Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Current and former TCU football players spoke out on Twitter regarding head coach Gary Patterson using a racial slur.
On Monday, several TCU football players began to speak out on social media regarding head coach Gary Patterson. Continue reading “Texas football players react to sudden TCU, Gary Patterson allegations”
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dany Garcia, Gerry Cardinale, and RedBird Capital Partners have teamed up to buy the XFL for $15 million.
The XFL was five weeks through their “rebirth” season before the league was shut down due to COVID-19. One month later, the league’s parent company, Alpha Entertainment LLC, filed for bankruptcy, leaving the XFL without an owner.
Insert Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who is now a minority owner in the league.
Johnson, his business partner Dany Garcia, Gerry Cardinale, and RedBird Capital Partners have teamed up to buy the XFL for $15 million.
“The acquisition of the XFL with my talented partners, Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale, is an investment for me that’s rooted deeply in two things — my passion for the game and my desire to always take care of the fans,” Johnson said.
With my trail blazing partner @DanyGarciaCo & Red Bird Capital, we have acquired the XFL.
With gratitude & passion I’ve built a career with my own two hands and will apply these callouses to our @xfl2020 brand.
Excited to create something special for the fans! #XFL #fullcircle pic.twitter.com/LprJ6HjglD— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) August 3, 2020
Four former Longhorns played in the XFL last season, spanning across three different teams.
Defensive end Cedric Reed and guard Patrick Vahe played for the Los Angeles Wildcats, while Kent Perkins was a starting guard for the St. Louis Battlehawks. Wide receiver Jerrod Heard wrapped up former Texas players in the league, playing for the Dallas Renegades.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy recently expressed his excitement in watching Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger this fall.
Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger is likely to be tabbed a mid-round draft pick, but another impressive season under his belt will only increase his stock. Continue reading “Senior Bowl executives look forward to watching Texas QB Sam Ehlinger”
Locked on Longhorns podcast discusses the plans for the upcoming Big 12 college football season, Tarik Black and the Pac 12 labor dispute.
The Locked on Longhorns podcast returns on a Monday. The biggest news of the day is that when the XFL returns there will be a new part owner as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has secured ownership. The Big 12 school presidents are set to meet Monday night to determine the 2020 football schedule. What do think about it? Who do we think the Longhorns will play? The school also released their COVID-19 safety guidelines. We take a moment to highlight the main points.
Ben Stevens of the Locked on Big 10 podcast joins to discuss Tarik Black. What happened at Michigan? Plus why a change of scenery is probably the best thing for Black’s football career. A receiver wearing zero? I ask Ben what he thinks.
The Pac-12 finds themselves in a labor dispute as the players join forces in the We Are United campaign. We discuss how this all transpired and what it means for the future of college athletics. With the Board of Governors meeting set for Tuesday, could this being another cog in the wheel leading to Power Five schools leaving the NCAA?
[protected-iframe id=”67bc67255c78f6f006e9ee19fd486014-162776761-85508312″ info=”https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=LKN9787676585″ width=”100%” height=”200″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”]
In DraftWire’s latest mock draft, the five-year first-round drought is finally going to end for UT. Plus, another defensive back selected.
Texas has not produced a first-round pick since 2015, when Malcolm Brown went No. 32 overall to the New England Patriots. Since then, Connor Williams is the program’s highest draft selection where he was taken by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round.
In DraftWire’s latest mock draft, the five-year first-round drought is finally going to end for the Longhorns.
Samuel Cosmi is the best NFL prospect Texas has produced in years and it may pay off for the left tackle. DraftWire projects Cosmi to sneak into the top 20, with the Pittsburgh Steelers selecting him at No. 20 overall.
Three other offensive tackles were taken ahead of Cosmi, with all but one inside the top 15. Penei Sewell (No. 4), Walker Little (No. 15), and Alex Leatherwood (No. 18) are currently ahead of the Longhorn of Luke Easterling’s draft board.
Texas’ staff has done an excellent job developing the tackle, as the 247Sports composite only had him as a three-star prospect. In the 2017 recruiting class, he was No. 104 in the country for tackles.
According to PFF, in 1,162 career pass-blocking snaps, Cosmi has only allowed four career sacks. He and Derek Kerrsetter developed as the best tackle duo in the Big 12 last season.
Highest-graded Big 12 pass-blockers in 2019
▫️ Derek Kerstetter, Texas – 91.6
▫️ Samuel Cosmi, Texas – 86.0
▫️ Tyler Mitchell, Kansas St – 86.0 pic.twitter.com/uqxX0n7tw4— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 4, 2020
Cosmi was not the only Texas player taken in the three-round mock draft. Safety Caden Sterns was taken No. 55 overall in the second round to the Philadelphia Eagles.
When Sterns is selected, it will be the fourth year in a row where the Longhorns have had a defensive back taken in the draft. DeShon Elliot, Kris Boyd, and Brandon Jones have represented Texas’ secondary in the NFL recently.
Going into his junior season, Sterns has the potential to see his draft stock rise with a solid 2020. After his fantastic freshman season, it seemed as Sterns would live up to his five-star potential and become a first-round draft pick.
If he can stay fully healthy, the safety should be flying around the field and once again be making plays like this.
There’s that man.
2018 #AllAmerican Bowl 🇺🇸 DB Caden Sterns (@lil_STERNS2) ties the University of Texas record for most interceptions by a freshman (4). #HookEm 🤘🏻
— All-American Bowl (@AABonNBC) October 13, 2018
Texas has had trouble turning their successful recruiting classes and developing them into NFL talent.
