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Inside Texas Football
Recruiting Intel: Latest From Spring Game Visitors
Welcome to the Inside Texas Football YouTube channel powered by InsideTexas.com. It's another great episode of recruiting intel with me, Joe Cook, Justin Wells and coach Dubb. Make sure you like the video, subscribe to the channel and head to InsideTexas.com, where you can use promo code IT1 to get two months of Inside Texas plus access for $1. It's April 23rd today, so that means that in two months it'll be June 23rd, that'll be the tail end of official visits. You're not going to want to miss any info. Today, we are going to go over a bunch of different recruiting storylines that transpired this weekend at the 40 acres from transfer portal defensive tackles to Riley Petajon talking Texas and then a little bit of talk about some individual spring game visitors. So Justin, Charlie, you all both interacted with recruits over the course of this weekend and overall it sounds like the reviews were pretty positive as they tend to be from a fun event like a spring game. It was, you know, to me, it was just, I feel like we say this a lot, but there's just a really good vibe around that program and around that stadium with the fans and the players and the coaches and it's palatable because the recruits feel that. They see that, they get into it, they see how much the fans are into it. When fans want to take pictures with recruits, I'm telling you, that's kind of a big deal those kids love that kind of stuff. But what they really like seeing are young players playing, making an impact on the field because that tells them what Sark has been selling to them. You're going to get an opportunity to play early and often and when you see Ryan Wingo as an early run role making the impact he has already, other wide receivers pay attention to it. They want to play early. That's just kind of the way it goes. And so to me, I think it was just a combination of the weather being just right for them to get that spring game in for them to get the handful of those recruits in, just to have a good showing, come out of it on, you know, come out of it unhealthy, healthy rather. But yeah, those guys, those kids, some of them were coming back that have been a couple of times, a couple of commits coming back with Lance Jackson, Elijah Barnes, a couple of signees coming back, Melvin Hills, Nate Kibble, Santana Wilson. They just got a good thing going right now, Joe. And I think the recruits feel that. I think they catch that. They catch that. That's why we always hear them talking about the family atmosphere and kind of how everybody's on the same page. Recruits see kids playing early, they envision themselves. Kobe Black's recruitment started two and a half years ago when Texas hosted Alabama because at that point is when he said, I wanted to run down on the field and I could see myself playing for Texas. It's little things like that. And then what Kobe Black do in his first spring game, he gets an interception. And so those little stories start to add up and then all of a sudden you've got another top five class coming. Charlie, you even got to catch up with some in-state recruits, but you saw an out-of-state recruit. We'll get to him in a little bit, but this is like a great introductory event for Texas football, whether you're making your first visit or your fifth, and that was reflected with some of the people kind of making their first time to the 40 acres that you were able to talk to. Yeah, the guys who come from out of state who never been to Texas and actually getting to see it in person were wild and amazed by it, from the facilities to the coach and level of coaching. So seeing the players compete, how big they were, sizing themselves up against the players. Like, hey, I can see myself envisioning myself playing here. Like I fit in here, right? That's what you want to see. That's what you want to hear from recruits. Not that they're afraid to come in the computer and they're like, hey, I see these guys, they're playing young guys. I can come in and do the exact same thing. And I want to come here. I want to be coached hard. I want to play in this atmosphere. The fans are amazing. Just the whole atmosphere and the vibe was just amazing. And for those first time guys seeing it, you know, it was amazing. And those guys who've been there multiple times just kind of confirms what they've been seeing, right? On the multiple visits that they've been there, seeing things come in the action that the coaches have been telling them and saying to them for the past couple of months or years of recruiting them, just seeing that and seeing it in person and seeing a game like atmosphere. I think it was a great, great selling point and good for the coaches that. So let's talk about a couple of the players from the portal ranks who were there. One of them was Bill Norton, and we on this channel, you can go find it under the live tab. Eric, Melene, and I were able to talk about this basically in real time, big six foot six three hundred twenty five pound defensive tackle. And I think the Steve Sarkeesian's comments after the game made it clear who they were looking for, we knew that their, their behaviors indicated that they needed some help at defensive tackle. But Steve Sarkeesian made it pretty darn clear like they are looking for defensive tackle. So more on Norton on this channel, but we want, do want to talk about a guy who is not going to be coming to Texas, made a trip, visited with his little brother and maybe that pays some dividends down the road, but UCLA's Jay Toya visited Texas. We got some, we saw him on the sidelines. He's hard to miss late on Monday night or just around dinner time on the Pacific coast. He announced he was going to be staying at UCLA instead and instead of transferring out to anywhere, let