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A few quick notes: - As we reported yesterday afternoon, Ryan Wingo is sidelined with a hamstring injury for what likely will be the remainder of camp. It’s not considered ultra-serious. His timeline for recovery is about two weeks but the thought is Texas would rather let it fully heal than put undue pressure to return early. - Jordan Washington was dinged up over the weekend. Then he tried to give it a go again on Monday before being forced from the field. He’s currently in a shoulder harness and will be getting an MRI today. - I am told one other defensive player has a hand injury that could be keeping him sidelined for a bit. I’m not mentioning his name…

How do you build an elite roster, an elite college football team? It’s done piece by piece and it’s done over a long period of time. In essence, a great program is created by taking multiple steps forward while suffering as few steps backward as possible. That’s really what Steve Sarkisian and GM Brandon Harris have done as well as or better than anybody in college football the last four years. There just haven’t been many missteps, many setbacks. So the forward momentum can keep building and building unabated. In my mind, that’s exactly what happened yet again yesterday with the addition of Emmett Mosley V. The Longhorns plucked the 6-foot-2 form…

The Texas football team is headed to the practice field literally as I type this. This morning will be the 13th of 15 allotted practices this spring. The Horns will practice again on Thursday then finish up with a final practice Saturday morning. On Saturday, Texas coaches and players will also take part in a fan participation event at the stadium following practice. ** Here are some notes from the spring: At QB, Arch Manning is the clear no. 1. Trey Owens is the clear no. 2. Manning has been far from perfect. He’s had his ups and downs. However, the thing that keeps being recounted to us is that he is considered a team leader and he is comma…

The big story of this week: Who will be the Longhorn quarterback on Saturday? Is Quinn Ewers healthy enough to return to the starting role or will Arch Manning continue to learn on the job in Texas' first-ever tilt as an SEC member institution? Steve Sarkisian didn't really give us much of an answer on Monday. He said Quinn had returned to practice, but said he would list Quinn as "questionable", currently. Sark also said he would provide another update on Wednesday when SEC injury reports are due. Yet even with Ewers hurt, Texas is in an enviable position. There's no reason to rush Quinn back too soon because Arch is a more than adequate back-up and this w…

With Texas 5-0 and ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll, it’s kind of hard to switch some of the focus to recruiting. But that’s exactly what Texas coaches are doing this week, at least to a certain degree. The coaches will fan out across the state and country in search of future Longhorns. Trips are planned to Georgia, Florida, Alabama, California and Texas. Some coaches will be on the road Thursday and almost all of them will be out on Friday. ** So what are the needs and priorities of the Longhorns the rest of the way? One thing is clear for Steve Sarkisian. He is big-game hunting. The Longhorns, first and foremost, are looking for difference maker…

In case you missed it, the SEC announced Texas vs Georgia will be next weekend’s prime-time game on ABC. It sets up as the biggest, highest-rated clash in Austin in at least a decade. But… It’ll only be that big if Texas takes care of its business this weekend. The Horns can not afford to look ahead. The Sooners beat Texas a year ago. Texas must force their style of play on the Sooners this weekend and avenge that loss. Once that occurs, there will be plenty of time to talk about the Bulldogs. ** While Tre Wisner is clearly pushing for more playing time, Steve Sarkisian knows what he has in running back Jaydon Blue and knows he needs his…

There will be a lot of money on the line this coming Saturday. And I’m not talking about the gamblers in Vegas. The contest against Georgia will be a litmus test for many Longhorns when it comes to their future NFL draft status. While the obvious focus will be on the first-round QB battle between Quinn Ewers and Carson Beck and the repercussions of that matchup, there will be other high-stakes battles. - How do Cam Williams and Kelvin Banks hold up in pass protection, and can they move Georgia’s future NFL defensive linemen in the run game? A great performance by either or both might assure an even higher draft pick. The same can be said for …

Move forward. Enough about pocket presence. Enough about turnovers, bad field position, missed opportunities and poor execution. The focus for this team needs to be solely on Vanderbilt. Because seven games into the season, everything the Horns had hoped for is still on the table for the taking. So what do the Horns need to do? Listening to Sark yesterday, there’s one particular word that he used that struck me: “execution”. Texas is not executing at the level they need to. At least they didn’t against Georgia and they really haven’t since UTSA, at least not on offense. Whether that’s dropped passes by running backs, procedure penalties,…

