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Derrek Cooper Update OnTexasFootball spoke to a source close to the recruitment of 5-star running back Derrek Cooper (Hollywood, fla./Chaminade-Madonna) within the last hour. The word from the locked in source is that the Texas visit was an absolute home run for Steve Sarkisian and Chad Scott. Word is Cooper was very impressed with the Texas program in every way. One of Cooper's parents was extremely impressed with the entire campus and what the city of Austin could provide for Cooper. The source said Texas will receive an OV in June, and that Texas is right there swinging away with Georgia, Miami and maybe Ohio State. View full news st…

Derrek Cooper Update from visit to Chaminade-Madonna Hollywood, Fla. - OnTexasFootball spent a couple of hours at Chaminade-Madonna High Tuesday to check in on the season and recruitment of OTF 5-star running back Derrek Cooper. OTF conducted a video interview with Cooper and Chaminade-Madonna Dameon Jones that will be published later today, so I'm going to put this update in bullet points. Coach Jones talks a lot about Cooper, and Dia Bell with the Lions having played American Heritage the last four years. 1. Two people close to Cooper/the recruitment believe he's locked in with Texas. 2. One of those people doesn't believe a bigger NIL offer from …

Derrek Cooper, Samari Matthews and Hayward Howard Jr. playing for State Championships A trio of signees from the Texas 2026 recruiting class will be playing for State Championships this weekend. Derrek Cooper and Chaminade-Madonna Chaminade-Madonna (11-2) will take on 11-3 Cardinal Newman (West Palm Beach, Fla.) for the FHSAA 1A state title on December 11 at 12:30 p.m. ET. Derrek Cooper enters his final high school game with 152 carries for 1,424 yards (9.4 per carry) and 17 TD's. He's added 105 yards receiving and another score. The Lions have leaned on the 6-foot-1, 205-pounder much more in the playoffs. In four playoff games, Cooper has rushed 66 t…

AUSTIN, Texas — Three years ago Texas took five players out of the transfer portal, three of which had a big impact on the Longhorns’ 2023 success (Adonai Mitchell, Ryan Sanborn, and Gavin Holmes). At the time, Steve Sarkisian used the transfer portal as a supplemental, need-to-have basis. “Ultimately high school recruiting is where it’s at for us and our style of what we like to do,” Sarkisian said at the 2023 THSCA convention in Houston. “I know this whole era of NIL and transfer portal, the reality of it is, if I can, I want to recruit another high school kid. Now, there may be times where we can’t. I have to have another corner, or I have to have another defensi…

Texas wide receiver Jermaine Bishop Jr. is turning heads this spring through two practices on the Forty Acres. The five-star freshman receiver is leaving behind a prep career that saw him break into the top 10 in Texas high school football career receiving yards and touchdown catches, and make his mark as the Houston area’s all-time leader in receiving yardage. Bishop has now drawn the attention of former Dallas Cowboys All-Pro wide receiver Dez Bryant. “Most people would look at this clip and say it’s just routes on air,” Bryant tweeted on Wednesday night. “A lot of young wide receivers would just half ass during this period…His attention to detail is be…

Under Steve Sarkisian, the DFW area has provided a safe haven for elite prospects on the recruiting trail. While the metroplex in general provides as a bit of a melting pot for the regional schools and even some national programs, the Longhorns have done a tremendous job of landing the area's best players since the arrival of Sarkisian and his staff. The recent news of Dakorien Moore's decommitment from LSU sent shockwaves through the world of recruiting, but for Texas, this was not as much of a surprise. Can Texas land the five-star wide receiver? They will have as good a chance of anyone in the country. But beyond that, the Longhorns will have the chance …

Dia Bell Report: From visit to American Heritage Monday Plantation, Fla. - OnTexasFootball made a stop at American Heritage High Monday to catch up with Texas 2026 5-star quarterback commitment Dia Bell. Bell, nearing 6-3 and 200-pounds, remains 100% committed to the Longhorns. Let's get that out of the way. One of his prevailing thoughts while attending the Texas vs. Georgia game was he wanted to get on the field and help Texas win the game. Spent a few minutes with Steve Sarkisian and A.J. Milwee before and after the game. He may be back for the Florida game. Speaks weekly with A.J. Milwee. They talk about Dia's most recent game and game plans fo…

A couple of pieces of intel from the weekend on both the gridiron and the diamond. *** First off with football. Texas took a hit with the loss of Josiah Sharma on the trail. As you all know, Texas has been pursuing 2025 Bellville DL DJ Sanders over the last few months with the main competition being Michigan and Texas A&M. I was told this weekend that Texas A&M is upping its pressure in pursuit of Sanders who is expected to make a decision this week. *** On the diamond, Texas was originally expected to host Fairfield portal 1B Matt Bergevin for a visit Monday. However, with Texas A&M making the hiring of Michael Earley official, t…

Some Longhorns have a chance to be truly great. I’m talking about future all-pro caliber players. Several others have a chance to enjoy long NFL careers. And then there are those who harbor NFL dreams and will likely be the glue that binds the team together. As we look into next year, which players are which for the Longhorns? Note: I am not including draft eligible players or players who are deciding whether or not to return to the Longhorns next season. Here are the guys who are set to be difference makers in 2025, the ones whose performance will set the pace for expectations, especially in the big games. - QB Arch Manning - WR Ryan Wingo …

According to our friend Dr. Brett Wilkinson, the outcome of the Director’s Cup, the award for best athletic department in college sports, will be decided tonight. Texas and Stanford are neck and neck. Here’s the latest:

On this Sunday, I want to hear from some of you. I wrote this morning that my theme for this season so far has been consistency. This team has been overwhelmingly consistent IMO relative to other teams, especially in the SEC. What are y’all’s themes to this season, what are y’all seeing that we should be thinking about more?