alone Texas. So Justin, this makes a Dominic Williams recruitment all the more important. And there's some updates with his recruitment this week as well. It really does. And you know, this is the carousel of the portal D linemen where the supply is not going to be able to meet the demand. You know, Jay Toya, that's a guy that we had all heard about months ago as a potential kid to hit the portal that could potentially, you know, take some visits. He had that relationship with Johnny Nansen. But at the end of the day, I think people need to also understand that Texas isn't going to get everybody they want. It doesn't work that way. What sometimes will happen is schools and players, mainly players might use Texas's leverage to get a bigger, better deal at the place where they're going or to stay home. And I think, you know, Toya, I think USA, UCLA probably sweetened the deal a little bit and so they get to keep him there. But you know, Dominic Williams is the next one up and if as good and as much upside as Toya has, I think Dominic Williams is the same. I think if you pair him with a handful of other D linemen like they did with Dylan Horton at TCU, I think that's when he's the most effective. He's another big plugger that can play that three tech. He can play the interior D line. He'll he'll be one of those guys for run fits, which I think is tremendous. And he's going to be on campus for the next two days. And so, you know, Oklahoma got the first trip, but I, you know, when it comes to this kind of stuff, I think sometimes getting the last one is the one that benefits the most. And so Texas has about 48 hours to convince Dominic Williams that they not only need him but that he would probably be in the rotation day one in Austin. One of the interesting things about Dominic Williams, his hometown is Torrance, California. You know, who else has a hometown, Torrance, California, that'd be Steve Sarkeesian. So there's obviously a little bit of. The former BYU quarterback? Yeah. I don't wonder what he's up to these days, but hey, anyway, anyway, in these, in this transfer portal era where you can make any sort of connection, that's always a big one. That's going to be part of it there. Charlie, you evaluated some defensive tackle options. Maybe, I guess a little bit further down the board and you and I kind of both noted when discussing on inside Texas is like, look, they have these kind of top three. This is where their focus is. If things keep going, you know, maybe they could look at these guys. There are other defensive tackles that Texas looked at, ones from Michigan State. You brought up a guy from North Texas, Philip Bleady from Indiana, who's been seeing all over the country, he was involved with Texas during his original high school recruitment, but Texas did not get involved on this one. They were pretty selective in what they wanted and, you know, there's positives to that. You can get good players, but you can also limit your talent pool to, you know, a guy who could go back to UCLA or a guy who's taking visits all over the country. So when you do that, it's your margin for error is greatly reduced and you have to make sure you get what you're looking for. Any other, you know, transfer portal notes or anything like that, that those were the two big pieces of news, any other transfer portal notes or we want to talk about some of the guys that were here on campus. I think by the time this goes up, they should check out inside Texas.com because there could be some more portal information coming out throughout the rest of the day. So I'm going to, this is, this is, this is one of those times when we tell you to go to inside Texas.com, you really need to go to inside Texas.com. So we'll keep it going. We'll talk about some of the guys who were on campus and we have to start with, with Riley Pettijon. He made his way over to the 40 acres. He's been getting the, the hard sell from Texas commit Elijah Barnes, of course, probably getting the hard sell from Johnny Nansen and Xavier Philcemi, his high school teammate on the 40 acres and inside Texas was able to catch up with, with Mr. Pettijon. Here's what he had to say, just outside of Darrell K. Roll, Texas Memorial Stadium. What's it like being back here in Austin for the spring game and, and getting to kind of catch up with the coaches and the, and the players? It feels good to be back. I'm, I'm just ready to see what, to see what they have going in the spring game today. Hey, Elijah Bo Barnes, he jumped in the class a little early. I know you guys talk a little bit as he reached out to you and, and, and said anything. Is it, are they, are those guys pushing a little bit? Oh, yes, they're pushing a little bit. Well, good. Good. You've got some official visits coming up. Who, who do you have on the docket? I'm Ohio State, Texas, and, and a USC right now. USC, are you still kind of looking at maybe a post-visit decision July, August, maybe before your senior year? What, what, what's that looking like? Yes, sir. I'm definitely going to make it a decision for my senior year. What are you looking at today? Are you going to be watching linebacker play? Are you going to be watching anything specific? Yes, sir. I'm definitely going to be watching the linebackers in the D line. I know, I know the D line go perform good, but I just want to see how Johnny, I mean, because Nazin has developed the players since he's been here and see how he's improved their game. There you go. Is there any one player in particular that, that you kind of watch maybe an Anthony Hill, a Maurice Blackwell, some of those DFW cats? Yes, sir. Anthony Hill. Thank you for that one, Justin. And, you know, we, I think we caught up with him a little bit after and Texas coach is in a really good position for, for Petajon. Of course, those visits to USC, you know, how estate do loom USC as with a bunch of