CJ Vogel

Texas took to the field Tuesday morning for the first practice of the spring window. While the media window concluded with the team mostly undergoing special team and individual drills, Steve Sarkisian peeled back the curtain just a bit in his press conference following practice. The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Committee proposed three new rules for the upcoming 2024 season – with helmet communication being the No. 1 talking point of the bunch. During the post-practice press conference, Sarkisian mentioned how that rule change impacted the first spring practice window with a look ahead to how it might trickle down to the field in the fall. "A little different for Quinn and I this year is my ability to talk to him through the mic," Sarkisian said. "We were practicing that today. Having two years of experience and working together and now having that dialogue through the headset is going to be beneficial for us." The change to helmet communication has yet to be approved, however Sarkisian says he is preparing for the fall as if it will be green-lit. The rules committee will meet April 18 for possible approval. Sarkisian added Texas has been working with the NCAA and the SEC to get hands on helmet communication in the spring. For Sarkisian, experience with calling in plays through the headset at the NFL level allows for this transition to occur a bit smoother. While there is a learning curve for Ewers to overcome with the headset, Sarkisian says it is a two-way road when it comes to getting him up to speed. "I think it is just hearing (the call) as opposed to the signals. I still think he is going to look towards the sideline, yet hearing the call and communicating that with the pertinent information needed. I think the challenge for me is how much information is quality, good information and when does it cross the threshold of too much where it is a little paralysis by analysis." Sarkisian was the playcaller for the Atlanta Falcons in the 2017-18 where he was responsible for the play call communication getting to Matt Ryan and the offense. Of course there will be months of prep leading up to the fall with Ewers and Sarkisian through the helmet, but according to the Texas Head Coach, the two got off to a strong start. "I thought it felt really comfortable for him today in his first time out doing it," Sarkisian said. For folks who lean one way or the other when it comes to tempo with the helmet communication, Sarkisan says he believes it will enable offensive coordinators to do both. "I think you can do both, quite frankly," Sarkisian said. "It is a lot easier to say five words than signal five words, but yet you can give more information and have real dialogue to speed up and slow down. Hopefully I can give him some more information that allows him to play faster within plays as well." View full news

Hard to say because the team was only in helmets. Sarkisian mentioned post-practice in his presser he would like for Savion Red (240 pounds), Kendrick Blackshire (261) and Sydir Mitchell (372) to shed some weight during the spring. But also mentioned that should still be organic just from being outside in Austin in the summer.

I've received word that Sydir has been battling an illness over the last week or two. He is fighting to get back to where he wants to be on the field which is the reasoning for the news at the top of the article.

