OTF Premium Thinking Out Loud After Weekend 1 of Portal Pandemonium

[jtsween]

12 minutes ago, NotGerryHamilton said:

Money talks and I unfortunately believe that Sark doesn’t understand that. 

yea man, texas landed tyler atkinson, justus terry, derek cooper, jonah williams, and colin simmons just because!

Brendan Sorsby was a Tech lock for a month, entered with a do not contact tag, visited Tech first and still took another visit. players and agents know how to maximize their check even if they know where they want to end up, and that means in demand players will let some things play out.

[Texan15]

So do we need to lower our expectations for being able to attract elite transfer targets? It seems that other programs in our competitive league have a very proven method to lock in the big time transfers. So lower expectations?

[utx2]

Not sure how you can go all in on one or two players and expect the rest of the team to be satisfied with their deal.   
 

over paying one and upsetting the roster will have a negative impact on team chemistry.   Now if they all get a pay raise when one or two players come via portal my point is mute.  
 

I get players getting paid but sure miss the college I used to know.  

no more allegiances or love for the school.   
 

[Tom Herman]

Yea we're cooked. As of late Texas has been sure a studs gonna enter the portal, they dont enter, and we get rug pulled and hosed to start the next season. Already switching from the very often said "All In" to just "Aggressive" is very depressing to hear

[CJ Vogel]

4 minutes ago, jtsween said:

yea man, texas landed tyler atkinson, justus terry, derek cooper, jonah williams, and colin simmons just because!

Brendan Sorsby was a Tech lock for a month, entered with a do not contact tag, visited Tech first and still took another visit. players and agents know how to maximize their check even if they know where they want to end up, and that means in demand players will let some things play out.

Last sentence is as true a sentence you will read in this portal window.

[TexasDynasty3]

Just now, Tom Herman said:

Yea we're cooked. As of late Texas has been sure a studs gonna enter the portal, they dont enter, and we get rug pulled and hosed to start the next season. Already switching from the very often said "All In" to just "Aggressive" is very depressing to hear

Arch is going to be running for his life again. No run game and no offensive line going on year 2. 

[genevalonghorn]

3 minutes ago, CJ Vogel said:

Well, that all kind of plays into why All In was/is the plan for Texas. Longhorns weren't willing to meet extremely high asks from some of the expected returnees, while also some of the freshmen numbers were going to be cut significantly. That tells me, 'Hey, there is extra cash around.' 

Good analysis.  I think the issue some of us are having is that the "extra cash" turns into dead money relatively quickly.  But, that is the feeling until we actually land a skill player to get excited about.

[TexasFanatic]

3 minutes ago, CJ Vogel said:

Last sentence is as true a sentence you will read in this portal window.

Do you think that is true for Cam? And I mean… good for Texas 

Edited Monday at 04:41 PM by TexasFanatic

[alrightalrightalright]

Great article, CJ.

If we land the Michigan OL, I am very happy. Then find 2+ LBs that have skins on the wall and a RB that can put up 800+ yards next year. I feel good about Joseph and Mascoe.

Edit: forgot about Jayden Woods. Who doesn’t want to be coached by LaAllen Clark. 

I’m not going to sweat Cam Coleman. I want him, but I’m not going to tailspin on that outcome.

Edited Monday at 04:43 PM by alrightalrightalright

[CJ Vogel]

1 minute ago, TexasFanatic said:

Do you think that is true for Cam? And I mean… good for Texas 

Won't really have a read on Cam until after his Tech and USC visit. You can imagine that number will only continue to increase the more and more visits he takes. 

Tech, with Sorsby, has the second best on field offer to Coleman at the moment behind Arch Manning. We will see if that moves the needle for him at all.

[TexasFanatic]

Just now, CJ Vogel said:

Won't really have a read on Cam until after his Tech and USC visit. You can imagine that number will only continue to increase the more and more visits he takes. 

Tech, with Sorsby, has the second best on field offer to Coleman at the moment behind Arch Manning. We will see if that moves the needle for him at all.

Do you think Texas will match that money offer? 

[jtsween]

2 minutes ago, CJ Vogel said:

Last sentence is as true a sentence you will read in this portal window.

Here’s more truth: we know exactly how texas responds when their options start to slim at a spot they need. 

Missed on some d-linemen and got screwed by Bo Davis? Go pay for justus terry and take him away from UGA after a 5 year relationship

Nansen decides recruiting is optional? Make sure tyler atkinson is set to be paid enough to get him to Austin

We are going to try to win recruitments at market value or slightly above until the options we deem valuable are slim. THEN, when it’s absolutely necessary, we will go all in to address any needs that haven’t been hit yet

Bank breaking offers on Jan 4th and 5th are for getting tier 2 guys to lock down early and agree to live in lubbock

[charlie990]

Letting guys walk out the door was pretty risky to start, then turning around and penny pinching in the portal seems incongruent. 

[Hesity]

18 minutes ago, Coop2395 said:

@CJ Vogel am I that crazy to say the Michigan OL are the two most important guys to get on the dotted line? 
 

I can get over missing out on woods (as great as he is - I can sell myself on the excitement of Jackson and Wesley coming along)

 

I can justify not spending the high dollar amount on Coleman and convince myself that money can bring in higher level players at other positions. 
 

