Bobby Burton

Barring something major - like the immediate unexpected exodus of a couple of linemen from Michigan - Texas is officially done with portal recruiting for the spring semester. In review, the Horns grabbed eight players who expect to contribute immediately, six of them heavily. Meanwhile, the Horns lost 15 players to the portal, of which I'd say four or five would have been contributors of some level. Perhaps one departure really, really hurt - Trill Carter (Auburn). Carter would have been immediate, helpful depth at a position of need. The others of note: safety Jerrin Thompson (Auburn), safety Kitan Crawford (Nevada), receiver Isaiah Neyor (Nebraksa) and quarterback Maalik Murphy (Duke). Thompson and Crawford would have provided a lot of experience in the secondary. Crawford was a demon on special teams; he will be missed there. So, yes, there were some losses. But overall, the portal is clearly a net gain. Three starter-level receivers, a starting TE from a college football playoff team, an edge rusher with 14.5 sacks, an experienced back-up linebacker, a defensive tackle with some starting experience, and a three-year starting DB from a nationally ranked team. Sark and his personnel staff yet again used the opportunity available to them to improve the roster. Ongoing improvement, piece by piece, continues to be perhaps the biggest theme of Sark's tenure. It's not his offense, or his quarterback tutelage, not merely his top-notch recruiting, it's been his pursuit of upping the ante, improving his team and roster, at every chance that has made him - and Texas - into a force to be reckoned with. If Texas keeps adding pieces to the puzzle, replacing ones that go to the NFL or portal out, then we're on a path of being a program, not just a We don't know where this will all end up for Texas. But the steady incline of the program is what we're seeing. View full news

I'm one of those guys who doesn't think people have to explain themselves to anyone if they want to un-retire. My dad did it several times through the years for special projects. Old friends called and off he went. There's no need to label retirement as the end. It can just be putting a pause on your career these days. It's all up to the individual and what they want out of life.

While most people think of the West Coast, Hawaii and Utah when it comes to Poly players, there are some in Texas as well. It used to be in the Euless area at Euless Trinity. But that is changing with the times. There's a junior DL out of Bastrop, Tiki Hola. He is a definite target, too.

Cal McNair would absolutely love that.

He didn’t spend anything in ‘22. But alums? That’s a different story.

We moved the Livestream to 6:15pm from 7pm tonight to accommodate for the NFC championship game. https://youtube.com/live/D5rpPqM0_7w

Chippy in Baltimore right now.

Hope it’s not serious but a little concerned. It looked like non-contact.

Chiefs fail on 4th down in Ravens territory. 14-7 Chiefs in the 2nd.

Can't read too much into this. Texas didn't push for either of those players. Not that that matters all that much other than it doesn't effect the Texas board. Still, the players can still be good even if Texas isn't prioritizing them.

No, they're not without talent. But they don't have two returning starters. They recruited him to start. Texas recruited him to compete. There's a difference. Not saying which one is right, but the two teams see their corner spots differently is all.

I also think Texas may start to push a bit more for Granville, who was at OU this weekend.

Two commitments for A&M from the weekend. - LB Riggins from Forney can really run. Undersized but I like him a lot. - Pettaway is a solid player. His older brother is already on the team at A&M.

All good questions. We'll see what Rod has to say. My overarching take is more about run offense generally, not just in two back sets. Run defense and run offense are the two biggest changes in moving to the SEC IMO.

It is. Agree.

With Jabbar Muhammad opting for Oregon, Michigan players staying put (for now), it’s time to look a little deeper at recruiting for the Horns in 2025. I start with CB recruiting given the news yesterday of Jaboree Antoine heading to LSU. View full news

Fair question. I don’t know the answer. We’ll ask.

Versatility is absolutely what it is. Couple of thoughts: - A question I have though is what is their big personnel? They have to insert Agbo because I don’t think Niblack is that sort of in-line presence. That is somewhat limiting even with Helm returning. Not anything major but something to consider. - SEC teams are notoriously better in their front seven than other leagues. How does that affect what Sark can do, especially from the two-back look? Even with a more experienced OL, it’s a different convo trying to run on those teams.

I don’t see Hayden as a liability. I see him as a pretty good guard. The question is, can he be improved upon? I also don’t think an offensive lineman really starts peaking until their 4th or 5th year in college (and that includes Kelvin Banks). We’d be giving up early on Neto with that beginning of year three assessment and maybe on Hayden, too

He was. He was the final five minute guy from a clock perspective.

They both can stand up or put their hand in the dirt to give an offense different looks. They have a third linebacker spot in case they want to give more of a dime look these days or play lighter in the box. It’s not a starting position IMO because Texas, and just about everyone else in CFB, plays a base nickel. A 4-2-5 or as Texas likes to call it a 2-4-5.

Sorrell is the strong-side end, Burke the weak-side. They play the weak typically into the boundary. It’s all nomenclature.

That’s a little bit of what I’m thinking. That’s not just one of the elite guys off the board at the position, it’s two. By no means is it time to panic, but it is something to be aware of.