Buy Tre Johnson stock now. ** The Texas basketball team went down 80-72 to Ohio State on Monday night in Las Vegas. The Buckeyes hit a barrage of threes in the first half. Though they made it a game in the second half, Texas truly never fully recovered. However, there is little doubt about one thing. The Longhorns have a new superstar in the making. Tre Johnson is the best basketball player - not just prospect - that Texas basketball has enjoyed since Kevin Durant. He is that good, that promising. In his first game as a Longhorn, Johnson scored 29 points. But it wasn’t your normal 29 points, it was how he got them. It rarely, i…

For Texas recruiting fans, Gerry’s recruiting update from this morning should be required reading. If you missed it somehow, here’s the link. ** Sark mentioned three different injuries during Monday’s presser. Jaydon Blue DeAndre Moore Mo Blackwell Blue, who was seen in an arm sling post-game on Saturday, practiced with the team on Monday. Moore was on the field but did not participate fully, according to sources. Blackwell is still working his way back from a hamstring injury but is hopeful to play on Senior Day against Kentucky. ** A lot of people are worried about other teams using the three-high safety look a…

We all know that Texas and the rest of the college football world is just eight days away from National Signing Day, Dec. 4. But not as many realize just how quickly thereafter that the transfer portal opens. For this school year, the portal windows are Dec. 9-28 and Apr. 16-25. Those dates are only when a player must enter the portal by, not when they must decide which school to attend. Attrition on a college football team is the natural way of things and it always has been. But with the portal, it's more pronounced than ever. So how many current Texas players will enter the portal? And how many do I think Texas will add from the portal? I…

I think Texas is going to close with a BANG! There are several high profile players still on the board, and I think the pendulum is swinging toward the Horns on most of them. We also know that there is another unexpected elite blue chipper who might jump in the boat, but we aren't naming names. In other words, this should be a fun 24 hours. While some folks are worrying that Texas may lose more recruits down the stretch, that's not the feeling I get. Yes, there may be another loss or two. But there are also going to be more gains. ** I got into a short but interesting discussion with some friends last night. The topic: recruiting ranking…

A second group of Texas players have officially entered the portal: LB Derion Gullette DL Aaron Bryant DE Tausili Akana They’re added to a list that already includes WR Johntay Cook and DL Jaray Bledsoe. ** None of the newer portal entries came as a particular surprise to the Longhorns. - Gullette was close to entering the portal after spring ball. He saw very little action this season in a minor reserve role. He would have seemed to be an obvious candidate for special teams involvement but that never happened either. - Bryant has failed to earn more playing time this season even after healing from injury. And I think it was clear t…

Jack Bouwmeester joined OTF last night for a quick interview. Couple of interesting points: - He’s not just a portal transfer. He’s actually a grad transfer, recently earning his degree at Utah. And he has two years left of eligibility because of Covid. He’s moving to Austin in early January. - In his media availability yesterday, Steve Sarkisian commented about Bouwmeester’s obvious traits, like yards per punt and hang time. But Sark also made sure to mention Bouwmeester’s ability to pin opponents deep, and that’s something Bouwmeester expressed a lot of confidence in. - Last but not least, as I listened to Bouwmeester last night, it struck me ju…

Quick portal update: Texas has hosted five official visitors during the winter portal window. Three of those players have committed to Texas - Purdue DL Cole Brevard, Arkansas LB Brad Spence and Utah P Jack Bouwmeester. The other two - Georgia Tech WR Eric Singleton and Purdue TE Max Klare - chose Auburn and Ohio State, respectively, yesterday. So where does that leave Texas? Well, the portal window closes on Dec. 28 for teams and their players no longer participating in bowls or the playoffs. However, if a player is still participating, he receives a five-day grace period following his bowl or playoff game. In other words, there are still ab…

I feel like I'm starting to be a Trey Moore truther. The UTSA transfer has been one of the early standouts in camp. Yesterday, I asked Steve Sarkisian what makes Moore different than perhaps his other edge rushers. "He's twitchy," Sark said. "He has the unique ability to bend. He has an up and under move, a double move, he knows how to switch things up." Sark then described why Moore may be a little special. Sark said Moore knows how to set guys up, how one move earlier in a practice might give him an edge for a different move later in practice. That gamesmanship is part of why Moore will almost assuredly help improve the Texas pass rush in 2024. ** …

Freshman running back Christian Clark landed awkwardly in yesterday afternoon's practice while coming down with a pass. According to sources, we are told that the injury is expected to be season-ending. Clark was unable to make it off the field by himself following the non-contact injury. ** If that's the case, Texas is now down to just three scholarship running backs for the 2024 football season after just the first two weeks in fall camp. ** So where do the Horns go from here? Derion Gullette, a redshirt freshman linebacker, saw action at running back in Saturday's scrimmage. Steve Sarkisian, who did not mention Clark's injury during y…

