all watching it. Everyone was all hyped up except for the Georgia players. They thought they were going to come back. It’s exciting especially when you have everybody that’s actually going to the school and actually playing and stuff like that. It’s different.”
Whittington said he loved the energy with which Texas played and he could tell the Longhorns wanted it more.
“I can’t wait to get there because I feed off of that,” he said. “It shows Texas is back like Sam said. It opens people’s eyes. The reason why we committed - this is why. Now everyone is seeing it. I’m glad I got on early.”
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(From Alex Dunlap)
Today, I had the great opportunity to have a long conversation with new Reese's Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy on the RosterWatch Podcast. After I ended the pod, I asked Nagy stick on with me for a few minutes to talk specifically about the Longhorns who will be playing in the game in CB Kris Boyd and DE Charles Omenihu:
Regarding Omenihu and if scouts see him playing a role like he currently does in Orlando's system or do they like him more as a true, 4-3 end?
"To me he's not .. well, it's how you play your front in 3-4 ... If you're in a straight 2-gapping odd front, then he's not going to be your guy, but if you're slanting and doing that stuff, I think he could," Nagy said. "He's more of an even-front player. I think the week's big for him and I've talked to Charles about it in terms of 'get down here and let the league figure you out.' He's a big, pretty looking guy. He's long, he's twitchy, he's got a lot of tools. But, teams are going to want to try and figure out where he fits best. He had a nice season, his production spiked this year, he got in the backfield and made a lot of plays. It's just hard to find big, long athletes on the defensive line, so he's a really intriguing player and we're really happy to get him down here. The offensive line group is really strong (this year). All these guys, I was talking to another player we invited today, a defensive lineman, I said 'you get a couple of wins versus this group in one-on-ones, you're going to really help yourself because there is not a (slouch) in this group. These trench one-on-ones are going to be awesome."
On Kris Boyd and what scouts see about him and if they worry about his getting burned on double-moves, etc. at times this season:
"Another, from a traits perspective, a really intriguing prospect because he has all that. He's going to show up down here and be one of the flashiest looking dudes in that secondary group. Weigh-ins will be really good to him. And look, Kris is talented. It's the things anyone can notice about him: he's big, he's fast, he's strong -- and he's tough. In the coverage stuff, do you question the focus sometimes? Absolutely. But, that's something that Kris probably knows and it's something you can address. It's hard to make guys bigger, faster and stronger but you can improve the focus stuff. A lot of teams, a lot of teams ... they see a guy who say, 'hey, what if you took him out of a lot of off-man situations and just put him at the line of scrimmage and let him use that size to choke people out and run with 'em?' He might be a perfect fit. Now you're taking some of the eyes out of the equation and you're just letting him be a big, fast, strong athlete. He is intriguing, and at the very minimum, to me he's actually a really safe guy to pick because there's big upside at corner, and you know at minimum, you are getting a core -- and a really good core special teams player in Year 1."
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