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(From Anwar)
Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte visited Dallas and Fort Worth this week as part of the ‘This is Texas Tour.’ During the Fort Worth stop, there were around 240 Longhorn fans in attendance. Del Conte and members of the coaching staff addressed the crowd and answered questions during both stops this week.
Before Del Conte addressed Longhorn fans, he answered questions from a small number of reporters at the Fort Worth Stockyards Stations. Here is the transcript of Del Conte’s interview:
Q: Can you explain your previous comments about wanting a grass field?
A: If you look at Oklahoma and Iowa State, a lot of people have gone to a synthetic surface. I like the smell of grass, coming out and playing, but it’s a coach’s preference. My only preference is I like a grass field.
Q: He [Tom Herman] wants grass, too?
A: We’ve had conservations about ‘Do you like grass?’ Ultimately, it’s a coach’s decision on if he wants grass or synthetic. If you think about it, how many schools on the West Coast are on synthetic, except USC and UCLA. You start thinking about the SEC schools, the majority of them are on synthetic. Football is meant to be played on grass. I like it. If you can grow grass, we’re in a great climate, grow grass.
Q: Can you talk about taking cars off San Jacinto and using golf carts?
A: A plethora (of golf carts). From the Three Amigos, “It’s your birthday. You have a plethora of gifts. Do you even know what plethora is? A bunch. I don’t know what plethora is, but I know you like a plethora. I like the sound of it.”
Q: Is that the plan?
A: The idea is two things. One is the idea, can we move the golf cart from the guard shack to the top when the alumni building goes down? Can we then move those cars on 21st Street?Then if you could do that, you have a plethora of golf carts going back and forth. You can then create great social space in front of the stadium. That’s really just the idea. That’s what we’re planning on doing right now. The idea on the LBJ lot is having an ACL concert every game on the lawn. The bowl. The bowl works better because it creates a little bit of an amphitheater, and you feel like you’re at a special event coming in on that side. The other side is there’s 28,000 people, 21,000 people, that go to Lot 1. That one first gate. Can we have them matriculate through this fan fest and in different gates? It’s just a way to attract a different event around our campus. Lot 21, if you face your cars going up, you can get right out. At the end of the game, my recollection is it’s such a pain in the rear end because you’re dumping so many people, cars are backing up. If you can get them in one direction, and traffic moving better, then do it.
Q: Do you want to get rid of Scott Fisher, the weather guy?
A: No, no. I was using that as an example. What I’m trying to get out is at in a game, we have so many stops. Every first-down is sponsored. We have so many things going on. Can we just get back to the band, the music, the game, and not necessarily so many things that detract? If there’s a great hit, or a great interception, we go right to a halftime presentation, or quarter-break presentation. You draw attention from momentum. The idea is to shrink the amount of calls you have during a game to a one-sheet script. That’s kind of the thought.
Q: Any different approach to student ticket distribution?
A: No, it will be general admission, but we have one student section. It will go basically from the 50 to the end-zone. It will be general admission. You create a first-come, first-served. You create an opportunity. If you’re going to come in that corner of the stadium, you want to flip the quarter and go the other way. You want to create a hostile environment. Students bring such a huge momentum, but when you had them split up in different areas of the stadium, you distract from that concept.
Q: Do you want an environment like TCU where as soon as the gates open, students are running to seats?
A: They’re running, they’re there, and they have a place. They know when it’s general admission, and it’s first-come, first-served, you have a concert … You’re basically trying to get 28,000 students from west campus to come to our side of campus early. You have to have different things for them to come to. If you’re 18 to 20-years-old, you like to stay in your fraternity and sorority house a little longer than possible before you come over. I get that. I was that age once before.
Q: Does that mean you’re putting a DJ on the field?
A: I think it means we’re looking at all kinds of concepts. Tom and the student-athletes want a different type of music during warm-ups. We put the speakers down there. If you saw what we did during the spring game, we played a lot of different concepts to see how it was applicable, what would work and not work.
Q:But Charlie Strong did the same thing, and by midseason, the speakers were gone.
A: It’s different. It’s not about all the time being on. During warm-ups, you don’t blare it over the loudspeakers. When you have a single-source system, and you’re blaring music … when you put them on the field, it becomes where the field is.
Q: How much is the tour is making sure all fans feel a part of Texas?
