The off-season doesn't grab many headlines, and it's not always pretty. A lot of hard work, early morning workouts, increased and improved attention to detail, growth (physically and mentally), tinkering with the personnel and schemes, self-scouting and opponent scouting, it's all part of the process.

The right emphasis placed on the off-season pays untold dividends when the season comes.

I feel like Steve Sarkisian and his staff nailed last year's off-season; there's no doubt in my mind that the seeds of the 2023 Big 12 championship were planted last winter, during this very same time period we're in now.

I spoke with Bryan Erwin about the topic for this morning's Saturday Conversation, and I think it's something all folks will want to listen to who care about the ins and outs of what's going on not only for the players but also for the coaches.

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True freshman receiver Ryan Wingo, edge Colin Simmons and safety Xavier FIlsaime continue to be singled out behind the scenes for their really strong work. Wingo has been cut from different cloth. And that is coming from multiple sources.

Mentioning Wingo like this will undoubtedly mean fans think he should be ready to roll this spring. But we all have to remember, no matter how talented they are and what these young players are showing right now, they all have to acclimate to college football once the pads come on and the speed of the overall game changes.

That being said, Wingo, Simmons and Filsaime are showing some ability and pluck early.

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I also heard another name recently that seems to be impressing -- tight end Jordan Washington. Washington's skill set is much different than the other young tight ends - Spencer Shannon and Will Randle - so that admittedly could be part of it.

It's something that bears watching. It was the first time his name has come up this off-season.

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I am told that two of the younged offensive lineman have made strong pushes so far this off-season - Trevor Goosby and Jayden Chatman.

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Another class of 2023 member that continues to gain notoriety behind the scenes is Warren Roberson. The cornerback has been highly regarded for his athleticism almost since he arrived in Austin a year ago. But we didn't see him much at all last season.

Yet folks still hold him in very high regard. This could be the year where we see him break through.

The Texas Longhorns will travel to Houston today to take on the No. 3 Cougars at noon Saturday on CBS. 

Texas (16-8, 5-6) has a strong NCAA Resume currently, but still has work in front of them to punch the ticket. 

OnTexasFootball takes a look ahead, and the scenarios for Texas to be comfortably in the tourney.

Texas’ Remaining Schedule
2/17 @ No. 3 Houston
2/19 Kansas State
2/24 @ No. 6 Kansas 
2/27 @ Texas Tech
3/2 Oklahoma State 
3/4 @ No. 12 Baylor 
3/9 No. 25 Oklahoma 

NCAA Men’s Basketball NET Rankings (Feb. 15)
Texas is No. 31 in NCAA NET headed into Saturday’s games. 

The Longhorns are 4-6 in Quad 1 games, 1-1 vs. Quad 2, 3-1 vs. Quad 3 and 8-0 vs. Quad 4. 

Quad 1 games remaining for the Longhorns:
No. 1 @ Houston
No. 17 @ Kansas
No. 26 @ Texas Tech 
No. 12 @ Baylor 

Quad 2 game remaining:
No. 33 Oklahoma 

Quad 3 games remaining:
No. 77 Kansas State
No. 137 Oklahoma State 

T-Rank 
Texas is No. 22 in Bart Torvik’s rankings headed into Saturday. 

2024 Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings
Texas checks in at No. 25 headed into college games this weekend. 

What it means for Texas

The Longhorns are comfortably in the NCAA Tournament headed into the weekend. That resume is aided by Quad 1 wins at Oklahoma, and over Baylor and TCU in Big 12 play. 

While Strength of Schedule as a whole may not carry as much weight as it used to, the Longhorns have played a top 30 ranked schedule and will likely end up with a scheduled ranked from 20-30 area. 

Most years, a sub .500 conference record would not get you into the Field of 68. With the monster level Big 12 Conference in 2023-24, Texas would get in at 8-10. 

Sitting at 5-6 with four Quad 1 road games remaining, 8-10 may be the best case scenario. 

