CJ Vogel

Texas has extended an offer to 2026 Euless Trinity OL Toa Katoa this afternoon. A name that might be familiar to the board is one that Texas fans should certainly keep an eye on now. Katoa, a 6-foot-5 and 375-pound trench monster is slated to be on campus April 13 for what is turning into a bit of a 2026 day on campus. Texas is officially in the game for Katoa, though the Longhorns have been high on him prior to the extended offer. This will be a recruitment to keep a close eye on. View full news

Dallas Cowboys Executive Vice President Stephen Jones spoke about Texas RB Jonathon Brooks this morning at the Owners Meetings which are currently underway now in Orlando. Of course, Dallas is familiar with Texas prospects having drafted LB DeMarvion Overshown a year ago and with former Longhorn Paxton Anderson, the grandson of Jerry Jones, now employed by the franchise. The Cowboys did not re-sign Tony Pollard this offseason, though they did agree to a one-year deal with RB Rico Dowdle. Regardless, the Cowboys will be in the market for a running back come the draft.

The deep ball is what made Daniels so special in 2023. I think Russell has that in his game, though there needs to be a continued improvement in the short-intermediate range.

The Elite 11 took place on Sunday at Austin Westlake HS a few miles from downtown Austin. Of course, the big name in attendance was Texas commit KJ Lacey who received an invitation to the Elite 11 Finals in California later this summer. Elite 11 Finals invites: KJ Lacey, Kevin Sperry, Keelon Russell Lacey of course stuck around in Austin Monday morning for the spring practice. 2027 Shreveport (LA) QB Peyton Houston also stuck around to view practice this morning. Houston holds six offers at the moment – Louisiana Tech, Ole Miss, TCU, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Grambling State. But here are my biggest takeaways from the day of throwing: *** KJ Lacey I really enjoy watching KJ Lacey in action. He has a smoothness to his game that is evident when you watch him in person. More so than anything, when Lacey is outside of the pocket he really has a natural release on passes down the field when he rolls to either side of the field. Lacey is a pure thrower and displayed plenty of arm talent. Like Quinn Ewers, I question his fast ball, but when he gets in a rhythm you rarely see misses on passes down the field. On top of anything else that happened on the field Sunday for Lacey, he confirmed he is locked in with the Longhorns and is looking forward to his three additional trips to Austin this spring/summer. Keelon Russell – SMU Commit The drills yesterday really allowed for me to get an idea of Russell as a thrower of the ball. I know he is a playmaker and can create explosive plays as a QB. Russell did well yesterday, well enough to earn MVP of the Elite 11 festivities. I will add I think there is a bit more life on passes thrown by Russell than others in attendance. He has a big arm and certainly uses his frame to his advantage as a quarterback. Russell has some fine tuning to do on the technical side of things, but he has plenty of potential. 2026 Jake Fette – Del Valle (El Paso) HS For my money's worth, Fette had the most impressive arm of anyone in attendance. The El Paso native debuted as a 5-star on the initial On3 2026 recruiting rankings. The ball truly zips out of his hand upon release. Fette told me he is very high on TCU and Texas Tech for the time being. The Tech staff has done a fine job of evaluating early and prioritizing him so far. Fette told me Texas did not stop by in the winter, however he is expecting AJ Milwee to make the trek west this spring to see him throw in person. 2027 Weston Nielsen – Bastrop HS I was able to watch Nielsen in person for a weight session earlier this offseason where I got a first glance at his athleticism. This might sound a bit out of the blue, but Nielsen reminds me of former Westlake QB Cade Klubnik, just a notch or two lower on the athleticism scale. Nielsen will need to improve his footwork in the pocket, but his arm talent is undeniable at this age. Nielsen will camp with the Longhorns on June 1 – Milwee stopped by Bastrop this winter and will return in the spring to see him throw. He currently holds 11 offers. View full news

Not all the time, hasn't normally been the case at Texas.

Russell's Hudl: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/16364604/659b65d8478da40f68668fbf