A: It’s their stadium. It’s their school. We’re just a conduit. The survey was just give me your feedback, and take their feedback and say what can we do within the constraints of what our system is … lower concessions, a better in-game experience, a better parking experience, and look at the new stadium and say what can we do within it that provides an experience that is different. That’s part of the puzzle. Obviously, we can say Tom needs to win. We all know football needs to be successful, but just like the idea of going to Disney, the experience all around the ride is dictated by Disney. The three-hour wait for the ride is what takes forever, but the kids come back constantly because they had an unbelievable experience. It’s no different than what we’re trying to do. You can’t do it without engaging them. I might be over the top on social media, but to me, the idea I’d rather have our entire staff follow. If I say the restroom stall nine is broken, and we’ll fix it, we can go get it done. If we don’t, then we’ll have a different conversation. We’re not only saying we’re doing, but we’re trying to be responsive to that. All of these ideas are not novel. It’s just how you package them to better serve our constituents.
Q: Doesn’t the Disney experience begin in the parking lot?
A: Sure. No question. The difference at Texas compared to A&M or TCU is we had a lot of surface lots at TCU. We have no surface lots. We’re all parking garages. The idea of coming to a game and hanging out in a parking lot with a muffler next door doesn’t make much sense. You come to a game to go to a concert, come to have a bunch of food trucks around, have a different experience, a basic carnival experience around the stadium, it’s going to take us three years. The first we’re going to make a lot of mistakes. The second year we’ll get better. By year three things will be really humming, but we can’t just give up. It’s going to take a while. It’s not going to happen overnight, but if you don’t try, and you continue to tweak it … I’m taking a big leap of faith by putting a concert on LBJ lawn, but if you have a night game, and they come, and it makes a festive environment, and the night game goes to the next game, it’s going to be good. It will be a little harder at an 11 o’clock game, but it will be alright. You’ve just got to do it. Lastly, there was a comment made about the arena. When the president floated that idea to me, there’s just no way that’s going to work, in my mind. It actually works. Only in Austin. Maybe Nashville if Nashville didn’t have the Predators because it’s the music industry. They want to be in Austin. When a million people go through the drum, think through that. That’s a lot of people coming through the venue on a concert. Imagine what that would be if it was a brand-new venue. That idea really came from him.
Q: Has Texas abandoned the idea of paying for the building?
A: We never abandoned it. It was let us explore this concept, a private-public partnership. That’s really been the exploration. When I first heard it, I wasn’t sure how it would work. It’s actually a great, novel concept. It would work only in very few cities that have that demand of the music entertainment industry. I don’t think it could work anywhere else. It works in Austin. If you look at any major concert, they tell you one thing. You used to buy your LPs and CDs. That’s where you made your money. Now they make it on the road. Everyone tells us they have to be in Houston. They have to be in Austin. They have to be in Dallas. So, we’re in a very good spot for the idea to take fruition. I applaud president (Greg) Fenves completely. I was at first scratching my head because I’m not too sure what he’s talking about. But I’m like, okay, my man. I’ve been to enough concerts at the venue to say it works.
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(From Suchomel)
Top national wide receiver prospect Jake Smith announced this week that he’s down to a final two of Texas and Southern Cal. That development, from what we’d heard, has been in the works for a while but Smith made it official on Monday with a tweet.
The electric pass-catcher (see for yourself here if you haven’t watched his videos yet) will take spring official visits to both schools before arriving at a decision, which should come fairly early in the summer. I mentioned in my column on Tuesday that I thought Texas would win out based on some things I had heard. After talking to a couple other people later in the week, I feel even better about UT’s chances.
Obviously, with the two visits still to come, there could be some movement in this one over the next couple months, but I really like Texas’ chances of landing Smith after he completes those trips. Of note, he’ll visit USC next weekend and the Texas visit will be the first weekend of June. Getting the last shot would seem to be another positive development for the Longhorns’ chances.
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Not a lot has been written about five-star running back Trey Sanders because he doesn’t do many interviews at all, but his name came up this week in a conversation I had and it sounds like the Longhorns are very much in the mix for the IMG standout.
Sanders, a one-time Alabama commitment, isn’t saying publicly which schools are standing out, but behind the scenes I’ve heard there’s been some discussions of just how strong his interest in Texas is. Obviously, the first step for Texas will be to get him on campus for a visit, which should happen, but the word floating around people who cover recruiting in the state of Florida is that the Longhorns are a much bigger player in this one than most people realize.
