Manning faced more ranked opponents last season than Mateer or Reed, with the Longhorns battling six opponents (Ohio State, the Sooners, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Texas A&M and Michigan) that ended the season inside the Associated Press Top 25. Mateer faced five such foes (the Wolverines, the Longhorns, Ole Miss and Alabama twice) while Reed squared off against three (Notre Dame, Texas and Miami).

Manning, who led the Longhorns to a 4-2 record in those games, has the edge over Mateer (2-3) and Reed (1-2) in his performance against ranked opponents.

And it’s not as close as the Sooner or Aggie faithful might think.

Manning: 125-for-196 (63.8 percent completion rate), 1,315 yards (219.2 yards per game), 9 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and a passer rating of 133.25

Mateer: 99-for-167 (59.3 percent completion rate, 1,140 yards (228 yards per game), 4 touchdowns, 5 interceptions and a passer rating of 118.53

Reed: 62-for-108 (57.4 percent completion rate), 777 yards (259 yards per game), 2 touchdowns, 5 interceptions and a 114.69 passer rating

According to CFBStats.com, of the 13 qualifying SEC quarterbacks who played against at least three ranked opponents last season, Mateer and Reed ranked 12th and 13th in passer rating, respectively. They tied Tennessee’s Joey Aguilar and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers for the most interceptions against ranked opponents. Only the 13 touchdown passes by Georgia’s Gunnar Stockton topped Manning’s number of scoring tosses (tied with Aguilar for the second-most touchdown passes against ranked opponents among SEC quarterbacks).

Manning, Mateer and Reed are capable runners with differing styles. Their numbers on the ground against ranked opponents were, however, in the same neighborhood; Manning (44.5 yards per game and three rushing touchdowns) had the edge in yards per carry (7.42), Mateer (26.8 yards per game and 1.79 yards per attempt) had the most rushing touchdowns (four) among the three and Reed (3.97 yards per attempt and no touchdowns) led the way in rushing yards per game (45).

Still, what’s going to make the difference in where the ceiling resides for Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M in 2026 is the success their respective quarterbacks have when they're asked to make critical plays from the pocket, along with protecting the football. Without question, based on last season’s results, the highest level of trust in one of the three getting the job done when it matters should be in Manning.

***

When identifying members of the 2026 recruiting class best positioned to contribute early as true freshmen, linebacker is a fascinating position to examine.

Will Muschamp cited depth, or lack thereof, at the position as one of the biggest questions his defense faced in spring practice. While the Longhorns might not need Tyler Atkinson, Rocky Cummings or Kosi Okpala to log significant snaps, the perceived gap between the duo of Cummings and Okpala and Atkinson is much tighter than anticipated.

That's a good sign for the position’s future.

Atkinson was the blue-chip signee among the group. Although he had a quiet spring, relative to expectations, the 6-foot-1, 216-pound Atkinson has plenty of time to get his feet underneath him and figure things out as he develops behind Rasheem Biles, Justin Cryer, Ty’Anthony Smith and Brad Spence.

Cummings looked more and more like a tremendous evaluation by the Texas staff as spring practice progressed. It says a lot that he was committed to Cal when Justin Wilcox, long recognized as one of the top defensive minds in college football, with a track record for producing quality linebackers, was the head coach of the Golden Bears and signed off on the 6-foot-4-inch, 226-pound Carlsbad (Calif.) product's offer.

The same can be said of Okpala, who had Penn State among his final choices, along with Miami. Hall of Fame defensive end Jason Taylor was Okpala’s lead recruiter for the Hurricanes, further validating the 6-foot-3-inch, 239-pound Katy Mayde Creek product’s potential as a disruptor off the edge.

While Muschamp didn’t recruit any of the three to Texas, the trio has a chance to be special in their specific roles under his tutelage.

***

The news that D’Onta Foreman is reportedly going into coaching will keep the Longhorns’ 2016 Doak Walker Award winner close to the game after putting together one of the more remarkable NFL careers a product of the Forty Acres has enjoyed.

