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(From Anwar)
North Shore running back Zach Evans did not take his unofficial visit to Austin this past weekend.
Some Longhorn fans believed the last-minute cancellation meant he is no longer interested in Texas. Others believed Evans was only interested in attending the JMBLYA concert in Austin and bailed when the event was canceled due to bad weather. Skeptics believed it was time to move on.
Breathe.
Relax.
Slowly remove your hand from the panic button.
I can safely tell you that trying to look for any hidden meaning as relates to what occurred – or did not occur – last weekend is a wasted effort. Sure, I can see how a person could look at the situation from the outside and think the worst. However, those close to situation expressed to me what really occurred behind the scenes, and there is no need for any Longhorn fan to panic.
Let me explain.
Evans was slated to take an unofficial visit to Austin this past weekend. He did cancel after bad weather canceled the concert. However, there are multiple layers to this story, according to my sources.
Texas had several players who were taking official visits last weekend. The staff expressed to Evans that it would love for him to visit Austin and hang out the other with recruits. Those recruits were expected to spend at least 10 hours hanging out off campus. Evans was told he could take an unofficial visit and hang with the recruits off campus and on campus, but the staff would not be able to spend an unlimited time with him because of the official visitors on campus. Clearly, the coaches intended to make time for him, but it would not be the same as an official visit. Evans understood his time around the staff would be limited.
When the concert was canceled, Texas’ staff had to scramble and find another off-campus activity for its recruits. They arranged an outing to Top Golf.
Now, here is the kicker.
Since Evans was not on an official visit, it would have been an NCAA violation for any member of the staff to be around him at Top Golf. They informed Evans of the change of plans. The only way they could have interacted with Evans would have been after the event on campus, but that would have been late in the evening. Nobody believed Evans should drive from Houston to Austin for a conversation at 10 p.m.
There were also some realities.
I asked one source if Evans could have taken his unofficial anyway and was told, “Sure, he could have, but what was he going to see that he had not seen before?”
That was totally fair.
Evans has visited UT’s campus several times. He has seen the locker room, been inside the stadium, toured the campus, and met every coach. Spending 10 hours bonding with potential teammates was the main goal of this past weekend. When weather ruined that opportunity, it was unnecessary to force an unofficial visit.
In addition, the staff has recruited Evans well enough where Jason Suchomel believes Texas will be on the running back’s top five list whenever it is revealed.
The people I spoke with on Thursday believed they are in good standing with Evans right now. Clearly, there is a long time between now and when he commits. However, Texas football coach Tom Herman, offensive coordinator Tim Beck, running backs coach Stan Drayton and receivers coach Corby Meekins are actively involved in the recruitment of Evans.
For clarity, multiple staff members recruit every player. Those are the guys involved in the pursuit of Evans.
The best advice I can give you is to avoid riding the emotional roller coaster when it comes to the recruitment of Evans. We may not know where Evans is going until later this year. The best thing to do is keep up with Suchomel’s updates, but try not to overreact to everything you read.
Yeah, I know.
Easier said than done.
However, feel free to stop hyperventilating into the paper bag for now.
******
If you are looking for good news in the War Room, this is your section.
The Longhorns will begin summer training on May 28. This is when Yancy McKnight will work with the players for an extended period of time before training camp begins.
Here is what Herman said about offseason workouts after the spring game:
“We’ve got roughly a month of workouts here before guys are done with finals, so we’ll train, we’ll lift, a little bit of running. Most of the work will be in the weight room this month. A lot of focus on academics and finishing the semester strong. They’ll get a couple of weeks off after finals, and then they’ll come back for summer school. The months of June and July and really, really important in the development of your team because you’ve also got these incoming freshmen who were not early enrollees.”
When summer workouts begin, the Longhorns will be very healthy.
I checked in with my sources with this week, and the majority of players who missed the spring game should be ready to go when summer workouts begin.
-- Safety Caden Sterns (knee) – Expected to be cleared for summer workouts
-- Receiver Collin Johnson (knee) – Has been cleared
-- Safety Brandon Jones (high ankle sprain) – Optimistically could be cleared on the 28th. However, there is a chance he is not cleared until week two.
-- Defensive back Josh Thompson (head injury) – Has been cleared
-- Defensive lineman Rob Cummins (knee) – Optimistically will be cleared on the 28th.
--- Linebacker DeGabriel Floyd (spine) – Not expected to play this season.
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(From Suchomel)
Let’s start the recruiting portion of this week’s War Room off with an update on JUCO linebacker Juwan Mitchell, a fairly new name to the UT recruiting radar.
