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Maybe these names arent good and texas isnt going to settle. Its either elite or roll with what we have. We also dont know these players demands. They could be demanding things like guaranteed starts and sark isnt willing to give that. There are a lot of variables that we dont know that go into these decisions. Its bot black and white. So while we see these names and are like ooo and ahhh. Sark may see them and be meh.

Agreed that failing to get guys into the portal is functionally the same as a "portal loss." Ultimately, the guy liked what another school had to offer more than what Texas had to offer.

Agree to the Big Game hunting theory, but in regards to a “lack of candidates” to target this isn’t a game of who enters the portal it’s about negotiating with agents behind the scenes and recruiting players TO the portal. We did this with the Michigan guys and we didn’t close. We moved on to some other targets who went elsewhere as well. We prioritized Cam Coleman and we won. We’ll see how things sit when the dust settles but as of now I haven’t seen the same conviction to signing the best of the best along the offensive line.

idk what you’ve been seeing but swain, pope, and mark have been on fire

My read: Sark and the roster construction team are committed to "big game hunting"... but big game hunting only has a chance of working if there's big game out there. Translation: no elite Guards have entered the portal, and Texas has not been willing to settle for what has actually hit the portal like other programs have. We have had no interest/involvement in the top of the market that has actually hit the portal (the guys from Maryland, West Virginia, Louisville). To combat the problem that no elite Guards were willingly entering the portal, we tried to "create some big game" by recruiting elite guys into the portal. They gave Guarnera a home run swing, but came up empty. Then they were reportedly trying to recruit another guy, the "mystery Guard", all the way up to the entry request deadline last night... but as of 11:15 this morning, Bobby didn't know whether that guy decided to enter or not. There is still line to play out here. But my answer to your question, is that it's possible Sark and staff kept holding out for an "elite Guard" market that never actually materialized.

The prevailing thought at Indiana is one of the three guards will shift to center next year to replace Pat Coogan. I'd bet on Bray Lynch (the one from Austin) moving to center next year. During the Oregon game, Coogan had to leave the field for a play and Lynch took his place.

We aren't. Sark's not done. There are over 300 guards yet unsigned in the portal. Evaluation takes time.

Why is Texas struggling to find a guard KYLE FLOOD end of story lol

Texas lost very experienced players in Cole Hutson and DJ Campbell. As of right now they’ll be starting Brandon Baker at RG who has never played guard and a redshirt freshman in one of the Coleman twins. There’s plenty of guards in the portal who have had 1000+ snaps at guard in the P4 level that Texas passed on that more than likely would start over current players with 0 snaps at the position. If that one player Texas has been waiting on doesn’t enter then what’s the plan? Let’s hope a Siani situation happens in the next few days. As of now Texas has signed only one OL who will be a contributor in 2026.

We think Baker can kick in and play guard but we haven't seen it. We still have a huge hole at LG. That was our biggest issue going into the portal. The portal is now closed and we still don't have an answer. LSU just signed the guard from Maryland and Tech just signed the guard from Louisville. What is our plan to solve LG? 🤘

The vaunted “four tackle” offensive line.

hey bobby what would your truly rate kyle flood as. recruiter and then as a developer at his time with texas? kelvin banks was turnkey but why is your feel bout the rest? if you don’t mind me asking

100%. But that is only a possibility if the guy requested to enter the portal by midnight last night. Thus the interest in whether he did, so we know if this is even a possibility any more.

who are the multiple quality guards we passed on? Serious question. Looking at the list of all the guys who have signed already, its a bunch of question marks and meh. I get that our OG play was so bad last year that meh is attractive, but thats what id qualify sikorsky as (meh, with upside). I may be missing them or not know about everyone, but doesnt seem like there are "multiple quality guards" we passed on that would be surefire starters, though I am totally open to those names and will join you if thats the case. I honestly like the approach of filling with one meh (with upside) and seeing if theres a chance to get a true difference maker. If we filled it with like Tshabola (who was bad last year for OSU) early then we might put ourselves out of the running for a better player. Especially since those guys probably were asking for wayy more money than their play dictates, which obviously us as fans dont see, but the staff does. IDK i just see the level of investment the coaches have for this year (Cam/RB tandem/Siani are NOT cheap) and have to trust that they wouldnt trot out such a big hole as last year. All indications are that they recognize the issue from last year and need to correct it. But im with you that it sucks that its not fixed right now!

Shanny actually played a good bit on an elite D1 program. McD rode the bench at Yale.

This strategy kinda worked for Siani. Did not know of the guy's existence, then saw the Texas commitment post before I even saw his portal post. Maybe staff is doing a similar thing of going after a top 5-10 rank under-the-radar guard not yet in the portal.

Melvin Siani is currently in Austin for his official visit. He will be moving in later this weekend.

Ahh Tuesday $ beers brings me back

You ever think that maybe they evaluated these guys and didn’t think they were worth a hit pursuit? Maybe they have other options that are better or maybe some guys already on campus might be better? This staff clearly hasn’t sat on their laurels this year so it’s telling that they didn’t push for these guys. They played a lower level of competition and maybe from the tape the staff thought they wouldn’t hold up in SEC play. Stop your damn hand wringing. It’s getting old.

Not a big deal that’s plenty of recovery time

Big numbers

Did the staff really pass on multiple quality guards because they were hoping for a specific one to hit the portal? I refuse to believe that was the strategy smh. Especially for the #1 priority in the portal. Guess we won’t know for sure til next week

11:15 CST cross-update from Bobby’s Saturday thread (because it can be hard to find information here, topical threads are nice). This is all straight from Bobby at this time. 1. The mystery Guard we’ve been hearing about is NOT playing in the champ game. Hubbard from IU would obviously be nice, but that’s not what they’ve been talking about. 2. Bobby doesn’t know whether the Guard decided to request to enter or not. It’s not just that Bobby knows but can’t say publicly, but Bobby actually doesn’t know what this guy decided (at this time).

Losing players instead of getting that mystery guard flood needs to be done so