Gerry Hamilton and Bobby Burton will go live reacting to what they saw on the field here shortly. Welcome to the beginning of the 2024 season!

The practice fields this morning at 7:55 am.

Four-star OT visiting Friday
OnTexasFootball 4-star offensive tackle and Texas offer Josh Petty (Roswell, Ga./Fellowship Christian School) will make his first visit to Texas on Friday. OTF spoke with a member of the Petty family Monday night to get the trip details. This first visit to Texas for the 6-5, 275 pound two sport star (wrestling) will be made without his family. He will make the trip with the California Power 7v7/organization. Should Petty and Texas decide to move things forward after the visit, an official with his parents will be in play. 

Georgia, Tennessee, Clemson and Auburn are near locks for summer OV’s. 

Josiah Sharma and Texas 
OnTexasFootball spoke with a person close to the recruitment of defensive lineman Josiah Sharma (Folsom, Calif./High) Monday night. 

Sharma, 6-5 and 300 pounds, will make an official visit to Utah June 14-16. He is also scheduled to make an OV to Washington in May. Alabama is a serious contender. A recent Georgia was eye opening for Sharma. 

Sharma and Texas remain in contact. An official visit hasn’t been set up as of the weekend. The source does believe Sharma wants to get on campus. 

Kiotti Armstrong and Javar Thomas
Jasper (Texas) High 4-star tight end Kiotti Armstrong is scheduled to make a visit to LSU this weekend. Headed into the spring visits, Texas A&M is slight leader over Texas according to a source close to the recruitment. LSU is working to truly get in the mix. Armstrong is making an official visit to Texas A&M June 14-16 and Texas June 21-23. Armstrong will make two unofficial visits to Texas A&M in March, and Texas one in April. 

Aldine (Texas) Nimitz Javar Thomas has Baylor and Houston working on official visits. As of the weekend, Texas has not set up an official visit with the 6-3, 195 pound rangy linebacker. 

Mills is a top target on the Texas board and was previously on campus for the January 20 junior day.

The four-star offensive lineman is expected back in Austin April 6 for the loaded Texas visitors weekend and has an official visit locked in for June 14-16.

Kyle Flood has done a tremendous job to date in this recruitment.

Fun Texas draft to start the show off for all of us on episode number one.

One of the key visitors Friday for the Texas Longhorns is OnTexasFootball 4-star defensive lineman Brandon Brown (Melbourne, Fla./Eau Gallie). 

Brown, 6-1.5 and 290 pounds, will fly from Melbourne to Houston Friday morning. He will then make a visit to Texas with members of the California Power 7v7 program before a 7v7 tournament in Houston Saturday afternoon and Sunday. 

The visit news with Brown is not new, but there are key parts of the visit that is news. Brown will be accompanied on the trip by his mother, older sister (senior) and best friend. They will also fly into Houston Friday morning, and drive to Austin with Brandon. It will be the first meeting with the staff and visit to Texas for everyone. 

Brown is building a relationship with defensive line coach Kenny Baker. They have spoken multiple times in the last 2-3 weeks. Steve Sarkisian, Jeff Banks and Tashard Choice stopped by Eau Gallie High in January prior to Baker being cleared to hit the.road and recruit. 

The visit is key, obviously, with USC breathing down the neck of Texas. Along with Tennessee, Florida, Miami and a couple of others. He will visit the top schools on his list in March and April ahead of official visits.

Brown has three June official visits scheduled. He will visit Tennessee June 7-9, Texas June 14-16 and USC June 21-23. 

Pro day will be particularly important to four Longhorns IMO:

1. Quinn Ewers - Quinn is a potential first-round pick this time next year. But it will be the first in-person scouting event of many upper-level executives. How he performs on Wednesday will have a bearing on some thinking heading into next year's draft.

2. Jaylan Ford - the linebacker did not test in Indianapolis. He needs to run sub-4.7 if at all possible.

3. Jordan Whittington - J-Whitt did not test in Indy either. Anything sub-4.5 is good. But if he puts up a low 4.4, the narrative and the attention it brings might shift more in his direction.

