THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Bru McCoy has come to a (private) decision
The wait to find out where five-star athlete Bru McCoy will attend college is nearly over. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple months, you’re probably aware that McCoy is down to Texas and Southern Cal. He’ll announce his decision at Saturday’s All-American Bowl in San Antonio.
McCoy has done a good job of keeping a tight lid on the information in this one, and there’s been varying opinions of where he would land. At different times, there’s been confidence on both sides as both programs have put in maximum effort to land the talented receiver. With only a few days left before he announces his choice to the nation, McCoy said his mind is fully made up and he’s ready to put an end to the recruiting process.
“The decision is made. I’m signed, sealed and delivered. I just wanted to wait for this opportunity to announce,” McCoy said. “I have a lot of family coming out (to San Antonio). I know where I’m going and I’m excited to let the world know.”
The Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei standout said there’s a lot to like with both schools, which is what made the decision so difficult.
“With Texas, it’s the alumni networking, overall, their ability to support their players that come through,” McCoy said. “Then the overall environment. I mean, you go to a game and there’s 100,000 people there win, lose or draw. They love their school there. They live and breathe Texas football there.
“USC, that’s my home school, so my networking is going to be better there. I grew up around there, and then just hiring Kingsbury definitely helps because that’s such a productive offense for receivers. So that was helpful. Just the comfortability, my quarterback in high school being the starting quarterback there, it feels like a safe school.”
Proximity has always been a hurdle Texas was going to have to cross if the Longhorns are going to win out in this race. While staying close to home and staying near his family is important, McCoy said he actually sees some positives in the idea of going out of state.
“Texas, I feel like I would grow up more as a person in terms of my overall development. You put yourself in an uncomfortable situation, you learn how to adjust and adapt. That’s how life is,” McCoy said. “There are upsides to both, downsides to both. I want to be close to home with all my family because all my family moved out to California, but I have to make the best decision for me.”
Another issue Texas has had to battle is the fact that Mater Dei is a bit of a pipeline school for USC. McCoy’s former high school quarterback, J.T. Daniels, is the starter for the Trojans. Current Mater Dei quarterback Bryce Young (2020 class) is already committed to USC. Former Mater Dei receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is a freshman standout for the Trojans. Having those players recruit on USC’s behalf has probably helped the Trojans’ chances, but McCoy said he’s also used those connections to get honest feedback about the USC program, both good and bad.
“For selfish reasons, you always put yourself first when making these decisions. But it helps just to know, they’re not going to lie to me about how somebody acts or if the recruitment was true, or if it was just recruiting and someone selling the school,” McCoy said. “So having teammates there that I trust, it’s a very unbiased point of view. They’re going to tell me what’s best for me because they care about me succeeding more than the overall success of the school.”
McCoy said the picture actually began coming into focus in late December. He’s kept a lid on his destination in order to keep some mystery around his announcement, which will have both fan bases watching closely on Saturday afternoon.
2. After a couple uneasy moments leading up to his signing, Texas commit Marcus Washington is happy to be a Longhorn
Texas wide receiver commitment Marcus Washington gave the Longhorns a pledge in October. In the week leading up to the early signing period, there was chatter coming out of Missouri that the St. Louis product might be considering staying close to home.
In the end, Washington announced he was going to stick with his Texas pledge and then signed the morning of the first day of the early signing window, putting a quick end to any speculation on his commitment status. He said there were several factors that led him to choose Texas.
"The family culture was the was the biggest thing for me. I also think the football program is on the big come up in competing against the best,” Washington said. “The big wins this year showed that. I feel Texas is going to come back. I like Coach (Tom) Herman a lot, and now they are in the Sugar Bowl. I'm excited about the future.”
The St. Louis Trinity Catholic product said he did briefly have cold feet about leaving home, but he wound up following his heart to Austin.
"I did communicate with Missouri some, but it wasn't something serious,” Washington said. “Now around signing week I did have a little doubt, but it was more about the realization that I'm leaving home. But I knew Texas was where my heart was"
A big receiver at 6-2 and 195 pounds, Washington will be an outside receiver for the Longhorns and hopes to duplicate the success Texas has enjoyed with Collin Johnson.
