Inside Texas Football

Inside the Program: Portal Targets and Positions of Need, Texas' Aggressive Mindset

Texas is in the market for important positions. What's the latest portal news? Use Promo Code “IT1” To Get 2 Months of InsideTexas.com for Only $1: https://www.on3.com/teams/texas-longhorns/join/ Injured? Call Andre The lawyer at 214-444-8808. Located in Dallas, TX, Andre helps injured longhorns. car wrecks, slip and falls, 18 wheeler accidents, on the job injuries, and wrongful deaths. Chapters: 00:00 Current Exports and Imports (Roster Management) 02:06 Defensive Tackle Portal Strategy 05:07 Corner/DB Portal Strategy 06:56 Texas' Portal Mindset 08:50 Punter Situation

Duration:: 10m
Broadcast on:: 26 Apr 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

Texas is in the market for important positions. What's the latest portal news? Use Promo Code “IT1” To Get 2 Months of InsideTexas.com for Only $1: https://www.on3.com/teams/texas-longhorns/join/

Injured? Call Andre The lawyer at 214-444-8808. Located in Dallas, TX, Andre helps injured longhorns. car wrecks, slip and falls, 18 wheeler accidents, on the job injuries, and wrongful deaths.

Chapters:

00:00 Current Exports and Imports (Roster Management)

