Jeff Howe

"Not great, Gerry!" — Charlie Strong and Tom Herman

I liked the idea of a Texas defensive back wearing 28 for one game to honor Freddie. Duke Thomas did for the 2015 game against Kansas, when the 1969 championship team was recognized, but it didn't happen after that (at least that I can remember). I think it would be great if Texas did something to honor Freddie Steinmark, similar to how Ole Miss honors Chucky Mullins.

He committed to Texas on the day Gerry, Bobby and I went live and launched the 247 Texas site. Fun day!

I'd like to think it changes, but the football card market being so quarterback-driven makes it hard to see things changing any time soon.

And, as a proud Ray Guy Award voter, I approve of this post!

Correct

As a proud Groza Award voter, I approve of this post!

Ain't no season like #WatchListSZN!

Give this a click, if you can. The National Sports Collectors Convention is in Chicago this weekend, and I highlighted Bijan as a non-quarterback card collectors can target at The National ahead of the NFL season: https://www.si.com/collectibles/five-nfl-non-quarterbacks-to-target-at-the-national

If I understand the question correctly, the guys it impacts most are uncommitted prospects. You might still think you've got an offer from a school, but if communication has tailed off and you don't get a written offer today, they should assume they're off the board.

Not that I've seen yet.

No doubt. The running game needs diversity and unpredictability. Those two things will go a long way toward resolving the issues we saw last season.

Another insanely idiotic thing the NCAA decided a few years ago was that football prospects wouldn't receive a written scholarship offer until Aug. 1 of their senior year. Derrek Cooper posted his on X this morning:

Michael Ungar is the only acceptable answer today.

We haven’t seen any one-on-ones or team periods.

I'll add more later. We're about to start today's episode of "The Winning Drive." We'll pass along word on Wingo and Campbell when we get an update.

Here are some quick hitters from Thursday's practice, the second of training camp for the Texas Longhorns: — Wide receiver Ryan Wingo and offensive lineman DJ Campbell weren't at practice. There was no official word on the status of either Longhorn immediately after the window. With Wingo out, there was more work available for Emmett Mosley V and Jaime Ffrench, who caught the eyes of the OTF staff today. With that said, Parker Livingstone made his presence felt without Wingo on the field, catching a few deep balls from Arch Manning late in the viewing window. Steve Sarkisian was vocal in his approval of Livingstone's performance on Thursday. Along the offensive line, Connor Robertson was elevated to the No. 1 center with Campbell's absence forcing Cole Hutson to right guard. Trevor Goosby, Neto Umeozulu and Brandon Baker rounded out the first-team line. Jaydon Chatman (left tackle), Nate Kibble (left guard), Daniel Cruz (center), Connor Stroh (right guard) and Andre Cojoe (right tackle) made up the second group. — Cornerback Kade Phillips and safety Jonah Williams were held out again today. Sarkisian said after Wednesday's practice that both true freshmen are dealing with hamstring issues. — Lavon Johnson is still limited and had his left ankle heavily taped for the second consecutive practice. Hero Kanu and Alex January led the interior defensive linemen through drills, but Travis Shaw was noticeable on Thursday. The North Carolina transfer was limited in the spring while recovering from a knee injury. Shaw, Cole Brevard and Maraad Watson had solid days among the guys in Kenny Baker's group. — UPDATE: According to a university spokesperson, Campbell and Wingo were absent from practice for personal reasons and it’s “nothing serious,” we’re told. View full news story

Just doing my job, Buck Moreland! Thanks for the kind words!