It would’ve been fair to write Foreman off after tearing his Achilles tendon toward the end of his rookie season with the Houston Texans in 2017. It made even more sense to think Foreman had a short NFL shelf life when, in the span of less than three weeks, he was waived by the Texans (poor work habits were cited as the primary reason, including reportedly showing up late for meetings), picked up by the Indianapolis Colts, suffered a torn bicep in training camp and was waived by general manager Chris Ballard, who, like Foreman, played high school football at Texas City.

After spending time with the Tennessee Titans in 2020 and the Atlanta Falcons in 2021, it was Foreman’s second stint with the Titans when he started to show the form he had when he rushed for 2,028 yards and 15 touchdowns for the Longhorns, breaking Ricky Williams’ single-season school record for rushing yards by a junior (1,893 in 1997) and joining Williams as the only Texas running backs to record a 2,000-yard season (Williams ran for 2,124 yards en route to winning the Heisman Trophy in 1998).

Foreman ran for 132 yards and a touchdown in a Week 17 win over the Miami Dolphins on Jan. 2, 2022, helping the Titans clinch the AFC South title with one of his three 100-yard games on the season. Forman’s best NFL season came in 2022 with the Carolina Panthers, when he rushed for 914 yards and five touchdowns.

Over seven NFL seasons, Foreman played in 63 games (24 starts) and rushed for 2,558 yards and 14 touchdowns. Incredibly, 53 of those games (23 starts) and all but 326 of his career rushing yards and one of his rushing touchdowns came after two significant injuries, both of which threatened to derail Foreman’s career.

As someone who was in the room in Galveston with Foreman and his family on the night the Texans took him in the third round (No. 89 overall) of the 2018 draft, it was satisfying to see Foreman extend his playing career and prove himself as a capable NFL running back, when it would’ve been easy to throw in the towel. All told, the lowest-rated recruit in the Longhorns’ 2014 recruiting class, who had to climb a hill academically to get to campus, turned out to be a much better player than anyone could’ve expected.

OTF has also learned that other schools are interested in Cain as a head coaching candidate. Houston isn’t expected to be the last program to try and poach Cain from Jim Schlossnagle’s staff, a group of coaches currently preparing for Friday’s SEC Tournament quarterfinal against a to-be-determined opponent.

Cain, who also serves as the team’s third base coach on game day and works with the program’s catchers, followed Schlossnagle to the Forty Acres after three seasons at Texas A&M (2022-24). Cain helped assemble a 2025 recruiting class that brought 2026 SEC Freshman of the Year Anthony Pack Jr. and first-team All-SEC relief pitcher Sam Cozart to Austin.

Pack and Cozart were instrumental in helping Texas (40-12, 19-10) finish the regular season in second place in the conference standings. The Longhorns also concluded a 52-game campaign with a No. 5 national ranking in the D1Baseball.com Top 25.

Thanks to Cain’s efforts on the recruiting trail, Texas became the first SEC program since Florida in 2009 and 2010 to produce the SEC Freshman of the Year in consecutive seasons, with Dylan Volantis claiming the honor in 2025.

In the transfer portal/NIL era of college football, four of the 10 prospects jumped out as arguably the most important remaining targets for the Longhorns:

— Ismael Camara, OL, Gilmer

— Marcus Fakatou, DL, Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon

— Jabaarrius Garror, EDGE, Mobile (Ala.) Vigor

— Bryan Swanson, OL, Dallas South Oak Cliff

Understanding how championship-caliber rosters are built in college football today highlights the importance of these four prospects, especially when looking at how Steve Sarkisian’s organization constructed the 2026 squad.

While the Longhorns had the resources to get virtually everything they needed during the transfer portal window, high school recruiting taking care of three premium positions (quarterback, offensive tackle and edge rusher), with Arch Manning, Trevor Goosby and Colin Simmons occupying those roles, allowed the staff to focus on other areas of need.

