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Inside Texas Football
Wednesday nITe Live (04/03): Latest from Spring Practice
welcome to the inside Texas football YouTube channel powered by inside Texas.com. It is another edition of Wednesday night live. Got Eric, Alene, Justin Wells and Drew Kelson as always on our Wednesday night. We got a lot of stuff going on team info as Texas is halfway through spring practices through there are a lot of spring practices recruiting intel as April 6 this Saturday is shaping up to be a huge weekend. And then a little bit of everything will also take your questions to get your comments in would love to answer them here during our just under an hour with everybody so Eric you and I talked earlier we posted some good intel on on practice on this channel earlier. Hope everybody likes it but what are some of the big takeaways you've gotten from just catching up with sources over the past few days. I encourage those people to everybody to go watch the practice specific video we posted a little earlier a couple hours ago but we went in better detail but it's the run game is coming along. At the same time the defensive line outside of not the edges but the defensive tackles are trying to find their footings they've got gigantic shoes to replace. And then Andrea sweat and Byron Murphy and then new linebackers the linebackers are still learning learning the proper run fits even so some of those guys have experienced obviously Anthony Hills in a different position right now. So that the story of spring right now is is the Texas run game, and really Quinn yours is composure and confidence and increasing comfort leading the team and the run game the run game versus the defensive tackles and the line backers are really the story that I'm paying the closest attention to and what will be hunting information for after the scrimmage on Saturday. Justin covering recruiting looking at all the top prospects and the the stars worth of talent that are coming into Austin do you remember anything like this as far as just a spring practice we know guys have kind of come in at their own leisure for spring practices they've had tent pole events in the forms of camps junior days and you know summer summer visit days I guess to say but do you remember anything like this that we're going to have for this scrimmage not even the spring game but scrimmage on Saturday I'd probably it'd be hard to think about but I mean, they always bring in guys for the scrimmages they always bring in guys because it's an opportunity one for them to see the players to for the players to see practice see a scrimmage kind of see things up close and so I mean Texas they have all the momentum coming off 2023 and the way you maximize that is you have as many events as possible and so if you've got a Saturday scrimmage turn it into a recruiting event where you host 15 or 20 kids that are you know highly rated highly recruited guys any opportunity to get these guys back on campus, you know for example, you know KJ Lacey he was just in Auburn so it's not a bad idea to get him back on campus Zion Williams he's been LSU twice since he's been to Texas getting him back in April I think is a strong data point and so I wouldn't say I don't know if I've seen this many before but kids they come to this these things all the time I just think this specific one is a handful of your higher higher rated elite guys it has a 2006 junior day vibe to it but not near as many players any questions in we'd love to answer any questions you'll have about recruiting the latest from team and from the practices and drew one of the questions that we got over on inside Texas the members only message board comes from a friend of ours I'm curious to what level former players hate rivals compared to fans I'm sure most of them have standard disdain but I suspect it's nowhere near the level of hatred that fans build up and you know when thinking about the game of football that's just a collision sport I know it's great to get charged up maybe on a down-to-down basis but does seeing in the case of in Texas case seeing Maroon or seeing Crimson on the other side of the field charge you up a little bit more than maybe seeing Baylor green and gold or anything like that as an existing player no not that's not even close to the players have no idea we didn't have any idea even these players today they have no idea as an existing player how much hate there is in that stadium until I wasn't a player and I went to Texas OU and experienced it for myself all the years of my mom telling me like I hate OU I hate OU I mean I just got how do you know you hate OU I mean we I mean I've been on campus two years you're going to two games that was that was that was it that was that and so it was it's their fans and when there's mutual hate I mean it's just easy to do so as a former player I hate them as much as all of y'all now I think I think people forget I'm a fan now like I'm not I'm not playing anymore I can't put on pads I can't go I can't take this hate and bottle it up and go take it to the field so I'm with you I have to let it out in other ways the one thing I will say is a little bit different is I still respect the players I mean every player at every college campus across the country I know the work that goes into it I know what these guys sacrifice I know how much work goes it's the coaches so I hate them I really really really do but there's a certain level of respect that you just taken to it so you you almost hate them so much and respect them so much you want to see your team prepare you want to see your team go out and beat them and and that's one thing as a player who's playing the game that was made clear it was early on regardless of whether we hate it oh you are not that was the game that was absolutely the rivalry that was make or break for really how we are perceived amongst our fans how we're perceived amongst the fan