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Texas Football 2025 Fall Camp - Kicking the Sonofabitch In


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Posted
4 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

that's what we do with mack

make him special teams minister of witchdoctoring

the kicker room spends the night before home games in a casita

special rites and incantations are performed

 

Stay outta my stash. 

Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, closetojumping said:

The holder gets a bad snap and the ball bounces up to the kicker. The GBall defenders are coming at him in full force.  He panics and starts running in the opposite direction. At around the 50, he just throws the ball behind his back, while running full speed towards the GBall end zone, at the GBall defenders. One of them picks it and houses it. Funniest shit on a football field I’d scene since earlier in the same game when Casey Hampton threw our center at our QB for a strip sack and fumble TD return. 

The shit that D1 athletes do to their fellow 17-year olds in high school is hilarious. I'll never forget Brian Orakpo in the Astrodome reaching over a fully-engaged offensive tackle, likes he's committing an Over the Back rebounding foul in basketball, to yank a quarterback's shoulders pads so hard he goes horizontal a foot off the ground and falls on the tackle's legs. Just a heap of destruction in front of him for a sack.

Edited by BurdineBandit
Posted
3 hours ago, tokamak said:

Every $9.95er update since like April has been essentially “every single player on the team looks like an All-American”. Yet I don’t remember a single blurb about Baker. Now we’ve got chatter that a true freshman could win that job. They’re clearly not satisfied with the guy. 

Again - just my belief, since sark and co have been so aggressive fixing perceived weak spots (backup qb with game experience!) in the portal and by and large have hit there.... that he and flood think they have a winning line in front of arch... either that, or this is the last year of the "flood doesn't do portal" policy....

Posted

Good thoughts from Burton today, feeding off of the media sessions yesterday:

Spoiler

 

Just in case you missed it, there were two major notes that emerged from yesterday:

- Michael Taaffe has spent some of summer working at nickel. If Taaffe somehow wins that job, it would allow Texas to have starting experience at every single secondary position, albeit a couple in new spots.

Manny Muhammad and Jaylan Guilbeau at corner. Derrick Williams and Jelani McDonald at safety. Taaffe at nickel.

We spent a lot of off-season wondering what Texas might do in the secondary, how all the pieces might fit to maximum effect.

Well, this is one permutation that, if it works, would be huge for “experience” in the secondary.

Granted, I think it’s a tall order for Taaffe. Asking him to match with players who are oftentimes the quickest on the other team’s roster may be too much.

But Texas is ready to give him a shot.

- LaAllen Clark, the Texas edge coach, revealed yesterday that Arkansas transfer Brad Spence had moved full time to edge.

Spence was in a crowded linebacker group that included returning starters Liona Lefau and Anthony Hills, as well as Trey Moore and Ty’Anthony Smith.

The move gives Spence a direct path to the field, either as a rotational player behind Colin Simmons and/or as a pash rush specialist. It also creates depth at edge, where both Zina Umeozulu and Colton Vasek and freshmen Lance Jackson and Justus Terry are backups.

We’ve been told all spring and summer that Texas wanted to make sure they found a way to get Spence on the field more. This appears to be their solution.

**

Some other takeaways from yesterday:

- Texas has a very strong staff overall. From the quiet confidence of Pete Kwiatkowski and his plain-spoken explanation of how Steve Sarkisian has managed to keep all of his coordinators in place since his arrival to the straight-forward discussions of position coaches Chris Jackson and Kenny Baker, it’s clear to me that Sark has amassed a collection of good, clear communicators with clear and straight-forward expectations.

The group also represents an eclectic mix of ages and backgrounds.

Bottom line, I think this coaching staff rivals any a Texas coach has ever assembled. I know those are large words for some of you who have followed Texas football through the years, but I firmly believe it.

- As Jeff Howe noted in a separate article, Jeff Banks discussed that Texas would likely be a more aggressive punt block unit in 2025.

I have to wonder exactly why.

Is it the lack of an elite punt returner? Or is it a lack of elite outside blockers/gunners to keep the punt returner clean?

At any rate, the idea as a whole is something to register prior to the season.

- Kyle Flood stated clearly that the right tackle job is up for grabs. As expected, Brandon Baker and Andre Cojoe are the two who will battle it out. Let’s see how that plays out and whether or not freshman Nick Brooks gets a shot there, too.

