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How a lack of continuity brought Texas Football to its knees.
The last few years a lot of college and NFL scouts, writers, experts, and other media types have wondered out loud why more players from The University of TEXAS aren’t being drafted, and why the players that do get drafted fall so far in the player rankings. I want to take some time here to dig into the recruiting classes from the last several years, and examine how the careers of those recruits have panned out.
But I also want to piece together a timeline of the transitions that have taken place in the Longhorns Athletic Department as a whole. In the last 6 years, Texas has had three Head Coaches (Mack Brown, Charlie Strong, and Tom Herman) and four Athletic Directors (DeLoss Dodds, Steve Patterson, Mike Perrin, and Chris Del Conte). Continuity and culture go a long way to help your football team – on the field, on the recruiting trail, and in the NFL draft. Just ask Alabama and Oklahoma.
Timeline
December, 2013 – Mack Brown retires
January, 2014 – Charlie Strong is hired
August, 2014 (before Charlie Strong’s first season starts) – DeLoss Dodds officially retires
(One year later) September, 2015 – Steve Patterson fired as AD; Mike Perrin named interim AD
November, 2016 – Charlie Strong is fired; Tom Herman is hired a few days later
December 2017 – Chris Del Conte hired as AD
Six seasons. Three Head Coaches, four Athletic Directors. That’s a lot of turnover.
I’ll start by saying this about Charlie Strong: there was absolutely nothing he could do about the turnover in the AD’s office while he was the HC at Texas. What happened off the field was completely out of his control. However, the development of the players on the field, is what he did have complete control of. And that’s what we’ll take a closer look at next.
2014 Recruiting Class
The dreaded “transition” class. Mack Brown’s staff did most of the recruiting for the 2014 class. Strong’s staff came to Austin in January, just weeks before Signing Day. These transition classes typically take a hit because the recruits get hung up in the coaching change. How did Charlie’s transition class turn out? Not good.
Top 5 prospects: DE Derick Roberson, QB/WR Jerrod Heard, WR Armanti Foreman, OLB Edwin Freeman, WR Lorenzo Joe. All of these guys were 4-star prospects. None of them were drafted.
Jerrod Heard did set the all-time school record for yardage in a single game vs Cal, while playing QB his freshman year. And he made the team-first, unselfish decision to switch to WR later in his career. But in reality, none of these guys developed into NFL-caliber players, and none of them developed to be more than role players at Texas.
Other prospects from 2014:
John Bonney, 4-star S; transferred to Texas Tech to finish his career
Poona Ford, DT; signed as an undrafted free agent with Seattle and had a nice rookie season in 2018.
RB D’Onta Foreman was the only prospect from the 2014 class that was drafted (Rd 3, #89 overall by the Houston Texans).
Malik Jefferson. Unfortunately, Jefferson is the #1 prime example of undeveloped talent during Charlie Strong’s tenure. He was the top recruit in Strong’s first full recruiting class. He was a 5-star prospect. The #1 player from the State of Texas. The #1 LB in the country. The #10 overall player in the nation.
Jefferson played his first two seasons under Charlie Strong. His junior year, under Tom Herman and Todd Orlando, he seemed to finally be realizing his potential. But despite the advice he received from the NFL draft committee, which suggested he should return to Texas, Jefferson decided to forgo his senior season and enter the 2018 draft. The Bengals selected him #78 overall. His player profile page on NFL.com credits Jefferson with one tackle during his rookie year.
There were two major bright spot in the 2015 class. Connor Williams was a second round pick and a day-1 starter for the Dallas Cowboys in 2018. And despite being undrafted, punter Michael Dickson earned Pro Bowl honors as a rookie punting for the Seahawks.
Other notable prospects (listed by 2015 recruiting rank):
Holton Hill – declared as a junior; undrafted in 2018
Anthony Wheeler – undrafted in 2019; received a rookie camp invite from the Arizona Cardinals.
Chris Warren – 4th round pick of OAK Raiders in 2018; ended his rookie year on injured reserve.
Kris Boyd – 7th round pick of MIN Vikings in 2019
Patrick Vahe – undrafted rookie camp invite with BAL Ravens
DeShon Elliott – 6th round pick of BAL Ravens in 2018
Davante Davis – signed as an undrafted free agent with SEA after 2019 draft
Charles Omenihu – 5th round pick of HOU Texans in 2019
PJ Locke – signed as undrafted free agent with PIT Steelers
Breckyn Hager – signed as undrafted free agent with NY Giants
Overall: 27 prospects. 6 draft picks. 7 undrafted free agents. Almost half of this recruiting class at least earned a free agent workout with an NFL team. But there were no first round picks. Not one player developed into a top-tier NFL prospect. They may one day become contributors on an NFL team, and some may even flourish as pros. And if that happens, it would only reemphasize the belief that these guys left a lot of untapped potential on the field at Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium.