base and just how we gauge where we are on the season based on when it starts so the hate is absolutely there make no mistake I hate hate hate hate to see it hate to see it I hate to see them so yeah it's it's real one perspective I have is that for the longest time Oklahoma I mean granted I think everybody here can agree Oklahoma's rival number one Texas A&M rival number two when it comes to the Longhorns but for me and Drew maybe it was the same for you when we had friends go to other schools you and I are from the Houston area we didn't have a lot of friends who ended up going to Oklahoma so for you and I Texas A&M was kind of the scene rival and I'm sure that like you and I may have had opportunities if we ever wanted to to host friends from college station maybe go to college station if we ever really wanted to I didn't have any friends go to Oklahoma Justin maybe in East Texas it's different you know I know for sure in Dallas Fort Worth it's different but like I didn't know anybody who went to Oklahoma it was almost like that rival this is almost like wartime propaganda that rival you don't know that you never see you can it's easier to dislike them a lot more than it is maybe saying like oh you know I can't hate these guys some of my best friends go to that school it's a little different but I granted it once the once you step in between the lines it's not your colors and at that point you're trying to beat everybody let's get to some questions I had a friend I had a friend in my my senior class in high school that became a cheerleader at Oklahoma she was really cool chick too really into sports just a bunch of to hang out with so yeah we had a couple buddies and then one of my teammates actually had the best offer was Oklahoma this was 95 96 Oklahoma was his best offer but Oklahoma was low they weren't that good at the time I think John Blake was still a coach and so just like burger no it was I think it was Blake I think it was coach Blake actually and then of course Notre Dame came through and Lou Holtz offered him and he committed on the spot and started in Notre Dame for three years but yeah I had some two of my friends they had very close ties to Oklahoma but then again back in the mid 90s I'm not really sure how much how much the Texas though you think was real but it wasn't magnified like I feel like it got into 2000s like I felt like in the 2000s that game was big it got even bigger and because both teams had so much success you know the interesting thing about Texas and A&M is that you know there was there's a lot of Texas players that never played A&M just because of the long hiatus and those Texas players still hated A&M just because they had to deal with their fans on on social media there's a lot of UT players that can't stand A&M wish they could play them just because of how irks them their their fans are on Twitter or Instagram or whatever my freshman year was 2012 and that was you know that was the first class that didn't include playing A&M so I'm excited to see it caught and has a good point once you're against us you're against us there's no going back our buddy LP being from Waco make no mistake the whole of Baylor totally hates Texas they're not going to be able to manifest that much anymore we grew up in Plano graduated with 1000 people which I don't know how long ago that was considering how big we know Plano all those high schools are zero went to OU which is that's a little surprising to me but speaks you know the whole Metroplex goes all over the place but let's get to some questions I do like this one from Chris Bennett it does lead into some of the stuff Eric that you and I touched on when it comes to the the way that the edge position has succeeded pretty often during spring football who leads the team in sacks and with what number and I will look up who led the team in sacks this past year while you give your answer it's good I'm pretty sure it's going to be Trey Morphy stays healthy I'm not sure he's going to come off the field a whole lot he could play buck he could play Sam what number I don't know man I need to hear more about scrimmages and how well he's getting around the corner on these bigger tackles we know he's a good player he's holding up well even against the run I think he's going to be a double digit soccer but it's also they're going to play a lot of games this season you know we don't even know how many games are going to play it's going to be it's most likely going to be a lot more than 12 so I'll go I'll say 11 maybe I'll say 11 he had 13 and a half 14 last year I know it's lesser competition but you know he's a proven sack artist if they were still in the big 12 I'd say 10 is easy that would be the baseline going to the SEC he's going to face some bigger boys on that outside yeah yeah no doubt so the team leader last year was Ethan Burke with 5.5 yeah five and a half after that he'll had five Anthony Hill had five and then Byron Murphy had five which you're probably not going to have that five in the middle there looking at Trey Moore last year he had 14 in the American conference and that was in what that was in 12 games for them because I think he didn't you know obviously he entered the portal and went through his process I'll give him double digits I like that as well I think he can get there especially if he goes as far as Texas if Texas goes as far as we we think they will drew the who do you have for this question it's hard not to go trade more but I do think Ethan Burke improves this year I'm not I'm not ruling out I mean he won't be the team leader but I'm just I am not ruling out after Collins on at least imagine that five that five number four that we saw last year from interiors I don't know why it's just I keep visualizing what he's capable of and I have to think this is a year that'll be the year and as we start putting more pressure on the exterior on the edges of the line of scrimmage maybe that opens