Flood also singled out another freshman, Jackson Christian. IMO it’s an early sign that we could see Christian and Nate Kibble being long term (in a year or two) solutions for Texas somewhere along the offensive front.

**

Practice is here.

Can’t wait!

Hook’Em!!!

 

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Posted

I think we've tried everyone but Cole Brevard at nickel. 

Are Moore and Spence essentially the same player? Spence seems more traditional LB ish to me, but what do I know.

Posted
15 hours ago, westexhorn said:

The position group that worries me the most is the OL.  4th year Neto who couldnt beat out Conner is finally making the jump? Also brand new RT so definitely some degree of uncertainty.  Hopefully the backs are much improved and can make magic happen.

Connor was a frustrating guy to watch. We knew he was smart, and he was pretty good at pass protection, but he couldn't drive guys off the line, and invariably 1-2 times a game we'd all end up yelling at him to fucking pick up someone downfield as they blew past him to make a tackle on pulls and whatnot. I'm hoping there will be net improvement in someone who can really make space at the point of attack to open up holes. Much of our running game last year was Wisner's vision and knack for making something out of nothing. 

14 hours ago, Had Enough said:

I am sure the Cardinals drafted him to simply throw away a 6th round pick.  PFF had him graded around 20th in pass pro at G, which would equate to top 10-ish of P4 programs.  He graded higher than some of those above him in the run game.  Keep in mind, the RG was the worst pass protector on the line so that increased the likelihood that Conners pass pro was critical, particularly in light of the QB.  Neto may not be good.  He might not even be the guy, but your rationale may be a bit short sighted.

 

I bet the Cardinals drafted him because he tested incredibly and crushed the interview portion. He's absolutely one of those guys I've referenced in other posts that when he got picked we all went "Huh" and scratched out heads. Happy for the guy, and happy he helped us into double digit draft picks again. 

11 hours ago, closetojumping said:

The holder gets a bad snap and the ball bounces up to the kicker. The GBall defenders are coming at him in full force.  He panics and starts running in the opposite direction. At around the 50, he just throws the ball behind his back, while running full speed towards the GBall end zone, at the GBall defenders. One of them picks it and houses it. Funniest shit on a football field I’d scene since earlier in the same game when Casey Hampton threw our center at our QB for a strip sack and fumble TD return. 

We're getting to the point where you're going to have to stop criticizing my spelling and posting behavior. You have a head injury this week or something? 

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Posted
1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

Flood also singled out another freshman, Jackson Christian. IMO it’s an early sign that we could see Christian and Nate Kibble being long term (in a year or two) solutions for Texas somewhere along the offensive front.

 

Now Burton is just trolling ctj.

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Posted

I thought we should have grabbed a punt returner in the portal.  Should not have been that hard. But surely someone on the roster can be good at it.

Last year I thought it was malpractice not to grab a punter.  

I think given the portal, we should almost never sign high school kickers and punters.  And we should always have ample return weapons.

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Posted
5 minutes ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

He said Spence moved to edge b/c of how crowded the LBer room is.  The edge room seems more crowded, to me.

Spence is also bigger than Moore by an inch or two and 10-15 pounds. 

I think the difference is that they rotate way more heavily with the front 4 than with the LBs. They just need more guys at Edge and the dude allegedly has an excellent pass rushing talent. 

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Posted
7 minutes ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

He said Spence moved to edge b/c of how crowded the LBer room is.  The edge room seems more crowded, to me.

Agree. Swapping Moore and Spence at LB/EDGE seems strange. 

Posted (edited)

Not if they want to constantly rotate them like they do the tackles.  Moore is undersized at Edge, but perfect for a linebacker and it's where he will have to play in the NFL.

Edited by kevwun
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Posted

Taafe could easily be repping NB as a way to play there in different packages rather than being the starter there in base nickel 

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Posted
3 minutes ago, Fud said:

Taafe could easily be repping NB as a way to play there in different packages rather than being the starter there in base nickel 

That's my first instinct. I think they're monkeying with a few veteran player's positions to see what kind of looks they can put together. They already know their base positions well enough to be able to rep someplace else and not get over-extended.

