(Zachary Symm)
* The waiting game continues to see what Athletic Director Chris Del Conte will do with regard to the head coaching position at Texas. Officially, there is no opening at this time, as David Pierce remains the head coach. Behind the scenes though, there have been multiple conversations that have occurred to gauge interest, find out what it would take, etc.
At this time, all sources continue to advise that a change will be made. While most expected it to happen immediately once the Horns were eliminated from the season, that is not modus operandi for CDC. The revealing of the new golf coach is a great example of that. In addition, CDC has spent quite a bit of time this week in Oklahoma City as the Horns softball team looks to bring home a national title. Silence is golden and CDC has not come out and said, no, this is our guy.
I tend to believe that there will be much more movement after this weekend.
* Getting into the list of names, here are the names that have been floated and a few quick notes on each.
Jim Schlossnagle (Texas A&M) - could this one still happen? Sure, anything is possible, but based on what sources have said today, it feels like a bridge too far.
Jay Johnson (LSU) - Most will scoff at this based on his recent national title and the school he is at, but there is mutual interest. The biggest hindrance to Johnson is his pay and the amount of money it will take to pry him away from Marucci, I mean LSU.
Tony Vitello (Tennessee) - Maserati Tony was never really under consideration. CDC and Tony know each other from their days at TCU and as mentioned before, there is a personality conflict there. Reports are surfacing today that Tony is about to sign a sizable extension and you can close the book on this one becoming reality.
Brian O'Connor (Virginia) - Elite defense and pitching. On the surface, not the sexiest name, but once you look at how he runs his programs and the success he has had, you start to love what he could bring. I haven't yet had anyone say, he is out. I also haven't had anyone say that there is a huge mutual interest.
Erik Bakich (Clemson) - Young, energetic, develops, and knows how to get the most out of a program. Bakich in my opinion would be a slam dunk hire. Texas would be getting one of the premier young head coaches in the nation. His salary also makes this a very attractive option.
Skip Johnson (Oklahoma) - There are certainly boosters that would like to see it happen, I just don't get the feeling talking to folks around Texas that he would be considered.
Rob Vaughn (Alabama) - A true dark horse in the race, he has only been at Bama for a year, but he was mighty impressive at Maryland and is highly regarded in the baseball circles. If this was 3-5 years down the line, he probably gets a look, but unfortunately, probably not in contention at this juncture.
*****
(Anwar)
* One of Texas's biggest challenges this offseason has been replacing the leadership void after the departure of Christian Jones, Jordan Whittington, T’Vondre Sweat, Byron Murphy II, Ja’Tavion Sanders, and others. Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff have patiently waited for a new group of leaders to emerge. Sarkisian has said that will take time on multiple occasions during the offseason. However, Sarkisian has expressed optimism that he will eventually have the powerful voices his players will listen to, like Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson. I was told one person has emerged as a key defensive leader during summer workouts. Texas senior linebacker David Gbenda. It appears Gbenda is a key vocal leader this offseason. I was told the staff loves the energy and leadership that Gbenda displays daily. Gbenda was described as a program guy who everyone on the team respects.
* There are two more noteworthy aspects of Gbenda.
1. One person compared the development of Gbenda to Christian Jones – a player who emerges as a key contributor and leader in his sixth season.
2. I was told Gbenda’s emergence is encouraging because Texas will heavily rotate their defensive linemen and having a vocal linebacker will help when different players are on the field.
* I inquired about Texas receiver Silas Bolden after Alex Dunlap reported the former Oregon State handout hit the ground running during summer workouts. I was told Bolden does have tremendous speed and the staff will find ways to get him the ball this season. However, Bolden’s quickest path to the field this season will be on special teams. Bolden returned punts and kickoffs at Oregon State, but one person told me the staff would love for him to emerge into the next Keilan Robinson. They believe Bolden has the necessary speed to block field goals and punts. Keep an eye on Bolden’s special teams role this summer and during training camp.
* One person told me the staff intends to closely monitor Quinn Ewers’ weight throughout the offseason. I reported Ewers weighed 205 pounds when summer workouts began and the goal is for him to weigh between 210 and 215 pounds this season to improve his strength and durability. I was told Ewers has a daily protein plan to help him avoid losing weight this summer during the intense Texas heat. In addition, I was told they are reminding Ewers this offseason to slide during games and not take unnecessary hits to avoid injuries.
* Texas EDGE Barryn Sorrell spent time working with Trench Warfare owner Brandon Tucker in Dallas before summer workouts. Tucker is known for developing elite high school players and working with top-notch college defensive linemen. Sorrell has been working on improving his skill set to record more sacks this season. In addition, I was told Sorrell understands he needs more sacks to improve his NFL stock. Overall, it appears that Sorrell is working hard to become an impact player for the Longhorns in 2024.
*****
(Suchomel)
Texas will host its first official weekend of the 2025 recruiting cycle this weekend. The June 14 and June 21 weekends will be more active in terms of numbers, but a handful of key targets will be in town, including an interesting group of out-of-state guys. Let’s take a look …
* CB Caleb Chester – Fort Bend Marshall – He’s already visited two of his top five (TCU and LSU … although I’m trying to confirm if the LSU visit did in fact happen last week). Texas will be this weekend, followed by Texas A&M and Arkansas.
