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As I alluded to this morning, Texas was closing in on wrapping up their coaching search to replace Nolan Cain. On Texas Football has confirmed that Texas is set to hire Oregon assistant coach Jack Marder and former Texas/Texas A&M assistant Caleb Longley. Marder is a former Oregon player and was the Ducks assistant coach, serving as hitting coach, catchers coach and recruiting coordinator under Mark Wasikowski. He helped land Baseball America’s No. 5 recruiting class in 2022, while also earning national recognition as one of college baseball’s rising assistant coaches. During his six years back at Oregon, the Ducks have gone 206-106, reached the postse…

If you’re wanting good news, stop here and press the back button on your browser. Do not go any further. As of tonight, I do not expect the following to end up in Austin: Beau Peterson Brody Bumila Cooper Harris Grady Emerson That’s obviously a huge turnaround from what I reported earlier in the week, which was that Emerson was the only one that was a 100% for sure thing. This is a worst case scenario situation for Texas and was not expected to happen. I will go into this more later along with what the plan is now. Will Texas be okay? Absolutely. Does this suck? Absolutely.

The University of Texas has the best athletics department in the country after hoisting yet another Director's Cup. It is the fifth Director's Cup in the last six athletic seasons for Chris Del Conte and the Longhorns. With National Championships in volleyball, softball, golf, men's tennis, rowing and track & field in the time span, Texas has certainly added to the trophy room in the north end zone Hall of Fame. Football has come close, women's basketball let one get away, baseball made a trip to Omaha this year and men's basketball is looking promising. Altogether, it is hard to be displeased with the product on the field across all Texas Athletics as …

Happy Friday! *** Quick Hitters on Newcomers It is almost the weekend, so cheers to all. We are about a week away from being just 50 days from the beginning of the college football season, and just over a week away from SEC Media Days. I am starting to get that football itch again. But, in the meantime, there are some nuggets I was able to pick up on this week I wanted to share. And some literal nuggets from my time with Kobe Black and Jelani McDonald at their NIL deal at McDonald's this week. But to the notes on the team. – One source expressed a ton of excitement about new LB Rasheem Biles. Upon arriving at Texas, Biles was a quieter …

**Friday Future is a new column that centers on current or rising freshmen, sophomores, and juniors** While it’s early in the 2028 cycle and the Longhorns have plenty of more offers to extend after the all-important junior seasons have come and gone, there are still a handful of no-brainer prospects you can expect to remain at the top of the board throughout the entirety of the cycle. Lancaster’s James Foster III is one of those no brainer prospects. Standing 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, Foster primarily plays safety at the high school level but is certainly a candidate to ‘spin down’ to linebacker in college. Especially since Foster has a +3.5 wingspan and 34 inc…

Why Texas is a top 5 team with the addition of Marcus Spears Jr. Texas was already knocking on the door of being a top 5 team preseason prior to the commitment of 5-star forward Marcus Spears Jr. The Longhorns were ranked No. 7, 8 or 9 by several national publications prior to the Thursday fireworks. Personally, I had Texas in the 6 or 7 range due to the pieces fitting together on the most NBA talented roster that has been put together in Austin. Now with the 6-foot-10 versatile forward Spears Jr. in the boat, Sean Miller's squad goes to another level. My top 10 right now in CBB... 1.Florida - The ruling on Denzel Aberdeen is huge here. They move to No…

Can Sarkisian Unlock the Keilan Robinson Role in 2026? *** Part of the offseason fun is pondering what new wrinkles we will see in the coming season. Everything is an unknown. And while you have an idea of what the upcoming team will be, there will always be some extra wrinkles and hidden tricks up the sleeve of the Texas playcaller. Sarkisian has gone back and forth when it comes to a few staples. Malik Agbo made the 6-man jumbo offensive line package work for the Longhorns in 2023, but we have not seen that personnel package since. Roschon Johnson and Savion Red each had a run in the sun in Sarkisian's edition of the Wildcat. While we sit and p…

AUSTIN, Texas — The Longhorns have one commitment in 2027 from Atascocita in defensive lineman Jason Johnson, and now have their sights set on the program in 2028 in David Dotson. The 6-foot-6, 240-pound edge rusher took his first look at Texas earlier this summer for Elite Camp, and left with an offer in hand. “The head coach, he gave me an offer today,” Dotson told OTF after working out for the staff on May 31. “I will definitely be back for a home game.” The rising junior worked with UT EDGE coach LaAllan Clark primarily throughout his visit. “I love how they put everything together,” Dotson recalled. “The D-line drills, everything, to get some work in…

