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(From Anwar)
If there is one thing Texas fans should know about coach Tom Herman, it’s that he is not a complacent when it comes to acquiring talent.
After watching Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele battle during spring practice, Herman did everything within his power to acquire former LSU grad transfer quarterback Brandon Harris. When Harris decided to attend North Carolina, Herman went all chips in on former Notre Dame grad transfer quarterback Malik Zaire, who eventually signed with Florida. Herman did not acquire the quarterbacks he desired, but he did not go out without a fight.
Herman had to endure an offensive line that did not live up to his expectations this season. Former Texas left tackle Connor Williams spent most of last season on the sidelines due to injury, while tackle Elijah Rodriguez did not play until the bowl game. With those players out of the lineup, Texas’ offensive line struggled in run and pass blocking last season. Herman used injuries to explain his team’s poor offensive line play to the media, but behind the scenes, he demanded more from his coaching staff. Specifically, offensive line coach Derek Warehime needed to do more, and he has a chance to add a player this weekend.
From what I was told, Texas offensive coordinator Tim Beck and Warehime will meet with Rice grad transfer left tackle Calvin Anderson on Friday. They will travel to Houston where Anderson lives in an effort to convince him to sign with Texas.
The good news, for Texas, is Anderson wants to play for the Longhorns.
I spoke to a person associated with Anderson on Thursday and was told the offensive lineman is very excited about meeting with Beck and Warehime. From what I can tell, if Friday’s meeting goes well, there is a strong possibility Anderson will join the program.
It sounds like Warehime has also been actively recruiting Stanford’s Casey Tucker and Florida’s Antonio Riles. I spoke to a source in Gainesville who told me Riles graduated in December and will not be back at Florida. The knock on Riles is he put on bad weight after sustaining a knee injury, but the guard is on Warehime’s radar.
We will keep you posted.
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Herman and his squad will begin preseason workouts on Tuesday with a much different attitude and perspective than last year.
That is actually a good thing.
When Herman inherited Charlie Strong’s team, he believed it was necessary to come at his players like a spider monkey. Herman laid down the law during his initial team meeting, and none of his players were happy. It was a drastic change from Texas’ previous staff, and the culture shock was hard for many players to handle. Herman inherited a team that endured three straight losing seasons. While some thought those players needed hugs, Herman believed it was more important to give them a kick in the ass to change their mindset.
If we are being honest, players were initially leery of the new staff. They did not know what to expect. The guys initially complained about Herman being too tough. They were not sure who to trust. Yancy McKnight, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, was the first staff member players were exposed to for an extended period of time. It was his job to develop their bodies, while establishing trust.
McKnight accepted the challenge prior to last year’s winter conditioning program, and exceeded the expectations of players and fans.
“I told them day one in the team meeting,” McKnight said nearly a year ago. “Relationships. Just because I’m a coach, there are some respect factors that you are going to have automatically because you’re a coach, but at the same time, respect and trust is not given. That goes for both sides. I told them that. I don’t expect them right this minute to respect me completely, or trust me completely, yet. I’m going to work day and night, every minute, to earn it from them, and likewise.
“But it’s also really easy to lose it. It’s not really breaking them down. That’s not really it. They’re going to work. We’re going to work hard. We’re going to work smart and do those things. They’re going to train. I think they’re hungry. They (know the) standards that this place has at the University of Texas. They understand that. I think they’re on a mission to change.”
McKnight turned out to be the favorite coach of nearly every player on last year’s team. He transformed their bodies. They became stronger and faster. More importantly, he earned their trust and respect. McKnight was the perfect bridge between a 5-7 team in 2016 and spring football practice in 2017.
Obviously, Texas finished with a 7-6 record last season, including a bowl victory against Missouri. It was the teams’ first bowl victory since the 2012 season. It was a huge deal considering Texas won the game without left tackle Connor Williams, linebacker Malik Jefferson, cornerback Holton Hill, safety DeShon Elliott, running back Toneil Carter, running back Chris Warren III, receiver Lil’ Jordan Humphrey and tight end Garrett Gray. There was a sense of accomplishment after the win. More importantly, it was a huge confidence builder.