new defensive coaches seemingly has created some momentum on the trail. But you obviously like where, where Texas is in this one based off your RPM pick, correct? Yeah, definitely. I like, you know, Rod, a coach in the Texas, him and lodge a boat borns together. I think it just makes sense, right? Surprisingly, like both those guys can run, they post a great track time than the hundred. Besides wise, we heard from Rodney's dad, he's up to 220 now, right? So like he has the size already, he's like, it seems like the perfect match, the perfect marriage, him and Texas just makes sense at this point. I'd like to see he has to take his visit, so we'll see, but I like him and Texas a lot. Justin, anything to add on this recruitment? No, to be honest with you, I was fortunate enough to, to catch up with Riley and his family before he walked into the, to the facility and, you know, I really got to talk to his dad who's just tremendous former, former football player at Syracuse. So he's gone through a lot of this and this guy knows what he's talking about. And I think that's why Riley's so level headed, but I'll be honest, Coach Williams has been on this recruitment from the start. And so much of my info is basically piggybacking off of his. So anything that Coach Williams says about Riley, that's the one you want to cash and take to the bank. I was just lucky enough to catch him coming into the facility and, and, and catching up with the parents and I wouldn't say it's so like 100% pro Texas, but boy, the horns look really good to that family right now. We'll talk. We'll close it out with some talk about some of the, the visitors that made it into the spring game, a few high profile ones. One of them is 2025 Duncanville quarterback, Keelan Russell. And if you looked at the sidelines at Texas, you saw KJ Lacey, the Texas 2025 current quarterback commit. My brother made the trip, dad made made the trip so the whole Lacey crew was out, but Keelan Russell, Duncanville's quarterback helped them to state championship this past year, currently committed to SMU, but Texas brought him in for the spring game. He did not leave with an offer to my knowledge, but this is a, an interesting, I don't want to say wrench, but an interesting step in this whole recruiting cycle. Justin, what did you gather on about Russell's visit to Texas? Yeah. Here's the thing about Keelan Russell. There's a story we're kind of following and it's Texas going to take two quarterbacks in 2025. I think optimally they, Sark would rather do it, have it a one quarterback class each time. But with Quinn years headed to the NFL next year, there's only two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, starting in January. And so that's the possibility is there, not to mention KJ Lacey still takes visits. He still hangs around with Auburn and talks to Alabama and Ole Miss. And so this is really, Sark just doing his due diligence. Him and AJ Milway are constantly reevaluating quarterbacks. The big thing here is that he wasn't able to come to the spring game. He actually ran in the regionals with Duncanville and, and, and, and fellow target, Dikori and more, but he made an effort to come the next day and, and, and get some one on one time and, and, and go through and talk to the coaches and, and see things and, and after catching up with Keelan after that visit, it's clear that, you know, he did not get an offer. Uh, but that's not, that's not a determinant. Like he is very, very interested. I think he's just weighing his options right now, Joe. In the last three or four weeks, maybe the last couple of months, rather, there's a lot of schools jumping in Florida, has, has, you know, it's, it's fish in there. Oh, Ole Miss is trying to get into the mix. And all I can tell you right now is Rhett Lashley better hang on tight because Keelan Russell's exposure is, is growing. And his talent is becoming more and more aware with each camp, with each visit, with each practice. And so I just think it's something Texas fans need to follow. This could be a two quarterback class, just out of necessity alone. I think Russell may have a little bit more upside, but I think KJ Lacey's a tremendous prospect. He's a top 10 top kid in the nation. It's just start being diligent at the most important position in his eyes. Hey, if D'Cory and Moore and Keelan Russell turned Duncan Villains to a passing offense, you know that there are some quality football players. Just one more guy that you were able to catch up with, someone from your neck of the woods. That's KJ Edwards out of Carthage. The 2026 running back picture is an interesting one. They've got Racine Guillory already committed. There are some fantastic running backs within the state of Texas and Edwards is one of them. What did you hear about his conversations with choice and his experience overall? Yeah, KJ Edwards in Texas, that's a match made me happen. I think if KJ was a senior, he would probably be committed to Texas right now, but he's in that 2026 class and it is loaded in state from JV on Osborne to Chuderian ball to Racine Guillory, like you said. And then you've got to add in KJ Edwards. I think the horns are in a great spot there. He's got 30 plus offers guys. He's got trips to Georgia, Texas A&M's in the mix, BAM is throwing out a fishing line. I think it's a long way to go, but the biggest thing for him was keeping that relationship with choice because I think they get a little bit closer each time they talk, but really for him, it was meeting the former players. He loved meeting Bijon Robinson, who wouldn't? I was fired up when I met him, Devin Duvernay, former guys, but you know who really he liked meeting was a fellow East Texan in Chris Boyd. And Chris got to talk to him and basically, you know, hey, I came from the same area you did and this is the place that put me where it did. And Chris Boyd's going