Returning. Back for his senior year. View full news story

Hard to believe this could really be true after he was carted off the field on Saturday.

DL note on a June visitor Texas defensive line coach Kenny Baker stopped by Lorena (Texas) High in May to watch 2025 defensive lineman Jackson Blackwell. And Texas continues to like what they see. Blackwell, 6-02 and 305 pounds, made an unofficial visit to Texas in March, and is now set to return again in June. Blackwell told OnTexasFootball Thursday that he will workout for the Texas staff at June 8 Big Man Camp. The Longhorns remain a possibility to extend an offer. Blackwell has already made an official visit to Arizona, and has June OV's lined up to Texas Tech June 4-6, Baylor June 14-16 and Houston June 21-23. View full news story

Ahead of the 2024 Texas spring game, defensive lineman Zac Swanson has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. Swanson appeared in three games during his three years on campus as a Longhorn. The 6-foot-4, 282-pound defensive lineman out of Phoenix becomes the fifth Longhorn to enter the portal this spring. Texas is now at 84 scholarship players following Swanson's departure. View full news story

"Yeah, I do," Sark said when he was asked during Monday's press conference if he expected to have left tackle Trevor Goosby on Saturday when Texas takes on Ohio State.

Does Texas have a shot at the No. 2 class? The Texas Longhorns are going to sign a fourth straight top 5 level class, barring the unforeseen. When looking at the possibilities in the class, the Longhorns have a a path to climb as high as No. 2 with all the targets remaining ones that would help ascend the class ranking. OnTexasFootball breaks down how Texas could rise in the class rankings by December 4. How Texas moves to No. 4 Texas is current 5/6 in the industry. Michael Terry II, ATH, San Antonio (Texas) Alamo Heights OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star++ The recruitment: Texas leads Nebraska, and Oregon. How Texas solidifies No. 4 Texas …

Does the last visit matter anymore in recruiting? For years in recruiting, there were two things that were referenced when predicting recruitments regarding visits. Follow the visits and the last visit. Times are clearly changing in that regard, and obviously NIL is a key factor. That and with the recruiting calendar moved up to spring and June official visits, colleges are applying different strategies in how they attack. OnTexasFootball takes a look at just how much, or how little is the last June official visit really mattering in the end result of recruitments thus far in the 2025 cycle. There is almost always an outlier, and Oregon is the one in this…

Underrated LB play. Watch David Gbenda on this snap. IMG_7136.MOV

I'm still in Ann Arbor. I'm here relishing in the glow of victory! Some quick thoughts: - I felt like this game was decided in the first half. Look at these Halftime stats: 1st Downs - 15 to 4 3rd Down conversions - 8-10 to 1-5 Total Yards - 279 to 88 Time of Possession - 19:06 to 10:54 My friends, that is complete and utter domination for an entire half of football. ** Sark in the red zone. He has improved. So has Quinn. Texas was 4 of 4 overall on the day; three were touchdowns. If those scores are field goals like they were too often a year ago, then this is a different game in the fourth quarter. ** …

There's a saying on Wall Street, "don't try to catch a falling knife." If a stock is plummeting, don't try to buy it on the way down and grab hold, because you just might get cut even further. Such is the case with the NCAA. Every time the organization seems to be getting its feet squared and set on a better path, another sign of long-ago malfeasance pops up to take them back down a notch. Yesterday, a group of former student athletes went before the third circuit in the US Court of Appeals, and basically won. The court affirmed a lower court's prior decision that college athletes can be deemed employees. Better put, the third circuit rejected the argument that …

OnTexasFootball spoke with Conroe (Texas) High 4-star cornerback Dorian Brew a few minutes ago. He told OTF that June 14-16 is his expected OV date to Texas. Brew has OV’s set to LSU May 31-June 2, Texas June 14-16 and Ohio State June 21-23. He also has tentative dates for Oregon and USC. Those are the five schools in contention for the 6-2, 197 pounder with 10.75 100 meter speed. View full news story

Interesting Numbers Around Texas' Opening Offensive Possessions In the preparation for big matchups, you will often hear folks like myself say it is imperative for the Longhorns to get out to a strong start offensively and get ahead to set the tone. I have even pushed for Sarkisian to take the ball first in key rivalry games to silence the crowd as a result of leaning on the reputable opening script that we often hear about with Steve Sarkisian. But that will no longer be the case. Nope. Won't hear that sentiment from me ahead of these top-25 meetings or prime SEC games. In fact, I have shifted my tone, fully supported by the numbers, which leave no ro…

A week from now 14 Texas Longhorns will be checking into their hotel in Indianapolis for the NFL Combine. Among the 14, there is not a single player with a more polarizing draft projection than former Texas QB Quinn Ewers. I have heard and seen projections ranging anywhere from 2nd round to 5th round with arguments falling on either side of the spectrum essentially every day. With the Combine and Pro Day set to take place in the next month and change, this is exactly the time where Ewers is expected to 'Wow' NFL Draft executives and coaches with his arm. It is also the last chance to leave a good impression with the decision makers head of the NFL Draft on April…

Down A Rabbit Hole | Short Distance Offense in 2025 *** We have reached the offseason, which if you are new here means there will be plenty of posts just like this. These include deeper dives into odd and random statistical themes and stories that were commonly discussed throughout the season. Today, in an effort to continue the conversation about the offensive line and the revamped Texas offense, I wanted to focus on the idea of how effective Texas was in short distances. That includes needing anything from 1-3 yards for a first down, or on the goal line from the 3-yard line and in. How effective was Texas running and throwing the ball in these …