Texas and seeding:

Scenario 1: 19-12, 8-10 is likely a 9-10 seed headed into Big 12 Tournament

Scenario 2: 20-11, 9-9 would likely be a 7 seed headed into Big 12 Tournament 

Scenario 3: 18-13, 7-11 would likely send the Horns to the NIT without a run in the Big 12 Tournament. 

Right now, I do not see a scenario where Texas is 21-10, 10-8 to finish the regular season. That would mean winning five of last seven vs. a very difficult closing stretch of the schedule.  Texas has not shown that consistent type of stretch this season over talent neutralized stretches.

As another week of practice concludes, I wanted to share some notes on a couple of early enrollees on the offensive side of the ball as the group gets one week deeper into their college careers.

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The Texas offseason conditioning course changes throughout the week to provide different looks for each workout, but for the most part, there is a consistent approach in the following set-up: Mat Drills, Stations and gassers or 110's to round things up at the conclusion of the day.

Torre Becton's staff has thrown in a number of agility drills set to improve change of direction speed, as well as focusing on acceleration out of breaks. This has remained a constant this offseason for anyone wondering.

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Starting on offense, we have continued to pound the drum for WR Ryan Wingo over the past few weeks, but man, I continue to hear very encouraging tidbits on the former five-star. He has all of the tools to get on the field right away.

A surprise to me has been WR Freddie Dubose. I expected there to be a slow curve in development, though Dubose bought into the weight room immediately and is now sitting north of 185 pounds. Another steady riser.

Speaking of newcomers that adopted the college weight room lifestyle – Jerrick Gibson is another name that deserves mentioning. No surprise obviously, but Gibson might be the most physically filled out back in the room at the moment.

For QB Trey Owens, he is going the opposite in terms of weight to guys like Colin Simmons and Freddie Dubose. Owens weighed in at 238 pounds San Antonio for the All American Bowl at the beginning of January. When the spring roster is announced and released, it would not surprise me to see Owens sub-230.

This might not come off as a big surprise, but Daniel Cruz has been a rabid animal in these workouts. He attacks each workout session very aggressively and has been mentioned as someone who brings the most out of his group when in team settings. Encouraging.

The hope is to add another 10+ pounds to Brandon Baker's frame by the beginning of the season. Baker came to campus sitting right around 290 pounds, and word is the staff would prefer him north of 305 before kickoff this fall.

Today’s special guest is former Horns baseball standout Brooks Kieschnick. 

Conroe, Texas -  When talking about the top of the defensive back board in 2025 for Texas, the name Dorian Brew is mentioned as often as any. 

That's because the 6-2, 197 pound defensive back possesses a combination of frame, quickness, speed, and physicality few can compete with. 

The cornerback that could also play nickel or safety at the Power 5 level enters the spring with 26 offers, with five schools under serious contention. The five schools where the summer decision will come from are Texas, Ohio State, LSU, USC and Oregon. 

OnTexasFootball spoke with the 4-star prospect at Conroe High Thursday to get the latest. 

Gerry Hamilton: Talk about the January 20 Junior Day, and your thoughts on the entire day. 

Dorian Brew: "It was pretty good. My mom and my step dad came up there. Coach (Terry) Joseph and Coach (Blake) Gideon were there like the whole day, and I got to talk to them. I had a meeting with Coach Sark, and he is very high on me. He talked very highly about me, and is a great guy. He made it known that I am a priority for them, and that's a good feeling."

Hamilton: How often are you in contact with the Texas staff?

Brew: "Multiple times a week. I talked to Coach Joseph yesterday (Wednesday), and Coach Gideon."

Hamilton: What is their message to you right now?

Brew: "Development. Opportunity and playing for my home state.

Hamilton: Do you have any visits scheduled to get back?

Brew: "I'm trying to get up there, maybe in March."

Hamilton: Coach Sarkisian came to the school after the junior day. What was that meeting like, and how much did it mean to you he came to see you?