Four days away. And, appropriately, Roy Williams is expected to join us for Coffee & Football this morning. What was your favorite catch by Roy? I think mine was his very first. It was a juggling deep ball over the middle, a catch that he made that no other Longhorn on the roster could have. It showed everyone in the stands that day just what a special player Texas would have on its hands for the next several years. ** We continue to hear more and more about Texas likely platooning receiver units, at least in this very first game. ** Sark made it very clear yesterday that this initial “depth chart” for the game against Colorado State…

I don’t follow UTSA coach Jeff Traylor enough to know whether or not he typically puffs up his opponents and is prone to extreme hyperbole. Whatever the case may be, Traylor certainly said a mouthful yesterday. ”It’s the best team we’ve ever played since we’ve been here,” Traylor said of the 2024 Longhorns in a forward-looking statement at his press conference. Traylor knows good from bad. Even though his team was lambasted by Texas State last Saturday, he still sports a 40-15 overall record. ** Another of Traylor’s comments also caught my attention. He called Texas an “experienced” team. I was a little surprised by that. Going into…

A couple of players who have announced for the portal to know: CB Bo Mascoe - Rutgers DL Ian Geffrard - Arkansas Before becoming an Honorable Mention All-Big 10 selection in 2025, Mascoe played for and was recruited to Rutgers by current Texas cornerbacks coach Mark Orphey. He totaled more than 50 tackles and made one interception this season. He’s originally from Kissimmee, Fla. Geffrard, who is originally from Georgia, is a 6-foot-5, 360-pound interior run-stopper and lane plugger. He started all 12 games for the Razorbacks this season. While Geffrard has announced he is entering the portal, it should be noted that Arkansas continues to rec…

Usually teams are either mentally checked out for bowl games or really honed in. You can easily get a sense of that in how they practice. But I went to practice yesterday for the brief media viewing window, and I just couldn't tell much, especially not the overall vibe or energy of the team. The viewing window was just too short. So that means any prediction of mine for this game is going to be a shot in the dark at some level. I think the Michigan defense is better and deeper than most Longhorns fans realize. And I also believe the Texas defense is thinner than most Longhorns fans are willing to admit (Jordon Johnson-Rubell is currently a back-up linebacke…

Cam Coleman, the no. 1 overall player in the transfer portal, returned to his home state of Alabama yesterday after back-to-back visits to Texas and Texas A&M. As of yesterday evening, Texas continues to have confidence. Coleman will still visit Texas Tech this week, although USC is now out of the picture. Coleman appears to be nearing an end-of-week decision timeline. Again, I like where Texas stands, but there’s still more recruiting to do. ** Michigan offensive linemen Andrew Sprague and Jake Guarnera returned to Michigan yesterday and were expected to visit with new Wolverine coach Kyle Whittingham. The outcome of that meeting re…

Colorado offensive tackle Jordan Seaton announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal yesterday. Texas is expected to be among those who pursue him. But Texas can not do that quite yet because he is not *officially* in the portal. Colorado has up to two days to negotiate with Seaton before putting his name into the portal. Why do those two days matter? As we’ve come to see during this portal cycle, teams often don’t let their best players just walk. I’m not only talking about the Michigan OL duo or Florida edge Jayden Woods. Case in point: Ole Miss OL Delano Townsend who announced this morning his return to the Rebels. So before …

Texas State offensive guard Tellek Lockette told OTF he “was supposed to” visit Texas today. But that visit is apparently off. Lockette gave no further reason. ** As we reported yesterday, we were told Texas does not have any of its existing roster expected to enter the portal this cycle. In other words, the roster bleeding has stopped. That means the Horns’ sole focus now is adding folks to the team. Texas clearly wants and needs another interior OL. Can they get one? That’s a good question. Texas has some hope that one shakes loose late in the process. If so, Texas will be very aggressive. ** Indiana just won a national champ…

Let’s compare the proposed 2026 offensive unit to the 2025 one. Tell me which unit you think is better. Offense 2026 QB - Arch Manning - a year older, and more mature RB - Hollywood Smothers - leading rusher in the ACC replacing Tre Wisner RB - Raleek Brown - leading rusher in the Big 12 WR - Cam Coleman - expected top 10 overall pick in 2027 draft WR - Ryan Wingo - a year older WR - Emmett Mosley V - a year older TE - Nick Townsend/Michael Masunas - Jack Endries is a loss here OT - Trevor Goosby - a year older OG - Dylan Sikorski/Jordan Coleman - the one position on offense with major question marks OC - Conner …