CJ Vogel

That height and wingspan is legit!

A big move in the high school ranks. Lovejoy has officially announced the hiring of Todd Dodge.

Dodge was recently at Austin Westlake where he helped establish the Chaps as one of the state's best programs in the state.

Good add!  @HenryJames

Two Longhorns earned NIL deals this afternoon with a local Volkswagen dealership in the Austin area.

Early Enrollee Colin Simmons and Houston WR transfer Matthew Golden have some new wheels to ride around in thanks to a partnership with Vanguard Volkswagen.

And highly touted true freshman Colin Simmons will be rolling around campus with a nice ride of his own.

8 minutes ago, ryantnelson02 said:

Do we think Ryan Wingo can play every WR position? From his HS tape I think he can play anywhere on the offense he isn't just a straight-line athlete. I would love to see reps with him as a Big Slot attacking SEC defenses. That would be devastating! 

I didn't originally, then he was used solely out of the slot at the All American Bowl practices in San Antonio and now I think he is an option for anywhere in the offense. He's a complete WR prospect. Eager to get those first practice returns to see how he matches against guys like Jahdae, Brooks and Muhammad.

Steve Sarkisian is up in the north east tip of Texas today.

Sarkisian will be visiting Texas High, home of 2026 RB Tradarian Ball and 2025 DB Xavier Skowron.

The Texas head coach will also be making a stop by Pleasant Grove to see newest Longhorn commit 2025 EDGE Lance Jackson and stopping by with HC Josh Gibson who joined us on Coffee & Football on Monday.

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4 minutes ago, uthorn1374 said:

CJ, can you give a quick stack at LB depth chart?

Mike - Gbenda, Blackshire, Lefau, Burrell 

Will - Hill, Gullette, Smith

Sam - Blackwell ?

Buck - Moore, Simmons, Walton, Akana

is this how you see it?

Feels pretty close. I wonder if the path to the field for Gullette isn't at SAM originally – he will have the athleticism necessary and there's a quicker path. S'Maje Burrell was at MIKE last year early in the season if I remember correctly.

Spring football will clarify this picture, but I would expect Lefau to be LB3 going into that live window.

2026 Fort Bend Marshall DB Isaiah Williams was on campus last weekend for the Texas Junior Day.

This should be a name to become familiar with for the 2026 cycle. Williams was offered by the Longhorn staff during his freshman year of high school and clearly have remained interested since.

Texas has done a great job of getting involved here early. In the last week, Williams has earned offers from Cal, Colorado, Houston, Ohio State, Florida and Arizona State. A pretty significant run.

The 6-foot safety was able to spend time with new Alabama WR transfer addition Isaiah Bond on the trip as well.

Texas is going to be a frequent visitor to Fort Bend Marshall as Williams is teammates with 2025 CB Caleb Chester who also attended the Texas junior day. 

Right now, Williams says he is wide open in his recruitment. Though the Longhorns are a school that have made a strong early impression.

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1 hour ago, GotElmodontcare said:

Really Hoping Gullette can take over a LB role as he took a step in bowl practices. He seems to be fully recovered from acl. 

It'd be a welcomed development no doubt about it.

1 hour ago, Ace Recruiter said:

Thanks for the update CJ. Keep up the great work.

Akana is a second year player who didn't get much run last year, but he is also a bit old for his classification. I was hoping for a big jump from him this year.  Any word on his progress?

Akana needed about 40 lbs of muscle added when he stepped on campus last year. That remains the biggest development for him: getting physically ready for big time college football. 

3 minutes ago, Ojeezy said:

Understanding it’s too early and the rankings have a lot of time to play out, but with Osborne, Guillory, KJ Edwards, and Tradarian Ball in 2026, I thought taking Guillory at this time was interesting. It would really be peculiar to me if we took an early Osborne commitment as well. Very possible that Edwards and Ball are the better 2 backs, and that’s only the in state kids. 
 

Obviously so much time left but 2026 RB almost seems “too” loaded. Makes me wonder if we’ll only take 1 in 2025 (Davison), even though I know Choice/Sark like to take 2 per class. 

Choice and Sarkisian taking the Guillory commitment this early should give you a pretty good indication of how highly they view him. Guillory also has the fastest verified track time of the in-state crop as well.

1 minute ago, Ojeezy said:

In the base defense if Gbenda is at Mike, who are the other starting LBs on the field? I know Ant Hill is one of the others but wondering about positional fit with another LB worked in. 