Florida is also heavily involved and the Gators did recently land his brother, UmsteadSanders, as a preferred walk-on - he’s currently at Raymond (Miss.) Hinds C.C. – so that fact can’t be overlooked, but expect Texas to be heavily involved in this one based on some things I heard this week.
Sanders is ranked No. 11 on the Rivals100 and is the country’s second-rated running back, just behind Devyn Ford.
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Rivals250 defensive end Marcus Hicks has schools from all over America chasing his commitment, and the Texas Longhorns are one of the programs showing extensive interest. On Wednesday, Texas defensive line coach Oscar Giles made his second spring visit to Hicks’ school, and the Wichita (KS) Northwest standout said Giles is one of the reasons the Longhorns are on his watch list.
“It’s just their coaches, coach Giles,” Hicks said when asked what stands out about the Longhorns. “He’s a really cool guy. He’s been texting me, hitting me up a lot. I saw him at my school, didn’t get to talk to him, but it was cool seeing him watching us work out in our morning weights program. I just like how strong our relationship is.”
Hicks said he’s realistically considering about 10 schools, but Texas is playing a bit of catch-up in this one behind Oklahoma and Michigan. Hicks plans to release a top five by the end of summer and told me Texas should make the cut.
The 6-5, 240-pound Hicks said Texas is really stressing to him that he would fit well into the Longhorns’ defensive scheme, and he feels he could make a quick transition if he does wind up choosing Texas.
“They just think that I’d really fit into their defense because I’ve seen some of their film. They put my film and their film side by side. I’ve really been doing exactly what they’re doing, so it’s really cool seeing that if I go there, it would be pretty much no change,” Hicks said. “I’d be used to what they’re doing.”
Hicks’ father had told me they were working towards setting up a June official visit to Texas, but with such limited spring visits available, this one may have to wait until the fall.
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Giles was busy on Wednesday, also checking in with recent UT offer Zach Williams, out of Little Rock (AR) Robinson. Williams visited Texas for the Orange-White game and picked up an offer during that visit. He said the Longhorns are high on his list.
“Texas, I really like them. They have good facilities, good coaches, a good team, good atmosphere,” Williams said. “Coach Giles came today and said he loved what he saw, keep up the good work.
“Just the sheer size of the campus and facilities (stood out). I thought Texas was nice, but I didn’t know it was that nice. That really amazed me. Coach Giles, everybody else, it seemed like they really cared about me as a person and as a player.”
Williams holds close to 25 scholarship offers and said he’s keeping an open mind as new programs continue to enter the picture. He hopes to narrow his focus pretty soon, and said Texas will likely make his cut.
“I’d say (Texas chance’ of staying in the mix) are pretty high,” Williams said. “It’s a nice place and they seem to care about me, so they’re pretty high.”
As is usually the case with prospects in the state of Arkansas, the Razorbacks will be a major factor.
“They’re high too,” Williams said. “But I’m going to look at all these schools, find the best fit. But they’re high up there too.”
The timing of this one could be interesting. Williams said he and his father want him to start taking official visits when school gets out at the end of May. He’d like to make a commitment in late summer, so it might be beneficial for schools to try to bring him in during the spring window, if possible.
The Texas coaches have done a good job in this one over the last couple months to quickly climb Williams’ list.
“They’re telling me I would fit perfectly with their scheme, and they’re rooting for me. They’re just trying to make me feel good, which they have,” Williams said.
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Rivals250 defensive end Nathan Pickering announced a top-10 in late April that included the Longhorns. When I caught up with him recently, he said the Longhorns will “most definitely” get a visit at some point, but Texas is facing some tough SEC competition for the Seminary (MS) product so we’ll see if that visit comes to fruition.
“Texas is a great school. It’s a great school. It’s a great environment, they have a great team,” Pickering said. “I love the way they practice, love the way they coach. I believe they could develop me to play in the NFL some time.”
Oscar Giles continues to work on this one and Pickering said he likes the message he’s heard.
“He’s a great coach. Everything he’s telling me, he’s telling me what I like to hear. Not just because I need to hear it, because it’s the truth,” Pickering said. “So I feel he can develop me as a defensive lineman to be in the NFL someday.”
In a recent Rivals.com update, Pickering said he’d for sure take visits to USC, LSU and Alabama. Texas will obviously try to get one of his last two, but Pickering might be a player who will be a tough pull from the Southeast.
