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Following this past Saturday’s second and final scrimmage of training camp, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said he liked what he saw from his team. There were a couple of explosive plays on offense he said he liked, from Ryan Wingo and others, while he also made sure to mention his defensive front as a source of excitement for 2025. At 11am today, Sark steps to the podium once more. But this time will be slightly different. This means it’s now officially football season because Sark typically meets with the media every Monday during football season. Sark is making the transition from training camp to regular season and the players will be doing the s…

When you got out of bed this morning, hopefully you rolled left… Because we’re five James Brown days away from kickoff. 😉 ** I know that joke may not hit for the younger crowd, but that play in the inaugural Big 12 title game remains one of my fondest memories of Texas football. Me and three friends from UT were watching the game together in a shared condo. I think all of us simultaneously levitated while the ball was in the air and then celebrated while Derek Lewis was running down the field. I vividly remember Lewis putting both hands over the ball so he wouldn’t fumble. For any Longhorn fan who watched that game and recalls that play, it probab…

Texas is currently on a four-game win streak. That's tied with Georgia for the third longest current win-streak in the league behind only A&M and Alabama. During that streak, we've seen a team that is maturing, especially on offense. And we've seen a team that is consistently showing a spine when times get tough. No, the journey hasn't been perfect, including Saturday's win over Vandy. But no team's season has been. Georgia has been tied or behind in five of their six conference games going into halftime. Alabama put up a stinker versus a hapless Florida State to start the year. A&M won by three in Fayetteville against a Razorback squad who remains …

While several players went home over the long weekend before returning yesterday afternoon, Texas receiver Ryan Wingo stayed in Austin to receive ongoing treatment for the thumb he dislocated against Vanderbilt. Wingo had made major progress during last week but he wanted to stay back in Austin to keep receiving treatment to make sure he’s as close to 100-percent as possible. Wingo and safeties Michael Taaffe, Jelani McDonald and Xavier Filsaime are all still working through injuries this week. ** With no Texas game to discuss, several folks on the message board started debating the decisions made during the off-season regarding the offensive line. …

If you’re going in to an office this morning, and happen to have an Aggie co-worker, make sure to grin and tell them hello. 😉 ** Texas now waits for the CFP committee’s Tuesday night rankings release. Neither the AP nor the Coaches Poll gave much credence to the Horns’ win over Texas A&M. Texas jumped just a couple of spots in both. I’m not sure how that happens. Sure, almost every team (except the Aggies) ahead of them won. But it would seem that soundly defeating the no. 3 team in the nation should cause some of the committee members to re-think their original bias against Texas. Remember one line of committee thinking was that Texas only beat OU…

Hopefully Notre Dame getting left out of the playoffs forces changes to the college football playoff. But given Notre Dame’s apparent automatic-in if they’re in the top 12 next year, the impetus won’t come from the Irish. Instead, it’s going to have to emanate from the commissioners of the SEC and Big 10. They hold the keys. The commissioners have at least an extra month to re-work the CFP for next year. I hope they get it to at least 16 teams, if not 24. ** The value placed on bowls is obviously diminishing. Sure, it’s a good opportunity for teams and players to further hone their craft through 15 practices and a game. But some programs…

The run on Longhorns headed to the portal has slowed precipitously. There’s been no real movement since the middle of last week. Which begs the next question. Will there be another run after the bowl game? Probably so. Behind the scenes, there have been multiple discussions from players contemplating their next steps. But what I think we’re down to now is a group of players who would rather be at Texas than elsewhere and who are yet to be resigned to not being a major contributor next year. In other words, the players in the portal currently are ones who saw no real path forward to meet their personal goals. The ones who have stayed stil…

Last week, I said I would check in to see how the coaches retreat went. I’m told it started near Town Lake. That’s where all the coaches gathered and were placed in groups. Their goal? Row to the other side of the lake and back. I’m told it was near impossible and it took all of an hour. Coaches had an issue synchronizing their strokes, one of the boats almost tipped, etc. It was a near disaster. But that was the whole point of Coach Dave O’Neill, the rowing coach, who led the exercise. It was a lesson about how tough it can be to make a group of individuals into a team, about how there may be 5 or 6 doing things right, but all it takes is one to …