In addition, one thing Texas lacked prior to last season was having the extra bowl practices to build momentum into next season. However, Texas had 15 bowl practices and the first opportunity to develop young players since 2014.
“What is the importance of going to a bowl game?” Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando said late last season. “It’s another spring ball. It’s so huge. I mean you are completely behind. If you go two years here and don’t have the opportunity to go to a bowl, and I’m not talking about getting Malik Jefferson right. It’s like getting [Marquez] Bimmage [linebacker] right. Getting some of these other guys that need reps, that need to be coached by us. It’s so important to be able to have those extra practices. If you think about it, you practice up to whatever date we go to a bowl game, those kids go away, you come back and have winter workouts, then you’re back on the field in late March, or whatever it is. That’s great carryover for us, so, it’s huge, in terms of development.”
That is why the beginning of this offseason is different for Herman and his players.
When winter conditioning begins on Tuesday, Herman is working with a group of guys coming off their first winning season since 2013. There has been a lot of optimism and confidence throughout the program since that Texas Bowl victory in December. As a result, the start of winter conditioning will unlike last season.
For instance, instead of testing players for strength and weaknesses on Tuesday, the Longhorns will hit the ground running.
“Not testing,” a person associated with the program told me. “This is a motivated group that will be ready, so they go straight into their offseason program.”
That is the advantage of playing in a bowl game two weeks ago.
If you think about it, the season for Longhorn players ended in November for two straight years prior to Herman’s arrival, meaning players had at least six weeks off after the season finale. Sure, some guys worked out on their own, but there were weeks wasted trying to get players in shape. As a result, the Longhorns were always behind when winter conditioning began the previous two years.
Now, you cannot forget lack of belief and confidence within the program after failing to post a winning season for three straight years. Strong and staff spent time trying to convince players they can win games. Ultimately, they never believed, and that resulted in embarrassing losses against BYU, Iowa State and Kansas during Strong's tenure.
However, Herman’s team is coming off a winning season, and people associated are confident their players are ready to go because of the bowl game.
“That group is aligned and pulling together like they did in bowl prep,” a person associated with the program told me.
However, let us not get too crazy.
Herman is not going to eliminate the three groups during workouts – gold, green and crimson.
Here is McKnight’s previous explanation for each group:
Gold: “Guys you have no problem with. Maybe even young guys that do it the right way, they’re mature, their position coach doesn’t have to run all over time chasing them around trying to (get) them to class, or get them to a lift, or whatever it is.”
Green: “Guys are transitioning up. Green for a traffic light. Moving that way."
Crimson: “For the guys who need help. Can't get to class. It’s ongoing. Every day is an evaluation. If you can’t get to treatment on time, we know we will have to put things in place to help you, and remind you, things like that. If you can get to where you’re supposed to go, and do all your stuff, then you get treated like a big boy. If you can’t do those other things. Can't set your alarm clock, then we’re going to have someone do it for you. You got a lot of responsibilities. You have to check in and do that stuff. I’m sure it gets monotonous, but once they change their pattern and behavior, we’ll take those restrictions off of them.”
Gold group players are usually rewarded with steak, shrimp, pasta, cheesecake and a triple chocolate cake, while crimson guys received burnt hot dogs, soggy eggs, and other bad food. For what it is worth, I was told players who were in the crimson group often skipped the poorly prepared meal and went to Chick-Fil-La to eat.
If you are looking for another positive aspect of the start of winter conditioning, think about the environment this year’s early enrollees are entering.
Instead of entering a divided locker room where upper-classmen do not respect freshmen, coaches comparing star players to fake diamonds, and losing is the norm, this year’s freshmen will enter a room full of guys who have experienced winning and are willing to pass along what they know.