up some opportunities for him and his athleticism and just for him to get after people so I don't know but it's hard to not go with Trey Moore just considering his tools and everything in his bag is lethal so he can get to the court of it >> Yeah it's going to be interesting to work because he's going to probably be the jack on passing downs I'd imagine replacing Sorrell I don't think Barron's going to like that too much but yeah they got a lot of guys that can at least get five or six sacks more so than they've had in the past >> First off, they have to get below 85 they're at 89 right now but that's not going to be a concern at all second thing those defensive tackles those starter caliber defensive tackles or rotation caliber they got to jump in If two, three, four of those guys jump in you can be Eric I think you can rest assured that Texas is going to be very interested pretty much off the bat >> Yeah everybody's going to be fighting over those guys and again we've mentioned a lot of times on the show but there's no intra SEC transfers in this next window so anybody that goes in from the what's you know we used to be the big now in the big ten and maybe the ACC or the SEC teams are going to be frothing over it's going to be it's going to be sharks in the water after those guys so getting to in the same portal window is tough a because you have competition on your own team it's hard those guys want to go play immediately but also because every team in the SEC is going to be after him so I think it's possible they take two with one being a potential starter but competition is fierce for defensive tackles to begin with there's a lot of problems but they're going to be aggressive but you know nobody knows what the what the portal is going to bury it I would guess I would feel pretty confident that they will add somebody now how good that player is remains to be seen >> Justin you were given the two you think the same thing? >> Yeah you know Eric and I talk about it all the time and so I think ideally they would want to I think they would be really happy with two more guys that they could count on to be in the rotation >> No doubt. >> Realistically I think it's one for sure I would be shocked if they go into into the fall without an additional defensive lineman but like you said they got to get under that number and we won't know that for sure till after spring ball so I think in a perfect world they would add two more just to make sure they felt better maybe Sark would sleep better at night with it with a big old joker from Michigan or a big old dude from Ohio State maybe he'd like to hold it more but man they got the numbers they're going to have to make it work and I think one for sure >> The other thing that our buddy Longhorn mentions they have to get down to 85 that's not going to be a problem like we at this point with the way the portal works with the way I'm pretty sure that everybody on this team knows where they stand >> There's going to be some talented guys and Eric Justin even drew you've mentioned this on the show. There are going to be some talented guys who end up entering the portal finding another place to play and earn playing time and it's not through any real fault with their own it's just that's how the roster is at this point is that talented to wear some of the the the baseline needed to meet to see the field is so high that some of those guys don't want to wait and think they can get playing time elsewhere >> So yes, I do need to get down to 85 but I don't think that's that's going to be much of an issue for this team considering just the natural attrition that pops up with the transfer portal every single year. >> I want to talk a little bit about recruiting and go over. I think we have six of the biggest names or six of the big names that are going to be heading to town this weekend. Justin, I think you always got to start with quarterbacks and in the 2025 class KJ Lacey will be making his way back to Texas. >> You mentioned he just saw Auburn but he keeps saying the right things despite those visits elsewhere only has an official visit scheduled to Texas is going to be back in two weeks after this upcoming visit. How important is this for for Texas for Sarkeesian for AJ Mill we when it comes to keeping Lacey in the fold how important will this visit be. >> Actually, I think it's more important that he's going to be on campus at the same time as Dicory and more and Kelly Glocken. I think that's more important. You know, Lacey's been to Austin so much. And yeah, he's taken a few trips to other places. But like you said, he's remained, he's remained steady. >> I think he wants to be a part of Texas. I think he loves Sarc and AJ and he understands what I'd like to follow, archmanding or potentially trade Owens. And so it's not just, I think it's always important when you get your quarterback commit on campus, especially when he's taking other visits. But honestly, I think it's the time that he's coming in. That's more important. When he's got the two main guys he may be able to throw to, you know, when he gets to Austin potentially in 2025. And that's Dicory and more in Kaleep. Like, I think those guys mingling and talking and interacting with each other is as valuable as any of them coming individually. >> Eric, we saw he ended up earning an invite to the Elite 11 finals from coming and performing at the Elite 11 regional in Austin, saw a Texas practice the next day. We always say follow the visits. He keeps visiting Texas more and more compared to other schools. How do you view KJ Lacey in this class at the current juncture? >> Yeah, I'm not too worried about it. Like you said, he's doing all the right things. I think he committed for the right reasons. And when you commit for the right reasons, you tend to stay committed. At the same time, I don't really fault him for keeping his options at least somewhat open just for how crazy the coaching carousel