AUSTIN, Texas — The biscuit that was the Texas running game last season was buttered with the outside zone. Considering how Georgia and Ohio State stymied a Longhorn ground attack lacking diversity in the team’s three losses, the offense might’ve been better served by Steve Sarkisian not pulling so many stretch plays from the well. Regardless, the body of work put together by the offensive line and running backs over a 16-game season revealed that wider was better for Texas in 2024. According to Pro Football Focus, 243 — more than 45 percent — of the offense’s non-sack rushing attempts were from the C gap (between the tackle and the tight end) to the sideline. It was that portion of the line of scrimmage where the Longhorns racked up more than 51 percent of their non-sack rushing yardage (1,415 yards and 5.82 yards per attempt), 64 percent of their rushing touchdowns (16), more than half of their total yards after contact (924 yards and 3.81 yards after contact per attempt) and more than 48 percent of their rushing attempts that gained at least 10 yards (33). The 75 missed tackles Texas ball carriers forced on wide runs accounted for more than 67 percent of the missed tackles forced by the Longhorns on their non-sack rushing attempts. Furthermore, Quintrevion Wisner is the returning leading rusher in the SEC (1,064 yards, 4.7 yards per attempt and five rushing touchdowns) and was most effective on wide runs as a sophomore. The data collected by PFF shows Wisner gained 448 yards, scored all of his rushing touchdowns, recorded 10 of his 27 gains that went for 10 or more yards and forced 27 missed tackles on C-gap-to-sideline rushing attempts, even though those runs accounted for only 45 percent of his total carries (226). So, which concept will be the focal point of the Texas running game in 2025? According to offensive line coach Kyle Flood, who met with reporters on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s first training camp practice, the Longhorns haven’t settled on one. This will be the ninth consecutive season Flood has worked alongside Sarkisian, which dates back to their time together in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons. Flood said the go-to scheme is subject to change from year to year, pointing out that, in 2024, the outside zone "was very productive for us over the course of the season.” “I don’t know what that’s going to look like this year yet,” Flood said. “I think we’ll have a much better vision of that as we go through training camp and we allow these linemen and tight ends to work together.” Based on how the Texas running game has evolved since Sarkisian’s first season on the Forty Acres, Flood isn’t being coy when discussing what the running game will hang its hat on in the current regime’s fifth season. The Longhorns relied heavily on inside zone runs in 2021 (according to PFF, Bijan Robinson had 138 rushing attempts on zone-based plays and just 57 carries on gap-based runs), preferring zone concepts 66 percent of the time. The percentage of zone runs dropped to 57 in 2022, with Roschon Johnson splitting his carries almost equally between zone (47 attempts) and gap-based runs (44). In 2023, with the addition of CJ Baxter, who had more attempted gap runs (69) than zone runs, the 2023 running game, and Jonathon Brooks closing the margin between his zone (101) and gap (86) runs, Texas won the Big 12 and reached the College Football Playoff behind a running game operating on a 54/46 percentage split between zone and gap runs. Last season, even with outside zone being the dominant concept, the Longhorns had a 52/48 percentage split favoring zone runs, their most balanced running game under Sarkisian. What must the coaches consider when establishing which concepts could best help Texas reach the national championship game for the first time since the Longhorns played for the BCS title in 2009? It starts with Flood replacing four starters along the offensive line. And the strongest parts of the line are just as important as determining the schemes in which the retooled group might be most proficient. Last season, the A gap between Jake Majors and Hayden Conner (89 attempts) and the C gap between Kelvin Banks Jr. (87 attempts) and the tight end were the most popular gaps for running plays according to PFF. Those three players are gone. Still, Trevor Goosby was the left tackle for Wisner’s 186-yard performance in the regular-season finale against Texas A&M, and Neto Umeozulu could offer a better, more consistent push in the running game as he takes over for Conner at left guard. Baxter was back on the practice field Wednesday, less than a year after a preseason knee injury wiped out his sophomore season. With Christian Clark showing no signs of slowing down while going through his remarkable recovery from an Achilles injury, and Jerrick Gibson trying to prove he’s worthy of carries after an up-and-down debut, the running back room is a lot more crowded than it was when Baxter was leading the way last summer. “Ultimately, as coaches, we’ll figure out what schemes are going to allow us to utilize that personnel in the best way,” Flood said. “It may be outside the zone again, but I don’t go into it saying, ‘This is what we’re going to be exclusively,’ or, ‘This is what we’re going to do more than anything else.’ I think I want to see that in training camp to really be sure what we feel like is the best thing for this football team, and assume that just because outside zone might’ve been best last year, that it’s going to be best for us again.” View full news story

His open-field hits sounded like shotgun blasts.

So does Randy Kinder: https://youtu.be/icNQ4WfP-wE?si=63X7Q9D7Zah8E3Gv

Leeland McElroy knows the answer: