THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Texas is in the early stages of talking to grad transfer R.J. Proctor
Virginia offensive lineman R.J. Proctor announced his decision to transfer on Thursday, and it didn’t take long for college coaches from all over the map to reach out once he officially put his name in the transfer portal.
Texas offensive line coach Herb Hand was among the coaches to reach out and Proctor said the two had a very good talk over the weekend.
“Me and coach Hand had a long talk on the phone, about 20 minutes, on his birthday actually. He called me (on Saturday). The basic thing was, ‘We saw you were in the portal, wanted to contact you as quickly as we could.’ He said they watched some of my film. He talked about the people they have, the tackles they think will go to the league. He wants to surround me with good players,” Proctor said. “He told me where they need help. They had three senior starters, two guards, so we were just going around, talking about different things they had, how I’d fit in their scheme. He was telling me to come down, hopefully get a visit in.
“He said they want me to get down there, meet the team. He said they wanted me at guard, but I’ll play wherever.”
Proctor picked up a quick offer from Florida State after announcing his intention to transfer. Penn State and Oklahoma are among the other schools that reached out over the weekend.
Originally from Bealeton, Va., Proctor battled injuries last year but started most of Virginia’s second half of the 2018 season, including the Cavaliers’ bowl game. A big part of the reason for the transfer, he said, essentially boils down to the desire for a change of scenery.
“The biggest thing is, I’m Virginia. I’ve been in the DMV (D.C./Maryland/Virginia) area most of my life. I committed to Virginia pretty early,” Proctor said. “I wanted a change, somewhere to help me grow and develop as a person and a player. My main goal is to help the team win, be a starter, get a chance at the NFL. With a different coaching staff and some new things, I think I’ll have a chance with that.”
The rush of attention has been overwhelming for Proctor in the first few days of the transfer process, but he has done some homework already. In fact, when he and Hand talked on Saturday, he caught Hand by surprise with his familiarity with the UT O-line coach.
“Coach was telling me, do some research. He said to look at him, look at Texas. I said ‘Isn’t it your birthday?’ and I think that surprised him,” Proctor said. “I was telling him, when I was younger, I used to always watch the Texas and Oklahoma game. I’ve always been a Longhorn fan. My number one team was of course Virginia, but I’ve watched Texas a lot.
“Texas is big on football. Everything is bigger in Texas. I always hear how the arenas in football in Virginia are huge, but then I checked out Texas and fell in love with it. They just beat Georgia, that was huge. He said they’re looking to win 10 or 11 games next year, hopefully their quarterback will be a Heisman Trophy winner. That’s a big thing.”
As a graduate transfer, Proctor said he’ll be looking closely at depth charts. He’s an interior guy and with Texas losing both Patrick Vahe and Elijah Rodriguez, the Longhorns should have plenty to sell. Proctor will graduate from UVA in the spring, so he has plenty of time to work his way through the process. It’s a little premature to make any predictions on where he’ll wind up, but after talking to Proctor this week, I’d be surprised if the Longhorns don’t get a visit if the staff decides to make him a priority.
2. Offensive line prospect Ira Henry could be in for a wild ride to the finish
St. Louis Trinity Catholic offensive lineman Ira Henry has taken only one official visit so far, to Iowa State. He’ll visit Florida this coming weekend and is schedule to take a Florida State official visit the weekend of January 25. That leaves one official visit weekend remaining and two visits still unscheduled. Henry said he plans to take all five, meaning a midweek visit could be in the works.
One of the programs he’s hoping to visit is Texas. Henry, a teammate of UT signee Marcus Washington, had been talking to Texas before bowl preparations but said things have quieted down over the last couple weeks. He’s expecting that to change now that the UT staff is back into recruiting mode.
“I talked to (Bryan Carrington) a while ago. He said he wants to build a relationship. I’m getting to know him. Marcus tells me a lot about him, Mookie (Cooper) tells me a lot about him. He seems like a cool dude,” Henry said.
The 6-5, 298-pound Henry has more than 20 scholarship offers from the likes of Arkansas, Florida, Florida State, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Texas hasn’t offered yet, but if the Longhorns do, Henry said Texas would get one of his remaining visits.
“I like their big linemen. It looks like they work together as a team,” Henry said. “They had a good game against Georgia and it looks like they all get along and have a good time.”
Washington, the talented receiver out of Trinity Catholic who signed with Texas in December, has told Henry that he needs to get to Austin to see what Texas has to offer. Washington himself was in a similar position in that he had an interest in the Longhorns but wasn’t really blown away until he stepped foot on the Forty Acres.
“He said I need to get down there and see it for myself. He didn’t think Texas was a good fit for him but when he saw it for himself that all changed,” Henry said.
Having Washington on board (and Texas looking good for 2020 Trinity Catholic standout Mookie Cooper) could help the Longhorns’ chances in this one should the staff decide to offer.
“It would be nice to be playing with one of my teammates, have someone there I know,” Henry said. “I have to do what’s best for myself at the end of the day, but it’s a better feeling with someone there that I already know.”
3. The Bru McCoy talk just won’t go away
A lot of you have Bru McCoy burnout. I get it, and you won’t hurt my feelings if you decide to skip this section. As much as I’ve enjoyed my conversations with McCoy and his father over the past couple months, I can’t deny that I was glad when there finally appeared to be some closure on Saturday with McCoy’s commitment to USC.
