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    CJ Vogel
    I spoke with California QB guru Danny Hernandez earlier this morning following Texas' offer extension of 2026 Mission Hills QB Troy Huhn.
    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.
    ***
    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.
    ***
    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."
     
     
     
    CJ Vogel
    Texas defensive analyst William Gay will not be making it to spring ball after being hired January 20.
    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.
    Bobby Burton
    If you listened to the Town Hall meeting of Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte on Tuesday night, you realize just how many talented people work alongside Del Conte to make Texas athletics the best in the country.
    I felt like it would be informative to give a little more background info on those folks and exactly what they do.
    Drew Martin - If it has to do with marketing and game-day experience, Drew Martin is the person whose fingerprints are all over it. Martin also helps manage and oversee third party agreements with media behemoths like Learfield and William Morris Endeavor.
    Chris Plonsky - Plonsky was once the women's athletic director, but when CDC was hired, Texas unified the athletic department into one outfit for both men and women. CDC, however, did not clip the wings of Plonsky in the process. Instead, she has continued to help build Texas women's athletics into the juggernaut it is and CDC gives her due credit in the process.
    Andrew Hamor - One of the leads of the Longhorn Foundation, Hamor helps CDC find the funds for various athletic department projects. While CDC is the forward facing fundraiser for the athletic department, Hamor is someone almost every major Longhorn donor knows.
    Ricky Brown - The former fullback for Ricky Williams is one of the heads of outreach from the athletic department to former players.
    Shawn Eichorst - He's the deputy. Eichorst is CDC's right-hand man, the "glue" that keeps it all together. The former Nebraska AD is a voice of experience that CDC can count on.
    Sarah Baumgardner - Baumgardner works directly with Texas coaches to fix issues that arise on a daily basis. She works hand-in-hand with CDC.
    Fernando Lovo - All those pretty new facilities and their functionality? That's Lovo's job, to execute the vision, work with the general contractors, architects, and the university, to make sure it all comes out to plan.
    Rob Novak - The CFO of Texas athletics. He makes sure the money is there, not just for next month, but for large projects well into the future.
    While CDC is a gifted administrator and fundraiser, the success of Texas athletics is far from a one-man show, and that's something CDC would tell you himself, and why he mentioned the folks above during his speech on Tuesday night.
    Hats off to all of those who help make Texas athletics the best program in the country.
    CJ Vogel
    Last night, Texas extended an offer to 2026 Mission Hills (CA) quarterback Troy Huhn. It was just the second offer extended by Coach Sarkisian at quarterback in the class.
    While Huhn has yet to receive a ranking from the larger recruiting services, his Hudl showcases some tremendous talent throwing the football. We have talked about doing OnTexasFootball rankings loosely in the past, Huhn would be a high four star prospect for me.
    I traded messages with Huhn last night following the offer.
    Off the bat, there are hopes to get to Austin during the spring. Huhn mentioned potentially a trip to the spring game on April 20, but has yet to set anything officially. A trip to the 40 Acres would not be the first trip to Austin for Huhn, he previously attended the Kansas State game at DKR on November 4.
    The offer appears to have been a bit of a surprise, though Huhn says he and Coach AJ Milwee have been building a relationship for the last four months. 
    There are also ties to the region despite now living in California. Huhn's mother grew up in the south and he still has plenty of family down here. The University of Texas has always been a "dream school" of his growing up and Huhn even added that he feels like he fits in well in the south.
    Of course, it certainly helps the Longhorns' cause having seen the development of Quinn Ewers over the last two seasons as well. Sarkisian's ties to the west coast will definitely help in this recruitment as well.
    "Coach Sarkisian is a great coach, let alone a relatable person as he grew up in California," Huhn said following his offer Wednesday night. "The program he has built at Texas is nothing but amazing, especially for quarterbacks. In his recent years, he has developed some of the best quarterbacks that get to play on Sundays."
    While the Longhorns just officially got involved with the offer, I would expect to see Texas become a major player here down the road.
    "The University of Texas will be high on my list as I continue to build relationships with the staff and move forward."
    Gerry Hamilton
    It's that time in recruiting where quarterback recruiting is starting to take center stage. Steve Sarkisian and staff have a commitment from one of the nation's best in the 2025 cycle, and have now extended offers in the 2026 cycle ahead of spring visits and June Elite Camp. 
    The June 3 Elite Camp in 2023 resulted in K.J. Lacey committing to Texas for the 2025 class. And the same is likely for the 2026 class. 
    OnTexasFootball begins Thursday with the latest on quarterback recruiting. 
    Lacey planning return trip to Texas
    OnTexasFootball exchanged messages with OnTexasFootball 4-star and Texas commitment K.J. Lacey Wednesday. Lacey, 6-0 and nearing 180 pounds, was on campus during the season and in January while in the Austin area for a 7v7 tournament. The Saraland (Ala.) High signal caller told OTF that he will be back in April. One source close to the recruitment said most likely for the spring game April 20. The visit plans are still being finalized to lock in an April date. 
    Ole Miss and Auburn continue to be the two programs pursuing Lacey the most, currently. Lacey cancelled a visit to Ole Miss the first weekend of February at the request of the Texas staff. He has been on campus at Auburn multiple times since the start of the 2023 season, with all trips being alongside 2024 5-star, teammate and good friend Ryan Williams prior to Williams signing with Alabama earlier this month. 
    Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and A.J. Milwee made a visit to Saraland High in late January, which went very well according to a source close to the recruitment. 
    Lacey's Saraland High stats:
    2022 (sophomore): 200 of 314 for 3,177 yards with 40 TD's and 5 INT's. He added four rushing scores.
    2023 (junior): 219 of 315 for 3,448 yards with 42 TD's and 8 INT's. He added five TD's on the ground. 
    Texas offers two in 2026
    Steve Sarkisian and A.J. Milwee extended the first two offers at quarterback in the 2026 cycle Wednesday, and they were both out of state. 
    The first was Jared Curtis out of Nashville (Tn.) Nashville Christian School. Curtis, 6-3 and 220'ish, has been trending to Georgia for a few weeks. Oregon has also made Curtis a priority.
    The second offer has the full attention of OnTexasFootball. Troy Huhn (San Marcos, Calif./Mission Hills) was a first year starting quarterback on the varsity level in 2023. He received his first offer in February of 2023 from Texas A&M (Bobby Petrino). After a quiet season and December/January in terms of offers, he caught fire February 14. Oregon, closest to home San Diego State, UCF and Texas all offered Wednesday. He quickly now sits at 10 offers. And based on watching his video and taking a deeper dive, expect that offer list to race past 20 in the spring. Huhn camped at Texas in June, and returned for the Texas game vs. Kansas State. There is a connection with Huhn and Steve Sarkisian of note. Huhn trains with Danny Hernandez out of the Southern California area. The same QB instructor that Malik Murphy spent some time working with in high school. 
    Offer list:
    Texas, Oregon, Arizona (Jedd Fisch), Arizona State, California, Penn State, Nebraska, Texas A&M, San Diego State and UCF.
    Huhn's 2023 stats:
    133 of 223 for 1,623 yards with 16 TD"s and 6 INT's. Two of those INT's came in his first varsity start for Mission Hills. After that game, he posted 16 TD"s against 4 INT's. 
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