Including defensive linemen, players at four of the five most lucrative positions in the NFL come with a steep price tag in the transfer portal. Texas has the wherewithal that few other programs have to acquire talent. Still, if the Longhorns’ must-have list included a top-tier, premium-position talent other than Cam Coleman, they might not have had the luxury of souping up the running back room with Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers. If Goosby had left for the NFL, it would’ve driven up the price for Melvin Siani (or another tackle on the open market) or, potentially, caused the pool at another position of need to shrink until the tackle need was fulfilled.

There’s no guarantee that the high school pipeline will always be the answer to filling premium positions. Nevertheless, if Texas uses high school recruiting to prioritize quarterbacks and players on both sides of the line of scrimmage who disrupt and protect the most important position on the field at an elite level, Sarkisian’s program has a good chance to remain a step ahead of the pack when future portal windows open.

***

DeShon Elliott's name probably wouldn't jump to the top of the list of all-time great Longhorns worthy of induction into the College Football Hall of Fame when his time comes to enter the pool of candidates, even though he meets the criteria (an NCAA-recognized first-team All-American honor).

With that said, Elliott’s 2017 season is in the record books as arguably the best season by a Longhorn defensive back routinely omitted from the discussion for such an honor.

Only six Texas defenders have intercepted more passes in a single season than the six Elliott snagged in 12 games (he was one of several players who opted out of the Texas Bowl against Missouri, which was a win at the end of Tom Herman’s first season as coach). A Jim Thorpe Award finalist, Elliott is in an exclusive group of Texas defensive backs to be named a unanimous All-American, joining Johnnie Johnson (1978 and 1979), Jerry Gray (1984), Quentin Jammer (2001) and Michael Huff (2005).

Whether Elliott joins what's likely three-fourths of DBU's Mount Rushmore in the Hall of Fame down the road or not (Johnson was inducted in 2007, Gray in 2013 and Huff in 2025), the fact that he has a chance to be an active NFL player when he’s 10 seasons removed from the end of his collegiate career (the other requirement for a player to be considered for induction) is an accomplishment in and of itself.

Elliott was offered early by Charlie Strong’s staff, one of two tremendous early evaluations on defense in the 2015 cycle (the other was Charles Omenihu, who, like Elliott, is still an active NFL player). At the time, it wasn't certain if Elliott would stay at safety or eventually spin down from safety to linebacker, but he made plays on the back end when he was healthy enough to see the field.

After battling through injuries in two seasons under Strong, Elliott blossomed in his lone season as a safety in Todd Orlando’s defense. I’ve enjoyed Elliott’s career arc immensely after getting myself into hot water at 247Sports for circumventing the chain of command to ensure he finished the 2015 cycle as a four-star recruit. I believed in Elliott as a prospect enough to stick my neck out (which, in hindsight, was a reckless move) and, after departing the Forty Acres with a bang, he’s become a quality NFL player as he enters the last season of a $12.5 million extension he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers last summer.

***

Anthony Pack Jr. was named SEC Freshman of the Year on Monday, a well-deserved honor for what’s on pace to go down in the record books as one of the best freshman seasons for a position player in the history of the Longhorn baseball program.

Texas has had four players named Baseball America’s National Freshman of the Year (Greg Swindell in 1984, Kirk Dressendorfer in 1988, Brooks Kieschnick in 1991 and Dylan Volantis in 2025), all of whom were full-time or part-time pitchers. The only thing Pack has done on the mound is torment whoever has toed the rubber for the opposition, entering the SEC Tournament leading the Longhorns in batting average (.360), doubles (16) and stolen bases (20).

He’s on pace to be the first freshman to lead the Longhorns in batting average since Erich Weiss hit .348 in 2011. Pack is also in the running to be the first Texas freshman to hit .360 or better (minimum two plate appearances per game) in a season since Omar Quintanilla hit .367 in 2001.

He’s six doubles shy of Quintanilla’s freshman school record (22). Eight stolen bases ahead of Adrian Rodriguez for the team lead, Pack is likely to be the first freshman to lead the Longhorns in stolen bases with 20 or more since Drew Stubbs swiped 28 bags in 2004.

