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    Jeff Howe
    On Texas Football coverage of SEC Media Days is brought to you by Vonlane, Flat Creek Estate Winery, Advanced Pain Care and South Point Dodge.
    ***
    ATLANTA — With Texas scheduled to make the rounds at SEC Media Days, Tuesday was going to be a big day. It became memorable when OTF 5-star linebacker Tyler Atkinson committed to the Longhorns a few hours before OTF 4-star++ defensive lineman James Johnson switched his commitment from Georgia to Texas.
    OTF tracked the Texas contingent at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta and reacted to a massive afternoon on the recruiting trail. If you missed anything, we’ve got you covered with links to the OTF’s content produced throughout the day.
    SEC Media Days live thread for Tuesday: https://ontexasfootball.com/news/articles/scoop/sec-media-days-live-thread-tuesday-r2144/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-163607
    Michael Taaffe’s touching tribute to Texas flood victims: https://ontexasfootball.com/news/articles/scoop/watch-michael-taaffe-with-a-touching-tribute-at-sec-media-days-r2146/?do=getNewComment&d=1&id=2146
    Which new Longhorns have stood out during the summer?:
    Tuesday’s edition of Coffee & Football:
    Watch With Us! Tyler Atkinson makes his decision:
    BOOM! Tyler Atkinson commits to Texas:
    BOOM! James Johnson commits to Texas:
    DOUBLE BOOM! Analyzing a 5-star Tuesday for the Longhorns:
    Sark’s media scrum:
    Sark’s formal press conference:
    Arch Manning’s media scrum:
    Arch Manning’s press conference with electronic media outlets:
    Media scrum with Anthony Hill Jr. and Michael Taaffe:
    Anthony Hill Jr.’s press conference with electronic media outlets:
    Michael Taaffe’s press conference with electronic media outlets:
    Recapping the day’s events on Tuesday’s Longhorn Livestream:
     
     
    Jeff Howe
    On Texas Football coverage of SEC Media Days is brought to you by Vonlane, Flat Creek Estate Winery, Advanced Pain Care and South Point Dodge.
    ***
    ATLANTA — When SEC Media Days wraps up on Thursday, 48 players representing the conference’s 16 programs will have met the media at the College Football Hall of Fame.
    The league’s coaches are bringing quarterbacks, wide receivers, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs with them. Unfortunately, the running back position won’t be represented over the four-day event, however, including Tuesday when Steve Sarkisian, quarterback Arch Manning, linebacker Anthony Hill and safety Michael Taaffe make up the Texas contingent in Atlanta.
    Sarkisian’s 2025 roster is chock-full of blue chippers. The three media days representatives, along with Colin Simmons and Malik Muhammad, account for an FBS-leading five members of Pro Football Focus’ College 50.
    Quintrevion Wisner didn’t travel with the Longhorns to Atlanta and he’s not getting a lot of love from national publications heading into the 2025 season. Still, the returning leading rusher in the SEC (1,064 rushing yards and 4.7 yards per attempt last season) has the respect of the defenders who’ve faced him.
    “He’s a competitor and a great running back,” Vanderbilt’s Randon Fontenette said of Wisner, who rushed for 79 yards on 17 carries in a 27-24 road win over the Commodores last season. One of seven FBS running backs to finish the 2024 season with at least 200 rushing attempts (226) and 50 targets (57) according to PFF, Wisner caught five passes for 39 yards in the first five consecutive games Texas won en route to a berth in the SEC championship game.
    Wisner was at his best once the Longhorns reached the SEC portion of the 2024 schedule. In the last 12 games of the season, Wisner rushed for 992 yards (4.8 yards per attempt) and four touchdowns, including two in a College Football Playoff first-round win over Clemson.
    Whether that resonates with the media members in Atlanta enough to translate into preseason All-SEC votes will play out later in the week. Regardless, Wisner produced at a high level after carrying the football only 12 times as a true freshman in 2023, which commands respect.
