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    Jeff Howe
    College football’s talking season is rife with hyperbole.
    Thankfully, Steve Sarkisian shelved coachspeak last month after praising Laurence Seymore for the strides he’s made since joining the Texas program in June. It painted the most realistic picture of what to expect from Seymore when the Longhorns hold their first preseason practice on Wednesday.
    “It’s difficult in the summertime. We’re in underwear,” Sarkisian said during his press conference at the Texas High School Coaches Association Convention in Houston. “We'll find out a lot in training camp, especially when we get into the second week, when we're really in full pads and we're getting going. But so far, so good with him.”
    If Seymore, a 2025 second-team All-American with 27 career games played and 21 starts over parts of four seasons at Miami, Akron and Western Kentucky, wins the starting job at left guard, he’ll fill the biggest need Texas had on either side of the ball coming out of spring practice.
    But Seymore must win the job. It won’t be given to him.
    Seymore has to prove to Sarkisian and Kyle Flood that he’s the best option to protect Arch Manning and elevate the running game over Jaydon Chatman, Jackson Christian, Dylan Sikorski and any other challengers Seymore might face in camp.
    Before the 6-foot-2-inch, 316-pound Seymore hits the field for the first time in a formal practice with the Longhorns, there are three things to consider regarding the left guard competition:
    — Seymore’s presence as a pass blocker could be the most significant upgrade any of the transfer portal additions on offense will bring to the table in 2026.
    Seymore’s Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade of 82.6 ranked 30th among FBS guards with at least 100 pass-blocking snaps last season (eight pressures allowed on 503 opportunities). While he dominated the competition in Conference USA, Seymore also allowed just one pressure on 48 opportunities against LSU and was charged with only one penalty on 840 snaps for the season.
    Those are important numbers against the backdrop of what Texas got out of the left guard position in 2025.
    According to PFF, the left guard position was responsible for 26.5 percent of the dropbacks on which Manning was pressured. That was the highest percentage of any position on the Texas offensive line and the highest percentage for any FBS offensive line’s left guard spot among the 136 quarterbacks in the country who were pressured on at least 50 dropbacks.
    — One of the legitimate questions regarding Seymore’s potential impact is how he’ll operate within Sarkisian’s zone running game.
    PFF’s run-blocking grades rated DJ Campbell (73.6) and Cole Hutson (71.6) as better overall run blockers than Seymore (63.9; PFF considers a grade of 70 above average). Of Seymore’s 308 gradable run-blocking snaps, 62.7 percent of them were on gap schemes; on zone runs, Campbell (81.2) and Hutson (74.5) graded out significantly higher than Seymore (60.2).
    Seymore should help the Longhorns improve as a gap/power running team. Still, Seymore must be well-rounded enough to keep opponents from successfully attacking a vulnerable part of the line.
    — Whether Hutson rejoins the team or not, Chatman, Christian, Sikorski and the other contenders for playing time at left guard have an advantage over Seymore with their varying levels of experience in Sarkisian’s offense.
    How fast Seymore absorbs the offense and takes to the field could be the biggest factor in how long the competition lasts. If Seymore needs time to get things down, Sarkisian and Flood could look at other options, some of which could significantly alter the projected depth chart as camp progresses.
    Andre Cojoe, Jonte Newman or John Turntine III emerging as a viable third tackle option behind Trevor Goosby and Melvin Siani could lead to Jordan Coleman, who spent the spring at left tackle while Goosby was recovering from shoulder surgery, getting a look at guard.
    Not only would Seymore winning the left guard job put the starting five for the Sept. 5 season opener against Texas State in stone, but it would also let Sarkisian and Flood get their depth pieces in order. Maximizing the available depth by turning to the best possible combination in a pinch is pivotal to the offense maintaining consistency and potency during a potential 17-game season, to say the least.
    Jeff Howe
    With Texas set for its first preseason practice on Wednesday, there are four things on my mind.
    — Typically, when reports about live portions of practice come out from behind the burnt orange curtain, the defense is ahead of the offense. I’m preparing for that to be the case this month, especially given the time several key cogs in the offense missed during spring practice.
    A lot of that focus has rightfully gone to the offensive line, where Laurence Seymore will attempt to win the left guard job while playing between Trevor Goosby (who spent most of the spring recovering from shoulder surgery) and Connor Robertson. Beyond the left guard battle, however, camp will be a great opportunity for Goosby, Arch Manning and Ryan Wingo to knock the rust off while learning how to operate with the new pieces around them.
