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Inside Texas Football
Wednesday nITe Live (03/13): Spring Storylines Ahead of Practices
And welcome to the Inside Texas Football YouTube channel, powered by InsideTexas.com. I'm Joe Cook. I got Drew Kelsen here with me. I got Justin Wells here as well. Make sure you like this video. Give us your subscription. We've got a bunch of great stuff coming to you every day. And especially as spring football starts up in just about a week. And we're gonna talk plenty about that. Talk about some recruiting updates. But Drew, Justin, how are y'all doing on this very fine Wednesday night? - I'm blessed. - Awesome, man. - I'm blessed. Now that Drew is back with us, I'm double blessed. - We got people ready to have you back, Drew. And we were talking a little bit off air about how there's a lot to keep up with and we keep everybody posted on Inside Texas. But it's always great to get your perspective because some of these things that we see and hear about, you lived on the practice field and can provide respect of that me and Justin and even Eric aren't able to dive into. - Yeah, I mean, you go from, it's usually a sleepy period, right? When, I mean, you all do such great coverage on the workouts that are happening over the last several weeks that people kind of forget that it's a bit of a dead period between recruiting and between the workouts. You all keep everyone informed. But now coming back from spring break, it is time to put the pads on. It's time to see guys, instead of seeing them move, get to see some of this new blood and pads and get to see how they move around. - So let's kind of talk about spring drills and what the emphasis is during those. And I think there's always been a joke, even as I've got the Texas men's basketball game on over here on my iPad that there's two seasons at Texas. There's football season and then spring football season or something like that. But it used to just be 15 practices. Didn't seem like there was a whole lot to it, just more fodder for fans. And yeah, there were practices, but there wasn't a whole lot else going on. But now you were talking earlier how this is where competition happens. And even though the decisions are made during preseason camp, this is just as important, if not, this is just as important as some of those practices in August. - Oh yeah, I mean, we've been going through, I mean, even go back to the NFL Combine. You get to see a lot of guys go out, perform, just see them move around and see them go through all these drills and some guys, it's opportunities for them to improve their stock. The only thing we've seen from some of these guys, especially the new guys that are on campus, all the new freshmen that are on campus, transfers that are on campus, it's different when the pads come on. So, if you're a DN, if you're a Trey Moore, what are you looking like? I mean, we know you can rest the passer, we get to see you do it against some of our top offensive tackles, but can you stop the run? And are you situational, the guys like that? And then with some of the experience and guys and the versatility we have at DV, I mean, they're guys who've been covering well in seven on seven and have been running around and looking like them to fly around, but will you put your hat in there? Will you hit somebody? When you come up and fill up the gap in a run, if you're a safety, will you be physical on the edge of your corner? So, these are all things, you know, on both sides of the ball, you get to see guys move from just competing and connecting in workouts and moving right over into really competition. This is when you really separate yourself and you're not supposed to finish the way you started when you're going to spring ball. - Do you have like a good memory or a good story that kind of encapsulates your spring ball experience? - I tease about this. I played, 'cause after my freshman year, I was back at safety and that spring was also the spring coaches came in. So, that was our first spring with Coach Chiz. I had a really good spring at DV. He decided to move me to linebacker at the end of DV, at the end of spring. He said I'd been one of the best 11 on defense. Even though we were so deep at DV, but I always thank VY for that because I probably picked him off more than anybody that spring just has a safety and then it carried over into the fall when I moved to linebacker. So, that's probably a time where it really separated me. I mean, it changed my career. My performance at DV in the spring is what prompted Chiz to move me to linebacker. So, I just wanted to play ball and spring was the time that separated me and gave me an opportunity to do that. - Justin, you and I have been covering this for I think eight years together or so. You've been covering this for over a decade. But with this being Steve Stark-Easion's third spring, first time we go through this with a new head coach, it's like, oh, what's new? What's going on? Who's he yelling at? What's he yelling about? Second time, over the past few years, it's kind of been like a buildup of hope and it was justified with Steve Stark-Easion. Now we've got a spring coming off of a 12 and two season college football playoff, but still different challenges to be met with the SEC. So, we kind of posted some story lines and we're on inside Texas. But what do you think are some major story lines to follow? This spring coming off a successful third season and heading into Steve Stark-Easion's fourth. - That's good question. Yeah, this is a different, this is a different realm we're in right now. Stark has slowly been building up this thing for a couple of years now and I find it fascinating that so many true freshmen are enrolled and going through workouts and are gonna go through spring football. So many guys on this team that should be going through the rest of their senior year in high school, going to prom, hanging out with buddies, hanging out at track meets, they're working. And to give you another instance, I know some of the older guys kind of took off and went on vacation with, you know, traveled the world a little bit during this little break. A lot of these young guys stuck around and there's a sense that they're afraid they're gonna get lost or left behind. That's why they're still working. That's why they're staying in shape. That's why you see a Ryan Wingo working out