can be and how we don't know what's going to happen in December. So, you know, you're just going to keep your options open. There's 3% chance that anything happens. Well, there's only 3% chance that he'll flip. You know, there's two wide receivers. I'd heard that he's kind of been in contact with Decorian Moore and Jamie French is the other last we heard Jamie French was going to be there this weekend as well on the top wide receivers in the country with Decorian Moore, Kelchon Johnson and Colleague Lockett. So, I think Justin makes a very astute point there that, you know, we weren't about playing defense and keeping him. We're about putting him on offense and recruiting for you. I think we should look at the bright side. And I think Justin made a good point there. What about the, we'll get to the spring game visitors later because there's another quarterback visiting for the spring game. We wrote about that on inside Texas last week. But we'll get to that when it gets here because we got more important visitors, including Jordan Davison and Justin, this is one that has taken, I don't want to say twist and turns, but some of the factors that are involved in this recruitment have definitely changed. And it has to do with the spinning of the assistant coaching carousel at some other schools. Yeah, with Jordan Davison, he was, you know, I think Ohio State was always kind of his second school. I mean, I know he liked Oregon, we know he liked USC, but Texas and Ohio State were the two teams he would mention the most when you catch up with him. I understand, he's been building with choice for over almost two years now. And so those two guys, that was the main thing I got from catching up with him last night was he's the most consistent coach I've got recruiting me. And I think that I think that's big. I think the bus, the post visit high kind of hit Davison a little bit when he went to Ohio State, went to Michigan, and then he finds out the Oregon coach that he always liked is now going to be in Columbus so that, you know, it feels right. But that must be fate. And then he's going to come back to Austin and remember and remind himself why he loves Texas. And so if anything, I just think it's really started the recruitment. I think Texas has been the leader for a while. I think they laid the early foundation and did everything to charge choice usually does when you talk about running back recruiting, building a relationship, getting close and closing. I mean, that's just what he does. But the fact that Davison went through all these other trips was good because he needs to see the other side of it. So he can know when he does make that call it, you know, he'll he'll be, he'll be, he'll be zeroed in. He's probably going to drop a top five top six in the next few days. And, but remember, Texas and Ohio State are going to be the two teams in this. Personally, I think once he gets back to Austin, once he sees coach choice, once he sees the other players, the modern day guys that that pipeline has some effect, guys, not just with Brandon Baker. It's Mr. Shannon with Marcus Harris, when the seer Wyatt that Sean Scott, there's a there's something there. And I think that will resonate as well. So to me, I just think the recruitment's got started, you know, the newly hired Steve Wilfong, I caught up with him yesterday, you know, he put in a crystal ball. He thinks Ohio State's the leader at this stage. Let's see what he said. Let's see what Jordan says after this visit, because again, I just, I think this recruitment is really just now starting. And I think you're going to see a decision in the summertime, but Ohio State's going to prioritize him. Lachlan, the new running back coach loves him. Choice has got a battle on his hands. And what's what's choice going to do? He's going to put on his gloves and throw hands. I think we know that getting Jordan Davidson's big for the Longhorns, but making sure they knock out this visit and knock out the official visit, especially when compared to the types of schools are battling. Texas is getting the last one. Don't want to interrupt. Texas is still getting the last official visit to me. You know, Eric says it all the time. That last OV can be the closing that can be the biggest one of all. And I think that's why Zion Williams last weekend, Marcus Harris last weekend. You used to Corey and Moore last weekend. You start looking at these fact patterns. And I think that actually bodes well for Texas as well. Drew, I got a recruiting question for you. What was your fastest 100 time back for Lamar High School? Man, I ran the 400. So I'm like, goodness, what did I run it in? But the fastest, I remember telling myself, I ran maybe a 10 nine, maybe, but I ran a 47 400. I mean, I've vertical 42 like I was an explosive athlete and player, but as far as sprinting. No, I was just, I was just strong. You ran a 47 400. Yeah, that's pretty good. And I hated track. God. Yeah, I mean, I ran. That was a one race I ran from as young as I can remember running track to all the way through high school. So I just learned how to run the race. And I was just crazy enough to run it, but I wasn't 200. No, 800. Hell, no, 400. Yeah, we can go. 400 and 300 hurdles are the worst, right? Yeah. Yeah. There's so much strategy to those runs as well, man. I didn't realize it till this about this year, how much strategy is involved. So I asked that question, because I'm looking at athletic net. The last 300 times listed for Duncanville wide receiver, Decorian Moore are sorry drew 10 6 5 10 5 1. And we just saw on a social media earlier today, Decorian Moore and a 10 4 number three overall prospect, I believe in the on three industry ranking LSU commit. But Justin, he's going to see Texas a good amount over the next weeks and months, including this upcoming weekend. And this is going to be. And here you go. This puts you on the spot with a question for Brett Nelson. Yes or no. Does