From what I was told, the upper-classmen have been looking forward to the arrival of Herman’s freshman class because they desperately want guys on who can help Texas win. Of course, some players think the freshmen will provide depth, but we know there are guys who will push for immediate playing time, especially in the secondary.
“The signing class and bowl win really helped a lot with building culture,” a person associated with the program told me. “Great foundation was getting put in place, but that gave it a shot of energy.”
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(From Suchomel)
The recruiting dead period ends on Thursday at midnight, opening the doors for coaches and prospects to once again have face-to-face contact, mostly beginning with official visits this weekend.
A handful of prospects, both committed and uncommitted, have confirmed to OB that they’ll be in Austin this weekend. Let’s take a look …
B.J. Foster – S – Angelton - The UT signee will take his official visit this weekend since he wasn’t able to in December. Foster will begin classes at Texas on Tuesday, so it’ll be a quick turnaround for him. Foster is fresh off an extremely impressive performance at the Under Armour All-American Game. He’s the type of player, along with some of the early enrollees like Caden Sterns, Anthony Cook and Casey Thompson, who are very personable and I’d expect Foster will help UT’s efforts on the uncommitted players who will be in town.
Vernon Jackson – DE – Boling – Jackson remains committed to Alabama, but has been in close contact with Texas over the last couple months and the Longhorns are squarely in the mix on this one. Jackson has told us that Texas is looking at him as a DE (probably more of a combo DE/LB), while Alabama likes him at LB. Obviously, big selling points for Texas would be staying closer to home, and the opportunity to play early. Jackson is scheduled to visit Alabama next weekend and he could very well sort through his options all the way until National Signing Day. He’s been committed to Bama for so long that it’s hard to call Texas a favorite, but the Longhorns are very much within striking distance.
Joshua Moore – WR – Yoakum – The one-time wide receiver commitment is squarely back on UT’s radar and the Longhorns will host him on a key official visit this weekend. After decommitting from Nebraska, a lot of people assumed Moore would wind up at A&M with his brother, especially once Jimbo Fisher was hired, but this one feels wide open from what I’ve gathered. I expect Texas to make a strong move this weekend with a good official visit. The challenge would then be to hold off schools like Florida State (visit next weekend) and the Aggies.
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A source told OB on Tuesday that Stanford graduate transfer offensive lineman Casey Tucker was expected to visit Texas this weekend if things went according to plan. Unfortunately, things have gone quiet since then, so we’ll put Tucker in the “maybe” category for this weekend. Regardless, we do expect him to visit Texas at some point. Visits to TCU and Colorado are also in the works.
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The biggest remaining recruiting need for Texas is in the defensive front seven, where the Longhorns continue to look for talent at defensive end, possibly at d-tackle and at B-backer. There are quite a few targets on the radar, including a few who have scheduled official visits, and it’ll be interesting to see how Texas handles its defensive line/linebacker recruiting over the next month. Does it wind up being first come, first served? Or does the staff hold out for some of the top targets on the board, even if others are prepared to commit before players like Joseph Ossai and Vernon Jackson are ready?
Let’s take a look at where things currently stand …
Vernon Jackson – As mentioned above, Jackson will visit Texas this weekend. He was an Alabama lean before committing to the Crimson Tide in September, but has always had one eye on Texas and his interest in the Longhorns has seemed to have picked up in the last couple months. Tough one to call, and Jackson doesn’t likely make a final decision any time soon.
Joseph Ossai – This has been one of the more interesting recruitments to follow for a long while. He was believed to be a strong A&M lean early in the process, but could never get over the hump to pull the trigger on an Aggie commitment. Texas has hung around and basically made this a dead heat of a two-team race. It looked in December like things might tip A&M’s way, but Ossai has remained patient as the Aggies changed up their staff. There’s been some thought that A&M keeping assistant Terry Price would lock Ossai up for the Aggies, but I’m not buying that. If Price was a tipping point, he likely would have committed to A&M long ago. Look for Ossai to take his decision all the way until signing day.