in Houston, a Jared Gibson up in Fort Worth with Bijon and with Jordan Johnson-Rebell. Like these guys, there's a, it's not a fear, but it's an urgency that they know as soon as they get back, it gets real. And they understand there's an expectation there now. The guys on this team are used to winning. And so that's trickling down to the freshmen. So to me, the biggest storyline is the amount of freshmen, or one of them rather, is the amount of freshmen. I'm curious how they're gonna mix and match the offensive line. I really do think that I think we're gonna see a lot, you know, it's gonna be a lot of the same guys, obviously without Christian Jones, but we're gonna see some moving around, some shaking along that line. That's gonna be significant. I'm really curious to see what the backup defensive line looks like. We know what the starters are gonna be. I wanna know who's gonna be on the back end of that rotation. Last year, it was Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton coming off the bench to give you 20, 25 snaps a game. Who is gonna be those two guys that do that this year? Now that those two could potentially start. And so I could go through every position. To me, there's a storyline at every spot. I thought Texas upgraded in speed. It wide receiver room, and then I watched a combine. So I'm not saying that anymore, because my God, I did not see that coming. But yeah, there's so many storylines. Joe, you wrote a great story about it. You can elaborate a little bit on it if you want. And please come to Inside Texas and read it. Come join it. It's a dollar for a month. And we really do have a great time in our community. Joe, you had a good story about it. So for me, I could go through each position for a storyline. Texas is in that realm of relevancy. Every spot counts now. Every spot matters. What the backups are doing. And to me, that's so much different than when Sark arrived. - So one thing I think that Drew, you don't have experience with. I gotta be honest with you, is that, and maybe correct me if I'm wrong, what the players are able to do now in the lead up to spring. Obviously, there's off-season workouts, but it seems like there's more and more opportunity for players and coaches to have some level of interaction. I know that's definitely true in the summer, because they have opportunities to use the ball, things like that. Even if not, even if there aren't opportunities for coaches, kind of what Justin said, this program seems driven enough to where players are putting something together. They're doing things like that to where they're not just throwing on pads for the first time. Come March 18th or whatever day it is, but that'll just be the first time that they're not playing football for the first time, come March 18th. But they'll have had some experience over the course of the past few weeks and months, running the plays, doing some rudimentary stuff. All that's changing, really, is coaches will be there in full opportunity to coach them, and they'll have helmets and spiders and pads on. Yeah, we were so heavily player-led. I mean, I remember our coaches just being gone and recruiting for the most part. I mean, we'd see them pop by the offices and everything else, so that is a different deal for us. I mean, we would get out and work out and do a lot of things on our own. One thing I will say that's a little bit different though, is maybe, maybe, maybe after my Jimmy year, Roderick Wright was with Miami Dolphins. So I did take a trip down to Miami, one of those spring breaks, and just hung out with him. Now, spring breakers are banned, basically, from going down to Miami. But that was a pretty fun time, 'cause if you go down to Miami and hang out with one of your friends, just playing with the Dolphins, we still worked out every day. I mean, we still got it in. It was a part of the story, but we hung out a bit too. But yeah, based on all the stories, I'm hearing I actually do appreciate that a spring ball kicks off right after spring break, because you can't start, you can't start a day behind. Day one, you have to be ready to go. If you don't show up prepared, they're gonna find it out, and yeah, you just wanna start on that foot. So the way the schedule works out really motivates, guys. Let's talk about-- - I got a good question for you. You want, would you like an example of how NIL has benefited college athletes? Now that we see guys taking off on spring break, they're not going to South Padre. They're not going to Miami. They're going to Spain. They're going to the Bahamas. They're going to Hong Kong. Like, if you needed an example of how NIL is benefiting college athletes, just look where these kids are going for vacations. They're going to spots I've never even been, and they're doing it for like a four or five day window. So for any of the people that like to chastise the NIL and say how it's ruined college sports, why don't you ask those kids how much it's ruined their time? Because now they're getting to experience some stuff that some of us may never need to get to do. But that, you know, him talking, Drew talking about Miami going down there for spring break just reminded me. If you go on Instagram, you see some of the guys that took vacations. You see some of the places they went in. It's like NIL. Ooh, must be nice. I think, if I remember right, I think Jordan Winnington went to like Greece last year around this time. And that's pretty cool. Travelers at 19 years old. That's, and that's, I can tell you, having Vin de Quero, but never Vin de Greece. Those are two very different places. But let's talk a little bit about some spring storylines. And I know it may be that some views of the Texas quarterback room may involve the backup a little bit more heavily than the starter, but I think everybody who watches this channel and us over at Inside Texas are keenly aware that's, that's not how it's going to be. It's Quinn Evers is a starter. Steve Sarkeesian named him as such back in February and barring something incredibly unforeseen, like, arch just ping that good, that much better. Quinn's going to be the starter when we get to game one. So what, for Quinn Evers, I kind of think that the big task for him is meshing with new receivers. Gone are Isaiah, Xavier Worthy. Gone is Jordan Winnington. Gone is A.D. Mitchell. Gone's Jotavian Sanders. Gone is Jonathan Brooks. Now he's