Gbenda and Hill were both at WILL last year. Gbenda and Lefau (even Blackshire) will battle for the spot opposite of Hill in 2024. Morice Blackwell will man the SAM, finding other depth behind him will be critical for the spring.

35 minutes ago, TooBrokeToPayAttention21 said:

If the 2026 RB out of Forney does commit to Texas what do you think he will bring to the program? Seems to love Texas, the program and Coach Choice and has nothing but great things to say about Texas. 🤘🤘

He's a really good RB prospect. Osbourne was also able to spend some time with Raycine Guillory on the trip as well. Think it is a little too early to contemplate the numbers at positions for the 2026 class, but if Texas adds Osbourne it will be very difficult for any other team in the country to bring in a better haul at the position for that class.

Osbourne is a bit stockier than Guillory at the moment. About 5-foot-10 and 190 lbs. Not as straight line quick either.

3 minutes ago, Shawn Strayhorn said:

he posted above video of his visit

 

Pretty good watch!

The Longhorns are fully under way in the winter conditioning period.

I wanted to share some tidbits that came across my line on this beautiful Friday morning.

***

We have mentioned it briefly on Coffee & Football, but there is a concerted effort being made by Quinn Ewers to take this team under his wing. Essentially establishing it as his team so far during winter conditioning.

I have heard a pair of positives in regards to early enrollee wide receivers: First, Ryan Wingo is looking the part physically. That was a given coming in, but early on in conditioning he has been holding his own in what has become a crowded WR room. His quickness is really standing out in drills.

Also, the straight line speed of Parker Livingstone was noted. 

On the defensive side of the ball, you can expect to hear Anthony Hill Jr.'s name early and often this offseason as an emerging leader for the Texas defense. He is a tremendous competitor and there are sky high expectations for Hill during his time on the 40 Acres. 

Also on the LB front, David Gbenda looks like he has not skipped a beat from the season. Gbenda has remained very active in training sessions and in the weight room since the season and that was something pointed out to me as well. The expectation for Gbenda is to take firm control of the MIKE backer spot.

DT Alex January is the lone early enrollee on the interior defensive line to begin winter conditioning. There is going to be a lot asked of him ahead of spring football to get him as close to physically ready as possible. So far, he has impressed

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Texas just offered 2026 Mayde Creek OLB Kosi Okpala earlier this week as well.

Hudl:http://www.hudl.com/v/2MRiu2 

Really impressive prospect. Big play waiting to happen.

59 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

Tech is doing a good job of evaluating guys early.

Their staff is tremendous at getting in early on prospects, especially those that classify as under the radar.

28 minutes ago, Texas84 said:

Got my Houston classic tickets and bought season tickets for UCF for the May series. Let's go!

Always wanted to attend that! Fun start to the year w some talented teams

26 minutes ago, UTexas said:

If he was good enough to hired on to a staff led by Vic Fangio then I'm pretty sure the guy can coach and develop.

Good way to look at it!

11 minutes ago, Jerry K said:

Thanks guys love it! Longhorn football is my first love but sure do enjoy watching the Horns play baseball. Big fan of coach Pierce.

I would love to see Duplantier get over his mental hump and have a breakout year. Also looking forward to seeing the improvement of players like Cody Howard (aka Agent Cody Banks). I liked his moxy last season. 

If Texas can see some improvement in the bullpen, it could be a special season.

44 minutes ago, Robert Gilbert said:

It is great to see Texas as the more ‘experienced’ team each week. We have a stable HC and staff, a two year starter as QB, and as much or more depth across the board as any team Texas has ever fielded. 

Especially at the key positions. QB, OL, CB

10 minutes ago, Derek Handler said:

Love it!!

Coach Pierce was great! Hope y'all enjoy this one!

Three of the most high profile young stars on the Texas Longhorns 2024 roster out to eat earlier this week.

This was posted by Colin Simmons' mother, Monica.

We talked about Texas dominating DFW as of late, well you can point to these three for the reason behind that. As well as why Texas will continually have a strong foothold in the area for the immediate future.

5 minutes ago, Robert Gilbert said:

He is young, energetic, comes across as knowledgeable and passionate on film about his craft. He has college and pro experience. Plus, he has a wealth of experience coaching Power 5 around him football to help him adjust. I like him and trust Sark. 

It was only a matter of time before Sarkisian found the right fit. Those characteristics you listed are what I was hoping Texas would find in its DL hire.