Matthew McClure

Pretty sensitive if you think I'm trolling. I was merely reinforcing the perspective of one of your level-headed posters, and had a few questions about staff and development. I trolled the living sh.. crap out of Alabama fans the week before the game. Trust me... I can be a complete asshole, you'll know when I'm trolling.

Thanks, should be a good game. I could have been more clear, the point of my post was to reinforce what you were saying. UT is shaping up to be a Top 5 team next year, missing out on a portal lineman or two shouldn't matter much. If you need 5 future NFL linemen to win, then UT has some serious systemic issues... but hopefully it's obvious I don't think that is the case.

Yes, preferably chocolate chip. I live in Dallas so it probably shouldn't be much trouble for you to deliver them to me.

Indiana fan here, I've watched your board over the past week for Brunner news. I've also watched UT stack outstanding recruiting classes year-over-year. In a sea of neurotic posts, PaulieD's post was one of the few that resonated with the vibe of Indiana's recruiting forums. I've got to ask a few questions: 1) Do you have no confidence in your coaching staff and the OL underclassmen UT has recruited over the past several years? 2) Is the problem UT recruits well but sucks at player development? Prior to Brunner's IU visit, "insiders" mentioned he was ours to lose. Brunner visited Indiana over a week ago and we've heard nothing about how the visit went. Do you know how many Indiana fans have expressed concern in our forums? There's not a single "sky is falling" post about potentially losing the only major OL transfer Indiana is targeting... and it's not because we are confident he will commit to Indiana. We aren't worried because we are confident in the development of linemen who haven't even sniffed the field yet, and we trust the staff to go out and get someone if there actually is a gap on the line. Shifting gears a bit, we were relatively excited about the visit from former Texas RB C.J. Baxter. He would have been part of a 4 RB committee if we signed him. It sounds like he was ours if Cignetti wanted him... Cignetti passed. For a little context, You have to understand Baxter would have been the first 5* in Indiana history. The backlash from the Indiana fan base for not adding Baxter... none. We trust our staff to identify if he would have been the right fit.

Indiana is returning 3 OL starters: OG Bray Lynch, OG Drew Evans, and OT Carter Smith. Freshman OT Adedamola Ajani also started a few games this year and will likely move into the 2026 starting lineup. There's a chance Carter Smith might enter the draft, but unknown at this time (this would be devastating). There isn't much depth/experience behind these guys and OL is the one glaring area Indiana hasn't addressed yet in the portal. At the moment, the only publicly known OL portal targets for IU are: Joe Brunner (WIS) and Quinton Harris (TCU). If IU signs Brunner he will start at OG and Drew Evans would move from OG to C. I think Harris would just be a depth piece. I have to imagine there are other OL targets for Indiana but the names haven't come out yet. After the Brunner visit, the prevailing thought was he is Indiana's to lose (obviously this isn't over yet). At this stage of portal, Brunner is one of two remaining priority targets for Indiana (Penn State CB A.J. Harris is the other).