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(From McComas)
It’s relatively early in the 2019 recruiting cycle, but soon coaches will have their priority lists in order as they make a push for potential commitments. We’re not too far away from July, which often results in top players coming out with lists before scheduling official visits in the fall.
Based on my intel, I think this is the group, at least right now, that Texas fans should follow closely:
Everyone in the country is seemingly prioritizing Stewart, but the Longhorns have a real chance here. They’ve established a good relationship early, already received an unofficial visit, and their track record and usage recently of big men really resonates with Stewart. This is going to be one of the most recruited players in the country with top programs from all over doing their best, but there’s a feeling the Longhorns are capable of beating anyone for his services and are in a good early position.
Baker’s recruitment is interesting because over the last few months I’ve heard multiple schools were out in front for him. At one point, it was Texas, then recently it was Texas A&M, and now last week UCLA was the school mentioned to me. A very skilled big man that can step out and shoot the three, film school could be a big draw for Baker, which makes UCLA and that area appealing. It’ll be interesting to see how he plays this summer, and which programs continue to pursue him aggressively. Baker strikes me as someone that’s torn, and always evaluates recruiting differently than your average five-star.
After seeing him multiple times in Dallas, I can say that McDaniels is the real deal, and the Longhorns were very smart to get in on him early – Darrin Horn made an in-home visit before the first live period – and offer him. The sky’s the limit for the 6-9 wing/forward that can get buckets at all three levels and is very comfortable with the ball in his hands.
Okoro is another wing that is in the tier just below five-star status currently, and is mostly being recruited heavily by schools in his region. A physical and very athletic player that is a force in transition, Okoro is one of the most productive players on the Nike EYBL circuit. He’s averaging 16.4 points (56.1 percent from the floor), 7.8 rebounds (including a game with 14), 3.9 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.1 blocks.
You like shooters? Williamson is your guy. As we’ve mentioned recently, he has deep family ties to Kansas, but the Jayhawks have yet to really prioritize him and aggressively recruit him. Texas has done an in-home visit, and Williamson mentioned to OB he wants to try to get down for a visit soon. Kansas will be tough to beat if it wants him, and after seeing him in person, I think he could end up being a top 30 player nationally. However, if Kansas fills up with other options, the Longhorns could be a real player.
Another skilled, tall, productive wing/forward that can make plays with or without the basketball.
A recent offer, Gantt is a very active and physical combo forward with developing skill. He’s already a key target for some regional programs.
Notice a trend? Withers is another tall, physical, wing/forward that can really shoot the basketball from deep. From what I’ve heard, some people in attendance during the second live period thought he was the best player in Atlanta. That’s high praise, and it explains why Texas immediately offered him after it watched him. Like McDaniels, there aren’t a ton of top high-majors deep in on Withers right now, and this is an opportunity for Texas to establish a presence and go to work.
The Longhorns spent a lot of time evaluating and recruiting Agbonkpolo, and recently the offer came. West Coast teams are involved, but considering the early work Texas did, it should be a real factor in this recruitment.
The buzz surrounding Hampton is he’s either going to be a member of the 2019 class, or he’s going to jump straight to the NBA if the rules change. Texas, specifically Jai Lucas, has been recruiting the super-talented point guard forever, and the Longhorns have received multiple unofficial visits already. But it’s going to be tough to beat the likes of Kansas and Duke.
At the combo guard spot, Beverly can really fill it up as a scorer, especially from beyond the arc. A native of Michigan, the Spartans are thought to be in a good early position. (McComas)
As always, these lists change as more information is available, offers are made, and players emerge. I’d also keep an eye on players like Avery Anderson, Jahmius Ramsey, and Sama’zha Hart.
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Is missing out on the NBA Draft Combine beginning to have an impact on Kerwin Roach II’s decision-making process? A source that was confident in the beginning that Roach wouldn’t return to Texas no matter what believes the reality of the lack of NBA attention might be making an impact. Most connected people remain unsure and consider this a “toss up” situation, but as more time passes and the NBA attention isn’t heavily incoming, Texas’s chances of getting back an integral piece could be growing. If Roach does decide to still remain in the draft, it would be a decision made with little to no NBA direct feedback, barring a change, and the indirect feedback from NBA people is telling him to go back to school. (McComas)