The Longhorns continue to look to the portal to fill roster holes and will host two visitors today. One of those visitors is LSU RHP Marcos Paz. Last season Paz posted a 1-4 record and 9.20 ERA in 17 appearances, including six starts, while racking up 40 strikeouts and 27 walks in 29.1 innings. Don't let the numbers fool you, however, as Paz is very talented and many other SEC schools have tried to get in on him, including Texas A&M and Georgia. Paz left College Station this morning after taking in a visit. I do not consider the Aggies a threat. At all. In fact, I'd go ahead and write them off. I do feel good about the Longhorns chances a…

Marcus Spears Jr. reclassifies, commits to Texas The No. 1 ranked prospect in the 2027 class made two massive moves grabbing national headlines. Versatile forward Marcus Spears Jr. (Plano/Dynamic Prep) announced that he will not only be a Texas Longhorn, but has also reclassified to the 2026 class. In doing so, the 6-9.5 younger brother of Texas star volleyball outside hitter Cari Spears becomes the final piece to the Texas 2026-27 roster. Due to age and NBA Draft requirements, Spears Jr. will play two seasons for the Longhorns before entering the 2028 NBA Draft. After playing at Plano Prestonwood Christian as a freshman, the 5-star prospect h…

Gerry Hamilton said “hi” about Marcus Spears Jr. almost a month ago now. Everyone assumed it was a football player. Rightfully so, since that’s the usual protocol. Nobody caught on, because nobody leaked the information. The national folks didn’t even catch on that this was a possibility until Tuesday afternoon. Lips were shut tight until then. The result, however, is the most important aspect. Texas, at least on paper, will now have its most talented basketball roster in school history. Sean Miller is prepared to elevate Texas into the upper echelon of college basketball. That’s what this signing and this commitment means. ** Speaking o…

Texas Hoops Report The Texas Longhorns finish up week four of summer workouts on the court this morning. OTF can report that the Texas staff is very excited with what they are seeing and where they are at in early July. I'm going to run down what has been gathered as of this week. The heights and weights are from the updated 2026-27 Texas roster. Isaiah Johnson, lead guard/PG, 6-2 - Johnson has grown an inch to 6-2 and gained 18-20 pounds of very good weight since his freshman season at Colorado. The efficiency of his play has been very impressive. He's been extremely well coached/developed by his father Chris Johnson. His offensive bag is very develo…

EDIT 10:49 AM CT — Meredith has been ruled ineligible to play at North Crowley this fall and will only have varsity eligibility if he transfers back to Euless Trinity *** Meredith was ruled ineligible due to moving for athletic reasons after transferring from Euless Trinity to North Crowley earlier this offseason. He has since filed an appeal and will hear if he won tomorrow morning. 4-star Georgia QB commit Colton Nussmeier, who transferred to Denton Ryan from Flower Mound Marcus, also has a ruling scheduled for tomorrow. Nussmeier is going through the same process as Meredith and filed an appeal after being ruled ineligible due to moving for athletic…

Connectivity a Strength of the Texas Defense Heading into Fall Camp *** We hear about it all the time: Can a group of 11 play together as one cohesive unit? It is a simple question, which often has a more complicated answer. Often times requiring multiple weeks into the season to get a glimpse of the final conclusion. On Wednesday at the Capitol Plaza McDonald's, Texas defensive backs Jelani McDonald and Kobe Black met with the media following their 2-hour long meet & greet as part of their NIL deal with the global corporation's franchise in Austin. What both had to say I will dive into tomorrow in the Happy Friday article, but one thing that…

We’re twenty-two days from Texas starting fall camp. That also happens to be the same number of players Texas signed in the NCAA transfer portal this year. It’s a record high for Steve Sarkisian during his tenure at Texas. While some of that increase is a direct result of the NCAA increasing its scholarship total from 85 to 105, it still creates an entirely new composition of the Longhorns football team. Texas is “older” as a result of the portal additions. In fact, Texas added nearly as many portal signees in this class(22) as the Longhorns did in the previous two combined(23). Texas signed 12 and 11 portal transfers in 2025 and 2024, respectively. …

Texas entered the race for Converse Judson 2028 ATH Jay’Maree Bowens on Apr. 23 when Jeff Banks made the short drive down to the San Antonio area to see the intriguing 6-foot-5, 215 pounder in spring ball practice. “Very exciting,” Bowens said of picking up the offer. “He came to my football practice, I had to do what I had to do, showed what I can do, how high I can jump, and I ended up getting the offer.” Bowens has effectively been a jumbo receiver his entire life, but he’s expected to eventually make the transition to tight end once he gets to college. Even though he already picked up the offer in April, Bowens made the trip to Austin and worked out at the M…

Recruiting: The latest There are three players that are at the center of the Texas Longhorns recruiting universe presently. Two of them are not committed anywhere with decisions to be announced in the near future. And then there is Texas 5-star commit Easton Royal, who is also facing a pressurized decision. OTF delivers the latest, with the understanding that what was told to us last night could change by the hour. Landen Williams-Callis Everything remains the same on the Texas end. Confidence remains in Austin. Nothing has shifted, other than even more confidence in recent days. SMU believes they are battling Texas, and nobody else. Houston and Texas A…

AUSTIN, Texas — Despite residing in the South Plains and playing at Lubbock (Texas) Cooper-Liberty, 2028 tight end Koleman Hendrix made his second trek down to Austin earlier this summer for Elite Camp. The 6-foot-6, 225-pounder’s performance netted him an offer from the Longhorns. “Feels good,” Hendrix told OTF. “It’s a big one.” Hendrix worked out for his offer, earning the nod in person. “You know, it’s going against the best people in the country,” he recalled from camp. “They've got people from all around down here. Best quarterbacks to throw to you. It builds me as a player going against that type of competition. Obviously at Texas you’re going to …

This morning, we should all wake up thankful. Thankful that Brett Yormark and the Big 12 are in the rearview mirror. Yormark’s latest performance came at the Big 12 preseason media days that began yesterday. Yormark announced that it is no longer the “Big 12” officially, not when it comes to football. It’s actually the “Monster Energy Big 12 Conference”. Furthermore, every conference football field and jersey will be emblazoned with Monster Energy incorporated into the logo. The value given to schools for this? The total deal approaches $20 million. That sounds like a lot… until you divide it by 16 teams. Can you imagine Chris Del Conte selling a …

Ask OTF anything Tuesday Ask OTF anything. Well, almost anything! CJ, Hank, Blake, Jordan, Bobby, Jeff or myself will answer as much as possible throughout the day. View full news story

The Texas Longhorns have only two uncommitted targets left on the board ahead of the upcoming season. Both targets — 5-star WR Monshun Sales and 5-star RB Landen Williams-Callis — are expected to have decisions made before the month of July is over. Williams-Callis has been a known recruit going back to his middle school days and is one of the most popular prospects in the entire 2027 cycle. The Longhorns are battling SMU, Texas A&M, and Houston for the 5-foot-7.5, 190 pounder who has put recently-opened Richmond Randle HS on the map with consecutive trips to Jerryworld to play in the 5A-DII State Championship. Both trips to State were to face off agai…

2026 Defensive Ceiling Contingent on Interior Pass Rush *** Expectations for this Texas defense are high. That is not exactly groundbreaking news. But the return of Will Muschamp to the sidelines at DKR with the crop of talent consisting of Colin Simmons, Rasheem Biles, Jelani McDonald and plenty of others, is reason alone to believe this unit could be atop of the SEC come the end of the season. After Monday's episode of The Winning Drive, I could not help but think we were missing one key piece of what has made Texas defenses so dangerous in year's past. The Longhorn defense a year ago was solid. It wasn't elite, but it was good. Texas finished …

When I was growing up, my dad used to regale me with “stories” about his favorite Longhorns and his favorite football players in general. Typically, they weren’t these long, drawn out stories. They were short descriptions of what a certain player did, how he scored a touchdown, how he delivered a big hit or how he picked off a pass. Yet there were a couple of players that defied his usual description. Tommy Nobis was one of those. Given that we’re 60 days away from the start of the Longhorn football season and that was the number Nobis made so popular for the Longhorns, I feel like it’s only appropriate to dive in a little deeper on the player he was a…

Yesterday I said the assistant coaching search was winding down quickly and that's exactly what happened, as the Longhorns have hired Oregon's Jack Marder and former Texas/Texas A&M assistant Caleb Longley. Both are proven commodities who have had results both on and off the field. I reached out to various coaches across college baseball to get their take on both coaches. "Hell of a recruiting duo," one Big 12 assistant told OTF. "Those two at Texas will do very, very well. I think Marder will be a head coach soon. He's well respected." "People make a huge deal about Cain leaving, but both of those guys can recruit and you upgrade on the actual coaching…

Whether it was the firing of a head coach, a recruiting class falling apart, or a bad losing streak, the Texas Longhorns have flipped at least three prospects from ailing programs in every year of the Steve Sarkisian era. While this upcoming year’s coaching carousel won’t be nearly as chaotic as last year’s coaching carousel, there’s still a handful of coaches entering the season on the hotseat that will have a chance to be fired before the month of November ends. OTF takes a look at coaches on the hot seat who have prospects committed that could be of interest to Texas between now and December’s Early Signing Day. Mike Norvell, Florida State The Semi…