The Texas Longhorns were on the football field this morning! Gerry and Bobby are going live on YouTube as I write this (9:45 a.m.) but I have some notes I wanted to get over to the site. I spent a lot of time watching the front seven of the defense with a number of new faces and additions to the field. But here is the full run down of tidbits from day one. *** OFFENSE Quinn Ewers broke the team out and led the last bit of the opening stretching period. First Team Offense: QB – Quinn Ewers RB – CJ Baxter WR – Johntay Cook WR – Isaiah Bond Slot WR – DeAndre Moore TE – Gunnar Helm LT – Kelvin Banks LG – Hayden Conner C – Jake Majors RG – DJ Campbell RT – Cam Williams No true surprises here. DeAndre Moore was also the first Longhorn on the field this morning and looked completely bought in on the field today. RB Jaydon Blue saw time with the first team as well. Just mixed in with Baxter at times. Second Team Offense: QB – Arch Manning RB – Jaydon Blue / Savion Red WR – Matthew Golden WR – Ryan Niblett WR – Ryan Wingo TE – Amari Niblack LT – Trevor Goosby LG – Neto Umeozulu C – Connor Robertson RG – Cole Hutson RT – Andre Cojoe Five-star freshman Brandon Baker began on the third unit, as did Daniel Cruz. This is bound to change as the freshmen across the field were littered in the backhalf of drill lines all morning. Reminder that it is their first practice in college, this will take time. RB Savion Red did not looked 240 pounds to me. Credit to him I suppose for carrying it well. Freshman TE Jordan Washington looked tremendous at his 240-pound designation. He was smooth, he was physical in pad blocking drills. He looked like he has a very bright future for Jeff Banks. There is something about DeAndre Moore that will be difficult to keep off the field. He is tremendously smooth in and out of cuts in his routes. Going back to freshman WR Ryan Wingo, he looks the absolute part. Incredibly bright future. The Quarterbacks looked good. Ewers, Manning and Owens were all accurate throwing the ball from what I was able to see. Ewers had a very good passing day when going deep. He connected with Isaiah Bond and Ryan Niblett on sluggo routes. I saw some passes hit the ground today, but none were the result of errant throws. A number of younger wide receivers were seen doing pushups after routes if that gives you any inclination as to why that was the case. (Drops) Malik Agbo was your third team left guard. DEFENSE First Team: EDGE – Barryn Sorrell DT – Alfred Collins NT – Vernon Broughton EDGE – Ethan Burke LB – Anthony Hill Jr. LB – David Gbenda nCB – Jahdae Barron CB – Malik Muhammad CB – Terrance Brooks S – Michael Taaffe S – Derek Williams The second team unit was a bit of a hodge podge, but I did see Trey Moore with that unit to begin. Sydir Mitchell did not have the best start to practice. He was asked to take a lap at the beginning of practice from what I noticed. Kenny Baker is asking a lot of him, he was showing some great intensity at the beginning of practice. Taioalii Savea and Alex January were two others I watched a good bit. Only seven true interior defensive linemen today: Collins, Broughton, Savea, Bryant, Bledsoe, January, and Mitchell. As for the EDGE spot, a few things: First, Trey Moore won't shock anyone with his physical size. He is a good looking prospect, but he won't 'Wow' anyone when he steps into a room. To the two most impressive looking prospects on the EDGE, that goes to Colton Vasek who was back in pads for the first time in a while. I was very encouraged from what I saw from Vasek today. Early Enrollee Zina Umeozulu certainly is an impressive looking prospect as well. He has a perfect build for the edge position. As for Colin Simmons, his body looks tremendous. In the drills that the EDGE worked in moves off the snap, Simmons was smooth and quick, as you would expect. Man, no one on this roster is more physically impressive with the athleticism to back it up than Anthony Hill Jr. He looks like he could play on Sundays immediately. You can really tell Terrance Brooks added weight to his frame. He looks like an NFL DB. I was really impressed with the movement of both Xavier Filsaime and Jelani McDonald at the safety position. Andrew Mukuba looks incredibly smooth in coverage skills. Punt Return: A whole slew of guys returning punts in practice today: Johntay Cook and Isaiah Bond were the first out for the drills today. Following by Aaron Butler, Matthew Golden, Ryan Wingo and Parker Livingstone. Misc. The SEC had a camera crew that arrived prior to any of the local media and stuck around after. You can expect some cool footage from that later on. The reigning Outland Award winner, T'Vondre Sweat, was also late to arrive for the practice. He watched on the sidelines. View full news

The first media availability of the Texas spring football season is in the books! Gerry Hamilton and Bobby Burton will go live reacting to what they saw on the field here shortly. Welcome to the beginning of the 2024 season! View full news

The Longhorns have made the top six cut for St. Ignatius College Preparatory OL John Mills out of San Francisco, California. Mills is a top target on the Texas board and was previously on campus for the January 20 junior day. The four-star offensive lineman is expected back in Austin April 6 for the loaded Texas visitors weekend and has an official visit locked in for June 14-16. Kyle Flood has done a tremendous job to date in this recruitment. View full news

Come join us for the debut of On Texas Football's new live show, The Winning Drive with Coach Bob Shipley, Rod Babers and myself! Fun Texas draft to start the show off for all of us on episode number one. View full news

No. Niblack was a 20-30 snap guy who played in 12 games last year for Alabama. Funny enough, his 57 snaps against Texas were the most he played in a game the entire season.

At Alabama, Niblack played 327 of 779 possible snaps (41.9%). He lined up 50% inline, 38% in the slot and 11% outside.

Two big names as well

Tough to unseat a multi-year starter on the OL. But i anticipate a tough battle at LG. Kyle Flood will have a fun spring ball himself trying to piece this one together.