Tom Herman’s best-ever recruiting class came in 2018, totaling 19 blue-chip recruits, including two five-stars. It was the No. 3 overall class and ranked about schools like Alabama, Clemson, and Oklahoma.
Now, these former recruits are draft eligible for the first time and will be looking to turn professional. This will be a key year for Herman, showing he can take a top-five recruiting class and turn multiple players into Day One or early Day Two draft selections.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
Texas Athletics released a lengthy list of safety measures on Monday that will be in place for football games this fall.
Texas Athletics announced a significant list of safety measures for upcoming football games this fall. Continue reading “Texas announces COVID-19 safety guidelines for football games”
Isaiah Hole of Wolverines Wire part of the USA TODAY SMG weighed in on the addition of Tarik Black to the wide out group at Texas.
There has been plenty of talk surrounding the wide receivers on this roster. That is for good reason. Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay are gone after combining for 1,945 yards and 12 touchdowns. Brennan Eagles and Jake Smith are the leading receivers returning from the 2019 squad. They racked up a combined 796 yards and 12 touchdowns. While that is a good start, the team will need multiple players to step up in 2020.
Joshua Moore is expected to play a larger role in the upcoming season as well as Jordan Whittington provided he can stay healthy. The team also added Tarik Black from Michigan this past offseason via the transfer portal. Black has his own injury issues during his time in Ann Arbor. Trading Big Blue for the Forty Acres could just be one the top rated player from Connecticut needs.
Our brothers at Wolverines Wire recently spoke to us about the addition of Tarik Black to the wide receiver room.
Black showed extraordinary prowess as a true freshman, having the look of a bona fide No. 1 wide receiver in his first few games, but was lost for the season when he broke his foot in Week Three. In camp the next year, he was getting rave reviews, once again, but broke his other foot one week before the season opener. He returned midseason, but wasn’t heavily utilized.
He returned to the field healthy in 2019, but as the offense shifted to a more spread-oriented attack under new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, Black saw relatively few opportunities. He’s the type of wideout who would best thrive in either a traditional pro-style offense or more of an AIR RAID look. He’s tall, long, and can make contested catches.
Given his tenure at Michigan, a new opportunity will likely serve him better than it did in Ann Arbor. He has the promise of being a first-round-type receiver, but injuries have limited his emergence, and he was thus passed up on the depth chart in Ann Arbor. Getting a new chance in Texas, Black could thrive, especially if the offense is looking to get the ball downfield to a more prototypical X or Z receiver. – Isaiah Hole, Managing Editor of Wolverines Wire
The Big 12 morning rush headlines that include Houston Miller returning to football, bad coach firings and the Baylor running back duo.
Each morning Longhorns Wire will share the top stories from around the Big 12 Conference. For this edition of the Big 12 Morning Twitter, Sports Illustrated, and 247Sports provide the headlines.
Prior to the 2020 NFL Draft Houston Miller of Texas Tech declared. Despite not being highly regarded, Miller wanted to try and make the jump to the NFL. After going going undrafted, he returns to school but this time at the FCS level. Once a player declares but goes undrafted they forfeit any remaining eligibility at the FBS level.
At Southeastern Louisiana, Miller will be eligible to play immediately in 2020. The upcoming season would serve as his final year of eligibility, unless he were to pursue a sixth season from the NCAA.
Miller was a three-star member of the Texas Tech football Class of 2016. The lineman played his high school football in Keller, Texas. – John Taylor, College Football Talk
247Sports put together a list on the worst firings in college football over the last decade plus. Former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach made the list. The Red Raiders saw their most success under Leach and since his firing, they haven’t finished with a winning record in conference play since.
Ok, so we’re going to make a slight exception here as Mike Leach was fired in the aftermath of a player mistreatment claim in 2009 which coincided with a rocky relationship with Texas Tech brass and days prior to a guaranteed bonus in his contract. The circumstances and claims have been hotly debated and disputed in the time since and Leach has been vetted and hired by two Power Five programs since that time.
Leach’s resume at Texas Tech is well known. He led the program to its best run in about 40 years and reshaping modern offensive football along the way. The high mark of Leach’s tenure was the 11-win campaign in 2008 (his next to last season in Lubbock) that saw the Red Raiders take down then No. 1 Texas, reach No. 2 in the polls and finish with a 7-1 conference record among what might be the strongest group of teams in Big 12 history.
“The Baylor RB duo of John Lovett and Trestan Ebner is quietly one of CFB’s best,” Nagy said Saturday on Twitter, publishing side-by-side pictures of the two in a tweet. “Lovett is a tough, durable 212-(pounder) that gives (Baylor football) a physical presence. (The Senior Bowl) staff loves Ebner’s upside as mismatch in pass game and he can roll.”
During the Bears’ breakout 2019 campaign, Lovett rushed for a single-season career-high 665 yards and 6.4 per-carry average. Lovett took 103 totes and scored five touchdowns in all 14 games, also catching eight passe for a personal-best 66 yards (8.3 average). – Garrett Stepien, 247Sports
Texas head coach Tom Herman remains optimistic regarding the upcoming football schedule, appreciates the Big 12 taking their time.
Texas head coach Tom Herman believes it’s a promising sign that the Big 12 has not announced any concrete scheduling-affecting decisions yet. Continue reading “Tom Herman remains optimistic with 2020 schedule: “We still have time””
For the second-straight year, Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger was named to the Manning Award watch list.
Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger continues to add to his list of preseason honors. Continue reading “Texas QB Sam Ehlinger selected to Manning Award watch list”