4. Keilan Robinson - no player has more questions surrounding his play than Robinson. Is he strictly a special teamer? Or can he give you something down the roster, as either a RB sub or in the slot? He could also improve upon his 4.45, which might make him more attractive.

Finally, we can sideline the hypotheticals and get to the real action on the field. For all of the excitement this offseason has built, there remains plenty of unforeseen turns before the end of the spring and many questions that are atop of the priority list when it comes to finding the true identity of this team.

Practice No. 1 kicks off tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. I will be in attendance for the media availability of the first session. But beforehand, a quick idea of what I will be looking for when it comes to the spring season getting underway.

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1. Can Sydir Mitchell Carry 373 Pounds?

It truly is that simple of a question. This was probably the surprise of the roster update – aside from Savion Red at 240 pounds. Texas is banking on a continuation of elite interior defensive line play as they move into the SEC and Sydir Mitchell was expected to be a large piece of the puzzle here. If he can move well and be an impact guy, this is a moot point, but right now, it remains to be seen just how much he can contribute at that weight.

2. Ryan Wingo in Action

Of course, the talk of the offseason has been the transfer portal additions at the wide receiver spot, but that won't stop me from being excited about the five-star wide receiver. Wingo was a star in San Antonio when I last saw him in person. He has the physical tools, a tremendous frame and speed that Sarkisian covets. Now it is about carving out his own role within the Texas offense.

3. Anthony Hill Jr. + LB2

The expectation coming into spring football is David Gbenda will be the man in the starting 11 for the Longhorns at the MIKE linebacker spot alongside Anthony Hill Jr. We saw the glimpses of Gbenda in 2023 where he made his most significant impact coming downhill in run fits and often as a blitzer chasing after the quarterback. The question is can he be relied upon in the passing game. Will we eventually see Morice Blackwell moved inside? How quickly can Liona Lefau and Derion Gullette make an impact here? And don't forget Alabama transfer Kendrick Blackshire for what he can do in this defensive scheme.

4. All of the EDGE's

Texas has lacked that consistent game changer off of the edge for a couple of seasons under Sarkisian. However, we look at the EDGE room now in 2024 that is a strength on paper. You can expect Barryn Sorrell and Ethan Burke to take steps in their game from a year ago. You add UTSA star transfer Trey Moore and of course five-star Colin Simmons enters the fold as well. But don't sleep on guys like J'Mond Tapp, Billy Walton and Justice Finkley. And it would be found money for the Longhorns to get Colton Vasek completely healthy this spring as well.

5. Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning

I mean it is kind of outrageous that the Heisman frontrunner and the former No. 1 overall player in the country come in at No. 5 on this list am I right? But hey, that just leads to the intrigue of this spring football season. Quinn Ewers physically will look a little stockier than what we saw in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. With the new WR corps, I want to know what the rapport looks like. Of course, with Arch, how is he progressing here as well. Plus, let us see the first couple of practices for early enrollee Trey Owens. A very talented and hyped up QB room for Sarkisian here.

The NCAA Men's Basketball field of 68 has been released and now is your chance to join the On Texas Football bracket challenge!

For the next couple of weeks there will be plenty of banter available surrounding the brackets as the men's tournament takes over the headlines in the sports world. Get ready for some trash talk and plenty of bragging rights as a result of the bracket group.

Join the group here:

https://fantasy.espn.com/tc/sharer?challengeId=240&from=espn&context=GROUP_INVITE&edition=espn-en&groupId=cbd215c3-5539-453f-a93d-eea93a42e5fb

Texas (20-12) was just announced on CBS as the No. 7 seed in the Midwest Region. 

The Longhorns will face the winner of Virginia and Colorado State in the  No. 10 seed play in game.

The Round of 64 game will take place Thursday in Charlotte, N.C. 

The winner of the Midwest Region No. 7 vs No. 10 Round of 64 game will face the winner of No. 2 seed Tennessee and No. 15 seed St. Peter’s Saturday. 

The Longhorns advanced to the Elite 8 last year.