got to get, you know, he's got to get his work in with Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden, Silas Bolden won't show up until the summer. He's got to continue to work with John Tay Cook, Gunnar Helm and CJ Baxter. So Drew, when you're thinking about a quarterback and his wider receivers, do you think that the fact that Evers and A.D. Mitchell already had, you know, showed that they could build a connection last offseason, kind of proves that Evers can do it again, but this time with a few more guys. - I mean, technically, I mean, he's going to have what? 200 days with these guys before he ever has to like, put on helmets and go face other competition. So there's so many reps you can get over that time. There's so much time. As long as guys are understanding the playbook, it's being coached well, they're being held accountable or holding each other accountable when they're off the field or away from the coaches on how routes are supposed to be run. What their timing is, there's really nothing stopping that development and that connection. If they're putting in the work, they'll be just fine. - Justin, we got a good question from a roaster. And I think that this kind of parlays into another one of the storylines. I'm curious how the DB room will play out. Barron gets looks at corner. Who's he most likely replacing? Gilbo possible starter at nickel of Barron move positions. And we had to follow that up. And Tath is solid, but how do you keep Williams off the field with Makuba? We had Ian Boyd right about this subject the other day, kind of mixing and matching if they were to deploy Jade Barron at corner instead of at nickel. I think obviously you would definitely have, I think it's Jalen Gilbo, who would be there at star, if that's the course of action they take. Andrew Makuba can play that, but what are some things you've heard over the course of camp about if they decided to make this move? - I'm glad we got drew here so that I can have some real reference because what I'm getting a sense of, I talked to somebody Sunday close to the program about the secondary specifically. And what I'm getting the sense of is kind of what Dwayne Aquini used to do. I'm seeing a lot more cross training with these kids. I am seeing a ton more, well, you're hearing ones working out here, but then he's also working out there. And then he's also working out on the other side just in case and then they're bringing in so and so behind him in case you go, that's, first of all, that's depth. Second of all, that's talent. That's PK trying to find the best mixture. And even Drew said it. Chishik, you know, he had a great spring at safety. And then Chishik moves him to linebacker. It's because they're trying to get the best 11 on the field. I genuinely believe PK's doing that. I think he really got in his bag last year overall. And so let's knock out the corners real quick. Manny Muhammad is not coming off the field and unless he needs a breather, unless he needs some gatorade, a juice box, he's not coming off the field. He's probably pound for pound, your best corner in the program. Terence Brooks is gonna be at the other spot. I kind of feel the same way about him. I think Terence is a little bit more technical. I think he's a little bit more savvy, but he's the other guy that I don't see coming off the whole lot, not too much. And so, and I'm a big Terence Brooks believer. I think this could be the year that Brooks really asserts himself towards draft status over the next year or two. Love Brooks. So you got the corners down. And then we find out Jaday Barron's playing some corner. And you're thinking, wow, okay. One, I think it's more for depth because we saw Barron have to play corner last year. I remember covering the Houston game and Barron wasn't even supposed to play. He was out the entire first half. He had multiple injuries. He wasn't even supposed to play. Second half, he comes out in a uniform and starts playing corner. I think he was on the boundary. And then he makes the play of the game at the end that knocked down Donovin Smith's pass. And you're like, okay, that's incredible. So Barron's versatility to me might be one of the coolest parts of this entire 2014. He is so good at nickel. But if you get in a pinch, he can always come in and play in the corner. And the truth is, he's probably gonna play corner in the NFL. That's probably gonna be his spot. You know you've gotta be damn good to be playing star when you're good enough to be starting at corner. To me, that tells you you're pretty good. Then you got the, and at star if Barron's not there, listen, I keep hearing Jalen Gilbo. Every time I'm talking to somebody, he changed his number to three. He's trying to get in that one digit club. And listen, Gilbo does things to the extreme often. And so when it's good, it's really good. And I love him playing some star. I love Jordan Johnson-Rebell, Freshman out of IMG Academy in Fort Worth. He's playing some star as well. And so they're mixing and matching these guys. And if they ever get lost, you know what they do? They'll ask Michael Taff because that kid knows all five spots in the defensive secondary, like the back of his hand. Then it's safety is when it gets interesting. 'Cause Derek Williams, I don't think comes off the field this year. I don't think he should at least. And then Andrew Makuba is gonna be essentially a de facto quarterback back there. Just with his diagnostic talent and his way to synthesize and just really be a mesh and do really well in that system. And you got backup, she got Tash, you got Jelani McDonald, who this isn't gonna be his breakout year, but look to him next year. 