Caleb Okechukwu – A new name on the Texas radar, Oscar Giles started talking to the Washington D.C. St. John's College High product after the Under Armour All-American game, and Okechukwu is now planning to take a UT visit in January. Can Texas make a sudden move to the top of his list? We’ll see, and it could very well depend on how the staff feels about other players on the board, but in talking to Okechukwu’s coach this week, there is a very strong interest.
Mike Williams – The Baton Rouge Dunham prospect is set to take his official visit to Texas next week. If the Longhorns offer, this one looks really good for UT. More on him in a bit.
Tyree Wilson – He’s committed to Texas A&M but is taking visits, so the door is open. Wilson will visit Arkansas this weekend and per someone I spoke with this week, he’s also expected to visit Texas and TCU. Lots of Arkansas talk right now, but let’s see what the vibe is after this weekend’s visit.
Daniel Carson - He visited Texas in September but this guy NEVER talks so it's tough to gauge what he's thinking. He'll visit Nebraska this weekend, which could be worth watching closely.
Courtre Alexander – When Texas first offered him before the Early Signing Period and Alexander took a UT official visit, it looked like he was all but in for the Longhorns. But then Arkansas offered and Alexander decided to slow things down. He’ll now visit Arkansas this weekend, which will be interesting with both him and Tyree Wilson on campus together. Could one siding with Arkansas push the other UT’s way? We’ll see.
Moro Ojomo – One of the only DTs Texas is actively recruiting (along with Keondre Coburn), I’m still expecting Ojomo to visit UT at some point but the competition is suddenly pretty stiff with the likes of A&M, Notre Dame, Tennessee and Oklahoma having recently offered. Ojomo released a top seven on Thursday that included Texas. The Longhorns have to get him on campus to have any shot, and even with that, it’ll be a tough fight to land his signature.
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Baton Rouge Dunham defensive line/linebacker prospect Mike Williams doesn’t have a UT offer yet, but he’s hopeful that will change soon, perhaps even before he heads to Austin next weekend for his official visit. Even without the offer, the Longhorns are sitting in a good position.
Right now, Texas is at the top of my list,” Williams said. “I haven’t received an offer from them, but one of the coaches told me when my position coach comes out to visit me, they’ll offer me.
“I started talking to them maybe in December. I’ve been talking to Oscar Giles and Jason Washington. They basically told me they wanted me to play outside linebacker/end, kind of a combo position.”
Williams holds about 10 offers, including scholarships from Tennessee, Texas A&M, Arizona State, Ole Miss and LSU. He has already visited LSU and likes the in-state school, but I’m told the Tigers don’t have room for his commitment at this point. He’ll visit Tennessee this weekend, and this one looks like it could come down to the Longhorns and the Volunteers.
His thoughts on his three favorites …
“Right now they’re showing me the most love. I like their facilities, the campus, I know a couple players that go there already (Malcolm Roach). So it wouldn’t feel too much like I’m away from home.”
Tennessee – “They’re the second school showing me the most love. I say they’re second because I don’t know how I feel about going all the way to Knoxville.”
LSU – “LSU, I’ve been there a lot, I know the coaches well. I feel like we’ve built relationships. I like the campus, the improvements they’ve made, the things they have to help student athletes after football.”
Williams actually played QB most of his high school career, so he’s a bit of a project on the defensive side of the ball (he admits as much), but he is a big kid who can move so it’s easy to see why college coaches like his potential.
“I played quarterback my whole high school career. Everything on the defensive side of the ball, I’d have to improve on,” Williams said. “Coaches have said they can see my potential as a linebacker. LSU told me they see me being like Kendall Beckwith.”
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Texas has two quarterbacks in the 2018 class who will be starting classes next week, but the staff does continue to recruit Tanner McKee. For those who are unaware, McKee will take a two-year mission trip after graduating high school so he’ll essentially be a 2020 signee.