I just don’t know what to think if we miss out on two all big 10 level lineman. Guys like that don’t always enter the portal. 

I agree with this sentiment. If Arch has four seconds every snap, good luck to opposing defenses. 

[CHorn427]

Ohio State won the title because they got 4 key, huge name transfers. 
 

That’s what I was hoping Texas would do with Coleman, Baugh and 2 OL. 

[Chop]

@CJ Vogel

 

do you think Texas left themselves some room to have Cam circle back after all visits to match or come close to NIL offers?

 

I think the OL is the most important portal get. WR is more important after the Michigan game and RB less important with how each group played and who left since then in my opinion

[Joe Zura]

I heard the phrase all in and stopped reading. I’m happy for you or not happy 😂

[NotGerryHamilton]

22 minutes ago, jtsween said:

yea man, texas landed tyler atkinson, justus terry, derek cooper, jonah williams, and colin simmons just because!

Brendan Sorsby was a Tech lock for a month, entered with a do not contact tag, visited Tech first and still took another visit. players and agents know how to maximize their check even if they know where they want to end up, and that means in demand players will let some things play out.

Two things can be true. High School recruiting has been strong. But now you have massive holes on your roster. If you’re serious about winning, be serious about spending in the portal. 
 

-Our current WR group is very young and they also aren’t reliable (drops), our RB room is a joke right now, our OLine outside the tackles is a joke (they legit almost got Arch killed this past season), and Linebacker is even thinner than RB. 
 

-The “we like our guys” motto from this past season cost this team a chance at the playoffs. 
 

-Look at the teams left in the CFP, they spend in the portal on elite players and it pays off. Texas didn’t do that last year and they’ve been watching since. 

[CJ Vogel]

5 minutes ago, Chop said:

@CJ Vogel

 

do you think Texas left themselves some room to have Cam circle back after all visits to match or come close to NIL offers?

 

I think the OL is the most important portal get. WR is more important after the Michigan game and RB less important with how each group played and who left since then in my opinion

Yes definitely. That's part of negotiating. It was noteworthy at the time that Texas got the first meeting with Coleman. Now, after all the other offers and experiences are laid out, Texas should have a chance to counter and provide one final pitch. That is where they will need to get over the line with the former Auburn Tiger.

Just hope it gets to that point because no one can provide an on-field package like Texas can here. it's all about making sure the $$ is as competitive as possible.

[Chop]

5 minutes ago, Joe Zura said:

I heard the phrase all in and stopped reading. I’m happy for you or not happy 😂

 

[jtsween]

2 minutes ago, NotGerryHamilton said:

Two things can be true. High School recruiting has been strong. But now you have massive holes on your roster. If you’re serious about winning, be serious about spending in the portal. 
 

-Our current WR group is very young and they also aren’t reliable (drops), our RB room is a joke right now, our OLine outside the tackles is a joke (they legit almost got Arch killed this past season), and Linebacker is even thinner than RB. 
 

-The “we like our guys” motto from this past season cost this team a chance at the playoffs. 
 

-Look at the teams left in the CFP, they spend in the portal on elite players and it pays off. Texas didn’t do that last year and they’ve been watching since. 

this isn’t last offseason. if the staff liked their guys and didn’t want to be active in the portal, they wouldn’t have let their guys walk. The staff has already probably doubled the amount of prospects that have visited campus out of the portal. they are clearly running this very different from the process they ran last year

[Hornsfan01]

It might be time to overspend sark. Finish 1st in a few of those “2nd and 3rds” you were mentioning. He knows as well as anyone who we have leading this team. Arch and Simmons. Will we have a duo in the same draft class leading each unit as good as them? Maybe? But man I know it’s a process but hearing we going from all in to aggressive stings a little. I’m not saying over spend every year. But this year might be the best one to do it with 2 top 5 picks on your roster right now. 

[CJ Vogel]

17 minutes ago, Chop said:

 

Lol

[coltonmartinez]

Great Take CJ! I think of it in baseball terms. The Yankees are “aggressive” but the Dodgers are “all in.” 4 MVPs on their 2024 WS team. Went out and still signed the top players in FA and won the 2025 WS. Doing the same for 2026. 

I think they realize what the window looks like with Ohtani and how the money spent makes itself back through all the publicity and marketing. We can and should do the same with this years Longhorn Team.

And I guess at RB another thing to remember is to look at Jabbar Juluke’s players coached. Trevor Etienne and Baugh were both 3 star recruits according to 247. Hope to land a big starting back but If we don’t get a dawg at RB2, I have a good feeling about what coach Juluke can do with the guys on campus.

 

[Hesity]

14 minutes ago, CJ Vogel said:

Yes definitely. That's part of negotiating. It was noteworthy at the time that Texas got the first meeting with Coleman. Now, after all the other offers and experiences are laid out, Texas should have a chance to counter and provide one final pitch. That is where they will need to get over the line with the former Auburn Tiger.

Just hope it gets to that point because no one can provide an on-field package like Texas can here. it's all about making sure the $$ is as competitive as possible.

Cam might also be a sensible traveler. His visit schedule is east to west. Maybe he is cognizant of his carbon footprint?
 

@CJ Vogel do you know how the actual transportation works for Cam? Does our PJ pick him up in Auburn, and then A&M’s PJ picks him up in Austin, and so forth? I assume he’s not flying commercial this week.