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    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.
    CJ Vogel
    Bang!
    Add five more stars to the 2026 class for the Texas Longhorns!
    2026 North Crowley OT John Turntine III has committed to Steve Sarkisian and Kyle Flood over Michigan, Stanford and Texas A&M.
    Turntine has been atop of the Longhorns' big board essentially from the start of the 2026 class. The Longhorns also hosted Turntine and his family on more visits than any other school in the recruitment. 
    There are some questions about where Turntine may play at the next level, largely due to an unconventional frame at the moment, but the plan has been and will be to use Turntinee as a tackle.
    Speaking of Turntine's abilities, his punch and quickness laterally are tremendous.
    This is a big win for the Horns as Turntine becomes the 18th member of the class and the third offensive linemen in the 2026 cycle. 
    Jeff Howe
    Happy Independence Day!
    There are three Texas targets expected to make verbal commitments today.
    After securing a commitment from OTF 4-star+ linebacker Kosi Okpala on Thursday, the Longhorns’ 2026 recruiting class stands at 16 members. Coming into Friday, Steve Sarkisian’s fifth full-cycle class on the Forty Acres was ranked No. 14 nationally by 247Sports and No. 16 by Rivals.
    We know when each of the three recruits is expected to make the call. The OTF staff will keep you updated on any changes throughout the day.
     
    ***
     
    Felix Ojo, OT, Mansfield Lake Ridge
    OTF 4-Star+
    Time: 1 p.m.
    Finalists: Florida, Michigan, Ohio State, TEXAS, Texas Tech
    Note: Ojo is expected to announce his decision on X (formerly Twitter).
     
    ***
     
    John Turntine III, OT, North Crowley
    OTF 5-Star
    Time: 2:15 p.m.
    Finalists: Michigan, Stanford, TEXAS, Texas A&M
    Note: Turntine's ceremony is scheduled to start at noon. He's expected to announce his decision on X (formerly Twitter).
     
