AUSTIN, Texas — This is how tall the odds were facing Texas when coach Tom Herman, receivers coach Drew Mehringer, quarterback Sam Ehlinger and player personnel director Kevin Washington landed in Los Angeles on Wednesday to try to rally talented receiver Bru McCoy back to Austin:
McCoy hadn’t returned calls, texts or emails from Texas personnel for more than two weeks, sources close to the situation told Horns247.com.
So if the Texas contingent went into Wednesday feeling like McCoy’s mind was already made up to do the unthinkable — use the NCAA transfer portal to return to USC less than six months after using it to leave USC for Texas — they were probably justified, sources said.
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It might be a small victory that both Texas and McCoy emerged from Wednesday's meeting in Los Angeles with Texas willing to give McCoy a little more time to sort through his next move.
At this point, it would be an upset if McCoy decided to return to Texas, because if there’s one thing people close to McCoy, the nation’s No. 9 overall prospect in 2019, know about him, he’s stubborn. To a fault.
It drives his father, Horace, who played tight end at Northern Illinois in 1994, crazy, causing some heated arguments between the two, sources said.
Sources close to the situation said Horace scolded his son to stick with his enrollment at USC in January, only to watch Bru pack up and leave for Texas, after then-USC offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury left to become head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
Then, Horace McCoy argued with his son to return to Texas after Bru came home to Los Angeles nearly three weeks ago, at the end of the UT spring semester, with ideas of transferring back to USC.
Sources close to the family are incredibly aware of the public relations hit Bru McCoy would take if he returns to USC.
McCoy would become the first student-athlete in FBS history to transfer from one school to another and back — within six months — before ever competing in a single contest in their scholarship sport.
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McCoy’s parents have told Bru he'd have a good chance to gain immediate eligibility at Texas through an NCAA waiver he has yet to sign. It's a near certainty McCoy would have to sit out a year if he transfers back to USC, sources said.
A former NFL coach who is familiar with McCoy’s situation told Horns247 the first question Bru McCoy is going to get from NFL personnel if he becomes a draft prospect is, “You got a problem with commitment? Should we not draft you in Green Bay or Buffalo, because you don’t like the cold or you’re gonna get homesick?”
But sources said McCoy’s parents weren’t crazy about him going to Mater Dei, and Bru went anyway and had a standout high school experience on and off the field.
It’s the bonds he formed with teammates at Mater Dei who are now at USC, including Trojans’ quarterback JT Daniels and receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, that appear to be drawing him back to USC. McCoy is also close to current Mater Dei quarterback Bryce Young, who is committed to USC.
Daniels and St. Brown have told McCoy the USC offense is going to be explosive under Air Raid disciple Graham Harrell, who was hired to replace Kingsbury in February, two weeks after McCoy left for Texas.
“Bru’s best friend at Texas is De'Gabriel Floyd, a fellow Cali(fornia) kid who just got diagnosed with spinal stenosis and is out of football for the 2019 season,” one source said. “He feels close with receivers coach Drew Mehringer, but he can’t tell if Tom Herman likes Mehringer or might be looking to replace him.
“So, for better or worse, right or wrong, he doesn’t feel like he has a strong inner circle at Texas like he would at USC. Of course, he hasn’t even been at Texas long enough to have much of an inner circle.”
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And then there’s the tenuous job security of USC football coach Clay Helton, who lost five of his last seven games and might need to win nine in 2019 to keep his job. If Helton doesn’t have a turnaround season, he and USC athletic director Lynn Swann could both be out.
“Texas just won 10 games, went to the Big 12 title game, beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and wants to make McCoy a centerpiece in the offense as a freshman,” one source close to the situation said. “Meanwhile, McCoy could be going back to total chaos at USC if things don’t go exactly right.”