OTF Premium Thinking Out Loud After Weekend 1 of Portal Pandemonium

[PaulieD]

59 minutes ago, CJ Vogel said:

If there was ever a year to prove that paragraph wrong, it would be this year.

Landing Cam Coleman and the Michigan OL is the easiest way to disprove it.

I believe that the tone of the board will be decidedly more upbeat by say Friday.  

[Chop]

3 minutes ago, coltonmartinez said:

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.

 

I honestly didn’t hate what I saw from Clark and if our OL upgrades… I think a solid speedster would be solid

[CJ Vogel]

2 minutes ago, PaulieD said:

I believe that the tone of the board will be decidedly more upbeat by say Friday.  

I like your thinking.

[CJ Vogel]

3 minutes ago, Hesity said:

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. 

My assumption is he drove to A&M from Texas. Then flew to Lubbock. On what plane? I don't know. 

[CJ Vogel]

6 minutes ago, coltonmartinez said:

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.

 

I like this comparison quite a bit.

LAD will pay $170M in luxury tax fees this year. There spared no expense to maximize their Ohtani Window. We will see if Texas gets to that Dodgers level this year. 

[PaulieD]

2 minutes ago, CJ Vogel said:

I like your thinking.

Well sir, I trust Coach Sark, his stable of coaches, CDC, and the Good Lord.  We ARE the University of Texas, and we provide premium exposure for athletes.  🤘

[diegozanna20]

2 minutes ago, CJ Vogel said:

I like your thinking.

I think by Friday they're gonna have Sark's head on a stick

[Chop]

@CJ Vogel another question

 

if we truly are one of the richest colleges in the world and have all of these BMD’s. Why are we not utilizing them like some other schools seem to be. Do we just spread money out more between sports or they don’t care as much?

 

am I just completely wrong here because if I am I’m fine being told so lol

[Coop2395]

1 minute ago, CJ Vogel said:

I like this comparison quite a bit.

LAD will pay $170M in luxury tax fees this year. There spared no expense to maximize their Ohtani Window. We will see if Texas gets to that Dodgers level this year. 

To be fair @CJ Vogel, can arch, Simmons, wingo, and goosby play on deferred contracts 😂😂😂

[Roy Hinojosa]

I get Cam Coleman is doing what is best for himself by entertaining all offers, but when they said "all-in" I had thought that meant the offer would be too good to shop around. 

I'm fine with the Texas staff not being aggressive like Tech, but after last year's o-line and running backs portal mismanagement, yesterday's freak out was going to happen.

[thatdude2]

2 hours ago, liveattheoasis said:

Yeeesh, what an ominous and depressing last line.

It’s true Vogel speak now. He knows no school can realistically have an All American team lined up at every position. We hear about Texas Tech spent all this money in the portal last year, but how many of those guys were all Americans coming into the season or finished as that this season.

[CJ Vogel]

57 minutes ago, Coop2395 said:

To be fair @CJ Vogel, can arch, Simmons, wingo, and goosby play on deferred contracts 😂😂😂

Lol I like the way your brain thinks!

[Coop2395]

1 minute ago, CJ Vogel said:

Lol I like the way your brain thinks!

It is crazy to think that in 2040 the dodgers will be shelling out over 120 mil a year for a bunch of dudes that haven’t played an inning for them in years. 

Edited Monday at 06:28 PM by Coop2395

[hookem1014]

CJ do you know if Texas is still waiting to see if certain RBs (aside from Baugh) will enter the portal? Wonder if there’s still a chance for Lacy

[drag worm]

What a mess.

[512Horn]

"I believe now, I will be referring to Texas in the portal to being 'Aggressive' from here on. It's a bit misleading, going All-In typically indicates you are completely committed to a cause and will exhaust all avenues to achieve something."

Appreciate this!

[drag worm]

2 hours ago, CHorn427 said:

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. 

 

Yep and retained a few of their key juniors to stay as seniors. That's what all in means. 

[Texas fan in Georgia]

Sooner or later somebody’s gonna post a comment along the lines of “arch should’ve taken a bigger pay cut” or “arch should just play for free.” I’m almost counting on it

[Battrayal]

Just now, Texas fan in Georgia said:

Sooner or later somebody’s gonna post a comment along the lines of “arch should’ve taken a bigger pay cut” or “arch should just play for free.” I’m almost counting on it

"The Manning family should fork out a bag to protect him"

 

Actually on second thought, giving the Michigan guys a bag from them could be almost as valuable as insurance.