    It’s not like the offense is starting at a deficit because there's no substitute for the live snaps and overall experience that Goosby, Manning and Wingo have in Steve Sarkisian’s system. Still, with everybody healthy and ready to go, Sarkisian has a full slate of practices to ensure his offense is better prepared to step on the field than the unit was at this time last year, the importance of which can’t be overstated.
    I don’t know if anyone reading this can handle the offense trudging through any portion of the September schedule, let alone the first half of the season before finding its groove.
    —  The competition to enter Sarkisian’s circle of trust at wide receiver and the battle between Michael Masunas and Spencer Shannon to be the No. 1 in-line tight end shouldn’t be overlooked. The same can be said for the running back pecking order, where not enough is being said about Derrek Cooper pushing Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers for playing time.
    Cooper’s stature (6-1, 212) is more in line with the type of bell-cow running back Sarkisian has typically preferred to see emerge. He drew rave reviews as a pass protector during spring practice and Cooper has the kind of physical running style and forward body lean that could be a key ingredient to resolving the offense’s long-running short-yardage and red-zone issues.
    The 2026 Texas ground attack could mirror what Sarkisian had at USC in 2007 and 2008, when he called plays for an offense that produced three running backs with 500 or more rushing yards in back-to-back seasons. Or Cooper could be the latest in a long line of Longhorn freshman running backs who grabbed the bull by the horns right out of the gate, leaving those outside the top three spots on the depth chart fighting tooth and nail for the remaining consequential snaps.
    — For all of the talk about a disruptive defensive line presence emerging to go along with Colin Simmons, a healthy Maraad Watson could go a long way toward solidifying the rotation and allowing Will Muschamp to get creative with how he utilizes an embarrassment of riches at EDGE.
    The 333-pound Watson worked with the nose tackles and with the tackle group in the spring. If he’s truly a 330-plus-pound defender who can play multiple shades, Watson would become one of Muschamp’s most valuable chess pieces.
    In theory, Watson could play next to Ian Geffrard when the situation calls for Texas to beef up the front. Watson could also be paired with Alex January and Hero Kanu on standard downs and then be lined up with Justus Terry and Muschamp’s plethora of edge defenders on more predictable passing downs.
    For me, Watson is in a group with Cooper, Terry, Brandon Baker, Jermaine Bishop Jr., Ty’Anthony Smith, Brad Spence and Bo Mascoe as players who can raise the Longhorns’ ceiling.
    — When the On Texas Football staff picked the player they were most excited to see in camp for our latest "Sideline Debate," I almost picked Xavier Filsaime.
    As good as Graceson Littleton was as a true freshman, I can’t get over Sarkisian going out of his way to mention Filsaime as a nickel candidate while addressing the Muschamp hire last December. While surgery after the Citrus Bowl had the 6-foot-1-inch, 193-pound Filsaime on the mend during spring practice, he fits the physical profile of the bigger-bodied nickel Muschamp has typically preferred.
    While I don’t think Muschamp will experiment with Littleton at safety (even though I think he’d thrive there in Muschamp’s scheme because of his instincts and ball skills), the idea of Littleton getting freed up to solidify an area of concern with Filsaime occupying the nickel role is intriguing, to say the least. Regardless, if Filsaime approached Muschamp’s arrival and the return of Blake Gideon to the Forty Acres like a man who has a new lease on life, he has a chance to remind people why several elite defensive back evaluators (Corey Raymond, Nick Saban and Brent Venables among them) thought so highly of him during the 2024 recruiting cycle.
    Jeff Howe
    With the Longhorns set to hit the field for the start of preseason practice next week, it’s time for On Texas Football to provide a pre-camp snapshot of the Texas depth chart.
    This is what we expect the depth chart to look like when the Longhorns open camp, not a projection of what it will look like when the first official depth chart is released for the Sept. 5 season opener against Texas State. The high school signees (including John Meredith III) and additional players picked up from the transfer portal who weren’t with the team for spring practice have been added to the depth chart, as they weren't included in our post-spring practice snapshot.
    According to Steve Sarkisian, Texas will enter camp with a healthy team. Except for offensive lineman Kaden Scherer, who suffered a serious knee injury early in spring practice, the players who missed all or parts of spring practice while recovering from surgery or injuries are on the depth chart.
     