02:06 Defensive Tackle Portal Strategy

05:07 Corner/DB Portal Strategy

06:56 Texas' Portal Mindset

08:50 Punter Situation

and welcome to this edition of Inside the Program on the Inside Texas Football YouTube channel powered by InsideTexas.com. I'm your host Justin Wells. With me as always is Eric Nahline, like our video and subscribe to the Inside Texas Football YouTube channel. We're getting a 7,000 help us climb to that. Also, use the promo code IT1 and that'll get you two months of InsideTexas.com for only a dollar and it really is a great time. From portal access to spring ball, post-spring ball to recruiting and official visits in June, a lot to cover in a short amount of time. Eric, it's all about the portal right now. That's what everybody wants to know and there's a lot of stuff to kind of update the fans on. What's the latest you posted a great story at InsideTexas.com this morning? What are your overall thoughts so far as Sark and these guys prepare for portal combat? Yeah, I posted an article this morning called, "You know, what we know, what we think we know, what we don't know, just to sort of clarify our positions. It helps me, helps us sort of connect with the reader and let them know exactly what we know or what we think we know and where it's heading." You see that banner right there, current exports and imports. Texas is in a bit of a trade deficit right now, but that's not always a bad thing. Seven guys have gone out, only one guy has come in, but really a lot of that's doing is making room. You've got to make room for more guys. So they're trying to be proactive. They're trying to increase the baseline talent on the roster. If they lose one guy, the guy they added, they think is going to be able to help them this year. It's all about what they can do this year. So some of those guys are talented. That's just testament to how they've improved the roster talent throughout the years. That's going to happen. You're going to lose talented guys. That's nature of the beast, but they're looking to win this year who can help this year. If Austin Jordan wasn't going to have that big of an impact this season, well, tough decisions have to be made. It's unfortunate. They lost some good players. We hope they find good homes, but this is all about making room for what they can do this year. Yeah. And I think it all goes into the mindset of winning right now. I think that's the biggest buy-in for Sark and those guys. They are all in for 2024. They want to go into the SEC with the right mindset, the right roster. They want to be set up for success. And Sark's been tremendous at doing that. When you talk about defensive tackles, that one is kind of the biggest buzzword because it's been obvious. We've mentioned it a ton of times. You lose one in Zach Swanson. You're bringing in one in Bill Norton. Kind of talk about it a little bit, not only the need there, but also a little bit about Wild Bill and what else people should expect with Dominic Williams, with other names that we're hearing on the D-line. Yeah. Well, I love the addition in Norton. They needed a big body that can take up space. When we knew that Johnny Nansen was going to be the next defensive coordinator, we started looking at the players. We watched that bowl game against OU a little closely. I'm like, man, I like this guy. He can move a little bit for being so big. I had wanted him to go into the portal in December or January. That didn't happen. I think it's a big pickup. He's not a game-changing talent, but he fits what they're trying to do. He fits what they need. There's not anybody else on the roster like him. Obviously, the big chip is Dominic Williams. He visited this week. It was a good visit. I'm pretty bullish on UT. I know that they're resolved to ultimately win that recruitment is where it needs to be. But we've got to remember, there are things out there we don't know. We don't know the resolve of other schools. He's going to Missouri. It's clearly Missouri found a bag of money somewhere. We can see that in their high school recruiting in this cycle. We can see that with some portal additions. Their NIL has come alive. They've got my attention a little bit. It's hard for us to know the resolve of other schools. What we can gauge is the resolve of Texas. I can tell you that Texas's resolve is exactly where it needs to be. However, I'm not going to tell you that they're going to reset the market for a player. That's what it would have taken to get Jay Toya. Jay Toya stayed home. Another thing that we can't know is if the guy's out on the open market just to see what he can get before he stays home. That could play with some other recruits we're going to talk about here in a little bit. But right now, I think they've done what they need to do on Dominic Williams. However, he's going to take a couple more visits. Missouri being one of them, LSU being another. LSU is going to be all in. They need defensive tackles, probably even worse than Texas. Can they combat Texas financially? I don't know about that. But Texas is all in. We just have to wait and see how it plays out. I don't think we're going to know anything until the last hour before decision next Wednesday. Yeah, and there's other guys as well. There's a pair of Michigan state deliming that Texas are kicking the tires on. It feels like there's a new name every day. And that's kind of the life of covering the portal, I believe, in this day and age in college football. And honestly, it keeps us on our toes. It makes it fun. But like you said, Texas isn't going to want to reset the market. I know one guy that keeps us on our toes is Andre the lawyer. Anytime you're in trouble, any time you need help, that's a trusted inside Texas guy right there, through and through. Andre the lawyer is the man you need to call. 214-444-8808, any type of accidents on the job, 18-wheeler, hit and miss. Anything you can imagine where you get in trouble and you need someone to call, it's Andre the lawyer. This is a guy that's not going to go to the portal on you. He's going to stay on the roster. He's Mr. Retention. 214-444-8808 for Andre the lawyer. We're going to shift to DB because probably a month ago, we didn't know if there was going to really be a need for Texas to look in the portal at DB. But here we are. And yes, they're going to kick the tires on a few guys. They're going to lose a few and they're also looking at bringing in one. What's the latest there, Eric? Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't rule them out taking two DBs. Maybe they take a defensive back that can help Makuba play star. And if he's that star, then Jade can give them reps at corner. If you get somebody that can play Jade at corner more, then that's like getting a corner out of the portal. Ticario Davis is a popular name from Arizona, obviously another Nancy in connection. We, you know, Charlie Williams actually did some really fine investigative work on that. It wasn't what we wanted here, but we appreciate the work. It sounds like Texas is going to have an uphill battle. At this point, we would be surprised if he even visited. However, I do think Texas knows the position they're in and maybe some ways that they could counter punch. But I'd be surprised that they visited. If he visited, that would be a minor victory to me. A talented player, we'll see what they can do. I think the big deal is we don't know who all is going to enter. They have until what next Tuesday, I think 30th before is the final day for guys to enter. I think that this weekend could be somewhat interesting. I think the lead up to the 30th could be interesting. Texas, I think, does have their eyes on some potential guys that could enter. You know, it doesn't look all that busy above water, but below water, they're kicking like crazy. They're, you know, they've got their ears to the street trying to figure out who might jump in. They're evaluating a lot of tape. I think we're headed for some surprises. I don't know, but we'll see corners. One, where I think they could take upwards of two. They lost two. They might take two. You know, and you mentioned this before at insidetexas.com, come see us over there. It really is a great community. You talked about there's a potential for a linebacker could be added to the mix here. And so, you know, what would you say with knowing that? What would you say SARC's mindset is when it comes to the portal because they brought in a linebacker in this last cycle. But yet, they're still churning the bottom of the roster. They're still trying to get the best 85 in this program. You know, knowing what you know, what's kind of a mindset going in and also at linebacker? Yeah. I mean, I, you know, I had a couple calls this week, specifically about Sarcazian. It just gave me a little bit insight how, you know, that he talks about being obsessed to winning, and that's not really just a moniker. It's, you know, the things I'm hearing about behind the scenes are, I think, are about to be backed up in action. You know, they're going to keep trying to bring in the best players they can. If somebody's upset with a competition, then, you know, they've got a choice to make. He's going to try to put out the best team on the field he can this season, and he's going to be aggressive. Now, a linebacker, they love the three, and they love their young guys, too. They just think that they need a little bit more experience. We know they love LaFalle and Gillette. So, this is no slight to them. Those guys are right on time. But there's not a lot of experience behind Hill, Benda, and Blackwell. And so, I do think that there's the opportunity they could bring. I think a lot of positions have a possibility for a surprise import that aren't even on our radar right now that you would be surprised. I've heard some things where I'm like, "Wow, it would be insane if they brought somebody in at that position." But he's trying to win. He's trying to win now. He's obsessed. If you're not obsessed, if you haven't bought in, you know, you can hit the portal, too. You know, that's just his mindset. Yeah. And, you know, nothing against Vernon Broughton and his new bride, beginning married on the day of the spring game. I felt like probably could have been a different day. And granted, you know, we don't have our wedding aficionado and Joe Cook on right now to tell us what that would be like. But I feel like, you know, maybe you could have changed that day, but you're right, because that coincides with Sark and that obsession. It's like, "Hey, this is the only thing in his life right now." You also, I want to touch on this real quick. You mentioned yesterday on the board, Punner, because that was one without a guy. You know, the only scholarship guy is going to be Michael Kern. He's not on campus yet. What's the latest that you heard from that position? Because we know how much Jeff Banks puts stock into the special teams. Yeah, they must feel good about Kern or, you know, the walk-ons that they have right now. I don't expect them to take a Punner. I reached out to the kid at Louisiana Tech, talented player. We've got some people in common, so we had a nice little talk. He's committed to LSU, but, you know, if Texas would have shown interest, he would have reciprocated. But not, I don't think Texas is looking for a Punner. They're going to be happy with what they have. You just have to trust their judgment. I think it's also one of those things where, "Hey, man, we want to use this scholarship somewhere else." You know, they don't want to go into the season without all 85 being used, but they want to prioritize the most important positions. And I think right now they feel good enough about Punner, where they'd actually throw that scholarship at another position. Now I'm not saying they're going to fill everything out, but that's their intention. They're leaving room so they can go as big as possible. You know, like Sarc said last year in a press conference, they're looking for big fish. Right now they feel like they can use that scholarship more wisely than taking a Punner. You know, portal stuff is madness. It really is. And it's so much fun at InsideTexas.com. Like I said, it keeps us on our toes. It's something that we're constantly having to check on, constantly updating. You got to come see us at InsideTexas.com. It really is the best time to join. If you'll use promo code IT1, you will get two months of Inside Texas for only a dollar. My man, that is about as good as it gets as we give away this really, really good info on a daily basis. We're sure to appreciate and thank you for making us a part of your day and joining us on the Inside Texas Football YouTube channel powered by InsideTexas.com.