The Corona (CA) Centennial product participated in the Army Bowl last weekend and we caught up with him to see where things stand. McKee has taken official visits to Texas, Texas A&M, Alabama and Washington. He’ll visit Stanford in January.
His thoughts on the Longhorns …
“Texas is really high, obviously. I took an official there. I think coach Herman is a great coach and I feel like he’s going to make it a great program really fast,” McKee said.
The 6-6, 220-pounder probably won’t commit until very late in the process and said he probably will not sign right away. He may sign one year into his mission trip, or he may wait until he’s ready to enroll in a college in a couple years.
Stanford gets the last visit and most people believe the Cardinal are the team to beat here.
“I just feel like their education is obviously off the charts. I think their offense will prepare you for the NFL and it’s just a great program overall,” McKee said. “Coach Shaw is a great coach.”
McKee on people picking Stanford to win out … “I’m not positive of exactly where I want to go yet. I’m just making the rounds. That’s why I’m making all these officials to see where I feel most comfortable.”
Texas remains in the mix here but with Stanford having the final official visit, this one looks like it’s trending that way. All that being said, McKee could be a player we’re covering again in a couple years if things change at the school he chooses between now and the time he starts his college career.
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(From McComas)
An area the Texas Athletics Department hasn't been up to par in during recent years is facilities. Specifically, there didn’t seem – and sources I’ve spoken with have brought this up over the years – a clear person in charge of facilities and the urgency to keep Texas at the top in college athletics.
Well, expect new Athletics Director Chris Del Conte to keep facilities on his mind and everyone else’s, and he’s not going to sit around and wait for a winning program to use as a tool to lure donors in. He will approach them immediately.
“My job is not to wait for him to have success for donors to come running,” responded Del Conte when asked if he needs Tom Herman to win before the next football projects. “My job is to come and talk about The University of Texas… I am running a business for them. For every donor that buys a season ticket, t-shirt, or donates a million dollars, I’m going to need their help. If we waited until we won a national championship before someone jumped on the bandwagon, then they’re not the wind beneath our wings we need. Every single Longhorn has been phenomenal. But I don’t want to wait until we say we have a winning season to go ask for money. That would mean I’m not doing my job.”
At TCU, Del Conte sold the vision of TCU when he raised millions of dollars while his athletics teams were still getting established.
“I built an arena without Jaime Dixonl built an arena at Rice without having a winning tradition or culture there. You have to build a case for what it will do to help your entire sports program and your entire athletic department. We collectively all must help - coaches, student-athletes, donors, parents, friends. You name it. Collectively. Every Longhorn must help,” he said.
As we reported earlier this week, Del Conte already approached one donor for $15 million. Reaching out to donors and reeling them in doesn’t at all concern the new UT AD.
Based on how he discussed the football program, Del Conte is aware that Texas needs to keep pushing to bring what once was the leader back to the top. He talks like someone describing a giant that isn’t sleeping, but is taking a nap.
“We have the No. 2 recruiting class in the country right now. Why? Phenomenal brand. Whatever we need to do within our facilities, we have to go do those things to make sure we continue to have great recruiting classes. We have to address everything. Everything is on the table to look at. Doesn’t mean we’re going to do everything, but everything is on the table. We have always been the standard for others to follow. When the bones are great but aren’t as up to date, we need a refresh. We’ll look at it all.”
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While Del Conte struck me as someone that will exercise patience as long as programs are moving on the right track at a respectable speed, and had a knowledgeable awareness of where respective programs are in their building process currently, he also made it a point to establish the goal at Texas is to win championships. Del Conte wants his coaches, athletes, and personnel to embrace that.