    OFFENSE
     
    QUARTERBACK
    1. (16) Arch Manning (6-4, 222, Jr.-2L)
    2. (9) KJ Lacey (6-0, 188, RS-Fr.)
    3. (19) MJ Morris (6-1, 201, Sr.-TR)
    4. (6) Dia Bell (6-3, 206, Fr.-HS)
     
    RUNNING BACK
    1. (0) Raleek Brown (5-9, 193, Sr.-TR) — OR — (2) Hollywood Smothers (5-11, 193, Jr.-TR)
    2. (5) Derrek Cooper (6-1, 212, Fr.-HS)
    3. (21) Ryan Niblett (5-9, 189, Jr.-1L)
    4. (31) James Simon (5-11, 208, RS-Fr.)
    5. (11) Michael Terry III (6-3, 229, RS-Fr.)
    6. (28) Jett Walker (6-2, 224, Fr.-HS)
     
    WIDE RECEIVER (X)
    1. (8) Cam Coleman (6-3, 204, Jr.-TR)
    2. (18) Sterling Berkhalter (6-3, 196, Sr.-TR) — OR — (7) Kaliq Lockett (6-2, 181, RS-Fr.)
     
    WIDE RECEIVER (Z)
    1. (1) Ryan Wingo (6-2, 214, Jr.-2L)
    3. (13) Kohen Brown (6-0, 202, Fr.-HS)
    4. (14) Chris Stewart (6-0, 184, Fr.-HS)
     
    WIDE RECEIVER (H)
    1. (3) Emmett Mosley V (6-2, 199, Jr.-1L)
    2. (4) Jermaine Bishop Jr. (6-0, 166, Fr.-HS) — OR — (17) Daylan McCutcheon (5-11, 183, Soph.-1L)
     
    TIGHT END (Y)
    1. (15) Michael Masunas (6-5, 259, Sr.-TR) — OR — (83) Spencer Shannon (6-7, 260, Jr.-2L)
    2. (88) Charlie Jilek (6-5, 238, Fr.-HS)
     
    TIGHT END (H)
    1. (81) Nick Townsend (6-3, 250, Soph.-1L)
    2. (85) Emaree Winston (6-1, 245, Soph.-1L)
    3. (87) Will Randle (6-4, 249, Jr.-SQ)
     
    LEFT TACKLE
    1. (74) Trevor Goosby (6-7, 325, Jr.-2L)
    2. (78) Jordan Coleman (6-5, 356, RS-Fr.)
    3. (51) John Turntine III (6-4, 295, Fr.-HS)
     
    LEFT GUARD
    1. (75) Jaydon Chatman (6-4, 330, Jr.-2L)
    2. (56) Dylan Sikorski (6-4, 335, Soph.-TR)
    3. (50) Laurence Seymore (6-2, 316, Sr.-TR)
    4. (76) Jackson Christian (6-5, 308, RS-Fr.)
     
    CENTER
    1. (62) Connor Robertson (6-4, 316, Sr.-3L)
    2. (76) Jackson Christian (6-5, 308, RS-Fr.)
    3. (56) Dylan Sikorski (6-4, 335, Soph.-TR)
     
    RIGHT GUARD
    1. (73) Brandon Baker (6-4, 315, Jr.-2L)
    2. (58) Devin Coleman (6-5, 340, RS-Fr.)
    3. (68) Paris Patterson Jr. (6-5, 354, Jr.-TR)
    4. (72) Nicholas Robertson (6-3, 349, Fr.-HS)
    5. (70) Kaden Scherer (6-6, 291, Fr.-HS)
     
    RIGHT TACKLE
    1. (71) Melvin Siani (6-6, 317, Sr.-TR)
    2. (77) Andre Cojoe (6-6, 339, Soph.-1L)
    3. (79) Jonte Newman (6-4, 310, RSFr.-TR)
     
    DEFENSE

    NOSE TACKLE
    1. (95) Ian Geffrard (6-5, 375, Sr.-TR)
    2. (88) Maraad Watson (6-3, 333, Jr.-1L)
    3. (90) Josiah Sharma (6-4, 341, RS-Fr.)
    4. (96) Zion Williams (6-4, 370, RSFr.-TR)
     
    DEFENSIVE TACKLE
    1. (93) Hero Kanu (6-5, 309, Sr.-1L)
    2. (15) Justus Terry (6-5, 289, Soph.-1L)
    3. (52) James Johnson (6-3, 279, Fr.-HS)
    4. (55) Elijah Ali (6-4, 306, Fr.-HS)
     
    DEFENSIVE TACKLE
    1. (97) Alex January (6-5, 308, Jr.-2L)
    2. (33) Myron Charles (6-4, 312, RS-Fr.)
     