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Posted

I think the idea is that this year we can send waves upon waves of fresh pass rushers.  Bet the rotation is tighter in the big games.  But there are a lot of options of getting to the QB, proven and unproven but with talent.  We should get a lot of sacks and put a lot of pressure on QBs this year.

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Posted

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Akina pretty heavily involved with our punt blocking during his time here with Mack?  I remember we would constantly go back and forth for the lead in punt blocks with Va Tech and Beamer Ball.

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Posted
Just now, Fondren & Main said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Akina pretty heavily involved with our punt blocking during his time here with Mack?  I remember we would constantly go back and forth for the lead in punt blocks with Va Tech and Beamer Ball.

Yes he was.  We also put our best athletes on the punt block team.  I remember Roy Williams getting a couple.

I don't mind going for blocks if it is more than 5 yards to go.  I don't like extending drives with running into the punter.  Especially against douchey times like OU who always seem to have a punter who flops.

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Posted
7 minutes ago, kevwun said:

That makes more sense because I don't think he's fast enough to play their full time like Bobby mentioned.

As a traditional nickel corner he probably isn't, but there are "big nickel" coverages where the nickel is more protected and can be more aggressive in the run and on the short and intermediate 

But I suspect this is probably getting him ready for more situational roles 

4 minutes ago, Fondren & Main said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Akina pretty heavily involved with our punt blocking during his time here with Mack?  I remember we would constantly go back and forth for the lead in punt blocks with Va Tech and Beamer Ball.

I thought that was more Brewster 

Posted
31 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

I thought we should have grabbed a punt returner in the portal.  Should not have been that hard. But surely someone on the roster can be good at it.

Kind of felt like we tried but didn’t land any. 

Posted (edited)

CB is my biggest concern this season, if there really even is one.  Barron was an eraser last year, so I would think there will be a drop off at his spot, especially in run support and in the physicality department. Obviously, hard to replace the Thorpe winner. Manny is solid but got lost at times.  I think he will continue to improve and be better this season.  

I hope Guilbeau lives up to the hype this year.  We always hear how good he looks in practice, but honestly I haven't been too impressed with him during games.  I think he is okay, but was expecting more from past reports.  The good news is, there appears to be plenty of capable talent behind him if he doesn't perform.

Edited by sunset87
Posted
1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

It also creates depth at edge, where both Zina Umeozulu and Colton Vasek and freshmen Lance Jackson and Justus Terry are backups.

I always figured Terry for the inside. Is he just not big enough, yet?

Posted (edited)

Yeah, I don't think it's worth the risk.  The refs have itchy trigger fingers when it comes to any contact with the punter.  Going for the block 10 times feels like it results in 3-4 drive extending penalties while getting 1 block if you're lucky. 

Edited by kevwun
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Posted
33 minutes ago, Fud said:

Taafe could easily be repping NB as a way to play there in different packages rather than being the starter there in base nickel 

Certainly could be the case.  Seems as though we like to try a few things out to see how they might work.  We don’t run a ton of 6 DBs and have dropped a S down, including Taaffe, to play man on occasion so it’s not wholly different than that.  I can’t imagine that being a consideration for our base defense.

Posted
17 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

I always figured Terry for the inside. Is he just not big enough, yet?

Correct, and the depth at IDL is easily 6 deep, but they said Terry is going to be used inside on passing downs.

Posted
23 hours ago, Codaxx said:

One of the knocks on his scouting report is he lacks burst. He is 6'6" so that stride will make up ground later. That makes sense given he didnt run the 100m in HS, 200m is not very good, and the 400m is solid. More of a possession/jump ball guy, than an explosive WR. Again, that is something Georgia needed. I just dont see that profile as a 1st round potential guy. Perhaps my read on him is wrong, we will find out. 

Still, it's odd.  The 200 time is "struggle to make finals in a freshman meet"; the 400 time is "qualify for finals at state meet"

Sorry - track talk will always steer me off course.

Posted
31 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

Yes he was.  We also put our best athletes on the punt block team.  I remember Roy Williams getting a couple.

I don't mind going for blocks if it is more than 5 yards to go.  I don't like extending drives with running into the punter.  Especially against douchey times like OU who always seem to have a punter who flops.

They also had found some sort of schematic exploit too.  I remember watching an actual breakdown of what they did to attack the formation once.  That’s probably around the time you started seeing a shift in the punt protections too.