“Fearless” is the word Jim Schlossnagle has most used to describe how Pack has approached his first season of college baseball. It’s appropriate, considering Pack’s steady ascent throughout the season, which saw him be consistent enough to lead all SEC hitters in batting average (.400) and on-base percentage (.511) during conference play.

Jordan will expand our recruiting and portal coverage with more in-person footage, interviews, and insider knowledge from across the state and the country.

He has a deep passion for the Texas Longhorns (he grew up going to games with his dad, who still has season tickets) and for Texas high school football.

Please join us in welcoming Jordan to the team!

**

With Jordan’s addition, I want to make something very clear: Nobody in the Texas market comes close to our recruiting coverage or our commitment to it. No one.

Some outlets will break a story or two here or there. OTF won’t be first on everything—there’s simply too much information out there. Some will continue to lean on “national” resources within a larger network, or even rely on Twitter and pass that off as their own information.

But when it comes to Texas football recruiting and the portal, there is no better source than On Texas Football.

As someone who helped start this industry, I can say that with unequivocal authority. With Gerry Hamilton, Hank South, CJ Vogel, and now Jordan, no other group even comes close. Split our group in half and we’d still be Nos. 1 and 2 (and possibly 3 with one of them alone, in my book).

Others can (and will) still posture. But we’re the only ones committed to actually doing the work AND devoting the resources to prove it.

**

When we started On Texas Football as a stand-alone company, I said we wanted OTF to be best in class: to be the product that serious Texas fans wanted and deserved.

I promised that my goal would be to produce the very best video, podcast, and website content, and to build a welcoming, respectful, and insightful gathering place for all Texas fans.

While we're not all the way there yet, just two years in, I think we’re well on our way.

**

With the addition of Jordan, don’t think we’re stopping either. People thought we were done after adding Hank. Or maybe after adding Jeff, CJ, or Marcus before that.

We’ll have more announcements in the coming weeks and months. I think you’re going to want to be along for the ride.

We will never stop in our quest to build the best digital media company for Longhorn fans to enjoy. That's our pledge to you. We're not trying to squeeze blood from a turnip, we're building something special here.

**

As part of our ongoing community-building effort, I’d like to invite those of you who have not subscribed to OnTexasFootball.com to become OTF OG members. We’re making a special offer to new members.

Beginning later today, new subscribers can join for 3 months for just $3 total for a limited time. That’s a heavy discount from our normal pricing, but it reflects how much we want you to join us—and the faith we have in our product.

Over those three months, you’ll get wall-to-wall recruiting coverage in June and July, plus our best-in-class preseason camp coverage from late July into August.

If you’re already an OTF OG, please tell a friend. We’re committed to being the best gathering place for true Texas fans the world over. We need your help to keep building it.

Here is the link:

https://ontexasfootball.com/store/product/4-3-months-for-3/

**

Welcome to the team, Jordan!

Hook ’Em!!!

Wednesday’s availability report released by the SEC office ruled Grubbs out of action for the Longhorns’ regular-season-ending series with Missouri. Jim Schlossnagle said during his Wednesday media availability on the eve of the series opener that Grubbs has been dealing with arm soreness.

A veteran bullpen hand with 67 career appearances and starting experience under his belt (15 starts over the last three seasons, including 12 in 2024), Grubbs has a 2-0 record with a 5.52 ERA in 18 appearances (two starts) as a senior. For his career, Grubbs is 15-6 with a 4.00 ERA in 168.2 innings, with 146 career strikeouts.

Grubbs was outstanding on the mound in Schlossnagle’s first season, helping Texas capture the SEC regular-season championship with a 6-2 record, setting career highs for single-season appearances (22), ERA (2.84), saves (five) and strikeouts (61). Opponents hit just .238 against Grubbs in 2025, which was also the best single-season mark of his career.

What does this mean for the Longhorns?

A healthy Grubbs could've been Max Weiner’s Swiss Army knife in the postseason. Grubbs would’ve been capable of starting a conference tournament game if Schlossnagle and Weiner wanted to rest one of the regular weekend starters, or he could be used as a fourth starter, which would’ve been massive if Texas found itself in the loser’s bracket of the regional.