“Each team is so different, but the reason why you come to The University of Texas is because you truly have a chance to win a national championship,” he responded when asked how he’d consult Tom Herman about handling everything that comes with being the Texas Football head coach. “That is the expectation of The University of Texas. Period. Every student-athlete that comes in here has to be prepared and have the expectation to win a national championship. They carry that around every day. It’s hard. It’s exciting at some point in time, and other times you’re like boy that’s… hard to live up to that. When you’re 18-22 years old and you’re not successful at that, criticism comes with it… Everyone reads that stuff. They read it. Parents read it. Recruits read it. When I was at other places, we knew damn sure what everyone was saying. Every coach knows what they’re saying about their program.”
As he did during his introductory press conference and as he did repeatedly during a long talk earlier this week, Del Conte made it clear he’s at Texas to serve and arm his coaches, athletes, and personnel with what they need to win. And he wants Texas to get back to being Texas, which was Greg Fenves’s message to him when he approached him about the job.
“When someone is taking pot shots at you and you’re the number one brand, you have to be prepared not to be arrogant but to say we are Texas. We’ll do the very best job to live up to the expectations. When I counsel coaches, [I tell them] there’s a reason why you’re here. You’re here because they believe, we believe, I believe and people that hired people before me but now it’s me, that you can win a championship. And it’s my job to give them the tools necessary.”
As for the difference between consulting people at Texas and TCU, Del Conte summed it up like this:
“The difference is this place has won the championships and has a history of it; the difference between the hunted and the hunter.”
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Del Conte was asked about Texas and its standing with the Big 12. Basically, when the grant of rights is up, is Texas going to be sprinting out the Big 12 door? It sounds like Texas is at home in the Big 12.
“I think at the end of the day, if you look at the Big 12 for a moment were we not number one or two last year in every single sport we participated in? Across every single sport the Big 12 was number one or two in the country in every single sport we sponsor. Look it up,” he said.
When someone brought up the perception of the Big 12 nationally not reflecting that, the Texas AD responded about having a perception problem…
“We don’t. We have a media problem,” he said with a big grin, which was followed by some laughs. “So, what happens is… when you think about, we’re number one or two in every single sport we sponsor. That’s phenomenal. We are a 10-team round robin… if you win your league, you win your tournament, you get into the CFP. Oklahoma has done it twice. This year are they going to talk about the Pac-12 and Big Ten not getting in? It starts with you (the media). You dictate a lot of rhetoric. What am I’m saying is a lot is dictated by what perception is out there to be read.
“Within the Big 12, everyone is like, ‘Hey this is going according to plan. We’re in the right position.’ We know we have to do what we need to do to take care of business in our league. By winning a Big 12 Championship can you get in? [Yes.]"
When asked if there were enough viewers of the Big 12, Del Conte immediately and confidently responded.
“Sure. There’s plenty of viewers. Go look at ratings. Who was the number one bowl game rated in the state of Texas this year? Texas Bowl. Outside the CFP (College Football Playoff), what was the number one attended bowl game this year? Texas Bowl. Alamo Bowl was number five.”
Del Conte was sharp when it came to discussing television dollars, where the Big 12 fits, and where media was moving towards in the future. He also made it clear that the goal of the Big 12 design and setup is to get people into the playoff. That’s what Texas wants – to get into the playoff.
Speaking of the Longhorns, Del Conte summed up their status in the Big 12 like this:
“I think right now Texas needs to take care of Texas and get back to being Texas. Period. Then it takes care of itself. Period.”
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A couple hoops recruiting nuggets:
--- The Texas staff was back out on the road recruiting. At the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions, Texas assistant Mike Morrell watched 2019 big Isaiah Stewart of La Lumiere, and top 2018 Texas target Courtney Ramey is currently playing.
--- With more visits still upcoming for Ramey, it remains too early to speculate about leaders. They continue to take the process slowly.
--- Stewart is emerging as a top priority for Texas in the 2019 class along with five-star Austin Westlake big man Will Baker, Guyer (Denton) four-star wing/combo forward Jalen Wilson, five-star point guard Josiah James, and more. Those are some names to definitely follow.