When I saw that Texas had offered Mitchell last week (while sipping a beer on the beach … damn you vacation, why did you have to go by so quickly!?!), I didn’t think much of it. On the surface, I figured it was just a matter of the staff going after a talented player that could help after this year’s group of UT seniors departed. After reading up on Mitchell this week and getting a bit more background, this one makes a ton of sense and it’s another example of the staff being proactive in filling any potential weaknesses on the roster.
A big of background for those who may have missed it earlier in the week … Mitchell, who is still “formally” committed to Minnesota, played his freshman season at Butler County Community College in the fall of 2018. He had originally planned on playing his 2019 season there as well before enrolling at Minnesota to begin playing there in 2020. However, since he was a full qualifier coming out of high school, Mitchell is actually eligible to enroll at the Division I school of his choice beginning in June and start playing immediately. That pretty much eliminates Minnesota since the Gophers have two senior linebackers on top of their linebacker depth chart for next year, and Mitchell is looking for a place at which he can compete for early playing time.
“Actually, to be completely honest, it’s kind of dead for Minnesota. I kind of told them that this morning, just in the nicest way,” Mitchell said on Wednesday. “When I committed to Minnesota, I had committed for January (2020). Then Texas and Arkansas offered for the summer (of 2019). Then Minnesota tried to come back and get me for the summer, but my situation there wouldn’t be the same because I was (initially) going to replace two senior linebackers. They understood.”
Mitchell took an official visit to Arkansas last weekend, and he’s actually on the UT campus right now for a Thursday-Saturday official visit. He actually had been in touch with UT a bit before the 2019 class signed, things then cooled but with the recent developments on the Texas roster, the conversations started back up a few weeks ago.
“I probably started talking to them about two weeks before they offered. I was talking to coach (Todd) Orlando,” Mitchell said. “I was kind of talking to them last semester too, then they ended up getting Caleb (Johnson). Then this semester, when the thing happened with De’Gabriel (Floyd), they got back with me.”
Mitchell heads to Austin expecting to love what he sees, and he’ll then look to make a quick decision before enrolling somewhere in June. Hey may take one more visit after the UT trip, but nothing is set up just yet.
“I’m expecting to see Austin, a big city, lots of love, getting to know the entire staff, spend some time with Jacoby (Jones),” Mitchell said. “He’s not going to sugarcoat anything, he’s going to be real me.”
As Mitchell noted, the Longhorns signed his Butler teammate, DE Jacoby Jones, as part of the 2019 class. He tells me Jones has been talking to him “every day since the offer” and trying to get Mitchell to join him in Austin.
The interest from Mitchell is obviously strong with him taking such a late visit, but this is also a young man who has done his homework on UT’s depth chart, another sign that he’s serious about the possibility of signing with Texas.
“I know they’re going to have Jeff (McCulloch) in the midlde, Joseph (Ossa) at jack or whatever they call it there. At that will spot, that’s where I’d be competing. I’d mostly be competing with Caleb and some others.”
Having played one season of JUCO ball, Mitchell will have four years to play three seasons of Division I football. He feels his skill set would translate well to what Texas wants to do.
“I feel like I’m the total package, which is rare at linebacker these days,” Mitchell said. “I can come downhill, I can go sideline to sideline, most importantly I can get through traffic and get to the ball. I don’t waste time.”
******
I put a quick update on the board on Wednesday, but Texas definitely made a strong impression on safety Chris Thompson Jr. during his official visit last weekend. In fact, Thompson (I believe for the first time) publicly listed the Longhorns as the team to beat for his commitment.
"It’s definitely my top school," Thompson said of Texas. “But I’m not committed there. It’s just from them being there day one, I can really see they were very interested in me. They’ve been recruiting me hard since I was a sophomore.”
Thompson, a Rivals100 member out of Duncanville, was hosted by Caden Sterns and Josh Thompson. He said he also spent time with Sam Ehlinger, and developed a connection with all three players.
“They kept it real. They just said ‘We need you, there’s no better place than Texas, that Texas is on the rise’” Sterns said. “I felt they were honest, I believe them.”
Thompson has been on the UT campus numerous times over the course of his recruitment, including a recent visit for a spring practice. This trip, the first official visit he’s taken, gave him more time with the players and coaches and the Duncanville standout said it was good to get a thorough look at the program.
“The highlight was just spending time with the players, seeing the coaches, what they were talking about with the Texas brand. I had a great time, just seeing the realistic part of it.”