    Especially considering what Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said Monday regarding inexperienced running backs.
    “It’s hard to grind out yards in the SEC,” he said.
    At the very least, Wisner has earned the respect of Lea’s players because of what he did against them. Wisner helped Texas rebound from a loss to Georgia with a productive outing against the Commodores, a game in a string of them that went a long way toward cushioning the blow of losing Jonathon Brooks to the NFL and CJ Baxter to a preseason knee injury.
    “Nothing but respect for him as a player,” Fontenette said. “He has that twitch. He has that change of direction. He’s really agile and that makes him dangerous.”
    Jeff Howe
    On Texas Football coverage of SEC Media Days is brought to you by Vonlane, Flat Creek Estate Winery, Advanced Pain Care and South Point Dodge.
    ***
    ATLANTA — No matter where his career as a college football coach has taken him, Brian Kelly’s track record of evaluating, recruiting and developing offensive linemen is second to none.
    After overseeing Jason Kelce’s development from a walk-on linebacker to a likely Pro Football Hall of Fame center during his Cincinnati tenure, Kelly’s time as Notre Dame’s coach (2010-21) was a trench boon for the Fighting Irish. Kelly recruited and coached 11 Notre Dame offensive linemen who were eventually drafted, including five in the first round (Zack Martin in 2014, Ronnie Stanley in 2016, Mike McGlinchey and Quenton Nelson in 2018 and Joe Alt in 2024).
    The trend has continued at LSU, which had four offensive linemen selected in the 2025 draft, including Will Campbell, the No. 4 overall pick. Knowing what the Tigers would be facing, Kelly and offensive line coach Brad Davis did their best to address the exodus before it happened.
    “If you're trying to address graduation in a knee-jerk reaction and not having that planned in advance, you're probably going to take a hit on the offensive line this year,” Kelly said from inside the College Football Hall of Fame during SEC Media Days on Monday. “We have been grooming some players for their chance and their opportunity.”
    Still, even though Kelly and Davis have done their best to develop LSU’s incoming talent, they went into the transfer portal to bolster a group tasked with protecting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier.
    Texas is in the same boat in its second season in the SEC. Outland Trophy winner Kelvin Banks, the Longhorn offensive lineman to go in the first round of the draft (No. 9 overall) since 2002, headlines the four starters who departed Kyle Flood’s room after a 13-win run to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
    Nevertheless, while Kelly talked openly about the importance of player development while the Bayou Bengals go through a trench reboot, the offensive line under Flood and Steve Sarkisian is buoyed by it, with the Longhorns exclusively counting on homegrown talent to win line of scrimmage battles in the SEC. The five members of the projected starting offensive line (left tackle Trevor Goosby, left guard Neto Umeozulu, center Cole Hutson, right guard DJ Campbell and right tackle Brandon Baker) heading into the season were recruited by the current regime, the first time that’s been the case in Sarkisian’s tenure.
    Texas kicked the tires on USC transfer Emmanuel Pregnon, who ultimately committed to Oregon. The decision to stick with in-house personnel for spring practice allowed Baker and Andre Cojoe to battle it out at right tackle, Nate Kibble to ascend the depth chart and Nick Brooks to emerge as a young tackle with a boatload of potential.
    Although Sarkisian and Flood started building the Longhorn offensive line through high school recruiting a year before Kelly got to Baton Rouge, it speaks volumes of the staff successfully building the roster from the inside out that Texas is one of the favorites to win the SEC amid significant departures among the program's big humans. The Longhorns didn’t cut corners, and while Flood developed a pair of former Herb Hand recruits into draft picks (Christian Jones in 2024 and Hayden Conner in 2025), Banks and Cameron Williams (a 2025 sixth-round pick) emerged from the Sarkisian organization’s first full recruiting cycle (2022) as NFL players.
    Considering how excited Kelly sounded when talking up the revamped LSU offensive line, Sarkisian should be equally as giddy about the outlook for Flood’s new-look group when Texas meets with the media on Tuesday.
