Steamboat Willie

Everyone’s acting like the new 105-scholarship rule means Texas can suddenly bankroll a small army. Reality check: you can roster 105 guys, but you can’t pay 105 guys. Revenue sharing = a soft salary cap. NIL = still the hunger games. So what actually happens? Texas funds the top half of the roster, stashes projects in the bottom half, and the portal becomes a revolving door for anyone who realizes they’re in the “thanks for being here” tier. The new rule doesn’t create 20 more paid contributors — it just gives Texas 20 more lottery tickets. And Texas loves lottery tickets. Hook ’em.

Follow-up thought: This is exactly why the portal matters more for OL than any other position. You’re not just buying size — you’re buying reps, scar tissue, and communication under fire. Those things don’t show up in 7-on-7 camps or Rivals stars. High school OL are projects. Portal OL are products. Both matter — but only one saves you next September. And to be fair, Sark finally sounds like he gets that balance. He’s not talking about “potential” right now — he’s talking about solving problems. That’s progress. If we walk out of this portal window with: 2 interior starters who can communicate 1 swing tackle who won’t panic and no more build-a-bear experiments at guard… Then this whole debate disappears by mid-October. Until then — I’ll stay, hopeful, and fully ready to overreact

Portal wish list this year is simple: smart + nasty > just massive. Size without diagnosis is just expensive cardio. When the line finally settled this season, it wasn’t because we suddenly got stronger — it’s because guys actually understood their assignments and could pass off movement without turning the backfield into a demolition derby. OL is five brains acting as one. If the communication is bad, it doesn’t matter how big you are — you’re wrong fast and wrong loud. I’m excited and optimistic about going shopping for 3 portal starters if they can think, talk, and adjust. Zone lives on timing and trust, not weight-room leaderboards. Credit to Sark: he saw the problem, stabilized the season, and — for the first time in a long time — is talking portal priorities like someone who actually watched the same OL tape we did. If 9–3 is the floor now, I’ll take it. We’ve lived through worse. Now go kick the tires on the Colorado LT. Make him tell us no. Then keep dialing. Go get grown men who can play chess at 320.

Not saying anyone’s going anywhere, but it sure would be interesting to watch Bishop return punts next year!

As Texas odds rocket (+4000 → +590) isn’t the committee whispering sweet nothings — it’s degens, hope, and hedge money fighting in the streets. Tonight comes down to one stupid number: #12 = Chaos alive. Pulse detected. Drinks stay cold. #13 = It’s dead. Start drawing up 2026 mock drafts. No narratives. No feelings. If we’re 13, the committee already wrote the eulogy. If we’re 12… light the candle and pray for meteor strikes.

50-50?

#1 Interior OL: Every G/C with a heartbeat should be on the board. C + LG have been a weekly horror show. Do what we did at DL last year: 2 real starters, 1–2 developmental guys, move on. #2 RB: If Baugh hits the portal, that’s the whole meeting. Lacy too. We don’t need another “nice rotational back” after what we just watched—go get a bellcow or stand pat. #3 WR (only if it’s real): Not spending big NIL on “slightly better Mosley” types when OL is on fire. If we pay at WR, make it speed or a true WR1, not another Wingo cousin. Everything else: 1 ILB, 1 vet CB, maybe a blocking TE—cool, after the above is handled. Those are sides. The meal is OL + RB. Portal tampering already started, the rules are decorative, and chaos is the only constant. Buckle up.

CJ, positionally speaking, where do you think Texas will emphasize most in the portal this cycle — and which spots are now clear must-add versus luxury adds?

So Stoops out at Kentucky as well ?

No, no Ga and no Alabama in the regular season.

Nothing about this feels like a light portal cycle. The breadcrumbs say Texas is gearing up for a full correction year. The back-channeling alone suggests this is already moving before the portal even opens. RB still needs a true lead dog. OL needs immediate adults, not projects — at least two guards and a swing tackle. DB and safety are clearly on the shopping list too. Also, a big DL. That’s not patchwork. That’s structural repair. This roster isn’t getting “tuned up” in January. It’s getting remechanized. Now the only question that matters: does the staff finally cash the right checks on the right players?

This cycle is portal or bust. If we’re “punting” on a big HS close, then Sark better roll into the portal like a Jeff Bezos drunk at an art auction. We don’t need projects. We need grown men: RB, two OL, at least one DB, a safety who can tackle, and a LB who scares people. Arch’s window is right now, not after three developmental seasons and a prayer. The difference isn’t money — it’s hitting on the buys. Spend big, evaluate better, and stop pretending last year’s portal nap was some 4D chess move. CJ basically told us it’s about to be an overcorrection — good. Overcorrect hard. Bottom line: If we don’t come out of this portal cycle with multiple instant starters, then we’re officially wasting a once-in-a-generation QB. .

No one’s dunking on Trey, but he ain’t Bijan, and asking him to cosplay as Bijan behind an interior line that blocks like a bunch of athletically challenged 50 yr old men playing Twister is just cruel. Last year Sark had Blue keeping defenses honest and ripping explosives. This year it’s Trey versus the world, and the world is winning by committee. And yeah, imagining Bijan in ’23 or ’24? That’s the kind of pain that makes you stare out the window like you’re in a sad country song. Bottom line: Trey can be part of the answer next year, but he can’t be the whole answer. Somebody in that room has to take a leap, or we need to drag a fully grown man out of the portal, one who doesn’t need perfect blocking to get five yards and can make a DB question his life choices. Arch can’t be the run game and the escape artist and the savior.