into his fifth season in the NFL this year, playing for the Houston Texans. And so for KJ, I think he got a little starstruck on this one. And I remember the last time a running back came to a spring game and got a little star Always good updates there. Coach, you got to talk to some guys, but an in-state guy and an out-of-state guy will go with the in-state guy. And that, of course, is John Turntine. You have some notes from your talks with him up on Inside Texas, another great visit for him. And there's also some family connections between Turntine and at least the city of Austin that can play in the Longhorns favor as well. Yeah, definitely John enjoyed his time at the spring game, just seeing those guys to be talking to Coach Flood again, just like it's just a great experience for him every time he said he visits Texas. He loves facility, loves the atmosphere, loves the hospitality, just a great visit. But, you know, he had two sisters go to Houston, is it Tillison that's down the street from UT? And then he has an assistant who's actually going to be attending UT. So he's going to be on campus in Austin a lot. And so to hear that, I think, hey, you know, that's a great thing. Your family said you might as well come and join him, but we'll see what happens. But he enjoyed his time here, just seeing those guys competing, seeing the office, lineman, finished vlogs. He's like, man, there was some big nazis there from, but he liked what he saw. Charlie, just real quick, Joe, our nickname, I think, for John Turntine is going to be Big Lottery, because that's what a Lottery pick and basketball looks like. We can see the projection already. That's a top 10 national kid. I'm calling him Big Lottery. One more guy that you caught up with is a tight end out of California named Caleb Edwards. The tight end picture for Texas is kind of an interesting one. What did you hear from your conversation with California? I think it's Sacramento area prospect. Yeah. You know, interviewing him, talking to him, the first thing he said was like, he's always heard about Texas football, but actually being here, and he's like, yo, these people take football series from the fans, the coaches, and the players, and that really stood out to him. He definitely said he'd be back to visit Texas. He loved what he saw. He speaks to coach Banks regularly. I'm after coming by a school and then gave him an offer. I know he has some other business set up to Alabama, and Washington, he's been by Georgia, but yeah, he definitely want to make his way back to Austin and visit Texas, but he loved what he saw, saw the involvement of the tight ends. Just seeing guys like Jordan Washington go up and make a huge catch over the middle. He's like, yo, you know, he even thought you're real to make him plays out there. He's like, yo, everybody's getting involved, but he's been saying, but yeah, he was excited about visiting Austin. Where does Edward's kind of fit into this whole tight end picture? Because they have Omari Winston committed. They're after Keaudy Armstrong from Jasper. They're after Nick Townsend from spring to Caney. And now you have Edwards visiting and, you know, you're competing with Alabama, who's also in the Townsend picture. You're competing with Washington and even some other West Coast schools. So how do you see Edwards kind of fitting into this whole interesting tight end picture where they could want as many as three? Yeah, ideally, I think Texas would once Townsend or Armstrong to join Winston. I think that's their ideal match. If they took three, I wouldn't be surprised because I think the room needs it. But I think two is the bare minimum. I think they'll definitely get two. I personally feel better about Keaudy in Texas than I do Townsend. I think Townsend's been trending away from Austin for a little while. He's just found more interest when he takes trips to Alabama and Texas A&M and just an absolute, you know, great, great, great kid, great prospect. But Keaudy Armstrong, I think Edwards is kind of a contingency there because Keaudy wants to have that decision in July and August before he begins his senior year. And he's going to be in Texas and visiting Texas A&M for his official visits. I believe he's also got one to possibly Baylor, maybe even Auburn, they're in the mix, Miami's trying to get in there. But I think Texas and Keaudy make more sense if Texas and Keaudy don't, you know, wind up getting married. I think Caleb Edwards is the next guy there. If you watch some of his tape, he's got some upside. He's got some athleticism, especially when he flexes out. And so that's just Jeff Banks being thorough. They need to, if there's one position in the, on the offense that they really need to gas up the depth chart, I think it's tied in. They haven't hit one big in the last couple of seasons, even though Jordan Washington has immense upside. But I think it starts with Keaudy. If that doesn't work, they're going to stay on towns until the end of the cycle. And Caleb Edwards, I think would be the very next guy up on that list. Jeff Banks always goes across the country for his tight ends. You see one in Georgia, he's contacting one there in Sacramento, and of course, he's got the big targets there in, you know, not too far from Houston in the Golden Triangle. So another great addition of recruiting Intel, make sure you like this video, subscribe to the channel, help us get to 7,000 subscribers, we're almost there. And also head to insidetexas.com. You can get two months of insidetexas plus access that gets you through the official visit weekend. And you're going to want to stick around for all the intel coming from that two months for $1 used to promo code IT1. Justin, Charlie. Thank you so much. Thank you for watching this episode and we'll see you next time on the insidetexas football YouTube channel, powered by insidetexas.com.