"I play the X receiver, which is the same place I'm playing out here at the Under Armour game,” Washington said. “I'm really like Collin Johnson and fill that role if he goes pro. I think my skill set is similar to what he does. But I'm ready to get to work"
Washington said he has a good relationship with the Texas staff overall, including Herman. Throughout the recruiting process, he stayed in close contact with Texas Director of Recruiting Bryan Carrington and said the bond those two have formed is a big reason he committed to Texas in the first place.
"He's my guy. That's like a big brother to me and he's always been there even with things outside of football and that is what we mostly talk about,” Washington said. “That's my dude. He keeps it real all the time."
3. De’Gabriel Floyd to Texas feels like it was meant to be
Texas linebacker commitment De'Gabriel Floyd was one of UT’s first commitments in the 2019 class. He’s been one of the Longhorns’ most vocal supporters on social media and an active recruiter for Texas behind the scenes.
For Floyd, the decision to become a Longhorn was an easy choice, and he said he feels fate made it crystal clear to him that his future was in Austin. For starters, Tom Herman played with Floyd’s head coach at Westlake Village (CA), Tim Kirksey, when they were both at Cal Lutheran. On top of that, Floyd has family in Austin who he regularly visits, so him landing at Texas just makes perfect sense.
“It was honestly, in my opinion, like destiny and fate that I came to this university. If not, I would have ended up I don’t know where. It’s crazy how everything played out,” Floyd said. “That’s just how it was supposed to be. God’s plan is set in stone. You just have to follow your course.”
Floyd will enroll at Texas this month to get a head start on his Longhorn athletic and academic life. Before that, he’ll play in Saturday’s All-American Bowl, where he hopes to show everyone his on-field talents while also having a little fun.
“I’m just going to come out and be Gabe, be D-Savage. I’m just going to bring the energy, bring the fire I bring every game, practice like it’s a regular-season game, just show out my abilities and have fun,” Floyd said. “I plan on getting defensive MVP of the game.”
Once he steps foot on the UT campus as an official student athlete in less than three weeks, Floyd said he intends to hit the ground running. His goal is to play early and often, and he’s looking forward to the challenge.
“I feel like I can and will start as a true freshman, just because I’m hungry for it,” Floyd said. “This last year, a lot of things have just opened my eyes to a whole new level of player and fire that I have in myself, that I feel transfers perfectly over to the college football stage. I just have to stay focused, keep learning and trust myself. Just believe.
“I’m ready to go. Basically, just get ready to grind. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole life, grinding. It’s nothing new. It’s football, it’s what I do.”
While in San Antonio, Floyd will certainly be doing some recruiting on Texas’ behalf to any prospect that will listen. Bru McCoy has been a top target of Floyd’s, including Floyd and his brother spending several hours at McCoy's house a couple weeks ago.
“We just hung out, chopped it up like homies. Then me and my brother threw our two cents in, talked about school, everything you can do and get from the University of Texas compared to what you can get from the University of Southern California since those are his two finalists,” Floyd said.
Having Floyd on campus for the recruiting stretch run up until the February signing day could prove to be beneficial for the Longhorns. He’ll almost certainly be heavily involved in official visit weekends, but before that he has a little business to take care of down in San Antonio.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. There aren’t too many of us in this sacred cult, as they say, as all-Americans,” Floyd said. “It’s exciting, it’s a stage where you can show your talents as well as learn from other players and just hone your craft.”
TWO QUESTIONS
1. What is the recruiting impact of the Sugar Bowl win?
Our own @Anwar Richardson asked Tom Herman about Sam Ehlinger’s comments about Texas being “back” after this win, and I found his answer to be spot on.
Herman basically responded by saying he didn’t want to give any finality to where Texas is, because the program is always making progress. But he noted that Tuesday night’s win clearly indicates they’re heading in the right direction. Is Texas back? We’ll see. Was Tuesday a monumental step forward? Absolutely.
With such limited spots available in the 2019 class, I’m not sure that the Sugar Bowl win will have a dramatic impact in the way of a run of commitments over the next month. But make no mistake, this was a huge win that will have a positive ripple effect in the weeks and months to come.