We’ve talked about how Texas coaches have been on the road recruiting for the last couple of weeks and the importance of that. Well, the Horns offered Caleb Siler, a 6-foot-8 offensive tackle from Gunter, as a result of those school visits. Siler told our CJ Vogel last night that he anticipates making an official visit in June. ** Siler’s addition to the official visit list is notable because it speaks to one thing I’m told Texas wants to do in this recruiting class and in successive years. Texas is hoping to truly develop the OL over the long haul. While the same could be said of every position on a football field, the OL is considered sligh…

We’ve mentioned multiple times over the last couple of weeks how Texas, its coaches and personnel staff, are meeting with players (and sometimes their agents as well) prior to next semester. The topics of discussion hinge around plans for next year for the player and then can proceed to NIL. The important point I am trying to make here is that it is not as simple as a single conversation. It is a longer process than many might assume and one that encompasses multiple aspects of a player’s (and the team’s) future. That’s why we are still hearing about and awaiting the decisions of several players who might return, who might go pro or who might opt to enter t…

Texas is back on the practice field today at 2pm. The Horns have practiced every day since making the trek to Orlando. Texas is down eight starter-level players (one on offense, seven on defense) for this game against Michigan. ** The two biggest questions for this game for me are: 1. Can the Texas defense slow the Michigan run game? With so many defensive starters out, particularly at linebacker, it’s a task I’m unsure if Texas is up for. 2. The last time these two teams played, Steve Sarkisian put Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale in a blender. Martindale is a talented, NFL-tested defensive coordinator, so you know he relishes the o…

Cam Coleman. Hollywood Smothers. Trevor Goosby. Connor Robertson. That is a pretty damn good Sunday! Add Rasheem Biles on Saturday, and it was a wicked weekend for the Horns. In a two-day period, Texas fans went from wondering what was happening in the transfer portal to dancing in the streets. Yet the Texas brass knows its work is far from complete. The Horns must finish the job they started. ”We’ve still got work to do,” one source told me. “This is a big week.” Texas remains on the lookout for offensive linemen, a linebacker, and an edge. And perhaps more. They will be particularly focused on big-game hunting. Hook…

Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the transfer portal. And that’s understandable. Texas has added 16 players to its roster in less than three weeks. The Longhorns have lost 22 in about the same period of time. The portal is akin to an entire recruiting cycle jammed into a single month. It has been a whirlwind. Texas is still looking to add a couple of players, especially on the offensive line. ** The latest commitment, Markus Boswell, is a the son of former Olympic high jumper (and UT grad) Mark Boswell. Markus played at Lake Travis and was a first-team all district performer in 2023. He then played ball at a prep school for a year bef…

Texas AD Chris Del Conte will host his annual town hall next Wednesday, Feb. 4. Del Conte will answer an array of questions on just about every sport and any topic. Plus, he’ll give a state of the program look at the entire athletic department. Among the issues to be discussed will surely be the finalization timeline of the new indoor practice facility and the overall financial health of the athletic department. But there will be other questions, ones much more focused on his future plans for the department. For instance, here’s a simple question he will tackle. What will the scheduling strategy be for football now that the SEC has gone to a nine-…

Some early feedback I’ve heard on some of the freshmen: - Dia Bell. Working out, but the ball isn’t in the air yet. TBD. - Derrek Cooper. More explosive than perhaps initially thought. Good size. - Samari Matthews. Gotta see how well he really runs. Everything else is there, including mental makeup. - Tyler Atkinson. As advertised athletically. Need to see him with the pads on. - Jamarion Carlton. Extremely impressive physically. - Richard Wesley. Big and athletic. Still growing in their opinion. - Jermaine Bishop. Starts and stops very fluidly. View full news story

I’ve read a lot of conjecture about why Texas would add a scholarship quarterback like Troy transfer Matthew Caldwell. Well, it’s actually pretty simple. There are two driving factors. 1. Caldwell, who started the final five games for Troy last year, has lots of playing experience. He makes it a real competition for Trey Owens for the no. 2 QB spot. As a reminder, Sark wants competition everywhere. It’s not Sark’s job to make it easy on any of his players. And this is not Sark pulling the rug out from under Owens. If Owens were slated to start, perhaps so. But that’s not the case. Caldwell is a one-year player who Texas wants to push the entire QB room…

After an amazing start to conference play, Texas baseball has come back down to earth. The Longhorns have lost five of their last six conference contests by a combined run total of 42-17. Yet the Horns still have a two-game lead in conference. Texas needs to win two of three against Oklahoma this coming weekend to secure the regular season crown. More concerning is the post-season. Texas has looked like a shell of itself the last two weekends, striking out too often at the plate while the starting pitching has routinely lost its matchups. It’s been a very good year for first year coach Jim Schlossnagle. Let’s see if the Horns can put the pieces back togethe…