If available, Grubbs would've been the team’s best right-handed long-relief option.

How does this change things for the postseason?

The goal late in games is to get the ball to Sam Cozart (6-0, 1.59 ERA), who has been a force out of the bullpen as a freshman. The 6-foot-6-inch, 260-pound hard-throwing righty has recorded a team-high eight saves this season, while firing 66 strikeouts, posting a 0.64 WHIP and holding opponents to a .112 batting average.

Schlossnagle and Weiner trust Brett Crossland (1-2, 3.22 ERA) and Haiden Leffew (4-1, 3.60 ERA) in their respective roles. Leffew will enter the postseason as the Longhorns’ only left-handed reliever capable of throwing multiple innings in an outing; Ethan Walker's (1-0, 3.00 ERA) role is that of the team's situational lefty, likely entering the game to get the team out of a jam with traffic on the bases against a left-handed hitter.

It felt like Thomas Burns (0-0, 6.87 ERA) was turning a corner in recent weeks after a rough stretch. Unfortunately, Burns failed to record an out during a six-run seventh inning by the Tigers in Friday’s 11-6 series-clinching win, walking one and allowing a hit while getting charged with two earned runs.

Brody Walls(2-0, 5.54 ERA), who is next in line to see his workload increase in Grubbs’ absence, struck out three Missouri batters in 1.1 scoreless innings on Friday.

Schlossnagle has talked about using next week’s SEC Tournament to audition other Longhorn pitchers for postseason roles. Schlossnagle has previously mentioned veteran right-hander Cody Howard (0-0, 6.00 ERA) and southpaw Kade Bing (1-1, 6.00 ERA) as potential pitching options in Hoover, Ala., with the team’s first game coming in the conference quarterfinals next Friday.

Texas (39-12, 18-10 SEC) clinched a double bye in the SEC Tournament with its win on Friday and Alabama’s loss to Ole Miss in Tuscaloosa. The Longhorns conclude the regular season against Missouri at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Saturday (2 p.m., SEC Network+), with a series locking them into the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and likely securing a Top 8 national seed for the NCAA Tournament.

If that sounds out of pocket, consider that Sarkisian inherited Gunnar Helm and Ja’Tavion Sanders from the previous staff, as both signed with the Longhorns a few weeks before Sarkisian was hired. Jeff Banks deserves credit for developing them into productive players who went on to become NFL draft picks, but Helm and Sanders needed time to develop and weren’t ready to contribute the way the staff needed them to from the jump.

That shouldn't be the case with the 6-foot-5-inch, 230-pound Williams. Whereas Helm joined the Longhorns as a raw prospect and Sanders had to learn to play with his hand on the ground, Williams will arrive at Texas as an accomplished receiver who won’t have to learn a new position.

Since Michael Masunas entered the program with one season of eligibility remaining, the Longhorns needed to land a tight end with instant impact potential in the 2027 cycle. Williams could join a room in which Spencer Shannon, Nick Townsend (a tremendous athlete with a ton of potential if he can put it all together) and Emaree Winston make it tough for him to break into the rotation, or he could be in the position Jermaine Bishop and Derrek Cooper found themselves in this spring, as true freshmen who seized opportunities to start working toward a solidified role.

Townsend is as physically gifted as any player at any position in the program. Still, Townsend wasn’t as polished as a tight end coming out of Spring Dekaney as Williams will be after his time at Libertyville (Ill.) is finished and he makes his way to Austin, which means a lot to the Texas offense in 2027 and beyond.

Sarkisian, who has said time and again that the tight end position is the most important part of his offense other than the quarterback, and Banks have done what injuries prevented Mack Brown from doing, and what Charlie Strong and Tom Herman couldn’t quite figure out. The current regime has developed tight ends physically and inserted them into an offensive scheme that highlights the position when the right guy is on the field, which accurately describes how Helm and Sanders were used.