[Texas fan in Georgia]

3 minutes ago, Battrayal said:

"The Manning family should fork out a bag to protect him"

 

Actually on second thought, giving the Michigan guys a bag from them could be almost as valuable as insurance.

Not gonna pretend that I know without a doubt, but do we really think at least one of those uncles haven’t made a donation here and there to help ? 

[mmdaytontexas]

2 hours ago, CJ Vogel said:

Thoughts from the Weekend

It has been roughly 80 hours since the portal opened on midnight of January 2nd.

In that time, Texas has secured four signings: Three specialists and a 380-pound nose tackle from Arkansas who logged more than 460 snaps last season. Geffrard, in particular, fills a clear positional need Texas identified heading into January.

The Longhorns have also hosted the No. 1 player in the portal in WR Cam Coleman, as well as Michigan OT Andrew Sprague, Florida State DB Edwin Joseph, and several others are slated to visit Monday and beyond.

For about a month now, myself and others have been preaching the 'All In' mentality that Texas was set to bring to the portal. I believe now, I will be referring to Texas in the portal to being 'Aggressive' from here on. It's a bit misleading, going All-In typically indicates you are completely committed to a cause and will exhaust all avenues to achieve something.

Texas should still put together a very aggressive class. But what I want to shy away from is the idea that if Texas is linked to a player, that means that player will be in burnt orange next year.

It just isn't that simple.

The Isaac Brown ordeal from Sunday night reminded me a bit too much of the Kenneth Grant or Mason Graham saga from last year. Or the rumors around Peter Woods from Clemson after the CFP game. Or Chris Bell, who also returned to Louisville. 

Or even for guys who did enter the portal. Remember the Jordan Addison deal as well? 

Or the connection to David Bailey and Lee Hunter a year ago.

It is no secret agents and players use the Texas name and logo to garner extra dollars from the school they originally wanted to stay at.

The list of names Texas is rumored to be after mirrored that of an all-conference lineup. Some have entered the portal. Some have not. If Sunday night taught us anything about the rumored targets, it is that there is both reason for optimism and hesitancy. 

I hate being wrong. And when I said it sounded like Brown and Texas were nearing a marriage, it's because that was what was portrayed to me. Yet, I was wrong.

Louisville went full LA Clippers in 2015 to re-sign DeAndre Jordan this weekend. And it worked.

What gets overlooked at times is, hey, some other schools are in positions where they need to match the desperation of Texas. 

However, there is no reason Texas should not be one of the most aggressive schools in the country when it comes to the portal this window. Arch Manning's final year + one of the game's most instant gamebreakers in Colin Simmons spearheads your defense. 

Again, I do believe Texas is going to fill the majority of its needs 

If going All In is the true message this year, there is no reason to penny pinch. No reason to sit on money. No reason to look for deals. You do what is required to get the deal done. That goes for Cam Coleman, the Michigan offensive linemen and for now, whatever is necessary to get a true bell cow at Texas for 2026.

I guess to wrap this up, my approach to Texas in the portal moving forward is this: Texas will be aggressive. 

How aggressive? I don't know. History tells me they will finish 2nd or 3rd in portal fights that they would have liked to have won when looking back around week 3 or week 9 of the season.

 

It is pretty damn obvious that Texas is just not going to overpay for a position and destroy the chemistry on their team. I find that admirable. If they think CC is worth a price and he will take it, then great. If not, they are willing to work with the 5-stars they have and find reasonable depth in the portal, like Mosely.

[HORNS1997]

Michael Masunas Any update if he is going to commit to texas? @Gerry Hamilton @CJ Vogel @Bobby Burton

[William Gillean]

2 minutes ago, mmdaytontexas said:

It is pretty damn obvious that Texas is just not going to overpay for a position and destroy the chemistry on their team. I find that admirable. If they think CC is worth a price and he will take it, then great. If not, they are willing to work with the 5-stars they have and find reasonable depth in the portal, like Mosely.

This is a pretty plausible explanation for why it's not just $$$ to overpay a particular player.

Team chemistry is a thing.  There really are things to balance here.

3 OL

2 RB

are the real needs for this team to make everything else work better.

[MikeH]

3 hours ago, 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.

You like Sorsby in a Leftwich offense more than Maiava in a Riley offense? I think I'd still take door number two between those options.

[Thorn007]

WTF☹️