    ***
     
    Kaydon Finley, WR, Aledo
    OTF 4-Star+
    Time: 6:30-7 p.m.
    Finalists: Arizona State, Notre Dame, TEXAS, Texas A&M
    Jeff Howe
    Nobody needs a reason to celebrate the life and football career of Tommy Nobis.
    Nevertheless, the countdown to the 2025 football season reached 60 days on Tuesday, making it the perfect time to reflect on Nobis’ gridiron legacy.
    It’s hard to argue against Nobis being the best defensive player to come through the Texas program. The only sophomore starter for Darrell Royal’s 1963 national champions, Nobis remains the standard for what a Longhorn defender should be, even though his last snap on the Forty Acres was almost 65 years ago.
    One of the most decorated defensive players in college football history, Nobis won the Maxwell Award in 1965, meeting the criteria for the University of Texas to retire his No. 60 (a Longhorn must be named a consensus All-American and win a recognized national player of the year award to get their number retired). Before the Texas defensive charge that led to LenDale White coming up short on fourth-and-2 late in the fourth quarter of the 2006 Rose Bowl, Nobis thwarting Joe Namath’s attempt to convert a fourth down in the 1965 Orange Bowl (a 21-17 win for the Longhorns over the Crimson Tide in college football’s first-ever live prime-time telecast) was arguably the top defensive play in school history (the top competitor might be the fumble Pat Culpepper and Johnny Treadwell combined to force on the goal line in a 7-3 win over Arkansas, helping Texas secure the 1962 Southwest Conference title).
    ***
    Tributes for Nobis poured in when he died in 2017.
    Mike Perrin, who oversaw the Texas athletic department between the end of Steve Patterson’s forgettable tenure and the powers that be hiring Chris Del Conte, was a freshman during Nobis’ final season on the Forty Acres.
    “Tommy Nobis was an icon not just at The University of Texas,” Perrin said, “but in all of college football.”
    Bill Little, who was the sports editor of The Daily Texan as a UT student when Nobis played for the Longhorns and, later, the football program’s sports information director, said of Nobis, “There are few players that strike fear in opponents the way Nobis did in his time.”
    There’s no shortage of scribes, observers, coaches or players willing to back up Little’s opinion. Hall of Fame running back Larry Csonka is one of them, going on the record that he’d "rather play against Dick Butkus than Nobis."
    ***
    Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981, the one tribute Nobis should’ve received while he was alive was enshrinement alongside Butkus, Csonka and other gridiron legends in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
    Rich McKay, the CEO of the Atlanta Falcons, wrote an open letter regarding Nobis’ Hall of Fame candidacy in 2020.
    “It is time to rightfully acknowledge, appreciate, and celebrate one of the greatest to ever play the game: the late Tommy Nobis,” McKay wrote. We can — we should — do that by immortalizing Nobis with a bronze bust at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.”
    It’s long been acknowledged that Nobis, who was the Falcons’ first-ever draft pick (No. 1 overall in the 1965 NFL Draft) and wore his “Mr. Falcon” moniker like a badge of honor, played on some dreadful squads. In 11 seasons with the Falcons, Nobis never played in a playoff game, enjoying just two winning seasons in his NFL career.
    Nobis is one of only four defensive players on the NFL’s 1960s All-Decade Team not currently in the Hall of Fame. Nobis, the 1966 NFL Rookie of the Year, was a two-time All-Pro who was named to the Pro Bowl five times.
    Longtime Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Furman Bisher once wrote the following regarding Nobis' exclusion from the Hall of Fame: “There isn't much more one can say about Tommy Nobis. In the glow of a winning team, where he would have been a star on the isolated camera, he would already have been residing in Canton. It's not a Falcons thing, it's a Nobis thing, and here is a man who lives up to all the ideals I would establish for admission to the Pro Football Hall of Fame."
    ***
    The finest two-way player I have ever seen," is a quote often attributed to Royal regarding Nobis' ability on the field. Royal maximized Nobis’ unique skill set by playing him at guard on offense.
    So, when Kelvin Banks became the first Longhorn offensive lineman to win the Outland Trophy last season, that’s not entirely true. Nobis, lining up as a ferocious lead blocker for Royal’s Wing-T offense, won the Outland Trophy two years after Scott Appleton became the first of the program’s five Outland Trophy winners in 1963 (Appleton, Nobis, Banks, Brad Shearer in 1977 and T’Vondre Sweat in 2023 put Texas behind only Nebraska’s nine and Alabama’s six Outland Trophy winners for the most produced by one school).
    ***
    I’m happy that during his Tuesday appearance on “Coffee & Football,” Ramonce Taylor mentioned how Mack Brown’s staff initially recruited him to Texas to be a part of Duane Akina’s secondary.
    I remember going to watch Taylor’s last high school game (Belton’s bi-district playoff loss to Leander at Killeen’s Leo Buckley Stadium in 2003), believing I was watching a prospect who had a chance to become the next great Longhorn defensive back.
    Then, I watched Taylor cut through the defense like a hot knife through butter.
    I left the stadium knowing Texas had to find a way to let Taylor touch the football. Thankfuly, that’s something Taylor said was in the works before his epic senior year started; Taylor rushed for 2,370 yards and 29 touchdowns as an all-state running back, he was an all-district basketball player while sharing the court with current Stephen F. Austin men’s basketball coach Matt Braeuer and won his second consecutive state championship in the long jump.
    ***
    Whether it was Taylor, Curtis Brown, Earl Thomas, Quandre Diggs or Ja’Tavion Sanders, the true two-way players who’ve come through the Texas program over the last two decades have, for the most part, ended up on the side of the ball where they were meant to play. Jermaine Bishop Jr. is the one 2026 recruit, currently committed to the Longhorns, who should be the source of a healthy internal debate regarding whether he’ll help Steve Sarkisian’s offense or Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense.
    Bishop caught 83 passes for 1,565 yards and 18 touchdowns as a junior, ending the season with 2,009 all-purpose yards. Even though Bishop posed for photos with the Jim Thorpe Award during his June official visit and has a bright future as a defensive back, I agree with Gerry Hamilton’s take on this week’s episode of the “Recruiting Breakdown" regarding Bishop's future.
    Sarkisian could see enough of Xavier Worthy in Bishop’s game to at least experiment with ways to get the ball into the hands of such an electric, game-changing talent.
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