Texas flip more? You know, I don't think it's a yes or no question. I think it's a win. I'm just being honest, you know, and I'm sure there's guys at LSU on three site. What do they call that, Joe Tiger bait, angle tiger, angle tiger. I've got some big fans at the bingle tiger. I mean, these guys, they email me a lot. And so, and I'm so grateful for satisfied customers. I know it makes everyone happy. Yeah, I think Texas is going to flip more. I think we've said that so much. Maybe we believe it ourselves, but this recruiting is not going to start till the end of the year, October, November, December range. And the fact that he's going to be in now, he was in last weekend. His mother went and hung out with the staff. He's going to be back on April 20th. He's going to be back for the last official visit in June. I mean, that's a lot of data points, guys. That's a lot of. So there's some confidence in what we're saying. And he'll tell you he is solid LSU. He is locked in because I think the coin can see himself playing at LSU. And it's easy for him. He grew up watching that really good group of wide receivers come through. And so these kids, they love LSU anyway. There's a lot of coolness to it. So I think the Korean can see himself doing that. Do I think he winds up signing with LSU? No, I think he's going to flip to Texas. I don't think it's a yes or no. I just think it's a win. Eric, the Koreans in the category, I believe, of must get a recruit for you, just considering the speed, the skill, where he's from, all that stuff. And, you know, even KJ Lacey has said he doesn't see the Korean more leaving Texas and we know how we know how Steve Sarkeesian's done when it comes to must get recruits who hail from Duncanville High School in recent years as well. Yeah, I mean, the goal, you know, their goal of getting Isaiah Bond and Matthew Gold now as soon as possible so that they can start the conveyor belt back up and bring in the Korean more and get him on the field as soon as possible. You know, that's the whole, they want these guys in and out. They want three-year players all across the board. Ryan Wingo is probably going to be a three-year player. There's a chance John Tae Cook blows up in this offense and there's a three-year player. So, I think, you know, that's a huge selling point for the Korean and that recruitment is right on time as far as I'm concerned. You know, I think a lot of fans are, they're afraid of playing from the perception that they're behind. You know, I think that things are pretty damn even. He just gave a commitment early for reasons he had and now I'm with Justin. I think he's going to happen. I do think it's a yes or no question if you answer is the answer is when. That's like saying yes, but we did for a little bit. Let's transition. We're talking about fast people. He won't be on campus, but as a linebacker, Riley Pettigian ran 10-7-7. And there is another fast linebacker that is coming in to tie it back into this weekend. Bo Barnes, what did Coach Williams say he ran 10-8 or 10-9? And he said he was a 10-9 because he thought he was chasing the Korean. Yeah, linebackers running 10-9, 10-7. They're LSU has a commit, CJ Ross from North Shore that's running 10-4. That does make your 100 sound pretty terrible, Drew. I tell you, I can't tell you what the time was because I didn't run it, but I don't, we don't know, but Pettigian, I'm not seeing Pettigian run a 47-400 either. And we love some Pettigian, so Drew, I got your back. I ran a 4-4-40, 47-400, the last time I was clocked in the 100. 8th grade, maybe. 9th grade, you had better 100 minutes. I ran a 10-9 in the ninth grade, I'll take that. So, he goes, "Oh, Barnes is 230." Okay, he is moving. And remember, he told us a couple of months ago at a track meet, he's like, "I'm not going to catch Kate and Durham, but I'm going to run real hard too." Try to catch him. He identifies the fastest guy in his race. He's like, "I'm going to chase that guy." That's competition. That's why Pettigian and Barnes are just such good, would be such good fits, I think, in Austin. So, I think that's where we want to go next. And when you look at some recent commitments, especially one to USC and Matai Tagawai, it looks like Barnes and it looks like Pettigian, as we've seen for a while, continue to be the top two targets at linebacker. It's a position where they only took one in the 2024 high school class. They, of course, added Kendrick Blackshire, but Eric, when they're trying to go after linebacker, they always try to value great physical traits. Speed looks like one of them for not just the 2024 class with Ty Anthony, but also in their top two targets here in Barnes and in Pettigian. Yeah, I mean, I think they're going to get both those guys feel confident. I don't think I have an RPM in, but I think Justin and Coach Dubdu, and I agree wholeheartedly with those. So, yeah, I mean, that's a good tandem. That's a lot of raw materials to work with. I think Bow is maybe a little more raw than Pettigian, but he's got significant upside. So, you know, I think Jon and Anson is going to recruit well this cycle. We'll see, but Ty Anthony Smith, I know everybody wants as much team news as they can get. He's looking like a future stud. He's got to get bigger, but he's already put on some muscle. Texas football released a video yesterday about nutrition. It's on Twitter I saw. He was one of the guys eating a lot. It was funny because somebody I talked to said that you could tell that that kid's putting in time to worry. It's a lot of work to get big. A lot of people don't understand because eating is fun, but these guys have to eat beyond their comfort zone a lot of times to put on muscle. And he's doing what it takes to add weight as fast as he can in the right way. Enough note, enough note. I was in Jasper last night and so I got to catch up with Ty Anthony Smith's, you know, head football coach. And we talked for a while and, you