The SEC Spring Meetings officially kick off tomorrow morning in Destin, Fla. On Texas Football will be there. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian will be speaking to the media at roughly 11am. Other Texas coaches like Sean Miller and Vic Schaeffer are also expected to be in town, as well as athletic director Chris Del Conte. But the center of attention will likely be SEC commissioner Greg Sankey. Sankey will actually meet with the media briefly this evening as a precursor to the festivities. Here’s what’s on the docket for Sankey this week (and it’s a lot!): - The House Settlement hangs in the balance. - New college football playoff format for 2025. …

The Texas baseball team took it on the chin this weekend. And perhaps deservedly so. The Horns played sloppy ball in both games against UTSA and the problems came home to roost. The lack of timely hitting, free bases awarded by the pitching staff and some spotty play in the field all combined to send the Horns home earlier than expected. But overall it was a good year. The Horns won the regular season championship and most importantly Jim Schlossnagle reestablished Texas as a true contender in college baseball. Recruiting is going extremely well and baseball looks like it’s in good hands for the long haul. ** The Texas football staff made 21 offer…

Eleven commitments by June 9. I didn’t think Texas would be into double digits until later this month. I think the early number being higher is indicative of a Texas program being a more sought after one by recruits than in previous years. But Texas is far from done. And really, the Horns only have nine position-player commitments given the two specialists (one kicker and a deep snapper) among the pledges. ** I like both Dylan Berymon and Kohen Brown as pick-ups in this class. Berymon fits a particular role at Texas. He is an over the ball defensive tackle. It’s a position that can be tough to fill. For instance, Sydir Mitchell was expec…

After the barrage of commitments coming out of last weekend, the question is, where are the commitments from this weekend? Well, Gerry Hamilton is reporting that a couple of players gave the Longhorns their commitments privately (Hi!) but neither have made that news publicly quite yet. So where we sit as of this morning, Texas is at 13 public commitments with one more weekend of official visits to go. Texas recruiting is on track, but there are several pieces remaining. Texas still has work to do at just about every position, save quarterback. ** It feels like we just started our jersey no. countdown from 99. Yet here we are, already at no. 75. …

We expected Vodney Cleveland, the defensive tackle from Birmingham, to announce for the Longhorns on Saturday. He left Austin a week ago Sunday knowing that he would eventually pledge to Texas. It’s a big addition for the Horns at defensive tackle. But the commitment of Richard Wesley, the five star defensive end from Los Angeles, took us all by surprise on Sunday afternoon. We knew Wesley liked the Longhorns and his family had Texas ties, despite a prior commitment to Oregon. However, we didn’t know he was on the brink of committing. In a matter of 24 hours, Texas added two blue chip prospects to a defensive line class that could be shaping up as the …

Texas is 0 for its last six in recruiting. Three of those players, at one time or another, felt like Texas leans: North Shore defensive back Chace Calicut, Georgia linebacker Zavier Griffin and New Jersey defensive tackle Damari Simeon. So what happened between the two parties on the way to the altar? With each it’s a different story. Calicut was drawn to the idea of playing corner. Griffin was somewhat miffed by the idea of the Horns recruiting Tyler Atkinson allegedly and had ties to Tuscaloosa. Simeon received a better NIL offer elsewhere. But no matter the how of losing those recruits, the results - at least the current ones - remain the same. …

The addition of Smithson Valley QB Ty Knutson settles a big question for the 2027 recruiting class, perhaps in ways you might not think. Sure, he’s the QB of the class, a state champion and talented player with high upside. But it’s also how he slots into NIL considerations. After all, he’s not the highest ranked QB in the state or the country, so Knutson is unlikely to command egregious NIL figures. That should free up more capacity for Texas at other potentially pressing positions and overall team depth. Just one more thing to consider in this age of college football. ** I love Knutson’s athleticism. I’m guessing it was that aspect tha…

In college sports, there are few things sweeter than going on the road and defeating your arch-rival. There are even fewer things better than capsizing another team’s chances at post-season opportunities and demoralizing a fan base. So that was the case on Saturday afternoon when the Texas basketball team went to College Station and put Texas A&M and Bucky Ball back in its place, defeating the Aggies 76-70. Texas weathered early foul trouble before taking command of the contest in the second half. It was a complete win for the Horns. It was a reality check defeat for the Aggies, who had prematurely high hopes for the season after a strong start to …