'Cause I think Jelani's gonna do a lot of good stuff, especially on special teams. Warren Roberson's another guy I hear a lot about. He was the dog of that secondary class that they signed last time. And he's a genuine, you know, he just gets after it. He doesn't ask much questions. He's like Trey Weisner and Savion Red. He doesn't ask questions. He just sees red and just goes. And so good question, Roaster. I think the secondary is one of those. There's a lot of questions there, but they're good questions. They're not questions we're worried about. Well, what happens here or what happens there? No, no, no, it's gonna be, this is a great puzzle. This is a giant great puzzle you've got. Just put the pieces in the right spot. And I'm seeing a lot of cross training. I can't remember seeing this much in the secondary since Aquinas days. - So we got another, I think offensive lines a story. We've got a track throughout camp as well. Despite having four starters coming back and I think you all, but Justin, you talked a little bit about mixing and matching. What do you all think is the best case scenario starting five O line this year? All right, Kelvin Banks. I think that one's kind of taken care of. DJ Campbell, I feel like has a guard spot. I think they have to figure out where they want it to be left guard or right guard and then right guard. So you have Kelvin Banks, DJ Campbell. - When you start making... - Jake, you're like in between, you're like, all right. - But those are the three knowns. We have Kelvin Banks, DJ Campbell, and Jake Majors at center. So who's left guard and who's right tackle? Christian Jones is gone, but Hayden Connor could get looks at right tackle. And that means Cole Hudson's gonna have an opportunity. Neto Umuzulu is gonna have an opportunity. So what do you think, Justin, for best case? Because I've written about how this is kind of the time for the class of 2022 to start making their moves and taking more and more spots in this offensive line. I think every spot is almost someone's except for right tackle. And we know, listen, Cam Williams is real close, okay? He's got to drop a little bit more weight. He's got to get a little bit more quicker and he's got to get that playbook down. Just a little bit about those protections down, just a little bit better, but he's right there. They want him to come in and just take that right tackle spot. He has problems with those quick, flashy, smaller guys. He's gonna get underneath him. But if he can't take it, that's gonna be Hayden Connor. He's gonna be your right tackle until Cam Williams is ready to get it. Cole Hudson, if he gets left guard full time, I don't think he lets it go. That's a guy that was starting as a freshman. That's a guy that had one of the highest grades against Alabama last year. And he's another guy that's finally healthy and gives Jake Majors a little bit of a rest. If he has to move, he can, Cole can also play center. And so Calvin Banks, Cole Hudson, Jake Majors, DJ Campbell, Hayden Connor slash Cam Williams. If Cam can do the things he needs to do this spring, I think he can jump up and grab that right tackle spot. If he can't, they're gonna go into the SEC with experienced guys, with guys that have reps for years and years, have been in this system for a couple of years. And Hayden Connor is your safest bet. Neto is one I think wants to jump up and grab a spot. I know Malik Agbo wants to. Listen, Trevor Goosby is gonna be really good, but Banks is still there. But where do you fit him in at? And then Brandon Baker might be the most athletic of all of them. And you're thinking, well, that's a true freshman. Well, we saw what true freshmen do when Banks showed up two years ago. And so that, me, I wanna hear what Drew thinks, but to me left to right, Calvin Banks, Cole Hudson, Jake Majors, DJ Campbell, Hayden Connor, that's my starting five week one. If Cam Williams doesn't jump up and grab it. - Drew? - Yeah, I love that combination you have there. I'm really rooting for Cam Williams at right tackle. This is gonna be a huge off season for him. From a conditioning standpoint, it's gonna be huge. It's gonna be huge from a technique standpoint, both in past protection and in run blocking. But I'm really rooting for him. I mean, and yeah, this is a year. I mean, if there was supposed to be a year where we have an offensive line that leads this team, that anchors this team and that is as strong as you, what more could we ask for as far as experience goes, as far as size and talent goes. So this should be one of the more reliable groups that we have in spite of losing Kristen Jones this year. We should expect to have a solid, if not dominant, in some ways offensive line, because of the experience we have. So yeah, looking forward to that, but I might just see what DJ Campbell does at that right tackle spot. I think the rest will be handled one way or another with the guys who've had the experience for us already. And of note, Kelvin Banks, it's pretty much given this is his last year. I mean, unless anybody wants to break some shocking news, Kelvin Banks is probably gonna be a lottery pick in the 2025 NFL draft. DJ Campbell wants to do the same. So DJ Campbell is attacking this off season with focus and drive for him for this to be his last year. And there is not a meaner offensive lineman in the program. He has the perfect disposition for that position. And so everyone knows, Kelvin Banks, this is gonna be his last year, three and done. Thank you, thank you so much. Go get, you know, go go to the combine and kill it and go in the first round. DJ Campbell's going in with the same mindset. And they picked up Kristen Jones off season workout from last year. That was a big thing. Devontre Swett did the same thing. They picked up Kristen Jones stuff from last year. And so that was part of them all getting in shape, getting ready, kind of getting the morale right. And so don't be surprised if DJ Campbell has a great season and he winds up leaving early because of it. There's an aspect about the offensive line moving around in that Texas and Steve Sarkeesian always talks about having a thousand yard back. And technically he talks about it being a thousand yard rusher, but it's actually a thousand total yards has been his thing. That's gotta be figured out, you know, with CJ Baxter, Jaden Blue, obviously those are gonna be the guys taking over at the run game, but they have to figure out how to help Steve Sarkeesian maintain that recruiting pitch that he loves to give, not only offensive lineman but of course running backs. We'll do one question from the inside Texas message board from our good friend, Armanucci, Justin a little bit more recruiting and then we'll get back to the team stuff. This was his question. Is there any wide receiver, ride receiver, other than Decorian Moore, that could call SARC and commit right now. Texas has been very selective with wide receiver and of course, yeah, Decorian Moore, if he called Steve Sarkeesian and said, I'm heading to Austin, he'd take that right away. But is there anybody else who, if they called Steve Sarkeesian, he'd