Winter Conditioning Team Nuggets (Monday 8:20 a.m.)

Starting today, the Longhorns will have four more weeks of winter conditioning before taking a week off for spring break then diving into the beginning of spring ball practice period.

The new additions via the portal have been getting acclimated to the day to day life as a Texas football player and most importantly, the culture of the program. I was able to speak with a source around the program over the weekend to get an idea of how the new faces are acclimating with the team so far.

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Former Alabama LB Kendrick Blackshire has had a seamless transition since arriving on campus. Blackshire joins the Longhorn program which boasts several familiar faces from Blackshire's recruitment days back in the DFW area and time at Duncanville.

The speed of former Alabama WR Isaiah Bond is immediately noticeable. That should not come as a surprise, but Bond has an extra gear that has folks excited here.

Joining Bond in the wide receiving room is former UH pass catcher Matthew Golden. The former Klein Cain standout may not have that same initial burst as Bond, however Golden does possess the ability to change directions very well which has been evident thus far in workouts. Also, credit Jaydon Blue for getting Golden up to speed pretty quickly here.

I have yet to hear a whole lot about Taioalii Savea since his arrival, but will dive in a bit this week.

One of the first commits out of the portal was former Clemson DB Andrew Mukuba. The former Austin LBJ defensive back is back home where he has really fit in well with the DB room. I will dive into the mentality of the defensive back room a bit later when we start previewing spring ball, but Mukuba's business like approach to the game has trickled down.

Mukuba has been working non-stop, whether it be team-led winter conditioning, or individual sessions off of the 40 Acres. We have talked about one year rentals for guys like Bolden and Bond at WR, that is the thought process from Mukuba has well as he hopes to hear his name drafted very early in the 2025 NFL Draft.