know, he keeps in contact with Ty Anthony and we talked about his recruitment and how Jeff Cho nailed it towards the end and how Jasper is, you know, pretty A&M friendly and they were able to come in and get him. And I asked the audience, you know, how much does Ty Anthony tell you? Is he recruiting you the 2025 tied in? And he said, man, the guy is already putting on muscle. He's already doing well there. He's not expecting to play right now. His coach said he thinks he can make an impact next year as a sophomore being like a sidekick for Anthony Hill. But that Ty Anthony absolutely loves it. All he's got to do is get a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger and get some reps. And so I think it just, it just shows how good this pro, how healthy this program is and how Ty Anthony Smith is going to help now with some other recruits, like a former teammate and Keyati Armstrong. I think he's going to be a plus in that recruitment at the end of the day. We've got one more big recruit we want to touch on, but make sure you head to inside Texas because we're going to have the full list all throughout the week. And then preview these visits, have updates as they get in. So head to inside Texas. Make sure you like the video, got to get one of those requests in, like the video, subscribe to the channel, helps us out, helps us bring you daily Texas Longhorns content. But just in the last big visitor that we need to talk about and that will be on campus for the first time and some while on Saturday is Zion Williams, a defensive tackle out of Lufkin. And Bo Davis, he brought a good relationship with Williams to LSU with them and now Kenny Baker has to try to work to make his own good relationship to bring Williams to Texas. I think that's what it's going to come down to Joe. I really do. I think it's going to be his relationship with Kenny Baker because the reason he was loving Texas, one of the main reasons was Bo Davis. It was that relationship. I think that's important to this kid. And so it's going to be the first time he sees Coach Baker face to face. He's going to talk on the phone a number of times, but also don't forget, Sart calls this kid. PK talks to this kid on a regular basis. And so this is going to be a village type recruitment where everyone's going to have to get involved. You don't want to just throw this all on the newcomer defensive line coach, who's not really recruited at this level in his career. You don't want to put all that pressure on him because Zion is a must get, you know, trademark Eric Nalim. He is a must get. And so I think it's good that he's coming back. I think it's even better that he's going to be back in June for an official. This recruitment is still, I think it's barely started to kick off, but LSU does have the upper hand and that's because of that relationship with Bo, biggest factor getting closer to Kenny Baker. And if Zion is one a Jonah is one B because the way they've made up and Eric's been reporting this the way they're making up ground with Jonah Williams five star safety out of Galveston ball. That's huge guys. That's huge because you get those two Williams is man. That's a lot of that's a lot of size, a lot of talent. And so I don't want to I don't want to take it all to Zion. I think Jonah and Zion are both really, really important coming in this weekend. Yeah, how are we going to get out without talking about Jonah. He's a he's a beast, an absolute beast. They love him. And Nick Townsend is another guy you got you got to talk about. I think Nick Townsend has five star upside. So it's a very big weekend. Texas has a chance to either supplant their relationships or, you know, strengthen them. Maybe put themselves in a pole position with them in it. It's this one's tangential to what we're talking about with Drew. We saw Drew's athleticism chasing Reggie Bush, Kate Phillips will be in town for the first time since he got offered. Kate Phillips has a 24 seven and a half long jump. He has a 2189 200. And he's got a sub 11 100. So this kid is an all around athlete and he's 62, you know, 180 pounds going to fill out nicely could play college wide receiver, but he'll be a safety in college. Good chance that's going to be a Texas kids. It's just an all around athlete 24 seven and a half is a big, big leap. I feel like we've almost done a disservice to him, Eric, because we weren't talking enough. We've talked about Kate Phillips for, you know, since before he was offered. But I felt like we didn't put enough into it because this kid has he's got some superstar written on him. You watch the tape, you meet him, you talk to him. Like this, this is a really good kid, a really good prospect. I felt like we would give him a little disservice. We should have been talking him up a lot earlier. Oh, and you know, in that track profile with that 47 47 he's got 47 400 like Drew, Drew, who was your runner up school or who would you have gone to if you didn't play football. It's the same that Kate has Stanford. Who would have gone to is a Stanford. Yeah, Stanford for Kate. No, I know you like Stanford quite a bit too. So, I mean, I can get it early. It wouldn't, it wouldn't have ended up one to Stanford. It probably would have been, it would have had to have been somewhere else. But Stanford was definitely you said you like Stanford. Maybe, maybe you're just trying to sound all smart. We're in a, we're in a debate at the time. Well, you know, Erica could have gone to Stanford. Well, no Stanford was the, the place that it was, it was like, yeah, that was the number two at the time. I committed in the spring, but it was different. I mean, I was talking to LSU. I was talking to Notre Dame. I had offers from both that offers from A&M Arkansas. But Stanford had always, always stood out to me, just as a place I wanted to go, because Mama told me at night grade, like, hey, you better keep those grades up because you need options, you know, so