say, yep, jump in the class, we'd love to have you. - Yes, there's only a small handful that could do this. Marcus Harris from modern day could do that right now if he hasn't already. Jamie French can do that. Caleb Cunningham, the Mississippi can do that. I believe Andrew Marsh can also do that and he's setting up his schedule. We posted that on inside Texas.com earlier today. And so yes, they're a small handful, that upper tier that could call and jump in the boat immediately. Yeah, it starts with Decorian Moore. That's obviously the number one guy but listen, they love Jamie French. They love Marcus Harris, they love Cunningham. There's some other guys, they love Marsh and then you got a whole other tier of guys that I think you're gonna wind up seeing one of those guys in the class, namely a Coleak Lockett, a Dailin McCutchen, a Taz Williams, a Kelchon Johnson. They're not gonna have any problem feeling this class with receivers. There are plenty. But yeah, for guys that they'll take right now, I think it's that first four or five could call Sark right now and jump in the boat. - All right, we will get back to the team questions. And I like this good one from WA Jones. How big are the coaches wanting Daniel Cruz to get in order for him to be ready? If you remember Daniel Cruz from North Richland Hills, Richland High School, committed to Texas over, I believe Oklahoma and A&M during his recruitment process last summer on a center all the way. A guy who was gonna be right in the middle of the offensive line, what they wanted. I think if I remember right, they listed him at six, three, 300 something pounds, like not 310, but just North to 300. - I think he would be bigger than six, three. - So I think he was a little bit short of that. Let's see what Texas sports has and I'll find that in a second. But I mean, just in Jake Majors isn't, you know, terribly big. I think he's listed at like six, four, three, 15 or something like that. So yeah, Texas lists Cruz at six, three, three, seven and they list Majors a little bit different. So I mean, six, three, three, seven for a wrestler who's playing offense or in the middle offensive line, that seems like it'll be okay. He can get up more, but remember, he's only a freshman. - That's right, you just said it. He's only a freshman. It's not about if he gets bigger, it's being ready. That's when we're gonna see Daniel Cruz play. And for him to show that he's ready, he's gonna have to show up in spring and dominate every opportunity he gets on the field. Because he's, the beauty with Cruz is he's not expected to play this year. They have a star, a returning starter in Majors. They have a backup in Connor Robertson. They have a Cole Hudson who can play center and a pinch and do it really well. So Cruz, the best case scenario is Cruz gets a red shirt this year. It stacks up some experience in the spring, works out hard in the summer. He's probably not gonna crack the rotation in the fall, but I mean, that's part of a healthy football program. I don't want a freshman coming in and playing center all of a sudden that if there's one spot other than left tackle, it's that. You don't want that. And so I don't think it's a question of Cruz getting bigger. It's just a question of Cruz proving himself to the coaches, to flood, to his teammates. And listen, right now there's no expectations with Daniel Cruz. He's a freshman. He's supposed to just get in the oven and marinate and get ready because they will lean on him next year. He is going to have to be ready to go next year. This year, just get the playbook down. Just get your protections down. Just earn the respect of your teammates and earn the respect of your coaches. Everything else will work out. - Yeah, there are gonna be three things he has to do. One is get stronger. Hands down regardless of how big he is, he has to get strong. Two is get assignment sound. You can't be thinking at that position. You have to know what you have to do. You have to have a sense of urgency. You have to be clean on them. You have to know where you're going. Three, you have to be a leader at that position. So that's just not a position where you cannot be vocal. At center, you're right in the middle of that line. There has to be, there's some natural leadership there. If there's anything else I appreciate about Jake Majors is his leadership. The way he whips guys in the shape. There's a few times last year with DJ Campbell riding alongside him. You can see him kind of getting on him. That's what you want at center. And Daniel Cruz has a year, like you said, Justin, to figure that out and get ready for it. Because it's going to take a lot. Got to make sure we thank everybody who's watching on Facebook, including Brad Langford. It's InsideTexas.com is our page. On Facebook, make sure you check us out on all our different social medias inside Texas for pretty much everything inside the Texas. The last two Longhorns from Nackadoches, go. Brandon Jones and Josh Thompson. You win. There we go. That's what I'm doing. One of those is a Bronco right now. Surprised, and not more of them. There's like five that all signed with him. Little Jordan Humphrey signed with Denver today. He joined Malcolm Roach, Caden Stearns, Brandon Jones. It's a mile high reunion. Was there a team back then for a lot of those guys on your team's drew where it's like, wow. All these guys are on one roster right now. 32 NFL teams. They all ended up in one spot. I wouldn't say there was any one. I remember both Skade, Ken Mike Griffin, and BY. All played for the Titans. All were at the Titans. That was probably the team that stood out. So it was already natural to follow BY there. But then you had some other guys there with him. Then Roach eventually got to the Titans after his time with the Redskins. So the Titans probably stand out more than anywhere else. They had a lot in 2006 to 2009. Jeff Fisher not ruining careers at that point. But it's kind of sort of, oh man. Here's a good question. It kind of feeds into another spring storyline. Again, from Roaster. What's team feedback so far? I'm Johnny Johnson, assuming Ray reviews for the team. This is one of the storylines that I wrote about on Inside Texas. At this point, Steve Sarkeesian looks like a coach who's going to have coaching turnover. Not only do you do Bo Davis leave, but Jeff Chote left. Obviously replaced by Kenny Baker, Johnny