    JACK
    1. (1) Colin Simmons (6-3, 246, Jr.-2L)
    2. (92) Colton Vasek (6-5, 252, Jr.-2L)
    3. (46) Smith Orogbo (6-4, 238, RS-Fr.) — OR — (99) Richard Wesley (6-4, 258, Fr.-HS)\
    4. (80) Brinley Tita (6-4, 252, Fr.-HS)
     
    END
    1. (40) Lance Jackson (6-5, 274, Soph.-1L)
    2. (19) Zina Umeozulu (6-5, 272, Soph.-1L)
    3. (94) Jamarion Carlton (6-5, 280, Fr.-HS)
     
    WLB
    1. (3) Rasheem Biles (6-1, 222, Sr.-TR)
    2. (30) Rocky Cummings (6-4, 227, Fr.-HS)
    3. (37) Jonathan Cunningham (6-2, 198, RS-Fr.) — OR — (45) Darius Snow (6-1, 219, Sr.-TR)
     
    SLB
    1. (14) Brad Spence (6-2, 249, Sr.-1L)
    2. (18) Kosi Okpala (6-3, 235, Fr.-HS)
     
    MLB
    1. (26) Ty’Anthony Smith (6-1, 214, Jr.-2L)
    2. (28) Justin Cryer (6-1, 241, Sr.-TR)
    3. (16) Tyler Atkinson (6-1, 219, Fr.-HS)
    4. (44) Markus Boswell (6-1, 228, Soph.-TR)
     
    NICKEL
    1. (29) Graceson Littleton (6-0, 182, Soph.-1L)
    2. (27) Wardell Mack (6-0, 183, Soph.-1L) — OR — (17) Xavier Filsaime (6-1, 193, Jr.-2L)
     
    CORNERBACK
    1. (6) Kobe Black (6-2, 202, Jr.-2L) — OR — (8) Kade Phillips (6-0, 191, Soph.-1L)
    2. (21) Hayward Howard Jr. (6-2, 182, Fr.-HS)
    3. John Meredith III (Fr.-HS)
     
    CORNERBACK
    1. (5) Bo Mascoe (5-11, 199, Sr.-TR)
    2. (24) Warren Roberson (6-0, 189, Jr.-2L)
    3. (11) Samari Matthews (6-1, 197, Fr.-HS)
    4. (36) Nick Hudson (5-10, 179, Sr.-TR)
     
    FREE SAFETY
    1. (4) Jelani McDonald (6-2, 210, Sr.-3L)
    2. (23) Jordon Johnson-Rubell (5-10, 212, Jr.-2L)
    3. (25) Toray Davis (6-1, 197, Fr.-HS)
    4. (13) Zelus Hicks (6-2, 183, RS-Fr.)
     
    STRONG SAFETY
    1. (2) Derek Williams Jr. (6-2, 199, Jr.-2L)
    2. (17) Xavier Filsaime (6-1, 193, Jr.-2L)
    3. (6) Kobe Black (6-2, 202, Jr.-2L) — OR — (37) Jonathan Cunningham (6-2, 198, RS-Fr.)
    4. (9) Jonah Williams (6-3, 210, Soph.-1L)
    5. (31) Yaheim Riley (5-11, 187, Fr.-HS)
     
    PUNTER
    1. (43) Mac Chuimento (6-4, 228, Sr.-TR)
    2. (45) Mikey Bukauskus (6-2, 210, Fr.-HS)
     
    KICKER
    1. (44) Gianni Spetic (6-3, 221, Sr.-TR)
    2. (46) Spencer Barnett (6-0, 215, Soph.-1L)
    3. (49) Jake Collett (6-0, 182, Fr.-HS)
     
    PUNT RETURN
    1. (21) Ryan Niblett (5-9, 189, Jr.-1L)
    2. (0) Raleek Brown (5-9, 193, Sr.-TR)
    3. (17) Daylan McCutcheon (5-11, 183, Soph.-1L)
     
    KICKOFF RETURN
    1. (0) Raleek Brown (5-9, 193, Sr.-TR) — AND — (4) Jermaine Bishop Jr. (6-0, 166, Fr.-HS)
    2. (5) Derrek Cooper (6-1, 212, Fr.-HS) — AND — (11) Michael Terry III (6-3, 229, RS-Fr.)
    Bobby Burton
    Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports.
    The SEC and Big 10 have both been given a deadline of 9am tomorrow to give their support or not.
    As I wrote earlier today, some of the compromises made recently by the senate bill are moves in the right direction. But they are not complete concessions, which I believe is necessary to move this bill forward.
    What is the difference between a compromise and a concession?
    Forcing Texas to play Texas Tech or any other team, for example, is something that never should have been addressed in the bill in the first place. But somehow meaningful legacy pieces of it remain because of the idiocy of putting it in there in the first place.
    In other words, the start of this bill was so bad and so lopsided at the start that getting to any sort of real agreement was far fetched.
    Now, we wait to see the SEC and Big 10 response.
     