Brew: "It was cool. He came up in a helicopter. He just talked. We had a meeting. He talked about his plan for me. We had a good conversation. It was me, my dad, Coach Gideon was there and Coach Sark."

Hamilton: What is Coach Sarkisian's message to you?

Brew: "Development, and getting to the next level."

Hamilton: When you watched Texas this year, what impressed you?

Brew: "I watched the game they played Alabama. I stayed up late watching the game when they beat Alabama. I liked how their DB's played. The defense was pretty good."

Hamilton: When you think about Texas moving into the SEC, does it help their cause?

Brew: "Yes. Playing against the best of the best." 

OnTexasFootball will have more from the visit to Conroe High in the next 24 hours. 

Hernandez has a handful of up and coming prospects that are already making national headlines on the recruiting trail. Of course, he also trained former Texas QB Maalik Murphy who is now expected to be the starting quarterback at Duke this season.

A quick rundown of some of the elite prospects coach Hernandez is working with right now:

• 2026 Nerbury Port QB Brady Smigiel – 5-star & No. 21 overall prospect in the class of 2026
• 2026 Newport Harbor QB Jadon O'Neal – 20 offers and counting
• 2026 Folsom QB Ryder Lyons – 24 offers
• 2026 Archbishop Riordan QB Michael Mitchell Jr. – 8 offers
• 2027 Lewisville (TX) QB Tre Williams

As for my conversation with Coach Hernandez this morning, there is a ton of praise headed in the direction of Huhn as a prospect and player.

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Q: What were the early impressions of Huhn when you first started working with him?

A: When I first got with him, he was tall obviously, but he had a pitching background in baseball. He was really long in his delivery. Kind of stridey and dippy in his stroke, but man I said, 'There is something here, for sure.' He is such a smart kid.

(Hernandez added that Huhn really got to work on shortening his throwing mechanics and now it is a strength when talking to college coaches about his overall game.)

Q: What is it about a pitching or baseball background that translates to the world of quarterbacking?

A: It is always helpful when a guy has a baseball background. The biggest thing for me when I have a guy with a baseball background, especially if I get them pretty young, the thing that I am always trying to tell them is to not use our pitching mechanics, but let's use more of our hitting mechanics. Hitting mechanics are so much more similar to throwing a football... It is about being sudden and twitchy, doing some of those things, I think is a little more transferrable to hitting.

Q: Where in the developmental stage is Huhn as a prospect?

A: The other thing too with Troy, most quarterbacks are going to be a little bit older. Most of these guys are going to be 19 by the time they are graduating (high school), because they have been held back in eighth grade or whatever – it is pretty common with the QB position. Troy is not one of those guys. He is on the younger side of things with those guys – very similar to Maalik Murphy. Maalik was showing up to Texas young, he just turned 20 a few days ago as he heads into year three of college.

(Cont.) Troy is the same situation. Young guy, so you look at it and say this guy is still pretty far from his ceiling. That is one of the things that is super intriguing.

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Coach Hernandez and I spoke a bit more about the potential that Huhn is showing so far in high school. Following his first career varsity start, Huhn threw for 16 touchdowns and 4 interceptions as a sophomore as he grew into his body at Mission Hills High School in California. As the individual workouts continue and the body carries on in the developmental path, Hernandez said he can absolutely see Huhn being a top three QB prospect in the country for the 2026 class.

It was perfect timing this past fall when Huhn made his trip to Austin to watch the Longhorns in action. He was joined by his family and Coach Hernandez on the trip to watch Maalik Murphy start against Kansas State at DKR in what ended up being the best game of the season at home for the Longhorns. Cool moment as well for Coach Hernandez getting to see Maalik in action at Texas.

One last quote I wanted to leave y'all with:

"I think the world of the kid. He has a high football IQ and is extremely coachable. I honestly think this is going to be a top three guy in the country without a doubt."

The Washington Commanders have swooped in and snagged the former Steelers analyst only a month into his time as a Longhorn.

Gay is joining the Commanders as an assistant defensive backs coach.