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Posted

I think CB is also my biggest question mark. Manny literally regressed as the year went onward, and started getting picked on by opposing teams. Successfully. 

Now we have a brand new corner, and no one is replacing Barron, at least not next year, and certainly not at the beginning of the year. That motherfucker blew up blocks in the screen game to make TFL and locked down his guy, pretty much all the time. CB is a concern, and the secondary in general as Barron allowed are safeties to do a lot more shit. 

After that, it's OL, just because of all the changes there, even if I have some cautious hope. I have zero concerns about WR, I'm more concerned about CTJ's weak heart if Livingstone plays tons of snaps and sucks, or worse plays tons of snaps and excels. 

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Posted

Man, you guys can overreact to shit in a hurry. Taaffe is not moving to NB for the base defense. I will shit a golden cowboy hat and light BO&W on fire if that happens. 

Regarding punt return, the options that would have been a net addition to the current roster talent were attached tonight mediocre receivers looking for 7 figures. Beyond that, Banks himself dials up PB calls way more often usually than last season. Akina is a big punt block guy too. I want to see more punt block efforts, personally, so this is great news. 

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Posted
1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

Spence is also bigger than Moore by an inch or two and 10-15 pounds. 

 

https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/football/roster/brad-spence/14449

https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/football/roster/trey-moore/14374

Roster has Moore an inch taller and 8 lbs heavier. Even if they are dead even, there is something behind this switch that we don't know about. On the surface, it doesn't make sense. 

Posted
3 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Man, you guys can overreact to shit in a hurry. Taaffe is not moving to NB for the base defense. I will shit a golden cowboy hat and light BO&W on fire if that happens. 

Regarding punt return, the options that would have been a net addition to the current roster talent were attached tonight mediocre receivers looking for 7 figures. Beyond that, Banks himself dials up PB calls way more often usually than last season. Akina is a big punt block guy too. I want to see more punt block efforts, personally, so this is great news. 

I'm surprised, given the names they put out there returning punts, you didn't see Aaron Butler in there. Isn't that guy's whole thing supposed to be he's fast? I mean, I guess Niblett is fast too, but shit, that guy can't even break a 3 deep with Moore and Niblett being return guys? He has to be the #1 portal candidate on the entire roster by a mile. 

Posted
34 minutes ago, kevwun said:

Yeah, I don't think it's worth the risk.  The refs have itchy trigger fingers when it comes to any contact with the punter.  Going for the block 10 times feels like it results in 3-4 drive extending penalties while getting 1 block if you're lucky. 

My thoughts too. Just ask Phillip Geiger. If you're down a TD with 59 seconds left and have to have it, go for it. But it's dumb penalties and mistakes that kept the Vandy and ASU games closer than they shoulda been.

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Posted
49 minutes ago, sunset87 said:

CB is my biggest spot of concern this season, if there really even is one.  Barron was an eraser last year, so I would think there will be a drop off at his spot, especially in run support and in the physicality department. Obviously, hard to replace the Thorpe winner. Manny is solid but got lost at times.  I think he will continue to improve and be better this season.  

I hope Guilbeau lives up to the hype this year.  We always hear how good he looks in practice, but honestly I haven't been too impressed with him during games.  I think he is okay, but was expecting more from past reports.  The good news is, there appears to be plenty of capable talent behind him if he doesn't perform.

Yeah that's my biggest worry at tOSU game one against that WR group.  Them having an inexperienced QB and our pass rush may negate it though.  We'll see.

Posted
15 minutes ago, Josef Pwag said:

https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/football/roster/brad-spence/14449

https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/football/roster/trey-moore/14374

Roster has Moore an inch taller and 8 lbs heavier. Even if they are dead even, there is something behind this switch that we don't know about. On the surface, it doesn't make sense. 

Thought it was out there to assist Moore in his next level dreams and show the NFL his versatility, at least one element of putting him at LB.  He’s a veteran so he could easily move back.  As for Spence, he could easily follow Moore’s path from year 1 to year 2.  It may be a move that gets more talk than a noticeable difference to the fans view.