     
    Jeff Howe
    Steve Sarkisian often touts how much he loves the pageantry of college football.
    The best example supporting Sarkisian’s position is how seriously the Texas head coach takes the program’s rivalry games. For Sarkisian, it’s not just another game whenever the Longhorns line up against Oklahoma or Texas A&M.
    At SEC Media Days in Tampa, Sarkisian didn’t mince words when he was asked what it’ll be like to face former Texas wideout Parker Livingstone whenever the Longhorns and Sooners meet in Dallas on Oct. 10.
    At the end of the day, Sarkisian said, personal feelings get put to the side when the Golden Hat is on the line.
    “I hope we kick his ass,” Sarkisian said. “I mean, it’s the Red River Rivalry. You know what I mean? He chose to go there. He’s on the other side. That’s the way the game goes.
    “At the end of the day, it’s competition,” he added. “After the game, I’m sure I’ll give him a big hug. Before that, we’re trying to beat his ass. That’s the way it goes.”
    The recently-revived series with the Aggies is no different. Even Sarkisian’s admission that he “was not happy” that the Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in-game operations staff played a clip of Mike Elko referring to Texas A&M as the state’s flagship program on the video board after Texas secured a 27-17 victory last November shed light on what’s allowed Sarkisian to enter his sixth season on the Forty Acres with a combined 5-2 record against the program’s two primary rivals.
    “Emotions run high in those games,” said Sarkisian, who put the kibosh on a potentially volatile on-field celebration after the Longhorns’ 17-7 win over the Aggies at Kyle Field in 2024, which had the potential to get out of hand. “We had a team that was trying to think about going and planting the flag two years ago and I wouldn't let that happen. I respect the game of football and I respect college football and I respect the football gods and there's a way to go about our business and there's a way not. Rivalries are great, but we've got to be able to fight the emotions that come with the rivalry.”
    With all due respect to Arkansas, who the Longhorns have faced just eight times since the Razorbacks left the Southwest Conference for the SEC in 1992, Sarkisian and other Texas coaches are judged by what they do against Oklahoma and Texas A&M, for better or worse. While Sarkisian hasn’t been perfect in his tenure, he’s more often than not had his squad ready for the games that matter to the burnt orange faithful.
    Sarkisian has won three of his first five meetings with the Sooners, with two losses that were there for the taking. The Longhorns had a 21-point first-half lead in Sarkisian’s Red River debut and took an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter before suffering a 55-48 loss; Texas also had a 30-27 lead with 1:17 to play in the 2023 game, which Oklahoma won on a last-second touchdown, 34-30.
    Even with the two losses, Sarkisian’s 3-2 record is only topped by Darrell Royal and Fred Akers for the best five-game start to the Red River series among the nine Longhorn coaches in the AP Poll era (since 1936) who’ve coached at least five games in the series. Royal and Akers both won four of their first five games against the Sooners; Akers won five of his first seven (5-4-1 overall record), while Royal won eight in a row (1958-65) and 12 of 13 (1958-70) en route to a 12-7-1 mark against his alma mater.
    Sarkisian's three wins in Texas' last four clashes with the Sooners ended Oklahoma's dominant stretch of 10 wins in 13 meetings. The Longhorns' historic 49-0 rout in 2022 is the largest shutout victory in series history and is part of Texas' 136-43 scoring advantage in the last four games, three of which the Sooners have failed to score a touchdown.
    Among the nine Longhorn coaches in the AP Poll era to coach at least two games against the Aggies, Sarkisian, Royal and Akers are the only three to enjoy a 2-0 series start.
    Nobody should expect Sarkisian to rival Royal’s 17-3 mark against Texas A&M, which included winning streaks of 10 (1957-66) and seven (1968-74) games, respectively. Nevertheless, Sarkisian has a good start in potentially joining Royal, Mack Brown (10-4), Ed Price (4-2) and Dana X. Bible (8-2) as the only Texas coaches in the AP Poll era to finish their careers with a winning record against the Aggies.
    Include Sarkisian’s two wins over Arkansas (a 2-1 record after a forgettable 40-21 loss to the Razorbacks in Fayetteville in 2021) and he’s 7-3 in rivalry games through his first five seasons. On top of building championship-caliber rosters, Sarkisian can set Texas up for continued success in those games if his team keeps walking the fine line between playing with emotion and having it spill over.
    “I think that's why we've had success in some of our rivalry games, whether it's A&M or OU or Arkansas,” Sarkisian said. “I think we do a good job of managing our emotions. That's a real challenge when you get into games like that.”
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