Tag: Texas football recruiting

Texas will host massive Minnesota DT Trill Carter this week

Minnesota transfer DT Trill Carter will be in Austin this week.

Texas might have found impact depth in the portal at defensive tackle. The team is hosting mammoth sized defensive lineman Trill Carter this week.

There isn’t much in the way of production to support any claim in the player making a huge impact. The Minnesota tackle compiled a total of 19 total tackles and 1.5 sacks last season. Albeit, he looks to have the build defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski can make use of inside.

Carter stands a solid 6-foot-2 and weighs in at 300 pounds. Kwiatkowski can make do with a frame that big. Like offensive line coach Kyle Flood, the defensive play caller prizes big humans of his own up front. Texas will need imposing players up the middle to protect its linebackers from getting caught up in opponents’ blocking schemes.

Whether or not Carter would be a transformative player or a rotational contributor is still to be seen. Nevertheless, Texas is wise to adopt the philosophy of always adding talent.

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Alabama source: Former Texas commit Jalen Milroe looks “1,000 times better”

Alabama thinks Jalen Milroe is “1,000 times better” than he was last season.

Former Texas quarterback commit Jalen Milroe is reportedly looking vastly improved this offseason. According to an onlooker at Alabama spring sessions, Milroe looks “1,000 times better.”

Tide Illustrated editor Tony Tsoukalas shared the following of the Alabama quarterback.

He looked 1,000 times better than last year. If he would have played the way he did today against Texas A&M, we’d have beat those guys by 80 points.

A couple thoughts come to mind from the above quote. First, the report is pouring on the hyperbole a little too thick. I wonder if the comment is defensive or if he is truly that greatly improved. He will need to be that improved.

The A&M game is mentioned for a reason here and not just because Milroe played in that game. The veteran quarterback played against Arkansas last season, too. The Aggies finished 5-7 last season and should have finished worse. The team was completely inept offensively. Poor offense from the Tide was the only way the Aggies could stay in the game. That’s exactly what the Aggies got from the Crimson Tide offense.

From what little we’ve seen from Milroe, he does appear to be a better player for Alabama this spring. How much better he is could determine the Week 2 matchup against Texas.

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College football analyst leans toward Texas to win the Big 12 in 2023

Texas is the Big 12 favorite, but who is the biggest challenger?

Talking season is ramping up another level as spring football nears its end. The Texas Longhorns are just a week away from the Orange and White game.

Texas is a trending conference title pick for the conference though many will have reservations in choosing the team. As recently as 2020, the Longhorns were tabbed as contenders to unseat the Oklahoma Sooners. Behind veteran stars in quarterback Sam Ehlinger, left tackle Sam Cosmi and edge rusher Joseph Ossai the team looked like a clear contender. Texas started 2-2 and ultimately missed the Big 12 title game.

Unlike that team, there are two identifiable holes (linebacker and edge rusher) for Texas heading into 2023. We anticipate Anthony Hill and David Gbenda to answer the linebacker question. One analyst isn’t too concerned about the Longhorns’ roster either.

Ian Boyd of Inside Texas is leaning heavily toward the Longhorns to win the Big 12 this season. The question is, who will challenge the team from earning the title?

Texas returns 10 of 11 starters on offense. The team now boasts elite talents in wide receivers Xavier Worthy, AD Mitchell and Isaiah Neyor along with two dangerous chains movers in Ja’Tavion Sanders and Jordan Whittington. They can also claim perhaps their best offensive line in a decade and a half.

Here are a few of Boyd’s thoughts on the league.

Report: Elite 2026 quarterback Julian Lewis takes Texas visit

One of the top quarterback prospects in the nation took a visit to Texas this week.

2026 quarterback Julin Lewis took a visit to Texas this Wednesday, according to a report from On3 Sports.

Coming off of a fantastic freshman season, Lewis looks to be the next big thing in high school football. He threw for 4,118 yards and 48 touchdowns in 2022 for Carrollton High School in Georgia.

Lewis already holds over 32 offers from some of the top schools around the country.

The future five-star prospect broke down his interest in Texas with On3 Sports.

“I built a relationship with coach (Steve Sarkisian) when he was at Alabama, so it carried over to Texas,” Lewis told Chad Simmons. “They just got Arch (Manning), so Arch is probably gonna clear up that quarterback room going into that. That’s probably the cool thing about them.”

Texas is getting an early start in the recruitment of Lewis. Steve Sarkisian has a good track record recruiting the quarterback position during his time at Texas, landing Arch Manning and Maailk Muprhy over the past two classes.

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Texas to settle depth chart, portal entries following spring game

We should know what team Texas is fielding by the end of spring football sessions.

The end of spring football approaches as we inch closer to the Orange and White Game on April 15. That should relatively coincide with the end of portal season barring a handful of disgruntled athletes who spontaneously opt to leave closer to the season.

Steve Sarkisian shared his process for solidifying the roster and allowing players who aren’t viewed as impact players to know where they stand.