A quick look at social media in the first hour after the game ended shows Texas’ current commitments sticking their chest out in celebrating the win. Those guys have been locked in and proud to be a part of Texas’ future, but coming off a win like this, you can expect every one of them to have an extra bounce in their step when they get to campus and they’ll all arrive to the Forty Acres in a good mood knowing they’re walking into a program in which they’ll they have a chance to compete for a championship in their first year on campus. Even Javonne Shepherd, the only commitment to not sign in the early window, was getting in on the action:
Imagine the sales pitch the Texas staff now has at its disposal for high school prospects who are trying to project a program’s stability and direction over the next four years. “Hey, look at our track record at Houston and as assistants before that. And we’ve taken a program that won five games in the two seasons before we got here to a 10-win season and a Sugar Bowl victory over one of the best teams in the country. Oh by the way, we’ve recruited at an incredibly high level so we’ll have more talent on the roster than what we’ve had in our first two seasons, when we’ve been able to accomplish all this. Sure, you can go to a program that’s been more established over the last few years, but things can always change in a hurry. With us, we’re undeniably on the upswing, we’re ahead of schedule and we’re not going anywhere – we’re going to be in Austin for a long time and we’re going to win a lot of football games.”
I don’t know that this win will bring some sudden influx of commitments in the 2019 class, unless it turns the tide on a guy like Jalen Catalon, but it will certainly open doors with the 2020 class and it gives Texas an easy sell for any graduate transfers and/or JUCO prospects the staff identifies in the coming weeks and months. “You have one or two years. You want to go to a team with an open depth chart, yet play on the biggest stage and compete for championships, what’s better than Texas? If you don’t believe me, just ask Calvin Anderson, Gary Johnson and Tre Watson.”
2. What is Texas getting from safety commitment Tyler Owens?
When Texas first offered safety Tyler Owens over the summer, not a lot was known about the Plano East product. Owens had recently participated in a Texas summer camp where he put on a show, winning the fastest man competition and participating in the dunk contest. But he still had a somewhat limited list of scholarship offers and generally was flying under the radar in terms of media exposure.
Not anymore. Owens, now a Rivals250 member, will play in Saturday’s All-American Bowl, where he hopes to continue to open eyes to his impressive athleticism.
“I want to show everybody my talents, not just against players you find everywhere but against some of the best players in the nation,” Owens said. “I’m pretty confident. I’ve worked pretty hard for this. I’m ready to show what I’ve got.”
At a legit 6-2 and about 200 pounds, Owens looks the part of a big-time prospect. Throw in his athleticism (he’s been clocked at a 10.34 in the 100 meters and ran a 4.31 40-yard dash at a Baylor camp last summer) and Owens’ pound-for-pound athleticism stacks up with any player at this week’s All-American Bowl.
Owens natural athleticism is impressive and while he has incredible tools, he knows he still has room for improvement.
“I’m trying to be a hard-hitting safety. I’m almost there. I just want to work on my coverage skills too so I can be a shutdown guy too,” Owens said.
Looking back at his recruitment, Owens wound up committing to Texas in late September, a couple months after he picked up his UT offer. Though he took his time before making things official, Owens said he pretty much knew as soon as Texas offered that he’d be a Longhorn.
“At first I was considering Baylor and UCLA. I was leaning towards UCLA but my mom wanted me to go to Baylor because it was close. But then when I went to Texas, I was like ‘If Texas offers me, I’ll probably commit,’” Owens said. “I waited for a little bit because I wanted to talk to my parents, make sure everything was good and just feel it out before committing.”
Owens could turn out to be one of the real steals of Texas’ 2019 class if you consider his potential and where he started in the recruiting process. If he pans out the way most think he will, it will have been an incredible early find by Texas safeties coach Craig Naivar. Owens and Naivar have built up a good relationship in the months since his commitment.
“He’s kind of a like a father figure. I’m just ready to work hard and play for him,” Owens said.
ONE PREDICTION – Nick Saban will continue to be innovative as a recruiter
This isn’t Texas related, but it’s maybe the most interesting comment from my interviews at All-American Bowl check-in so I had to include it ...
I have to hand it to Alabama coach Nick Saban. He prioritizes recruiting like few others, which is a big reason why he’ll be remembered as arguably the greatest coach in the history of college football. Alabama is a recruiting machine for a number of reasons, one of which is how he prioritizes recruits.
Just how important is recruiting to Saban? According to Florida State commitment Quashon Fuller, who is still a top Alabama target, Saban was literally doing some face-to-face recruiting at halftime of the Tide’s Orange Bowl win over Oklahoma.
“I was on FaceTime with Nick Saban at halftime of the Orange Bowl,” Fuller told me down in San Antonio this week. “It was crazy.”
Guess Saban wasn’t too worried about an OU comeback in the second half. Crazy indeed.
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