If LSU stays in the race, the Tigers could be a factor. But the guess here is that this one comes down to an in-state battle between Texas and Texas A&M. In talking with Chester in the spring, following a very productive Texas visit, he mentioned that location would play a part and he’d like to be close to his parents. He also mentioned that academics will be a factor and he wants to study business … that’s the biggest reason I have Texas as the favorite in this race.
* ATH Michael Terry – San Antonio Alamo Heights – He visited Nebraska in April, will be in Austin this weekend and then is scheduled to be at Texas A&M next weekend. Oregon is another school that I heard mentioned this week.
Terry’s a tough one to read. Him being so quick to set up a Nebraska visit can’t be ignored, but there’s some thought among other sources that he might want to be closer to home to be near his family. Then there’s the matter of his position … Terry told OB earlier this year that he favored offense but one source this week feels he’s now more open to playing defense. Wide receiver recruiting might get tricky if he decides he’d like to go that route, so we’ll have to see what Texas talks to him about this weekend.
* DE Myron Charles – Port Charlotte (FL) – The Rivals250 member officially has a top six of Florida, Texas, Miami, Georgia, Ohio State and Florida State. He took a Florida visit last weekend. Florida State has been the leader in this one for a while but the Gators reportedly made a strong impression on his OV last weekend. This one feels like a longshot for Texas, especially with FSU getting the last official visit on June 21.
* TE Kaleb Edwards – El Dorado Hills (CA) Oak Ridge – In talking to someone a couple weeks ago with knowledge of Edwards’ situation, I was basically told he was wide open and that even Edwards didn’t really know what he wanted to do. He wasn’t locked into staying out West, so that’s a positive for Texas.
He has already visited UCLA. He told us in April that he had OVs locked into Texas, Washington, Bama and Oregon so those are other schools to know. Auburn is in the mix as well.
With Texas commitment Emaree Winston flirting with other schools (most notably Auburn), I get the suspicion that Edwards may be a bigger target for Texas than a lot of people realize. He really likes the UT staff, likes the offense and the city of Austin and he did come in for the Texas spring game on his own dime. We’ll try to connect with him following the visit but this might be one we should be paying more attention to.
* DE Javion Hilson – Cocoa (FL) – A one-time Alabama commitment, Hilson is currently committed to Florida State. But that’s not stopping him from looking around. He visited Florida last weekend, will be at Texas this weekend, UCF on June 14 and then FSU gets the last OV.
Hilson is a potential 5-star DL in this cycle so it’s good to swing for the fences, but this one feels like it’s going to be an uphill climb for Texas to beat out the in-state competition.
* DT Josiah Sharma – Folsom (CA) – A new member of the Rivals250, Sharma has talked about wanting to play in the SEC, so that could certainly be a selling point for Texas this weekend. The problem … he’s also very high on Alabama (he committed to current Bama head coach and former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer right before Texas and Washington squared off in the Sugar Bowl).
Texas needs to land some big bodies on the interior of the defensive line, so maybe this weekend the Longhorns can really move the needle. We’ll see. If he stays out West, Oregon is thought to be biggest threat in that region. He is close to his mother, per one source, so maybe selling the relatively easy commute from Cali to Austin could win Texas some points this weekend.
*****
(Ketch)
* I had sources this week that continued to project a lot of confidence that 5-star receivers Dakorien Moore and Jamie Frrench will end up in Austin.
* The folks around the A&M program believe they are making up ground on Texas in the recruitment of McKinney linebacker Riley Pettijohn, who will visit USC this weekend, Texas next weekend and A&M on the 21st. The Longhorns are still the heavy betting favorite, but it might be the Aggies that are climbing into the No. 2 spot from the rest of the visiting pack.
* An A&M source admitted this week that a common theme in recruiting for the Aggies is that they are trying to chase down Texas in a lot of recruitments... Michael Fasusi, Kaliq Lockett and Riley Pettijohn among the most important. Other than Galveston Ball safety Jonah Williams, there's not an in-state super blue chip that both Texas and Texas A&M are both fighting for that A&M definitively leads for. Maybe with Lamont Rogers and Michael Terry, but only maybe. There is concern from this A&M source that I spoke with on Thursday that they will finish as the bridesmaid are more often than they would like to.
* From the Department of Keeping Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer: High 4-star offensive tackle Ty Haywood (Denton Ryan) might be coming down to an Alabama/Oklahoma battle more than an Oklahoma/Texas A&M after Haywood visited A&M this weekend and started talking about the Tide being his dream school. A possible implication if A&M doesn't land Haywood is that its determination to land Fasusi will probably reach a 10 on a 1-10 scale.
* ICYMI: Adam Gorney mentioned in an article today that there is a vibe between some programs that the Longhorns are the team to beat for three-star cornerback Aidan Anding, who visited Austin unofficially in early April and is scheduled to visit Texas on an official visit in two weeks.
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