I made sure I had options. But I didn't want to like Texas. I went to, I'd gone to Texas relays a couple of times. I've been to campus, but at that time there was no recruiting. I mean, I didn't go by the football offices when I went to Texas relays. And I was a football recruit. I was just running track. I was just on campus. At that time, it was, I mean, you just go and, I mean, you went doing a certain time. So we went to campus. We went to junior days, but you just weren't showing up and having a full. Like, you were showing up to spring practices like this. So it was just a different time. I look back. It's like, where would I have gone if I visited more places like done anything else but Austin was where I was supposed to be. Drew, do you know who else almost went to Stanford? He was a four year starter at Texas. Who is that? Sam Ellinger. Oh, God, he wasn't going to Stanford. Give me a break. If I call Allen, he was not going to Stanford. Okay. He wasn't going. He didn't call me the night before he met Herman. And he told me if he's bringing in Kyle Allen, I'm flipping to Stanford. I believe him. Okay. If there was a Tom Herman angle, then I can believe it a little bit more. You know, that's the truth. I told you that story six years ago. You know, I told you that night. I can say a lot of things, man. I mean, Kyle Allen and Herman, I can see that. I can see there being some. He was not happy with that. He's like, just be ready. You better be ready, Justin. This is a good one for Drew. I like this one. Yeah, with from Scooter Lannister. Well, this preseason build up be more enjoyable than 0508 and 09. First year in the SEC, we're on the short list for SEC and national championships. The 12 team playoff, the new NCAA football game is out. Big 10 is also different. I know 05 had big build up. I don't remember 08 having big build up and coming a little bit more as a surprise. But after 08, I know 09 for sure. Yeah, big build up. So, man, this is this is a good one, Drew. What do you think on this? I mean, it depends on what we consider enjoyable, right? Like, of course, it's going to be build up. I mean, we're going to a new league. We have some fun home games, Georgia's coming to town, Florida's coming to town, but we have to go on a road to Arkansas. We have to go on the road to college station. You can't beat that. I mean, yeah, so there's going to be build up. But the difference with this for us, I think the reason why we're going all the way back to 08, 09 and 05 is because nothing happened in the 2010s. We have nothing to compare it to. We don't have a team we're proud of in the 2010s that we are at this point. We have a roster and a coach and just everything to come together. So, yeah, there's going to be a lot of build up coming to this game. We got Michigan now. We'll play them on the road this year. So, yeah, I mean, this season is huge. There's a lot of nuance, but a lot of new things and a lot of things that have been refreshed from the past that we get to enjoy this year. So, it's still April. You know, let's keep grinding it out, baby. Well, you remember two in 08, you know, coming off 07, Colt McCoy had his worst year in Austin. You know, he had, I want to say, through 15, 20 interceptions in 2017. He was injured a little bit. Now they had a great bowl game, the Jamal Charles game. They had a great bowl game. I believe they beat Arizona State, maybe Rudy Carpenter. I think they dumped them pretty good, but the 08 didn't start until that OU game. After OU, that's when that thing got cranked up. But yeah, if you'll remember going into 08, Texas didn't really, Mac Brown was really confident with what they had, but they didn't actually know it until they started putting it on the field and doing it. And I think that OU win is what propelled everything. Yeah, there was a little bit of a little bit of season. Good. There are a couple of things about the 08 season that I don't think that the transition after Vince left. We knew Colt was going to be the guy, but you were still replacing offensive lineman who were multi year starters you were replacing receivers you were replaced like there was a lot to transition during that period. So, go, it was unpredictable. You just didn't know I mean, Colt was a what I mean he went to Jim Ned is I don't even know if that school still exists. It's a scholar, like, I mean, I played him in seven on seven the summer before I never heard of the school and he kicked our ass so Colt is just one of those unassuming players that even after you see him perform and perform at practice and everything else. Only us only the people in the building actually knew what he was capable of throwing the ball. The key thing was I think it took some time for the offense and offensive system to transition to meet cult strengths and transition out of the handicap that was against Vince Young. And then once Colt I mean he got a hold of the playbook, he ran with it. Well, do you also remember his freshman year he had all the Vince's offensive line return. And then they all graduated. And so in 2007 they were bringing in a whole new crop of guys you'll the Toskey Michael Huey and all those guys. And so I think it took a year or so for those guys to jail that's a good point. And then 2008 was Will Muschamp coming in. That was like the main excitement that they had Muschamp coming in. Other than that there was a lot of question marks around that offense because of the year that Colt had I think your Michael Finley really built Colt out of about three more interceptions that season so I was definitely one of those that was down on Colt no seven but yeah Muschamp coming in no eight gave the program a little bit of a boost. We didn't know at the time that it would be a monumental a massive boost almost led to two national championships. That's how big the boost was. There was excitement but not as excited as we should have been if we knew how the next couple