Spring football kicks off in just over 24 hours from right now. We have made it. It is here. Finally, we can sideline the hypotheticals and get to the real action on the field. For all of the excitement this offseason has built, there remains plenty of unforeseen turns before the end of the spring and many questions that are atop of the priority list when it comes to finding the true identity of this team. Practice No. 1 kicks off tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. I will be in attendance for the media availability of the first session. But beforehand, a quick idea of what I will be looking for when it comes to the spring season getting underway. *** 1. Can Sydir Mitchell Carry 373 Pounds? It truly is that simple of a question. This was probably the surprise of the roster update – aside from Savion Red at 240 pounds. Texas is banking on a continuation of elite interior defensive line play as they move into the SEC and Sydir Mitchell was expected to be a large piece of the puzzle here. If he can move well and be an impact guy, this is a moot point, but right now, it remains to be seen just how much he can contribute at that weight. 2. Ryan Wingo in Action Of course, the talk of the offseason has been the transfer portal additions at the wide receiver spot, but that won't stop me from being excited about the five-star wide receiver. Wingo was a star in San Antonio when I last saw him in person. He has the physical tools, a tremendous frame and speed that Sarkisian covets. Now it is about carving out his own role within the Texas offense. 3. Anthony Hill Jr. + LB2 The expectation coming into spring football is David Gbenda will be the man in the starting 11 for the Longhorns at the MIKE linebacker spot alongside Anthony Hill Jr. We saw the glimpses of Gbenda in 2023 where he made his most significant impact coming downhill in run fits and often as a blitzer chasing after the quarterback. The question is can he be relied upon in the passing game. Will we eventually see Morice Blackwell moved inside? How quickly can Liona Lefau and Derion Gullette make an impact here? And don't forget Alabama transfer Kendrick Blackshire for what he can do in this defensive scheme. 4. All of the EDGE's Texas has lacked that consistent game changer off of the edge for a couple of seasons under Sarkisian. However, we look at the EDGE room now in 2024 that is a strength on paper. You can expect Barryn Sorrell and Ethan Burke to take steps in their game from a year ago. You add UTSA star transfer Trey Moore and of course five-star Colin Simmons enters the fold as well. But don't sleep on guys like J'Mond Tapp, Billy Walton and Justice Finkley. And it would be found money for the Longhorns to get Colton Vasek completely healthy this spring as well. 5. Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning I mean it is kind of outrageous that the Heisman frontrunner and the former No. 1 overall player in the country come in at No. 5 on this list am I right? But hey, that just leads to the intrigue of this spring football season. Quinn Ewers physically will look a little stockier than what we saw in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. With the new WR corps, I want to know what the rapport looks like. Of course, with Arch, how is he progressing here as well. Plus, let us see the first couple of practices for early enrollee Trey Owens. A very talented and hyped up QB room for Sarkisian here. View full news

The madness is finally here! The NCAA Men's Basketball field of 68 has been released and now is your chance to join the On Texas Football bracket challenge! For the next couple of weeks there will be plenty of banter available surrounding the brackets as the men's tournament takes over the headlines in the sports world. Get ready for some trash talk and plenty of bragging rights as a result of the bracket group. Join the group here: https://fantasy.espn.com/tc/sharer?challengeId=240&from=espn&context=GROUP_INVITE&edition=espn-en&groupId=cbd215c3-5539-453f-a93d-eea93a42e5fb View full news

EDGE Lance Jackson has flipped his official visit date to June 14-16.

No Oklahoma in the tournament this year. Also, Indiana State misses the tournament as the 27th team in the NET rating - the highest rated team to miss the tournament. Committee gave UVA the nod based off program reputation.

Very favorable R64 draw for the Longhorns. Virginia flirted with the NIT after a loss to 10-Seed NC State in OT in the ACC tournament. Colorado State has four players averaging 10+ this season. Fun team from a competitive conference, though someone Texas should handle. The possible meeting with Rick Barnes and Tennessee is what intrigues me the most.

Again, Lake Travis, Texas, and the other nine schools that are planning on getting him on campus this spring have all done their due diligence here. Rushing to judgement blindly off of a one-sided story is likely not the best outcome.

Cordova's Hudl: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/17617963/6570d500dfe2e6117829bf40