Current players
The Texas Longhorns have not had a first round draft pick since DT Malcolm Brown was selected #32 overall by the New England Patriots in 2015. Will that trend come to an end anytime soon? It should. Some scouting sources and 2020 draft prognosticators have WR Collin Johnson listed as a top-20 prospect. The 6’6″ Johnson definitely has NFL-ready size and leaping ability. Safety Brandon Jones was a 4-star prospect who was listed as the #1 player at his position in the recruiting class of 2016. Could Johnson and Jones combine to provide us with a pair of first round Longhorn selections in 2020? That depends on how they continue to develop. And that’s been the problem in Austin lately – talented athletes, full of potential, who never developed into premier NFL prospects.
Stability equals success
Three head coaches and four Athletic Directors in six seasons. That’s how you lose to Oklahoma St four years in a row. That’s how you beat Notre Dame…and lose to Kansas, in the same season. That’s how you lose to Maryland…twice.
It’s hard to maintain a culture of excellence when you have four athletic directors in six seasons. It’s hard to develop relationships on the recruiting trail when you’re rolling out a new coach every 2-3 years. It’s hard to develop talent when you have a new coaching staff with new philosophies, and new schemes.
For the first time in half-a-decade Texas seems to have stability, both in the Athletic Director’s Office and within the coaching staff. Chris Del Conte has quite literally grabbed Bevo by both horns since taking over as AD a year-and-a-half ago. And Tom Herman has already amassed two top-5 recruiting classes, two bowl wins, and a 10-win season in his first two years on the job.
So, does that mean “Texas is back?” No. Not yet anyway. The AD fully supports the football program. That’s very apparent. And that’s step one in the process. Stability develops your culture. Culture creates relationships. Relationships land recruits. Recruits create competition. Competition builds your team. Teams win games. Winning teams get noticed. When you get noticed, you get drafted.
When will Texas be “back?” When will 10-win seasons become normal again? When will top-5 recruiting classes be an every year occurrence? When will Longhorn players find themselves in the mix with other first round picks? That depends on the level of stability that they’re able to maintain. Let’s wait and see how the next six years go.
How a lack of continuity brought Texas Football to its knees.
The last few years a lot of college and NFL scouts, writers, experts, and other media types have wondered out loud why more players from The University of TEXAS aren’t being drafted, and why the players that do get drafted fall so far in the player rankings. I want to take some time here to dig into the recruiting classes from the last several years, and examine how the careers of those recruits have panned out.
But I also want to piece together a timeline of the transitions that have taken place in the Longhorns Athletic Department as a whole. In the last 6 years, Texas has had three Head Coaches (Mack Brown, Charlie Strong, and Tom Herman) and four Athletic Directors (DeLoss Dodds, Steve Patterson, Mike Perrin, and Chris Del Conte). Continuity and culture go a long way to help your football team – on the field, on the recruiting trail, and in the NFL draft. Just ask Alabama and Oklahoma.
Timeline
December, 2013 – Mack Brown retires
January, 2014 – Charlie Strong is hired
August, 2014 (before Charlie Strong’s first season starts) – DeLoss Dodds officially retires
(One year later) September, 2015 – Steve Patterson fired as AD; Mike Perrin named interim AD
November, 2016 – Charlie Strong is fired; Tom Herman is hired a few days later
December 2017 – Chris Del Conte hired as AD
Six seasons. Three Head Coaches, four Athletic Directors. That’s a lot of turnover.
I’ll start by saying this about Charlie Strong: there was absolutely nothing he could do about the turnover in the AD’s office while he was the HC at Texas. What happened off the field was completely out of his control. However, the development of the players on the field, is what he did have complete control of. And that’s what we’ll take a closer look at next.
2014 Recruiting Class
The dreaded “transition” class. Mack Brown’s staff did most of the recruiting for the 2014 class. Strong’s staff came to Austin in January, just weeks before Signing Day. These transition classes typically take a hit because the recruits get hung up in the coaching change. How did Charlie’s transition class turn out? Not good.
Top 5 prospects: DE Derick Roberson, QB/WR Jerrod Heard, WR Armanti Foreman, OLB Edwin Freeman, WR Lorenzo Joe. All of these guys were 4-star prospects. None of them were drafted.
Jerrod Heard did set the all-time school record for yardage in a single game vs Cal, while playing QB his freshman year. And he made the team-first, unselfish decision to switch to WR later in his career. But in reality, none of these guys developed into NFL-caliber players, and none of them developed to be more than role players at Texas.