Williams, however, is special because he's not a position conversion or an athletic project. Those types of tight end prospects have had varying levels of success on the Forty Acres for nearly two decades, all while multiple staffs tried to find a five-tool answer from the prep ranks.

Jared Wiley was a high school quarterback who Herman converted to tight end. After transferring to TCU and enjoying a successful two years with the Horned Frogs, the Temple product was picked in the fourth round of the 2024 draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Cade Brewer was solid for parts of five seasons with the Longhorns after making the transition from high school wide receiver to college tight end.

Andrew Beck was a converted linebacker who developed into an ideal H-back at the college level, with skills that translated nicely to a career as an NFL fullback.

A junior college gem and ferocious in-line blocker turned NFL draft pick, Geoff Swaim (a seventh-round selection by the Dallas Cowboys in 2015) was unearthed by Bryan Harsin.

Devonaire Clarington was likely never making it to campus after signing as a part of Strong’s 2015 class.

Texas couldn’t hang onto future Notre Dame and NFL tight end Durham Smythe when it had the Belton product’s commitment in the 2013 cycle.

Considering those situations, along with sifting through the sea of for naught efforts to turn oversized wide receivers into the next Jermichael Finley, it can be argued that Williams is the best pure tight end prospect out of high school to suit up for the Longhorns since Blaine Irby, who appeared destined for stardom before wrecking his knee early in the 2008 season.

Regardless, after swinging and missing on multiple blue-chip, out-of-state tight ends in recent cycles, Sarkisian and Banks have landed a prospect in Williams who has the potential to be everything they’ve been looking for and appears capable of making an impact sooner rather than later.

It’s not that one statistic is better than the other. I prefer to lean on a team’s play differential (the positive or negative difference between the number of plays a team runs on offense and the number of plays their defense faces) because it’s a more precise measurement of game control.

If an opponent leans on an up-tempo offense and runs a lot of plays with a premium on getting more possessions, or if an opponent wants to take the air out of the football and make the game shorter, play differential can paint a more accurate picture than time of possession. No matter how you slice it, when it comes to what the Longhorns did last season, play differential (like time of possession) must improve to maximize the team’s potential.

Texas finished the 2025 season with a minus-47 overall play differential (minus-3.6 per game), which ranked 15th in the SEC. Against SEC competition, the Longhorns had the worst total play differential (minus-79) in the conference and ranked last in the SEC in per-game play differential (minus-9.9).

In short, Texas’ conference opponents ran roughly 10 more plays per game than the Longhorns. That might not sound like much, but when considering that SEC foes averaged 1.5 scoring drives of 10 or more plays per game against Texas (12 double-digit play scoring drives by SEC opponents in eight conference games), it's a problem that must be fixed.

The highest priority to get the issue resolved is the Longhorns running the football better than they did last season, especially in conference play. Only Alabama’s 89.9 rushing yards per game against SEC opponents kept Texas from being the worst rushing offense in the conference, with an average of 93.1 yards per game on the ground in eight conference games.

Texas also must do a better job of getting off the field on third and fourth down, which includes being a better defense on first and second down.

Pete Kwiatkowski's defense faced an average of 14.7 third downs per game against SEC opponents in 2025, a mark topped only by Oklahoma’s 14.9 for the most in the conference.

Even when the Longhorns got third-down stops (a 39.8-percent conversion rate by SEC opponents ranked 10th in the conference, which was well above the defense’s season average of 33.5 percent), only Ole Miss defended more fourth-down conversion attempts (34 in 15 games) than the 31 times the Texas defense was on the field on fourth down. The Longhorns finished fourth in the conference and tied for 30th nationally in fourth-down defense (45.2-percent conversion rate allowed), but only Alabama and Auburn (15 each) allowed more teams to convert on fourth down than the 14 times it happened to the Longhorns.

Texas allowed opponents to convert eight of the combined 16 fourth-down attempts it faced against SEC opponents.