Nansen. Jeff Chote also took a lot of analysts in some of the GAs and gave them opportunities at Nevada. So let's see, Drew, you talked a little bit about when Gene Chizik first showed up at Texas. But even when Chizik showed up, Mac Brown and even the locker room had a way of doing things and a standard that they had to meet. And Steve Sarkeesian seems like he's becoming that type of coach to where, hey, the names can change, the faces can change. But I'm still here, Steve Sarkeesian, and no matter who the coach is, things have to be done a certain way around here. I mean, honestly, it makes it far easier when the coach you hire was a bit of coordinator prior to being on campus. It feels in that gap pretty smoothly. So there's a wealth of knowledge he brings because he's understood defenses. He's understood how it works from front to back, but also the success that they had there at Arizona. One key thing that you always find when new coaches come in, they always bring their film from their last spot. They're showing you drills from their last spot. They're showing you how things are executed. So hopefully from a schematic standpoint, there's some things he and Coach K, P.K., can pull together and blend and just help to help advance and make us better this season. So I expect those things comatically, but I'm almost certain around the program in and of itself. He just brings some cachet and some respect from his performance. I mean, at the end of the day, you can't get caught up as a player on where coaches come from specifically and try to have that narrative. If you have a good ball coach, you have a good ball coach. And everything I've heard to this point is that Coach Nansen is a damn good ball coach. Justin, what's your feedback on Nansen so far? What feedback have you heard about how he's been perceived? Well, Roster said it best. He's assuming rave reviews. Now, is that Oppenheimer level reviews? Or is that some other international movie that we didn't actually watch but got an award for it at the Oscars, which usually happens every year? Listen, Nansen is a throwback type, which Joe was too. And I think that's essential for that position. It's almost like your D-line coach. You want to be a big, mean, nasty guy. You're a linebacker coach. You want him to be kind of similar. And Nansen has that ability. And so I think he's honestly-- I think Nansen's the one that's really excited because he has a collection of linebackers that if he'd have joined the program two years ago, didn't exist. And so give Joe a ton of credit. That guy did so much good stuff with these players, especially Jalen Ford. He's going to play on Sundays for a good minute because of that. But I think from what I've heard, they like Nansen simply because he's not coming in and trying to start over. He's not coming in and trying to assert himself where he's dominant. He's just getting along right now. They can't do a whole lot of interaction, obviously. It's mostly with Tory Beckton and the strength coach. But for Nansen, it's one of those. You want to unleash linebackers. You don't want them thinking. You want them reacting. And so in that sense, everything I've heard, especially from people inside the program and parents, they really like Nansen rave reviews. I don't know if it's Oscar worthy yet, but Johnny Nansen is doing his thing. If he signs Riley Pettigon and Elijah Barnes, he may have an Academy Award down the road. Drew, one of the storylines I wanted to touch on with regards to spring is linebacker. And I'm glad Justin brought it up. Jalen Ford off to the NFL. It's not like they're left without talent there. Obviously, you have David Benda, a six-year player, Anthony Hill, extremely talented. Kendrick Blackshire coming from Alabama. And then the host of the 2023 linebacker recruits. Guys like Leonola Falle, Darien Goulette, Samaje Barrell. So when it comes to linebackers specifically, what are you wanting to see from in here in spring practices as they look to replace a standout in Jalen Ford? I'll say this. First, don't we appreciate having David Benda back? Like just, I mean, this time last year, we weren't sure about it when we were hoping he got replaced. We were hoping that, you know, somebody asked him up and-- but it feels good to have him back. I mean, that's an underrated part of this from a leadership, from a hard work standpoint. Some of the young guys that are just looking to develop, David Benda, his dedication and work in the way that he shows up, regardless of how it looks on the field. I actually think we're going to get the most out of him this year going into his senior year. So I'm excited about him coming back. Anthony Hill is just a bonafide dude. So when you have the combination of those two guys, setting the bar, one for just talent and those who can even come close with Anthony Hill brings, the other one just for hard work, persistence, and grind that David Benda's going to bring. I'm excited about the way these guys get to develop, probably more so than any of the other groups, where I think everywhere else, we know we have some talents to matter of how it's going to be deployed, both talent and experience. Here, I mean, Benda's not the most experienced senior that you're typically used to seeing at this position, but he's played a lot of ball. He's been around a lot of ball, and I think this will be a great year for him and Anthony Hill. Yeah, hopefully they lead the way. We're just kind of anchoring what we're able to do as these young guys get developed. And then Kendrick Blackshire will be our wild card there. I'm kind of curious what you think about Blackshire, because he's listed at 261. That's good for some things. It's not advantageous for other things. I kind of think that that's someone that you put on kickoff and you get him going and send a missile down against their return men and even on punt team. I think obviously he's going to get some linebacker or some standard down reps. But I think his value in run situations and not to totally pigeonhole him, but when you're 261 and moving backwards and shuffling, it's not always going to be your forte unless you're a super freak. So I kind of feel like run situations and special teams are places where he can really show his value. Is that your read? He's going to have a show he can move. Yeah. Yeah, he's definitely going to have to show he can move. For