CJ Vogel

Texas will be hosting 2026 St. Thomas K Michael Taylor II this weekend for the Fan Fest and final practice of the spring. Taylor was at Texas A&M last weekend and LSU on April 12. However, he visited the Longhorns on April 4 where he took in a practice under the lights. With Gaston Gramatica now committed to USF, Texas will look to add a kicker prospect to its June official visit list.

I would imagine almost anything is tougher with 100,000 in the stands lol Speaking, running, kicking, shooting, etc. Lots of eye balls and pressure there.

Kickers aren't perfect and it's a given misses will occur at some point next season. With that said, just knowing that there is now no question about the strength of the leg at kicker is huge for me. Shipley's career long of 60 yards is significant. No more wondering if "you have enough leg" when crossing the opponent's 40-yard line.

Texas is up to nine portal additions since the conclusion of the 2024 college football season with a majority of those imports coming from a cozy path to a starting gig at their previous schools. Utah P Jack Bouwmeester Arkansas LB Brad Spence Purdue DL Cole Brevard North Carolina DL Travis Shaw Ohio State DL Hero Kanu Stanford WR Emmett Mosley V Cal TE Jack Endries Maryland DL Lavon Johnson Syracuse DL Maraad Watson We have consistently seen the Longhorns target, attract and acquire game-changing talent via the portal since the evolution of the world of NIL and the transfer portal. This year remains no different. There has been a bit of a wrinkle with this year's portal additions than in previous cycles – a firmer approach to finding multi-year contributors. WR Emmett Mosley V and DL Maraad Watson were both true freshman last fall, while guys like TE Jack Endries, DL Lavon Johnson and LB Brad Spence each have the ability to be multi-year guys. All five are projected to be starting-level players for the Longhorns are key positions this upcoming fall. Texas wanted to do just this last year with Matthew Golden, though the incredible ascent on the field resulted in that plan falling just a bit short. However, I think the Texas staff is more than pleased with how it ultimately worked. Still, Steve Sarkisian spoke about the efforts of General Manager Brandon Harris and the Texas player personnel staff have done in the portal. Identifying, inquiring once in the portal and executing visits efficiently have left Texas in a prime position to once again end a season in the conversation as the country's top team. "Brandon (Harris) – you know when we came on here four and a half years ago, was really in kind of a grunt role," Sarkisian told reporters Tuesday morning. "His name wasn't in the news. His role wouldn't make him a whole lot of money. And over time, like most people in our organization, you earn trust, right? And you earn trust by doing your job really well. In his time here, he's kind of grown in the organization with more and more responsibilities. I've got a lot of faith in Brandon that he's going to execute his job really well." On January 19, 2025, it was revealed that Harris signed a contract extension with the Texas Football program with the title of General Manager. The extension of Harris allows for the oversight of the Texas program to remain clear when it comes to personnel decisions and roster construction. All in all, the move is something Sarkisian believes in. "I love building our roster, something that I take a lot of pride in," Sarkisian said. "I think Brandon and I are aligned really well on the vision for what we want our roster to look like, and numbers in certain position and body types and character and all those things." Beyond the efforts of Harris, Sarkisian also singled out John Michael Jones, the Longhorns Director of Player Personnel, as someone who has grown in his role over the years to help assemble a roster that will compete at a national level. "And so I trust those guys to assemble things to put in front of me that we can make really good decisions on on the people we bring into our program, whether they're high school, whether they're college transfer portal guys," Sarkisian said. We have talked about the continuity on the field with the core pillars of coordinators Pete Kwiatkowski, Jeff Banks and Kyle Flood remaining in place, as well as Director of Football Performance Torre Becton. But off the field, the continuation of work with Brandon Harris, JM Jones and key pieces in the backend have helped the Longhorns remain aligned in the roster construction aspect of the game. From balancing specific position groups to projecting scholarship numbers in each room and of course now the check books, the Texas staff is continuing to approach college football's free agency period with an aggressive, yet precise approach that has overall been a resounding net positive. "You know, whether it's how we how we execute our our publicity rights and sharing that with our players, and balancing our roster and balancing our books, because that's all part of what we do now," Sarkisian said. "The brand is very bright."

To echo Bobby. Lott is a different athlete. With him at the WR board, that's the level of athlete Texas wants on the field.

Interior guy at Texas. Some others are recruiting as a tackle.

Thanks for starting the thread.

2026 Prosper OL Zaden Krempin is on campus this afternoon. Krempin was on campus April 5 and returns for a quick midweek trip. He will officially visit the Longhorns on June 13. The focus here is to get as much one-on-one time with Kyle Flood and the staff as possible. Official Visits May 30 – LSU June 6 – SMU June 13 – Texas June 20 – Michigan

I would side with Tennessee getting Nico off the books and finding a functional quarterback ended up on top of this trade.

That's a great question. Hopefully at the same place mine is at lol

That will do it for Sark today.

Sarkisian says he wanted an every down guy with veteran qualities at the tight end position. “Jack is a nice addition for (the younger) guys to look to.”

Sark says the versatility of the EDGE room should help the defense in its totality for 2025. mentions getting Colton Vasek and Zina Umeozulu back will be big for the fall. Says Zina had been putting together a solid spring before getting nicked up. Says freshman DL Justus Terry have been getting some reps off the edge as well. Sarkisian also mentioned Brad Spence & Trey Moore who can spin down from the second level to play off the edge thanks to their versatility … Anthony Hill Jr. as well.

Sark says Owens had some of his best throws in the scrimmage settings, rather than the on-air periods.

Whoops.

Sarkisian says KJ Lacey and Trey Owens fall in the same mold of where they are fine in walk-throughs and 7 on 7’s, but when they play their best when the scrimmage lights turn on and it’s go time.

Sark says he trusts JM Jones and Brandon Harris to assemble a good team - whether that be from the portal or out of HS.

On Brandon Harris: “I think Brandon and I are aligned very well on the roster and what we want it to look like.”

Sarkisian says Saturday’s practice will be scrimmage-like. Says there has been a focus on providing game-like situations this spring. Mentioned a younger RB & WR caught passes on 3rd & 4th and short last week who didn’t quite know where the marker was.

Sarkisian says Jonah Willliams is “out there looking like Juan Soto right now.”

Adding to the freshman WRs, Sarkisian says he wants them to play quick. If they make a mistake, make a mistake. But to go 100% and allow the natural talent and instincts to stand out on 50–50 balls.

Sarkisian says it has been a long learning curve for the freshman wide receivers this spring. It says it’s been tough for that group to not have a veteran, proven body on the field with them as Wingo & Moore nurse injuries.

Sarkisian says there is an emphasis on the offensive line this spring to finish each and every rep.

Sarkisian says it’s been a good spring, but that the Longhorns aren’t close to a finished product as spring nears an end.