Other prospects from 2014:
John Bonney, 4-star S; transferred to Texas Tech to finish his career
Poona Ford, DT; signed as an undrafted free agent with Seattle and had a nice rookie season in 2018.
RB D’Onta Foreman was the only prospect from the 2014 class that was drafted (Rd 3, #89 overall by the Houston Texans).
Malik Jefferson. Unfortunately, Jefferson is the #1 prime example of undeveloped talent during Charlie Strong’s tenure. He was the top recruit in Strong’s first full recruiting class. He was a 5-star prospect. The #1 player from the State of Texas. The #1 LB in the country. The #10 overall player in the nation.
Jefferson played his first two seasons under Charlie Strong. His junior year, under Tom Herman and Todd Orlando, he seemed to finally be realizing his potential. But despite the advice he received from the NFL draft committee, which suggested he should return to Texas, Jefferson decided to forgo his senior season and enter the 2018 draft. The Bengals selected him #78 overall. His player profile page on NFL.com credits Jefferson with one tackle during his rookie year.
There were two major bright spot in the 2015 class. Connor Williams was a second round pick and a day-1 starter for the Dallas Cowboys in 2018. And despite being undrafted, punter Michael Dickson earned Pro Bowl honors as a rookie punting for the Seahawks.
Other notable prospects (listed by 2015 recruiting rank):
Holton Hill – declared as a junior; undrafted in 2018
Anthony Wheeler – undrafted in 2019; received a rookie camp invite from the Arizona Cardinals.
Chris Warren – 4th round pick of OAK Raiders in 2018; ended his rookie year on injured reserve.
Kris Boyd – 7th round pick of MIN Vikings in 2019
Patrick Vahe – undrafted rookie camp invite with BAL Ravens
DeShon Elliott – 6th round pick of BAL Ravens in 2018
Davante Davis – signed as an undrafted free agent with SEA after 2019 draft
Charles Omenihu – 5th round pick of HOU Texans in 2019
PJ Locke – signed as undrafted free agent with PIT Steelers
Breckyn Hager – signed as undrafted free agent with NY Giants
Overall: 27 prospects. 6 draft picks. 7 undrafted free agents. Almost half of this recruiting class at least earned a free agent workout with an NFL team. But there were no first round picks. Not one player developed into a top-tier NFL prospect. They may one day become contributors on an NFL team, and some may even flourish as pros. And if that happens, it would only reemphasize the belief that these guys left a lot of untapped potential on the field at Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium.
Current players
The Texas Longhorns have not had a first round draft pick since DT Malcolm Brown was selected #32 overall by the New England Patriots in 2015. Will that trend come to an end anytime soon? It should. Some scouting sources and 2020 draft prognosticators have WR Collin Johnson listed as a top-20 prospect. The 6’6″ Johnson definitely has NFL-ready size and leaping ability. Safety Brandon Jones was a 4-star prospect who was listed as the #1 player at his position in the recruiting class of 2016. Could Johnson and Jones combine to provide us with a pair of first round Longhorn selections in 2020? That depends on how they continue to develop. And that’s been the problem in Austin lately – talented athletes, full of potential, who never developed into premier NFL prospects.
Stability equals success
Three head coaches and four Athletic Directors in six seasons. That’s how you lose to Oklahoma St four years in a row. That’s how you beat Notre Dame…and lose to Kansas, in the same season. That’s how you lose to Maryland…twice.
It’s hard to maintain a culture of excellence when you have four athletic directors in six seasons. It’s hard to develop relationships on the recruiting trail when you’re rolling out a new coach every 2-3 years. It’s hard to develop talent when you have a new coaching staff with new philosophies, and new schemes.
For the first time in half-a-decade Texas seems to have stability, both in the Athletic Director’s Office and within the coaching staff. Chris Del Conte has quite literally grabbed Bevo by both horns since taking over as AD a year-and-a-half ago. And Tom Herman has already amassed two top-5 recruiting classes, two bowl wins, and a 10-win season in his first two years on the job.
So, does that mean “Texas is back?” No. Not yet anyway. The AD fully supports the football program. That’s very apparent. And that’s step one in the process. Stability develops your culture. Culture creates relationships. Relationships land recruits. Recruits create competition. Competition builds your team. Teams win games. Winning teams get noticed. When you get noticed, you get drafted.
When will Texas be “back?” When will 10-win seasons become normal again? When will top-5 recruiting classes be an every year occurrence? When will Longhorn players find themselves in the mix with other first round picks? That depends on the level of stability that they’re able to maintain. Let’s wait and see how the next six years go.
