CJ Vogel

It is very hard for anyone in the country to dispute RBU right now with the way Texas has things going + the rich tradition of stars at the position.

He is doing well. First spring ball session coming up will be big for him, but he is coming around physically.

That’s the mentality you need to have in the secondary. Texas didn’t have that in 2023

It does Texas no good to play a team like Texas Tech in the future, but man with the way this program is headed it would be fun to watch another 50-point bludgeoning at some point again.

Lot of freshmen getting looks this past weekend. Will see big improvements across the lineup as the season progresses. for now, a good start.

We are 29 days away from the beginning of spring practice. As we continue to inch closer and closer to the highly anticipated start of the next era of Texas Football in the SEC, there remains a number of high priority boxes that remain unchecked at the moment. Over the next four weeks, I will be taking a look at some of the biggest team needs going into spring ball based off conversations I have had with folks around the program. Today, we begin in the secondary. *** It was seven weeks ago when Michael Penix threw for 430 yards in the College Football Playoff against the Texas defense. A night where it felt like he could do no wrong, Penix torched a Texas secondary who had been suspect seemingly all season long. Texas has seen some attrition from the secondary room in those past seven weeks, and while the nucleus of the rotation remains the same, an influx of talent with fresh faces arriving this semester was needed. I had a conversation with someone close to the program last week who mentioned there was not enough swagger in the Texas secondary last year. It is a topic that Rod and I have explored on Longhorn Livestreams over the past month, however, now I am hearing it from the inside. There is a lot of confidence with this unit and it has been showing thus far in organized throwing sessions and offseason workouts. I don't think anyone will find it surprising that defensive backs like to talk. It is part of the position to have that confidence and approach to the game that results in jawing a bit during practice. That conversation about the DB room left me with the impression the on-field play will be much improved in large part because of the mindset in the room now. The return of Terrance Brooks and Malik Muhammad starts this conversation. I would be remiss if I did not include Gavin Holmes here in this conversation as well. I have also heard that adding Andrew Mukuba to the room has also brought an extra gear out of Jahdae Barron. I expect to see a different and unrestrained Derek Williams. Despite a great freshman campaign, no spring ball kept Williams from really playing as loose and free as he would have with an extra 15 practices under his belt. This room is confident. There is more chirping from their side of the ball and an aura to return to the illustrious Defensive Back U title to the Texas defense which has seemingly been tossed to the wayside over the last decade. As we head closer to spring ball, expect to hear about this topic as a goal for the secondary in future updates. View full news

I went to the bullpen for this conversation about the return of the College Football 25 video game which dropped its first trailer earlier this week. I was joined by Bengal, one of the largest YouTube creators in the Madden and NFL communities for this video. We broke down memories from the old game as well as some predictions for ratings of Texas players for the upcoming game! View full news

Gerry and I got together this morning to dive into the details of Steve Sarkisian's contract extension with Texas. View full news

I am very high on Liona Lefau this spring. Perhaps too high. But I think he could etch his way into the rotation with a strong spring and potentially end up starting by the middle of the season.

2025 Shadow Creek CB Cobey Sellers has dropped a top six for his recruitment and the Longhorns made the cut. Sellers was previously on campus for the January 20 Junior Day and is a teammate of Texas commit Anthony Williams. Oklahoma is a school to keep a close eye on, they have the momentum here as of the early spring window, but regardless, Texas is sticking around.

He's my favorite to take the job. Cam's a stud.

Hoping to see Vasek completely healthy for the spring.

A seven seed in the tournament would be quite the achievement considering where the trajectory of this team was headed just over a month ago.

We will see this spring, but at some point I would imagine he sees himself as more than a specialty role player.

Yep! Cruz moved to center full time ahead of his senior season in high school to prep for where Texas would use him when he arrived on campus.

Oh yeah!

Will check in there, as well as the rest of the portalers.

We currently sit 32 days away from the beginning of spring football at The University of Texas. As our Gerry Hamilton has continued to say, this spring session will be one of the most anticipated spring football periods in decades. As another week of practice concludes, I wanted to share some notes on a couple of early enrollees on the offensive side of the ball as the group gets one week deeper into their college careers. *** The Texas offseason conditioning course changes throughout the week to provide different looks for each workout, but for the most part, there is a consistent approach in the following set-up: Mat Drills, Stations and gassers or 110's to round things up at the conclusion of the day. Torre Becton's staff has thrown in a number of agility drills set to improve change of direction speed, as well as focusing on acceleration out of breaks. This has remained a constant this offseason for anyone wondering. *** Starting on offense, we have continued to pound the drum for WR Ryan Wingo over the past few weeks, but man, I continue to hear very encouraging tidbits on the former five-star. He has all of the tools to get on the field right away. A surprise to me has been WR Freddie Dubose. I expected there to be a slow curve in development, though Dubose bought into the weight room immediately and is now sitting north of 185 pounds. Another steady riser. Speaking of newcomers that adopted the college weight room lifestyle – Jerrick Gibson is another name that deserves mentioning. No surprise obviously, but Gibson might be the most physically filled out back in the room at the moment. For QB Trey Owens, he is going the opposite in terms of weight to guys like Colin Simmons and Freddie Dubose. Owens weighed in at 238 pounds San Antonio for the All American Bowl at the beginning of January. When the spring roster is announced and released, it would not surprise me to see Owens sub-230. This might not come off as a big surprise, but Daniel Cruz has been a rabid animal in these workouts. He attacks each workout session very aggressively and has been mentioned as someone who brings the most out of his group when in team settings. Encouraging. The hope is to add another 10+ pounds to Brandon Baker's frame by the beginning of the season. Baker came to campus sitting right around 290 pounds, and word is the staff would prefer him north of 305 before kickoff this fall. View full news

A clip from CBS Sports' Barrett Sallee's podcast caught my attention earlier this morning. Former ESPN Gameday member David Pollack had some tremendous praise for Texas QB Quinn Ewers following the conclusion of his second season as the starting quarterback at Texas. Listen here.

Big time updates here

Yeahhhh, I like Ollie a lot. He is not a 99. There aren't many, if any, 99 overalls in the country. Michigan CB Will Johnson is probably the closest thing in my eyes, perhaps a Travis Hunter.