years were going to go. And also they had they lost your Michael Finley and Jamal Charles to the draft early in that you know they didn't know that was going to happen after 07 so that really threw a question mark in 08. So think if this is the most hyped up year and rightfully so since 2009. What's kind of the second one since 2009 I think it was 2019 we all kind of thought that that 2019 offense was going to take Texas to places that you. We had a lot of questions about Orlando going into that season. I predicted that Georgia when I predicted that Georgia when the sugar bowl like the second it was announced because I knew that Georgia would lack some motivation and I knew Orlando could stop that type of offense I was much more worried about him versus spread. So I was down on Orlando I wasn't as excited on 19 and they lost some guys that really would have helped that 19 team be be pretty good I did they lose a couple guys earlier than that or that was the year before. I was excited about 2019 I'm free. 2018 I was pretty excited about but I taught Orlando lost me in 2018 and it was hard for me to get super excited about their upside. That was your game was everything this team this team beats LSU I think they make a run Eric I really do in the fact they lost so closely the way they did and watched LSU make that historic run just compiled it. I mean, that was kind of the story of the decade though they would play up to the competition and down to the competition you know they played up to they played up to LSU as a hell of a game no doubt. Yeah but I don't I didn't have I didn't have any faith in Orlando. So I like this one. I like this one from hi I'm Boo Corrigan this is a long guy who's been in this channel for a while we appreciate him. What player are you all most excited to see in the spring game. Mine is probably Amari Niblek I can't wait to see a tie in that moves like a wide receiver drew I'll toss you this one first who you excited to see in the spring game. Colin Simmons. See a guy on high school level play and you see him be dominant you see all those tools I want to see him just live. I want to see him in pads I want to see him run around I want to see him play. Trey Moore is a great addition this offseason, but we need Colin Simmons to develop and be an anchor for our edges for the future. So, I really want to see him show up I really want to see how he moves around. That's what it's there. Justin your next who do you want who are you most excited to see in the spring game. I know he's going to say. You know exactly I'm going to say and it's because Sartre keeps saying it once you go I want to see room road. I want to see number five man this dude. Listen Sartre never talks about freshmen. He took him till October to talk about Anthony Hill last year. The fact that he's bringing up an early enrollee who's been on campus for maybe two months, right going into the third month. I want to see what Ryan Wingo brings, not to mention you got Isaiah Bond, Max Gold and Johnson Cook, all those receivers. Give me some Wingo man. Eric. I'm glad you went with him because I had to think of somebody else because I wasn't going to take Wingo from Justin since he knew him so well during that recruitment. Give me a big Cam Williams at right tackle. How about that replacing Christian Jones. I'm hearing that he's looking mighty, mighty quick on the move out on the screen game running outside zone. I want to see this for my own eyes is he down a 350. I want to put my eyes on him when he's moving. So we'll see that's probably my guy but Wingo, those are both excellent. I think Trey Moore deserves a mention as well. All the new guys, Cam's not new but we haven't really seen him play extended snaps. It's always the new guys that you want to see the most from early on. You all are talking a bunch of guys in their first year at Texas in various form. I'm going to talk about a guy in the second year. I want to see what CJ Baxter is able to do. The run game is probably going to be his or he's going to have a large majority or majority of the snaps. And when you think about spring game play calling, it's not fancy. There's probably not going to be a bunch of motion, maybe some play action but not a whole lot to tip off future opposing defenses. Guys are going to be trying to prove themselves and stopping the run. And I think that I want to see CJ Baxter not only run decisively but show off some of those five star traits that we saw when he was at Edgewater High School in the Orlando area. So that's mine. And I have pretty good faith that he'll be able to do it but a little bit different in that it's a guy who's returning has already kind of earned the coach's trust in a certain sense after earning the starting nod during his first two games last year but still has a lot more to prove. I feel like here in his second season, especially with Jane Blue and some other really talented backs behind him. I've got some something else that we all want to see what we want to see as many of you up at Posse East with us after the spring game. Come hang out, I'll buy you a burger, buy you a beer, come hang out with inside Texas up at Posse East real close to campus. That's always going to be a lot of fun. We're probably about to get out of here just under an hour here on the Monday, or excuse me, the Wednesday Night Live. Please like this video, subscribe to the channel, helps us bring a bunch of great content your way. Head to InsideTexas.com. You can get one month of access for just $1. That'll take you through the transfer portal window, through the spring game, through practices, through so many different visits. It'll get you right on the cusp of official visit season. You're not going to want to miss that. It should be a lot of fun, and we can't wait to dish it out over on Inside Texas like we always do. Eric, Justin, Drew, thank you so much. 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