https://twitter.com/CJVogel_OTF/status/1771966568764670453

One of the prospects with the most intrigue at today's Elite 11 in Austin was 2025 Duncanville QB Keelon Russell. The 6-foot-3 gunslinger was mighty impressive today in the throwing circuit the Elite 11 puts quarterback prospects through. In fact, Russell earned an invitation to the Elite 11 Finals in California. Russell will attend the Texas spring game April 20 which raised some eyebrows considering the current verbal commitment from KJ Lacey to Texas. While the face time with the Texas staff will wait until April, Russell did update his recrutiment a bit with a focus on where Texas sits in his recruitment. Steve Sarkisian went by Duncanville for a game in the fall to see Colin Simmons, Alex January and Dakorien Moore though that provided the first opportunity for the Texas head coach to see Russell as well. While the two sides have chatted at times in the past, the first real communication did not come until recently. Russell added Sarkisian and the Texas staff called him the other day – a development on the front of Texas in this recruitment. "When the Texas staff called me the other day, they were saying all of the boxes are checked for me," Russell said. "Only thing left was to come see them in person so they could see what kind of guy I am." When Russell does get to campus for the spring game April 20, it will be very interesting to see if Texas does in fact extend an offer. If it does, it could indicate a number of things in the larger 2025 QB picture. But more specifically with Russell, it would create quite the opportunity for his recruitment. "I am looking forward to building a relationship with all of the staff," Russell said. "I am looking forward to getting an offer from them, it would change a lot." Russell said he and KJ Lacey have spoken previously and the two have thrown together in camps in the past. The topic of a two quarterback class has not been brought up too often this cycle, though if that is the direction the staff wants to go in, Russell said he would be open to competing in a two QB class. If and when Texas offers, expect the Longhorns to skyrocket up the list of programs for Russell. "Texas, like I said, was one of my dream schools," Russell said. "I feel like them (offering) is going to set (a standard). But they have KJ, so I don't know how much that will play a part. I say that because, I would go to Texas realistically. It is my dream school." Russell wants to get out to Oregon and Alabama this summer. He has an official visit to Ole Miss set for next weekend as well. All eyes in this recruitment turn to April 20 and whether or not the Longhorns end up extending an offer to the Duncanville QB. View full news

I forgot to mention but today was also the first day in pads for the team this spring.

Texas wrapped up its third practice of the spring this morning in front of 100+ high school coaches from around the state who were in town for the Texas Coaches Clinic. Of course, Los Angeles Rams HC Sean McVay will be the keynote speaker this year. Some notes from practice this morning. *** Starting with a pair of early enrollee freshmen – Daniel Cruz and Alex January. The two provided some really intense battles with one another in the 1-on-1 portion of practice in the trenches. Both are advanced for their age and experience, which leads to some really exciting back and forths. Both have had their moments with January avenging a rep with a smooth swim move. January's athleticism is quite noticeable after losing 10+ pounds since the conclusion of HS ball. Sticking with a newcomer in the trenches, Brandon Baker has been tremendous in pass protection. That was a strength of his during his high school evaluation and that has transferred almost instantly to the field in college. Transfer safety Andrew Mukuba is going to have some work in the box this year. With Derek Williams expected to be the field safety this fall, there is going to be some responsibility for Mukuba near the line of scrimmage, which he has plenty of experience doing. Don't mistake this for the nickel spot, though that is not out of the realm of possibility eventually. Safety Jelani McDonald has made tremendous noise on special teams. McDonald as a gunner on punt dusted a double team and drew praise from teammates and coaches in the process. Michael Taaffe made a really impressive play on an out route thrown by Quinn Ewers today. Texas was without EDGE Colton Vasek for a bit during practice. Vasek was suited out though spent time with the training staff when the team moved into the live team periods. I won't speculate on what the reason was, but he was absent for a period or two. To the quarterbacks: The deep ball has been a hit this spring thus far. Not too often is ball hitting the turf on throws 30+ yards down the field – probably could not say the same thing a year ago. Trey Owens is doing well through three practices. He is at his best when he has a clear idea presnap with where he wants to go with the rock. That is to be expected as he gets acclimated to the system and adjusted to the speed of the college game. What he has done well with thus far is finding his checkdown. Though as we saw with Quinn early on, the development for Owens will come from a second to third read before hitting a RB out of the backfield. View full news

Vance Spafford's Hudl: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/11757526/65000237b53e850a70ce0ca3

Jabari Mack's Hudl: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/18762864/656ebecc90f03404ec8a0887

Luke Wafle's Hudl: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/20391883/654805b838636f0f7c34f120

A couple of recruiting updates as we near the weekend. *** Texas will be hosting the California Power 7v7 football team this afternoon for an unofficial with the roster before they head to Houston for their tournament this weekend. One name to make note of is 2026 Mission Viejo WR Vance Spafford who will be joining the crew on the trip. Spafford holds three offers – Cal, San Diego State and Washington. The 5-foot-11 wide receiver from the west coast could be one to watch. Spafford hauled in 1576 yards and 22 touchdowns as a sophomore last fall. *** Kyle Flood and Pete Kwiatkowski extended an offer to 2026 Princeton (NJ) EDGE Luke Wafle Monday afternoon. Despite just 14 offers at the moment, the early composite rankings have Wafle inside the top 100 nationally for the next class. I chatted briefly with Wafle who mentioned wanting to get down to Austin for an unofficial visit this spring/summer. No plans have been locked in, but there is interest in the Texas program and it certainly helps with the ties Kyle Flood has to the region. *** Another note on a talented 2026 prospect, Destrehan (LA) wide receiver Jabari Mack is finalizing his visit schedule for the spring with plans to getting out to Texas for an afternoon as well. Mack is a top 5 player in the state of Louisiana and is currently rated as the state's top wide receiver as well. Texas General Manager Brandon Harris stopped by in late January when he was asked to fill an assistant coaching role while Texas was in the process of hiring Kenny Baker. View full news

That's a good win lol

Duquesne is doing a great job of making BYU look uncomfortable offensively. BYU's getting very little help from their bigs at the moment, and as a result they can't find a rhythm offensively.