I meet with every player at the end of spring and I like to tell them where they’re at. If we were playing next Saturday, this is where you would be on the depth chart. That doesn’t mean that’s the end all be all. Here’s what you need to do to work on to either keep that spot or what you need to do to earn that spot that’s in front of you.

Inevitably, players who don’t make the depth chart will likely be those who consider other schools. If and when that happens, we’ll have a fuller understanding of what team Texas fields for the 2023 season. From there we’ll be able to more accurately predict how the Longhorns match up with their opponents.

Texas Football: What we’re gathering from spring practice reports

We know more about the football team following spring practice reports.

Practice reports can be hit-or-miss in regard to what a team actually brings to the table. We saw that fact bear itself out under past football and basketball coaches.

There was a time when the Texas football coaching staff viewed the team as a playoff contender before falling flat in the regular season. Former starting quarterback Hudson Card, who could be primed to finish in the Top 10 nationally in passing yards at Purdue, was once viewed as an Aaron Rodgers clone. Those predictions were both swings and misses.

There are a few reports that have caught my attention and appear to have merit based on what we’ve observed and what makes logical sense. Here are a few things we’re picking up about the team as we approach the spring game.

Where Texas football lands among highest recruiting expenses

Five teams spent more on recruiting than Texas in 2022.

College football recruiting is costly business. The more successful schools proved they were willing to pay the price.

As you might imagine, the Georgia Bulldogs topped the list of the schools that spent the most money on recruiting, showing their commitment to building a dynastic reign. Their $4.5 million commitment to the 2022 recruiting class was $1.3 million more than the next highest expense total.

Clemson checked in at No. 2 on the list at $3.2 million. Dabo Swinney once scoffed at NIL stating he built his program in God’s name, image and likeness. Clearly, there’s a monetary commitment at Clemson and the Tigers are doing more than winning over players with culture and a good education.

Texas A&M and Oklahoma both check in above Texas at No. 3 and 5, respectively. Here’s a look at the top 10 biggest recruiting expenses for the 2022 recruiting class.

WATCH: Highlight plays shed light on Texas breakout players for 2023

Savion Red’s beast stiff arm, Quinn Ewers’ dime to Ja’Tavion Sanders and more.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has his team looking sharp this spring. That is, if this highlight reel is any indication.

There’s a great deal to unpack with a handful of players flashing on the field. Upperclassmen linebacker David Gbenda, wide receiver Casey Cain and backup quarterback Maalik Murphy see plenty of camera time in the featured reels. It gives credence to the notion that Casey Cain brings some of his best football in practices.

The three biggest takeaways for me involve three players who could have breakout seasons in 2023. First, Quinn Ewers looks incredibly sharp in the limited action we’re able to watch. Ewers makes an effortless throw to Ja’Tavion Sanders on the run, hitting Sanders on a corner route in stride.

The second realization is that edge rusher Barryn Sorrell is huge. Sorrell looks like the freshman iteration of Texas defensive tackle Alfred Collins.

The most enlightening highlight sees Texas running back Savion Red displacing second year edge Justice Finkley with a powerful stiff arm. Short as it may be, the highlight gives an idea of why the team thinks so highly of Red heading into the season.

Hugh Freeze, Bob Stoops want future spring games to be against opponents

“I’d love it. If not the spring game, give us one that we can meet up and have our own game.”

Spring games are around the corner and like many avid college football watchers we await with great anticipation. There are a few developments we’d love to see and the game should give us answers.

On the other hand, while fans will be rooting for Texas, they will in some ways be rooting against Texas. In this zero sum game, for the Longhorns’ offense to thrive the defense will have to struggle.

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze floated a potential move from intrasquad to intersquad scrimmages where Tigers would showcase their team against an opponent. Former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops echoed that sentiment, sharing that facing other teams in the spring would be good for college football.

The move seems like a no-brainer for Texas and one that could stoke offseason enthusiasm and expand interest in the sport. Closer teams like Rice, UTSA, Texas State and Houston make sense for Texas. Even so, having a low stakes exhibition could provide Texas an opportunity for a home-and-home exhibition series with Oklahoma while maintaining the neutral field in-season matchup.

There’s an opportunity to get more insight into where teams stand for upcoming seasons. Texas decision makers should capitalize on the opportunity.

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CFB analyst Josh Pate says the spotlight is on Texas in 2023

We need to see more progress from Texas football in 2023.

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian enters a “prove it” year. It is probably the most important year of his coaching career and certainly the most pivotal for his time in Texas.

Last season Sarkisian proved he has some level of control over the direction of the program, unlike past coach Charlie Strong. Now he has to prove he can win at a level that brings Texas back to the forefront of college football.

In his podcast, college football analyst Josh Pate shared how Texas impacts the big picture of the sport this season.

(Texas is a) keystone program. What happens there extends in impact well beyond just Austin, Texas. They return 85 percent production from a Top 20 offense last year … Their defense last year (was) 28th in points per game allowed.

Pate contends that based on what the team returns and the talent it has accumulated, plenty of eyes will be on Texas in the upcoming season. The year will reveal how well Sarkisian can handle a team with breakout expectations.

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