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Texas Recruiting Notes 2020


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No new news is good news I guess?   

Be nice if the bot came back, at least we would have updates no matter how mundane and know whether to celebrate or panic.  Kind of feels like the aftermath of a too long nap when you're not sure what day it is and maybe you skipped over a few parallel time layers.  

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October hasn’t been a great month for the Texas program. Following a loss to Oklahoma, the spiral started within the team that saw the Longhorns get pushed to their absolute limit by Kansas and turn in an embarrassing effort against TCU last week.

On the recruiting front, things have been down as well. In the past week, Texas lost two members of their 2020 class when former commits Joshua Eaton and Princely Umanmielen announced their plans to decommit and re-open their recruitments. Any season where there is visible dis-content within a recruiting class means things could spiral out of control quickly. That sort of thing can spread like a virus if it is not handled in the correct way and cut off as quickly as possible.

So, where does the 2020 class stand now? How do things look for two important prospects in the 2021 class? In this week’s edition of The Stampede, Horns247’s weekly gathering of recruiting intel, we take a look at where several recruitments stand within the 2020 class and how the way Texas is playing effects two highly-prized Longhorn legacies.

Let’s start with the two prospects that kicked everything off with their decisions to decommit. Princely Umanmielen never quite seemed sold on Texas or their defensive scheme during their recruitment. He envisioned himself more as a dynamic edge rusher playing in a four-man front or coming from the linebacker position in an odd front.

So, it was very odd when Umanmielen made a quick decision to commit during the summer. In speaking with sources around him, I was told that Umanmielen got caught up in the fun and wanted to join some of the other players like Vernon Broughton who made their commitment.

For Umanmielen, it seems he’s re-entering the market during a shaky time.  I checked in with sources at a few other schools, and most of them are either full or zeroing in on guys they are further along with at this time.  In fact, I was told that Auburn might be one of the few real options Umanmielen has moving forward.  I think Texas will continue to pursue, but a lot will depend on the way the rest of the season plays out.

For Eaton, his decommitment was a bit more expected. From the time he made his commitment, things never seemed right with Eaton. He was forced into making a decision earlier than he wanted because a lot of spots were filling up. After taking his official visit to Oklahoma, those around Eaton started to indicate that Eaton would definitely be decommitting at some point.

Despite a few other outlets reporting things were ok with Texas and Eaton, sources around him indicated that he was ducking contact with the Texas staff over the last month while keeping heavy contact with other staffs, especially Oklahoma.It seems like Eaton may face similar challenges with the new market, but I’m told he wants to take his time and make some visits to a few other programs before making his decision. I don’t expect Texas to push that hard to win Eaton back in the meantime

I checked with most of the class, and for now it seems like the in-state recruits are locked into their commitments. Most of the players I spoke to understand the challenges Texas is facing with the number of injuries that have piled up for them.

That said, things need to turn around quickly.  If this turns into a 6-6 team, things can always change.  As always, when concerns about attrition in the recruiting class usually centers on out of state commits.  I checked in on all three to see where things stand.

Let’s start with five-star running back Bijan Robinson. This is probably the biggest area of concern for Texas fans and coaches. Prospects like Robinson are not easily-replaced, and Texas desperately needs him for next year. I spoke to anyone who I thought would have knowledge of the situation, and the good news is there doesn’t seem to be any smoke right now around Robinson. The bad news is, nobody seems to be rushing to affirm his commitment. Robinson is in a bit of limbo, but he’s scheduled to be presented with his All-American Bowl jersey this week, so we will have a chance to speak with him and learn more.

I checked in with sources around Winter Park (Fla.) cornerback Ethan Pouncey, but I wasn’t able to find anything of substance. I heard a rumor that Pouncey might be looking into Florida, but sources in Gainesville tell me Florida is nearly full at corner and haven’t been in contact with Pouncey in a while. We will continue to keep a close eye on this one, but I haven’t yet heard any reason for concern.

If there’s a commit to watch, it’s Draper (Utah) Corner Canyon defensive lineman Van Fillinger. The 247Sports four-star defensive end is hearing a ton from other schools trying to gain ground right now, and Utah appears to be the school pressing the hardest. From what I’ve been able to gather, Fillinger considers himself firmly committed right now, but he is expected to visit Utah in the next few weeks. If that happens, all bets are off for the way things shake out going forward. 

From what I understand, the Texas staff is aware of this and doing all they can to keep Fillinger.  One thing’s for certain, the negative recruiting will really start to crank up against Texas because their performance on the field provided other programs with the opportunity to negatively recruit.  Also, remember that just because it’s negative recruiting doesn’t mean it isn’t true.  Texas needs to take advantage of this bye week to right the ship both on and off the field.

I checked in on Tommy Brockermeyer and James Brockermeyer this week when I saw All Saints Episcopal School play. The highly-coveted Texas legacies took visits to see Texas/OU and Texas/Kansas. Both mentioned that the performances weren’t exactly ringing endorsements for the program, but they also acknowledged that they understood what Texas was working with in the midst of a rash of injuries.

It sounds like the major contenders are still Alabama, Clemson, and Texas right now based on the folks I spoke with. I’d also expect LSU to be a factor after the twins visited this past weekend. I was told that the Tigers are coming on strong here.

Texas still has a lot of built-in advantages within this recruitment but I’m not sure they’d even be in it if those ties weren’t there. The bottom line is, ties alone won’t land this pair, and Texas is going to have to show more. Remember also that their brother Luke Brockermeyer is on the roster which could be a blessing or a curse depending on how the season finishes. Nobody will be able to give them an unfiltered view of the program like their own brother. If I had to say, I’d call Texas the leader right now, but Clemson and Alabama are huge factors right now.

Mike Roach Stampede

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On 10/26/2019 at 6:17 PM, Bruh Man said:

In my view, Bijan is 33% to UT, 33% to USC (w/ Meyer) and 33% to Ohio State. Get your feelings hurt all you want but if you were in his shoes, why the hell would you choose Texas over Ohio State (the team you almost committed to) or your childhood favorite team w/ a top 3 coach in CFB? Let me guess, because Austin is such a cool city? No. 

One reason he may choose UT is that he knows we are desperate for a quality RB.  If the offense was sputtering because our running game was poor he may still want to come here to be the difference maker.  But on Saturday he saw a shit show in every aspect of the game.  As did all of your other recruits.  I hope he ends up here but we need to get our shit together.  Unfortunately, I don't see that happening.

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22 hours ago, GotThatFire said:

Is there a PWO limit?

If you are serious, the answer is no.  PWO just means you’ll have be on the practice squad and have some non-financial assistance (tutors, nutritionist, trainers, strength coaches, preferred dorms and course registration).  There are limits on how many can participate in practice prior to the 1st day of class or first game week but after that you could have as many as you want.  I saw article last year that said Frost at Nebraska wanted an equal number of scholarship and non scholarship players on his roster.

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7 hours ago, TKthunder2 said:

If you are serious, the answer is no.  PWO just means you’ll have be on the practice squad and have some non-financial assistance (tutors, nutritionist, trainers, strength coaches, preferred dorms and course registration).  There are limits on how many can participate in practice prior to the 1st day of class or first game week but after that you could have as many as you want.  I saw article last year that said Frost at Nebraska wanted an equal number of scholarship and non scholarship players on his roster.

Scott Frost wants 150 on Huskers' roster. Influx of walk-on linemen help it get there

relevant part of the article below, he focuses a ton on bringing in walk on linemen - offense and defense.

 

Quote

 

Then Frost put roster spots where his rhetoric was, adding five walk-on linemen — Stafursky, Jacob Herbek, Matt Huser, Riley Moses and Eli Richter — in the 2019 class. There are five redshirt freshmen walk-on linemen — Mitchell Balenger, Colton Feist, AJ Forbes, Ryan Schommer and Colin Shefke — on the roster as well.

That’s 10 freshman walk-on linemen, three more than NU’s sophomore, junior and senior walk-on line classes combined. 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

Then Frost put roster spots where his rhetoric was, adding five walk-on linemen — Stafursky, Jacob Herbek, Matt Huser, Riley Moses and Eli Richter — in the 2019 class. There are five redshirt freshmen walk-on linemen — Mitchell Balenger, Colton Feist, AJ Forbes, Ryan Schommer and Colin Shefke — on the roster as well.

That’s 10 freshman walk-on linemen, three more than NU’s sophomore, junior and senior walk-on line classes combined. Even as sophomore walk-on linemen Hunter Miller (at center) and Trent Hixson (at guard) battle for starting jobs this spring, older walk-on linemen are rare — at least for now.

Upperclassmen walk-on defensive linemen are even rarer. There’s one — Lincoln Southeast graduate Fyn Anderson. He was the only lineman in the 2015 walk-on class.

In 2016, Riley didn’t add any walk-on linemen on signing day, sticking closely to linebackers, receivers and fullbacks.

In 2017, Riley added four, including Hixson and Miller. All of them are still in the program.

Riley took 11, nine and 11 walk-ons, respectively, in his three classes. Frost took 15 in 2018 and 25 in 2019.

 

That collection of walk-ons put Nebraska’s roster at 160. After the attrition of transfers and retirements that happen annually in college football, NU should be in the low 150s by fall camp.

 

 

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I’m shocked that Frost’s walk on program isn’t as successful as the template he’s attempting to emulate, without the legion of athletic but functionally retarded non qualifiers and an East German level doping program that turned normal farmboys into hulking OL behemoths by their  upperclass seasons. Hard to fathom. 

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2 hours ago, NoName said:

Scott Frost wants 150 on Huskers' roster. Influx of walk-on linemen help it get there

relevant part of the article below, he focuses a ton on bringing in walk on linemen - offense and defense.

 

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Then Frost put roster spots where his rhetoric was, adding five walk-on linemen — Stafursky, Jacob Herbek, Matt Huser, Riley Moses and Eli Richter — in the 2019 class. There are five redshirt freshmen walk-on linemen — Mitchell Balenger, Colton Feist, AJ Forbes, Ryan Schommer and Colin Shefke — on the roster as well.

That’s 10 freshman walk-on linemen, three more than NU’s sophomore, junior and senior walk-on line classes combined. Even as sophomore walk-on linemen Hunter Miller (at center) and Trent Hixson (at guard) battle for starting jobs this spring, older walk-on linemen are rare — at least for now.

Upperclassmen walk-on defensive linemen are even rarer. There’s one — Lincoln Southeast graduate Fyn Anderson. He was the only lineman in the 2015 walk-on class.

In 2016, Riley didn’t add any walk-on linemen on signing day, sticking closely to linebackers, receivers and fullbacks.

In 2017, Riley added four, including Hixson and Miller. All of them are still in the program.

Riley took 11, nine and 11 walk-ons, respectively, in his three classes. Frost took 15 in 2018 and 25 in 2019.

 

That collection of walk-ons put Nebraska’s roster at 160. After the attrition of transfers and retirements that happen annually in college football, NU should be in the low 150s by fall camp.

 

 

That's wild.. Frost essentially had 2 full classes in 2019, a walk on and scholarship one.  Immediate 4 deep roster in one summer..crazy.

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