Without question, coming off a year in which the Longhorns were one of five SEC offenses that failed to run at least 500 plays against conference opponents (499, which tied with Florida for the third fewest in the league), the running game must improve. At the same time, Steve Sarkisian brought Will Muschamp back to the Forty Acres to call the defense so that his aggressive style can create more negative plays to get opponents behind the chains and promote more turnover-forcing opportunities, which must happen for Texas to shrink the wide gap in play differential from last season.

“Two feet in” is how Swain is characterizing his draft status, according to ESPN's Jeff Borzello, who reported on Wednesday that Swain has “closed the door” on returning to the Longhorns.

On Texas Football has reported since Swain declared for the draft on April 7 that Sean Miller and the Texas staff were building the 2026-27 roster with the idea that Swain wouldn’t return to the Forty Acres. Swain didn't enter his name into the NCAA transfer portal, which meant the Longhorns would've been his only option if he'd decided to return to college.

Swain, who participated in the NBA Draft Combine over the weekend, where he measured 6-feet, 6 ½ inches in bare feet and weighed 211 pounds with a 6-foot, 10-inch wingspan and standing reach of 8-feet, 8 ½ inches, is projected to go in the first round of the draft on June 23. Sources have told OTF that the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder are among the franchises to express the most interest in Swain as he’s gone through the draft process (the Thunder have the 12th and 17th overall picks, while the Heat have the No. 13 overall selection in what’s considered to be a historically deep draft).

If Swain is selected in the first round, it will mark the second consecutive draft for the Longhorns to produce a first-round pick. Tre Johnson, the 2024-25 SEC Freshman of the Year, was the sixth overall pick in last year’s draft by the Washington Wizards. It will be the first time Texas has produced back-to-back first-round picks since Jarrett Allen (2017), Mo Bamba (2018) and Jaxson Hayes (2019) went in the first round in three consecutive drafts.

Swain would be the 21st Longhorn to go in the first round of the draft. Texas has produced 16 of its 20 first-round picks since 2000, when Chris Mihm went No. 7 overall to the Chicago Bulls (his draft rights were later traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers).

Swain’s lone season with the Longhorns was a memorable one, helping Texas reach the Sweet 16, where the team came within a last-second bucket in a 79-77 loss to Purdue from reaching the Elite Eight. A finalist for the Julius Erving Award, which recognizes the top small forward in college basketball, Swain was named SEC Newcomer of the Year by the league’s coaches, who made him a second-team All-SEC selection.

A starter in each of the team’s 36 games during the 2025-26 season, Swain led Texas in scoring (17.3 points per game), rebounding (7.5 per game), assists (129 total and 3.6 per game) and steals (59 total and 1.6 per game) while averaging a team-high 32.8 minutes per game. Swain shot a career-high 54.2 percent (214-for-395) from the field, 81.5-percent (163-for-200) from the foul line and a career-best 34.4 percent from 3-point range (32-for-93).

Swain reached double figures in scoring in 33 of 36 games, recording 12 20-point games and two 30-point performances, including a career-high 34 points against Mississippi State on Jan. 3. Grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds against the Bulldogs marked one of Swain’s eight double-doubles on the season.

Swain played a significant role in the Longhorns finishing Miller's first season with a 21-15 record, including a 9-9 mark in the SEC. Swain, who was recruited by Miller out of high school and transferred to Texas after two seasons at Xavier after Miller was hired by the Longhorns on March 24, 2025, helped Texas earn a No. 22 ranking in the season-ending Associated Press Top 25.

After Steve Sarkisian’s first season, when Texas averaged 5.8 penalties (No. 55 in FBS) and 48.3 penalty yards per game (No. 48 in FBS), both per-game averages continued to steadily rise. The 2023 squad ranked 95th in the country in penalties per game (6.6) and finished a 14-game season tied for 70th nationally in penalty yards per game (52.2).

The Longhorns appeared to be at least leveling off in 2024, averaging 6.4 penalties and 51.8 penalty yards per game en route to 13 wins and a second consecutive trip to the CFP semifinals.

Unfortunately, things took an unexpected turn in 2025, resulting in the penalty issues under Sarkisian coming to a head.