a couple of years, he's been that big. And he didn't play a lot. I think at Bama, not just because of the talent ahead of him, because he was so big. Remember in his recruitment, Joe? We thought this guy was going to be a defensive lineman, because this joker was like 230, 240 as a sophomore at Mesquite Horn before he even transferred to Duncanville. And so find him a spot, I think him being in the locker room brings a lot of what they brought. What was that linebacker two years ago they brought from Alabama? Was it Ben Davis? I think was his name. He didn't do a lot on the field, but he was great in the program. He had a way about him that he brought back from saving. And you hope that Blackshire brings that with him. So one of the last storylines that-- Also, Joe, you want a basketball update? You want a basketball update? It's not great right now. It's 53 49 K state with 932 left in the second half. And make that-- nope, missed a free throw. And Horton got a rebound. So four-point game with nine minutes left. But I think in the news that may get a little bit more attention, I do want to talk a little bit about arch-manning. And I know that most of the storylines with him recently have been very strange headlines about him in a not being in a video game and things like that. But I think the realistic thing we have to talk about with arch-manning is that Malik Murphy's at Duke now. Arch-manning's about to be a red shirt freshman. And he's going to be the backup. Like he is the backup quarterback. And the way we've seen Quinn Ears play these past two years, even dating back to when he was at South Lake Carroll, he's yet to complete a full season and appear in every game. So Justin, I feel like with arch-manning, yeah, there's always hype about him and a lot of talk about on-field stuff or off-field stuff. But when you look at the on-field factor, he could receive real playing time this year. And Texas has to make sure he's ready for it this spring. - Oh, he's going to see real playing time. And the worst case scenario is 2009. The worst case scenario. In 2009, Matt Brown decided, Colt McCoy was going to win the hospital. That was his year. And you know what he did with Colt? He played him all four quarters of virtually every game that season. You know what he didn't do? He never developed a backup because Colt, you got to have those numbers to get to New York. We saw it transpired in Pasadena against Alabama. Gary Gilbert was kind of shocked. He wasn't really ready. Arch-manning, you don't want to see that again. Now, Arch got a little bit of time last year. Listen, this is what's going to happen. Arch is going to get into a few games this year. Late games blow out, things of that sort. And it's going to be extreme the takes because if he does well, my God, people are going to go over the hill. If he does bad, delete Twitter because it is not going to be worth logging on to. That's what we're going to get with Arch-manning, I feel like. When yours is the one that's steady. And I love that because he's the starter, he's the incumbent, he's only getting better. We know that. He knows he has to take on more because they lost what, 80, 85% of their offense. And so he has to do that. But I'm preparing myself for Arch-madness because whenever he gets into the game, no matter what he does, it's going to be an extreme. If he throws a touchdown, people are going to lose their mind. If he throws an interception, people are going to lose their mind. It is a win-win-lose-lose situation. And here's the beauty of it. Just know Arch-manning is already basically like a professional. He has been bred to play this position his entire life. He literally takes it play-to-play. He does not let the last play carry over. He's so mature when it comes to that. And if people ever wonder, there is probably no one outside of yours on this team that knows this offense better. Arch-came to Austin knowing the offense. He knew it when he arrived. He's only gotten smarter. And Sark is really strict on his quarterbacks. I don't know if a lot of people know that. He doesn't coddle these guys. He's harder on quarterbacks than any other position on the team. To a point where it's damn near strict, but Sark just holds those. He wants those guys to have the hardest time in practice so that the games can be a little bit easier, a little bit smoother. So for Arch, just expect freaking madness, man. Everything, whatever Arch does. And then you know what the story that's going to tie into whatever play he does, doesn't opt in to NCAA College Football 2025. Or decide if not to. And then you're going to hear the jokes. Well, maybe he should have jumped in so he can learn the past defense for Georgia. Maybe he could have come off the bench and been better. It's going to be nuts. It's going to be bonkers. We're going to have to cover it. So just buckle up. Drew, you saw the crowd cheer whenever he got into the game against Texas Tech. And I don't think everybody was expecting that to happen in that game, especially after Malik Murphy apparently got hurt on the kick return by his own teammates blocking somebody into him. But how do you see Texas kind of handling this arch? Not a situation, but handling Arch. Because by all accounts, he's a real normal kid and just happens to be from the first football family. But at the same time, there's always going to be a tension on him just from his last name and from being with the Texas football program. - This is all a part of the game plan. Him developing, him having this itch to play. This year is probably going to be the biggest thing for him because he has to come into every game prepared to play. He will be prepared to play, believe it or not, he absolutely will be prepared to play when his number is called. He's that kind of kid. He's that kind of kid. So I get excited from the standpoint of, as much as I'd love to see him play this year, I know he's going to have his opportunities, Arch sitting on the bench for one more year is just going to keep him bacon, man. - Amen. - He's going to be baked and ready to go when he finally takes over. So that's going to be an exciting year for him just to continue to learn. But you know, the last three years, we've had to start a backup quarterback at some point throughout the season. - Good feeling. - Let's hope this year it doesn't turn to that, but I know Arch will be ready. And