Thompson has another official visit set up with Notre Dame for June. He said he’s working to set one up with Auburn right now. Ohio State, Georgia, Stanford and LSU are all being considered for his final two visits. He’d like to make a commitment before his senior season starts.
With Texas surging into the top spot (or perhaps more accurately, solidifying its position in the top spot), Thompson said the weekend visit played a big part, but it’s more the long-term relationships he’s built with the UT staff.
“This visit had a lot to do with it. But it’s also just that the bond is still alive, that they’re still very interested in me,” Thompson said. “They’re the school that’s on me the hardest since day one.
Thompson said he mostly communicates with safeties coach Craig Naivar, Tom Herman and assistant ride receivers coach Ra’Shaad Samples. The coaches have done a good job of making him feel wanted, and also showing him how he could be successful in their defensive scheme.
“They’ve been here since day one, show me that the need for me is vital. And the school, they say Texas is the only school that fits me. I’m a home-state kid and the defensive system fits me,” Thompson said. “They want me to play everywhere, kind of the Caden Sterns of the defense.”
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Defensive lineman Vernon Broughton said he too enjoyed his official visit last weekend, and he mentioned that the highlight was how well the coaches and players treated him. At the end of the visit, Broughton said he talked to the Texas coaches about how they’d use him in terms of position, and the coaches said they would let him do a little bit of everything.
“Really I’d be playing the whole d-line, that was about it,” Broughton said.
Does it matter to him where he’d line up? “Nah, it really doesn’t matter,” Broughton said.
That comment – and the discussion with the UT staff – is pretty interesting, because there’s been speculation that Broughton prefers to play at defensive end only. According to him, that’s not the case. Schools (A&M) have used that as a recruiting pitch, telling the already 280+-pound Broughton that he’ll only work outside in their scheme, but the Texas staff was honest with him and did a good job of explaining that he could showcase his versatility by doing different things in the Texas defense.
“In the NFL, they look at you playing a lot of position instead of focusing on one position,” Broughton said. “So they’re looking at me playing a lot of positions, me getting better at the game, me getting better at the positions. That’s what really stood out, just how they work.”
Broughton was already friends with some of the other recruits that were on campus last weekend – including some of the UT commitments. Those commits didn’t go overboard with any recruiting pressure – which Broughton said he appreciates – but he did listen to their reasoning on why they chose Texas.
“It was cool. We were all fun and games. We just sit down and talked, I’m listing why they committed and everything. Everything the visit was nice to be honest, it was nice,” Broughton said.
The Cy Ridge standout still hasn’t released a formal list of favorites but did say Texas has “been up there and always will be up there.” The Longhorns did a great job in this one, both in winning over Broughton and his family. His grandmother, with whom he’s very close, came away very impressed.
“That carries a lot of weight. I always say, if my parents and grandparents love you, I love you,” Broughton said. “I’m very close with my grandmother.”
Broughton plans to take his other visits this spring/summer before deciding. He’ll hit Alabama, Ohio State and LSU, and said his fifth will go to either A&M, Arkansas or Oklahoma.
******
(From McComas)
Jaden McDaniels’ recruitment remains ongoing, and remains a bit of a mystery. He still hasn’t set a decision date, and still hasn’t really communicated with many people about his recruiting. Rated the No. 7 overall player in the 2019 class, McDaniels, a long time ago, narrowed his list to five: UCLA, San Diego State, Texas, Kentucky and Washington.
From what I’ve heard recently, two teams are thought to be leading the pack right now: Washington and Kentucky. It sounds like San Diego State has been dropped privately, and McDaniels is working with more of a list of four than five. It also sounds like McDaniels and his family are looking for an absolute perfect fit in all areas built around him, and him going to the NBA.
A while back, Texas was truly right there in the top of the mix. But if he decided tomorrow, Texas wouldn’t be a leader, and that’s probably unlikely to change.
In an ideal world for Texas, McDaniels would have filled the vacated scholarship following Elijah Mitrou-Long’s decision to transfer. The Longhorns aren’t rushing into filling that spot, and have been pretty quiet – at least publicly – with their 2019 transfer recruiting efforts. A player they have reached out to, according to a good source, is Oregon transfer Victor Bailey, Jr. Additionally, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Baylor, Nevada, Gonzaga, UTA, Illinois, Oklahoma State and others have contacted Bailey, who is a very high energy, 6-4 guard and a career 38.3% shooter from beyond the arc.
Based on what I know thus far, I don’t believe Bailey is in a rush to make a decision. But I believe he’s a name to follow for Texas. Bailey was a sophomore this past season at Oregon.