On Monday evening, McCoy was once again a hot topic with the news that newly-hired USC offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury was interviewing with NFL teams. The obvious question … could this throw a wrench into his decision to go to USC.
Look, I’m not saying there’s anything going on here. I’m not even saying this is a story worth watching. But with it being such a hot topic of conversation, I can’t completely ignore it either.
When I spoke to McCoy on Thursday I pretty much knew he was going to USC. Knowing he wouldn’t be enrolling until mid-January, and knowing the Kingsbury to the NFL staff was still hanging around, I asked McCoy if that situation could potentially cause some shake-ups after his Saturday announcement, or if he was locked in with USC regardless.
“I can’t even think about it. I have to understand it’s a business. It could happen anywhere,” McCoy said. “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.”
Bottom line … there’s nothing to see here, barring some miraculous change. If McCoy signed in December (as he said he did, then said he did not), he’d have to petition the NCAA for some sort of release. Or transfer. Not likely. If he didn’t and has signed only his financial paperwork, he has stated that he’s locked in for USC regardless. Just another day in what has been a bizarre situation, but I wouldn’t get all excited about the Kingsbury news as it relates to McCoy and Texas.
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TWO QUESTIONS
Is the Sugar Bowl win having an early impact in recruiting?
In the immediate aftermath of Texas’ convincing win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, I mentioned that I didn’t think that victory would lead to immediate windfall of 2019 commitments, but it would certainly pay dividends in the long run. In checking around this week, it sounds like that impressive victory is definitely helping Texas’ recruiting efforts.
Just about every prospect I’ve spoken with this week has mentioned how impressed he was with UT’s performance. Many have brought it up without me even making mention of the game.
In case you missed my note on the board on Monday, the brother of 2020 five-star running back Zachary Evans said the win “put UT at #1.”
Several other players, both from the 2019 and 2020 classes, said the win improved Texas’ stock in their eyes.
OL Ira Henry – “It does help a lot with them. They’re winning against big teams, so that helps.”
2020 OL Chad Lindberg – “It definitely helps them out. Shows that the Big 12 competes with the top tier SEC teams.”
DB Jalen Catalon – “Texas’ bowl game was impressive and great to see the toughness they played with against a great SEC team.”
OL Dawand Jones – “It does. I want to go somewhere where I can win. I want to go to a winning school like they have at Texas.”
2020 DB Darius Snow – “Texas has already been a school I’m interested, so it definitely helps to see them succeed so quickly. I’m excited to see what they do next season.”
2. Who will be toughest players for Texas to replace from this year’s roster?
Switching gears a little bit, now that the high of the Sugar Bowl win has mostly worn off (for some), let’s take a look at next year’s roster and rank the players who will be the most difficult to replace. This isn’t necessarily a reflection of how I’d rank the departing players, but more of an assessment that combines the hit with each player’s departure with what Texas has as potential replacements.
1. TE Andrew Beck – I thought about putting Calvin Anderson here because of the importance of the tackle position, but with the possibility of Sam Cosmi flipping to the left side and the lack of proven tight end depth, Beck gets the nod. Not to mention he was a damn good player this year and a terrific team leader.
2. Calvin Anderson – Replacing the entire left side of the line is a daunting task and there’s a reason left tackle is considered one of the game’s most important positions.
3. Patrick Vahe – Texas will have to replace both starting guards so you could take your pick here, but I’ll go with Vahe based on the fact that the Longhorns will be looking for new starters at both left guard and left tackle. If Cosmi flips over, that could help camouflage the left guard replacement, which would mean Rodriguez could actually be a better fit for this ranking.
4. Charles Omenihu – Texas has some young talent at defensive end, but it’s unproven talent and I’m not sure there’s anyone on the roster who resembles Omenihu at all. Replacing the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year could be a near impossible task.
5. Chris Nelson – Gerald Wilbon will have a chance to make waves, but Texas replacing Nelson won’t be easy. The Longhorns need their young pups to make strides.
6. Tre Watson – Keaontay Ingram should be the bell cow of the running back room but Texas really needs someone else to step up to lighten Ingram’s workload.
7. Gary Johnson – Replacing a senior leader with Johnson’s ability won’t be easy and there will be some drop-off here, but there is some young talent on its way in, including JUCO transfer Caleb Johnson.
8. Breckyn Hager – Malcolm Roach should be able to step up here to here to help fill the void left by Hager’s departure.
9. Kris Boyd – Boyd would be higher on this list in terms of pure talent, but Texas has a lot of young DB talent, including Anthony Cook, who played well as a true freshman.
10. Anthony Wheeler – Can Dele Adeoye slide in here and hold down the fort? One of the true freshmen?
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ONE PREDICTION – Some new offers will go out in the next week
With the staff back into the recruiting grind after the Sugar Bowl win, you have to figure that something has to give here. There are still spots to be filled and as the staff continues to identify targets and open up the lines of communication, I could see another target or two popping onto the radar in the way of a formal offer and an official visit. Offensive line and running back make the most sense so keep an eye on a player like Ira Henry.