Texas ranked 134th nationally in penalties per game (8.3) last season, making the Longhorns the most penalized Power Four team in the country and the third-most penalized team in FBS. An average of 69.7 penalty yards per game was the second worst in the Power Four (SMU averaged 70.8 penalty yards per game) and the fifth worst in FBS.

Sarkisian’s 2026 club doesn’t need to be as disciplined as Indiana was in 2025 (3.8 penalties per game tied for the fifth fewest in the country and 27.6 penalty yards per game was the second best average in FBS) to be the last team standing when the dust settles on the 12-team CFP. Nevertheless, Texas can’t be as undisciplined as it was last season (108 total penalties were a school record and only nine Longhorn teams averaged more penalty yards per game than the 2025 team) and expect to reach the summit unscathed.

Each of the last five national champions (Indiana, Ohio State in 2024, Michigan in 2023 and Georgia in 2022 and 2021) finished inside the top 30 nationally in penalties per game and inside the top 40 in the country in penalty yards per game. Furthermore, the last three champions finished tied for first (Michigan), tied for 11th (Ohio State) and tied for fifth (Indiana) nationally in penalties per game, while ranking third (Michigan), 16th (Ohio State) and second (Indiana) in FBS in penalty yards per game, respectively.

College football's talent is disbursed more equitably, thanks to dynamics like NIL, revenue sharing and the transfer portal. It’s arguably more important than ever to play disciplined football because the talent gap at the top of the sport isn’t as wide as it was a few years ago.

Still, of the 12 national champions in the CFP era, LSU in 2019 and Clemson in 2016 are the only two that finished ranked outside of the top 60 nationally in penalties and penalty yards per game.

It took Joe Burrow leading one of the most prolific offenses in college football history, along with a defense chock-full of future NFL players, for Ed Orgeron’s team to overcome a No. 107 ranking in penalty yards per game (62.4), which the worst among any national champion in the CFP era. Quarterbacked by Deshaun Watson, who was one of five future first-round draft picks suiting up for the Tigers in 2016, the first title-winning squad coached by Dabo Swinney averaged 6.3 penalties per game, making them the most penalized national champion in the CFP since the CFP replaced the Bowl Championship Series in 2014.

The Longhorns are talented, perhaps historically so, entering Sarkisian’s sixth season. Are they talented enough to absorb an absurd number of self-inflicted wounds and hit their ceiling?

Regardless, the Texas faithful can view the program’s potential improvement in a glass-half-full light because Sarkisian has shown he can right the ship. After Tom Herman’s 2020 team was one of the most penalized in the country, averaging 8.1 penalties and 77 penalty yards per game, Sarkisian oversaw those marks improving by 2.3 penalties and 28.7 penalty yards per game in his first season on the Forty Acres.

Such an improvement would put the 2026 Longhorns on track for an average of six penalties and 41 penalty yards per game, which would’ve tied for 65th and 26th in FBS last season, respectively. Six penalties per game would match the number committed by Alabama in 2020, when Sarkisian was the offensive coordinator for Nick Saban’s record-breaking seventh national title as a head coach; 41 penalty yards per game would be on par with Ryan Day’s Buckeyes in 2024 (40.8 penalty yards per game) among recent national champions.

Whether Texas makes those specific strides or gets within the ballpark of doing so, the numbers show how much more disciplined the Longhorns must be year over year to reach their desired destination.

Wednesday’s availability is on the eve of Texas (36-12, 16-10 SEC) hosting the Tigers in Thursday’s series opener (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+). The Longhorns are tied with No. 10 Texas A&M in the conference standings and remain in contention for a Top 8 national seed in the NCAA Tournament. D1Baseball.com’s latest field of 64 projections have Texas clinging to a Top 8 seed, with the Longhorns slotted as the No. 6 overall seed in the tournament (Texas is one of four SEC clubs currently projected to be a national seed, which means one of the eight roads to Omaha would go through the Forty Acres).

On Texas Football is at Disch-Falk Field, providing updates as the Longhorns prepare for Missouri (23-27, 6-21) before next week’s SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala.