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Texas Recruiting Notes 2021


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Texas on verge of completing in state flip?

ByMIKE ROACH 25 minutes ago

Are the Longhorns on the verge of flipping an in-state prospect?

I have joined 247Sports Director of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong with a flip pick for DeSoto (Texas) defensive tackle Byron Murphy II. The three-star defensive tackle chose Baylor in the summer, but the work Texas defensive tackles coach Mark Hagen and defensive coordinator Chris Ash have done behind the scenes along with some relationship building by Jay Valai has been effective. Two separate sources I spoke with indicated that communications between both sides have been ongoing and kept very quiet for a while.

Murphy also holds offers from Colorado, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Mississippi State and TCU. A close friend and teammate of four-star defensive lineman Shemar Turner, Murphy is one of the best true defensive tackle prospects in the state. Murphy tested very well at The Opening's regional camp in 2019 and showed fantastic metrics in the strength and quickness areas. He finished his junior season as a 6A all-state selection.

At 6-foot-1, 290 pounds, Murphy is ranked as the No. 24 defensive tackle in the nation and No. 61 overall prospect in Texas, according to 247Sports Composite.

https://247sports.com/college/texas/Article/Byron-Murphy-Desoto-Texas-Longhorns-Football-Recruiting-2021-Baylor-Bear-flips-154969171/

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40 minutes ago, CoachEmUp64 said:

Murphy reminds me of Poona, smaller in size for a DT but just a football playing jack. His blow delivery is some of the best I've seen this year. OL's helmets are rocking back when he goes to make his fit.  

I was thinking more along the lines of Tony Montana.

But South Austin's mom works better.

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Bobby Burton: Recruiting Excuses and Coaching Update

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Monday’s recruiting diatribe by embattled Texas coach Tom Herman is just more of the same. It’s a tired act. It’s everybody’s fault other than his own. We are to believe that it is the anonymous sources and writers who are at fault for Herman’s recruiting shortcomings and his inability to secure commitments from many of the state’s top offensive linemen, including two legacy prospects.

So let’s suspend reality for a moment. It had nothing to do with Herman’s lack of personal engagement or acumen in the recruitment. It had nothing to do with Herman not offering James Brockermeyer a scholarship at the same time as his brother Tommy, instead first talking to him about walking on. The loss of those prospects had nothing to do with Herman’s hiring and retention of OL coach Herb Hand, who is channeling his inner Mac McWhorter as one of the worst combinations of recruiters-evaluators to ever mentor at Texas.

It had nothing to do with a team’s listless on-field performance for much of the past two seasons. We should believe it’s anybody’s fault other than Tom Herman. Bemoaning the difficulty of a job, any job, is nothing more than an excuse, and nothing more than inner-recognition that you're not the right person for it. Excuses seem to abound for Herman. There's Covid. There's staff turnover, which is particularly inexplicable since Herman is the one who fired his initial hires. There's "winning is hard". So "anonymous sources" are now his latest excuse.

While many may read this and immediately think that I am anti-Tom Herman or that I want Texas to perform poorly and replace him, that is not necessarily true nor is it my point at all. Instead, what I want is what I believe every Texas fan wants. I want a football team that performs to a standard every week, that is routinely winning conference championships and is competitive on a national level annually.

If those expectations are too high for Herman - or any coach - then that's too bad. Excuses won't mask reality. I suggest Herman focus on winning rather than excuse-making because excuse-making isn't going to save his job.

**

I am not up-to-date on all of what Inside Texas has reported as it relates to a possible coaching change at Texas. So I figured I’d chime in with what I know to be the case based on the sources I speak to. After speaking with Eric, I believe we have different sources in general, so there may always be some slight differences between us. Furthermore, I may be reiterating what has already been written here and have a slightly different viewpoint.

So let me begin: First and foremost, Tom Herman is on ultra-thin ice (and I know that comes as no surprise). More than a month ago now, I was told first-hand that was the case for two primary reasons: consistently sloppy on-field performance and Herman’s cavalier and almost uncaring approach to The Eyes prior to and immediately after the OU game, where Sam Ehlinger was photographed, acknowledging the school song alone.

Do not underestimate the power of that photo. I was told by a member of the Texas administration, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” And it served to coalesce a group of BMDs unlike any singular action I have witnessed in the past 15 years. To say those in charge at Texas were upset about the Ehlinger pic does not even begin to describe their anger. They were livid. Outright pissed. I have never, ever received some of the commentary that I got that Sunday and Monday from multiple people of consequence at Texas.

What’s more, Herman had almost no one coming to his defense, except for a website that routinely serves as his mouthpiece, doing so in an article that erroneously tried to lay the blame of The Eyes fiasco at Chris Del Conte's feet instead of Herman's own, where it rightfully belonged. The website's insinuation that it was Del Conte's miscommunication about the importance of The Eyes was rebuked by multiple other Texas coaches who went on the record to dispute anonymous sources supporting Herman's version of events and the expectations for The Eyes given to them by the athletic director.

The initial article was a shot by Herman across the bow of Del Conte trying to deflect the blame to the AD. But Del Conte shot back. And summarily sunk Herman's narrative. What's interesting, the BMDs did not care if it was Herman's fault or Del Conte's, they just wanted it fixed. Still, Herman is the football coach, and his team is his job, so BMDs largely, and rightfully I believe, placed their belief in Del Conte following the revelation and on-the-record statements of other coaches, particularly that of long-time Texas fixture Eddie Reese.

Furthermore, Herman, unlike Mack Brown, has not curried favor with any major donors. In fact, he’s done quite the opposite, disenfranchising some with his aloof and sometimes unappreciative demeanor and his aforementioned penchant for excuse-making, which those in power feel is beneath the position. Despite the timing and impact of the OU loss and photo, Texas BMDs actually started becoming more acutely concerned with the trajectory of the program a week prior.

While the luck-filled Texas Tech win was a wake-up call for some and showed UTEP as a hollow victory, it was the loss to the Horned Frogs, where Herman was clearly out-coached by Gary Patterson yet again, that really made some stand up and take notice, and get the wheels in motion. In other words, Herman is on notice. From BMDs. From the athletic director. From everywhere.

All of this being said, if he wins out the remainder of this regular season and wins the Big 12 championship, I fully expect Texas to retain Tom Herman, or even possibly for Herman to attempt to find employment elsewhere. South Carolina is open. Vanderbilt may come open.

Bottom line: anything short of a Big 12 Championship, and I am told any and all options are on the table, if not likely. In the words of one decision maker, the ultimatum is clear, "show us, don't tell us," he said.

**

So who might replace Herman? Yes, I have the same info as everyone else on this topic. Urban Meyer is the rare free agent with championship pedigree. He has won championships in three different conferences, national championships with two different teams, and... his buyout is zero.

**

I look forward to working with the writers here. I have long admired the wit and depth of their writing. And I have also admired the wit of the Inside Texas community. I don't know if I'll always be able to keep up in that regard, but I’m gonna give it a try.

 

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Mike Roach: Thoughts on Texas commits in Top247 update

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— An update was made today to the Top247 rankings for the 2021 class. This is the most significant update to the 2021 class in a while and will likely be the penultimate update before the final one near National Signing Day. The update doesn’t have a huge effect on the current Texas class, and that’s part of the problem.

— Kennedale safety JD Coffey is the biggest riser on the list. After falling out of the Top247 in the spring and tumbling to a three-star, Coffey is back up to No. 225. Coffey is having a spectacular senior season, and he’s showing more athleticism than he had in his junior year. Coffey has always been one of the best football players in the state, and his physicality really jumped out to our evaluators. Everything about Coffey’s game jumps out on film and including his awareness, tackling ability and natural instinctive play.

— Ja'Tavion Sanders dropped four spots, but it was due to others moving up above him. He now sits at No. 21 and is still squarely in five-star range. The biggest questions surrounding Sanders is where he forecasts moving forward. When he first arrived on the radar he appeared to be a no-doubt pass rusher who would make for a good high school receiver. As he’s moved throughout his career, Sanders is starting to make a strong case to play offense in college and evaluators are still trying to figure out where to forecast him.

— Morice Blackwell took a fall from No. 232 to No. 247. He’s the last name on the list and he only dropped because others were moved ahead in his range. Blackwell was poised to move up this year, but a mid-season injury sidelined him for a few weeks. He could always make a move on the final review, but he will need to be healthy and hope for a good playoff run.

— Ishmael Ibraheem and Jordon Thomas will retain four-star status but fall outside of the Top247.  Ibraheem has almost no film from this year and Thomas is just too raw despite the athletic tools.  

— The fact that there are just three Texas commits in the Top247 is a snapshot of the talent level of this class. Arizona State, Cal, Miami, Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, USC and Wisconsin all have more prospects in the Top247. A couple of those programs are capable besting the Longhorns in a given cycle, but the collective field shouldn’t be outpacing Texas in the manner with which they are in 2021. Arkansas, Baylor, Iowa, Minnesota and Mississippi State all have the same number of commits on this list. The 2017 class finished with four commits in the Top247 and the 2014 class also finished with four. Those are the two worst classes in the last two decades and both are outperforming the 2021 group, according to this metric.

 

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