this is all a part of the long-term game plan. So I don't expect anything to happen this year that's going to disrupt the fact that next year is the year that I think we get to see Arch manning take over in full. And we have a good 25 plus game runway with him because it's all a part of the game plan and everything is going. The way that this family plan from day one. So- - Joe, he made a great point. Great point. Yours hasn't played through it a whole season yet. And you're right, Drew, if there's going to be one guy that's prepared, my goodness, it's going to be Arch ball. - I, you know, we, you and I were watching closely. We thought there might have been a chance he was going to go in against Washington, but it didn't look- - It was supposed to be against BYU. I will stand on my grave with that one. He was supposed to play against BYU joke, but I digress. - But ultimately he didn't go in. Quinn, you were just fine. Almost led Texas to the comeback. One more topic I feel like. And I wanted to, I wrote an article about this. - I love this. - Steve Sarkeesian had an interview, him and Xavier Worthy had an interview with Stephen A. Smith at South by Southwest. He gave Drew some props for that play that's over his right shoulder right now. With Drew running stride for stride with Reggie Bush. And Stephen A as an interviewer outside first take did a great job. Steve Sarkeesian often talks about the same thing in these, in these settings. But he talked a little bit about SEC and what are the big differences he as a program leader is going to face heading into the conference. And Justin, that's trenches. He said, basically in the big 12, there'd be one guy every couple of weeks he would have to see that they would really have to prepare for as far as defensive linemen. And then he talked about this time it being a weekly thing in some teams and even singled out Georgia having five. So with Steve Sarkeesian obviously talks a lot about how much Texas as a job is a great job because of the access to talent who can run step for step with Heisman Trophy winners because of the various coaches they can get. But he also talked about the challenge just stepping up now. Justin with the SEC being on the Longhorns doorstep. - Yeah. The thing about Sarc is that one of the best things in the Texas Longhorns football history he was a part of. He was just on the other sideline. So he has a great point of view when it comes to this kind of stuff. So he saw greatness in Kelson. I mean, greatness and he acknowledged it. Give him his props. We see greatness in Kelson. Why do you think we try to hang out with him so much? That's just the way it is. But Sarc's doing the whole, you know, spring media tour. He's doing the South by Southwest stuff. He, you know, is there a better coach right now for the temperament for this job in this climate for Texas? I mean, if we went through him it would be hard to find a guy better. I think Sarc really does encompass everything that they really wanna do with this program as college football moves forward. And it's a different day and age now. And so yeah, he knows the SEC talk is there that's gonna be asked. I can't imagine an SEC media day is how many times he's gonna be asked about it. You and I might have a clicker about that one to see how much that's measured. But Sarc's made for this kind of stuff. He's a city guy, he's a Cali guy. And any time you go to Austin and then you travel to any other major town in the state of Texas, it's just different. Austin is just a little different than everywhere else. And for Sarc and Miss L'Oreal, it's exactly where they wanna be. Drew, what SEC thing are you, do you agree with Sarc about the trench play and what other things do you think Texas needs to be prepared for when it comes to the SEC? I actually think the roster is, I mean, could it be in a better condition? I mean, after what we've seen over the last several decades, just having bits and pieces of the roster we're putting together to, I mean, from Sam Ellinger, hero ball, I mean, we've been through a lot and to actually have a roster that is anchored from the inside out, yes, that's gonna be key in core to all of this. But the thing I think about much about going to the SEC is, you know, people talk about the environments and playing in the road environments. We have an awesome year. And, you know, we're gonna Michigan this year, which is an SEC, but awesome road game. We go to Arkansas, we go to Annan, the thing that stands out most to me that I think this year in road games are gonna be critical. It brings the team together. There's something about getting on that bus, getting on that plane with your teammates, you're going together, it's you, when you're going into an environment, where no one there cares about you or who you are. And even more so going into the SEC. We would land at certain places and we'd see burn orange in Ames, Iowa, sometimes when we got off the plane. When we got off the plane. I mean, we'd see it in other cities. We'd see it in Lawrence. When you get off the plane and you walk into any of these stadiums, you won't see orange poking birds if you're out the cry. - What about Columbus Drew? - I didn't see any orange in Columbus. (laughing) - It's not safe to wear it there. - I literally look around and you see your teammates. You're the only ones wearing orange, that's it. So I do think there's a certain level of the road games. It's just there's something when it's just us against the world that brings a team together. You know what you're up against. It's so easy to get up for these games, where you go into new environments. So I'm looking forward to seeing how this team just connects when they go into some of these situations this year. It's gonna be a lot of fun. - That will do it for another great edition of Wednesday Night Live. Make sure you like the video. Helps us out a lot. Do that before you leave before we get out of here. We appreciate it a lot. Head to InsideTexas.com. You can get one month of access, which will get you almost all the way to the spring game for just $1 recruiting team info, full coverage of everything on Corns. You're not gonna wanna miss out on it. Drew, thank you so much for joining us. Glad to have you back on here. Justin, great as always. We will see you next time on the InsideTexas Football YouTube channel powered by InsideTexas.com. [BLANK_AUDIO]