Was super impressed with the fluidness of his footwork on a couple of the hudl plays.

Texas either: Buys a real SEC offensive line Buys a grown-man running back who can create yards without a séance Buys multiple DBs, including a starting-caliber safety who actually takes clean angles and plays the ball And attacks the portal like a blue-blood, not a bargain hunter… …or 2026 becomes “Arch Manning: A Documentary About Running for Your Life.” The championship window isn’t creeping open. It’s open right now — wide, bright, and waiting. Either we jump through it… or the SEC slams it shut.

has been a while!!!!

Texas has to thread the needle between high-school recruiting and the portal, and the margin for error is thin: We must fix the OL with multiple proven guards. We must add a real RB1 from the portal. We must grab starting-level help at CB, S, and LB. And we still have to keep taking smart, long-term OL projects in HS. The portal won’t be cheap, and the staff can’t pretend high school and NIL/portal pools are separate anymore — they’re pulling from the same bank account. Think of it this way: Ohio State won last year’s title in December. Texas lost this year’s run the same way. If Texas is serious about winning a national title in Arch’s final season, this offseason is where it happens. No excuses. No “we ran out of NIL.” No half-measures. This is the fix the roster or waste the window moment.

So there will be no development on offense of current players?

Hickory wins!!!!

Good Post— and that’s actually why I’m less panicked about the interior than some folks. Brooks has been cross trained at both guard and tackle, and everyone who’s watched him knows his ceiling is higher inside. He’s got the frame and the power for guard and moving him there stabilizes at least one spot immediately. When you line it up that way, the OL picture looks a lot more functional: LG: Brooks (best natural fit; cross-training pays off here) 😄 Robertson / Cruz (and yes, Cruz is probably a long-term center, not a guard) RG: Kibble (talent is there — consistency just needs to show up) Portal Guard to round it out If Neto gives you anything, that’s gravy. If Cojoe takes a leap at RT, that’s even more cushion. So yeah, Texas needs help at guard — but not because the cupboard is empty. It’s because guys like Brooks have been playing out of position out of necessity. Put him where he belongs, let Cruz grow at center, and add one veteran guard… and suddenly the “gulp” turns into “actually, this can work.”

Fair point, but let’s be accurate about what these OL guys are. Sark didn’t inherit them — he recruited most of them — but they weren’t recruited to be instant-impact, SEC-level frontline starters. They were taken as developmental depth pieces, guys you hope turn into contributors in Year 3 or 4, not anchors of the line. And that’s exactly the issue right now: Texas is having to start players who were originally projected as long-term depth because the higher-ceiling recruits (the Banks/Campbell/Brockermeyer era guys) either left early, got hurt, didn’t develop fast enough, or didn’t fill out the pipeline the way it ideally should’ve progressed. You can criticize Sark’s offensive roster build — that’s fair. But it’s not fair to pretend he walked into a stocked pantry and somehow burned the ingredients. The truth is he built the OL room with a mix of big hits and long-term projects, and now those “projects” are being thrown into starting roles earlier than planned. That’s why it looks messy right now. Not because he inherited a disaster, and not because he’s a “God King” micromanager — but because Texas is asking depth-grade players to play SEC-grade roles. Big difference.

A visitor for the weekend?

Honestly, this is exactly why Iwaited a full 24 hours before posting anything. When you look at the numbers laid out like this, it’s hard not to say the quiet part out loud: the offseason talent eval and offensive roster building flat-out missed the mark. And the stats don’t sugarcoat it. Last in the SEC in YPC (2.61). Second-fewest rushing attempts. Dead last — by a mile — in conference rushing yards per game. Averaged 5.0+ YPC vs ranked teams only three times in 13 tries. That’s not a “trend.” That’s an identity crisis. It’s a combination of everything: • Personnel misses (– whether we mis-evaluated the backs, the OL, or both) • Scheme stubbornness • No real rhythm or commitment to the run game • And a portal strategy that backfired This isn’t bad luck. It’s structural. The SEC is a league where you earn yards on the ground, and right now Texas is trying to win heavyweight fights by shadowboxing. You can’t live in 3rd-and-8 all season and expect your offense to look coherent. The craziest part? Sark came in with a 1,000-yard rusher streak that spanned like a decade and half a country. Now we’re staring at a season where the leading rusher might not hit 450 yards. That’s not a small dip — that’s falling out of the airplane without a parachute. There’s a ton to fix this offseason, but the first place to start is admitting the eval and acquisition strategy at RB and OL simply wasn’t up to SEC standard. Until that’s addressed, everything else is window dressing. And yeah… this was the toned-down version of what I wanted to post yesterday.

A blended family mix of Coach O’s chaos with Petrino’s scenic-route decision-making? The Hogs might be the first program ever to lead the nation in both rushing offense and HR investigations. Arkansas wants juice, sure… but are they really ready to jump into the blender?

Every week we see games swing on bad spots, missed holds, mystery DPI, clock screwups, and “after further review… who knows?” moments. Meanwhile the sport is worth billions, the technology clearly exists, and other leagues are already using versions of this stuff. I’m not talking about replacing refs with robots. More like: Real-time ball/line tracking AI flagging obvious misses for review A centralized oversight room that standardizes rulings Automated clock/spot corrections Data-based grading for ref crews Basically, give officials the tools to stop human error from dictating outcomes.