    “I'm bullish on our offensive line,” Kelly said. “I think we're going to be able to produce the kind of things necessary to be a championship team.”
    Jeff Howe
    Texas coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns have a lot of reasons to push their chips to the middle of the table for OTF 5-star running back Derrek Cooper (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Chaminade-Madonna).
    The need for a running back was a high priority before Ezavier Crowell (Jackson, Ala.) made the call for Alabama in late June on the heels of Carthage’s KJ Edwards committing to Texas A&M. While the cupboard is stocked for the 2025 season, the Longhorns could be without Quintrevion Wisner and CJ Baxter in 2026 if things break the right way for the program’s running back tandem from the 2023 signing class.
    The 2026 class could be a one-back haul for Texas, which would make it a recruiting coup of sizeable proportions if Sarkisian and Chad Scott can land arguably the nation’s best runner in the 6-foot-1-inch, 205-pound Cooper. Florida State, Georgia, Miami and Ohio State are the competition the Longhorns face for Cooper, who’s scheduled to announce his college choice on July 20.
    While 247Sports has Cooper ranked as an athlete (the second-best in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite), the On3 Industry from On3/Rivals has Cooper ranked as the country’s No. 3 running back. He’s an elite prospect who could play on either side of the ball in college, but Texas and the other schools pursuing Cooper would rather hand him the football or throw it to him rather than ask him to tackle opposing ball carriers.
    According to Chaminade-Madonna coach Dameon Jones, that’s the right call when it comes to Cooper’s future.
    Jones told The Athletic last summer that teams had stopped recruiting Cooper to play defense ahead of his junior season. He recorded 46 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, four sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception while helping his team claim Florida’s Class 1A state championship, but he can change the game even more on offense.
    “When you see him run the ball, you’ll see why,” Jones said of Cooper, who ran for 905 yards (7.3 yards per carry) and 13 touchdowns in 15 games. “He killed it in the spring. He’s not an easy tackle. He’s big, fast and strong.”
    How Sarkisian showcases running backs in his offense is arguably the biggest reason why the Longhorns are a tremendous fit for Cooper.
    According to Pro Football Focus, Wisner was one of seven FBS running backs to finish the 2024 season with at least 200 rushing attempts (226) and 50 targets (57, the eighth-most among running backs nationally). Wisner’s 283 intended touches (combined rushing attempts and targets) are the second-most in the Sarkisian era, slightly behind the 286 intended touches for Bijan Robinson in 2022 (257 carries and 29 targets).
    Wisner was used a lot once he emerged as the bell-cow in the backfield. Still, his intended touches paled in comparison to how often usage was funneled to Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty (408 intended touches, including 375 rushing attempts), Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo (346), North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton (324) and Texas Tech’s Tahj Brooks (321).
    Even in a 16-game season, one football was enough for Wisner to rack up almost 1,400 yards from scrimmage (1,064 rushing and 311 receiving) and for Jaydon Blue to record 193 intended touches (135 carries and 58 targets, which ranked seventh among FBS running backs, according to PFF). Gunnar Helm also caught more passes (60) than any tight end in any season in school history, and Matthew Golden’s 58-catch season further exemplified how Sarkisian’s offense can feature a running back without running them into the ground.
    Although one Longhorn running back has recorded 200 or more intended touches in each of Sarkisian’s four seasons, a second Texas running back has had 100 or more intended touches in those campaigns. Jonathon Brooks (216 intended touches) and Baxter (164) crossed those thresholds in 2023, while Robinson and Roschon Johnson did it in 2022 (286 intended touches for Robinson and 115 for Johnson) and 2021 (226 for Robinson and 108 for Johnson).
    With the Longhorns on the hunt for a game-changing running back and Cooper searching for a program that can help him maximize his football future, one of the finest football prospects in America choosing to play in an offense from which five running backs have been picked over the last three NFL drafts could be a match made in heaven.
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