Posted
21 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Man, you guys can overreact to shit in a hurry. Taaffe is not moving to NB for the base defense. I will shit a golden cowboy hat and light BO&W on fire if that happens

Regarding punt return, the options that would have been a net addition to the current roster talent were attached tonight mediocre receivers looking for 7 figures. Beyond that, Banks himself dials up PB calls way more often usually than last season. Akina is a big punt block guy too. I want to see more punt block efforts, personally, so this is great news. 

Can't you do that anyways? 

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Posted (edited)
8 minutes ago, Lou_Sassle said:

Can't you do that anyways? 

Yeah, it's a weird kind of wager. Sure, passing a golden hat would suck balls and result in a ton of tearing, I imagine, but you get a big ass piece of gold and you get to set BO&W on fire. 

I'd rather shit a golden hat and/or set BO&W on fire than, I dunno, have to have dinner with a cadre or regular football board posters. 

Edited by SydneyCarton
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Posted
1 hour ago, Frank Drebin said:

I thought we should have grabbed a punt returner in the portal.  Should not have been that hard. But surely someone on the roster can be good at it.

Last year I thought it was malpractice not to grab a punter.  

I think given the portal, we should almost never sign high school kickers and punters.  And we should always have ample return weapons.

Josh Cameron from Baylor would have been nice, he's a good receiver as well. I wonder how much he is getting paid to stay.  I would think a LOT of teams ran at him. 

Posted
28 minutes ago, Josef Pwag said:

https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/football/roster/brad-spence/14449

https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/football/roster/trey-moore/14374

Roster has Moore an inch taller and 8 lbs heavier. Even if they are dead even, there is something behind this switch that we don't know about. On the surface, it doesn't make sense. 

Wait until you see them near one another. 

24 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I'm surprised, given the names they put out there returning punts, you didn't see Aaron Butler in there. Isn't that guy's whole thing supposed to be he's fast? I mean, I guess Niblett is fast too, but shit, that guy can't even break a 3 deep with Moore and Niblett being return guys? He has to be the #1 portal candidate on the entire roster by a mile. 

Butler got into the doghouse for one reason or another and there was the notion that he’d just transfer out and everyone would be fine with that after the spring. Didn’t happen. I assume we’re looking at a fork in the road starting today - he either turns mental and performance corners immediately, or we never see him in the field and he’s gone in December.

They recruited Bolden in to return punts and be a contributor in the WR group. They didn’t realize they’d recruited and paid for a complete fucking lunatic on punt returns and couldn’t fix his approach. Trust is the number one thing they now care about on punt return. Butler is the best candidate talent-wise, by all accounts. Only one problem. They allegedly don’t trust him, at all. 

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Posted
1 minute ago, closetojumping said:

Wait until you see them near one another. 

Butler got into the doghouse for one reason or another and there was the notion that he’d just transfer out and everyone would be fine with that after the spring. Didn’t happen. I assume we’re looking at a fork in the road starting today - he either turns mental and performance corners immediately, or we never see him in the field and he’s gone in December.

They recruited Bolden in to return punts and be a contributor in the WR group. They didn’t realize they’d recruited and paid for a complete fucking lunatic on punt returns and couldn’t fix his approach. Trust is the number one thing they now care about on punt return. Butler is the best candidate talent-wise, by all accounts. Only one problem. They allegedly don’t trust him, at all. 

Not having to watch Silas Bolden test my blood pressure 4-5 times a game is one of the things I'm most looking forward to this season. When that motherfucker is completely done with football we're going to we're going to find out he's moved onto high wiring between sky scrapers and wrestling alligators just for shits and grins. 

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Posted
7 minutes ago, markstanco said:

Josh Cameron from Baylor would have been nice, he's a good receiver as well. I wonder how much he is getting paid to stay.  I would think a LOT of teams ran at him. 

Texas was one of them. They thought they’d landed him and he was the WR “no one is talking about” that I was saying could be coming into the program. He’s a stud. 

Posted
1 minute ago, Park Gothic said:

Counterpoint:

 

Good thing that play wasn’t a punt return. He’d have grabbed it and ran backwards out of the endzone in his endless quest just to feel alive. 

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Posted
Just now, SydneyCarton said:

Good thing that play wasn’t a punt return. He’d have grabbed it and ran backwards out of the endzone in his endless quest just to feel alive. 

I generally agree with you but will miss Bolden's haywire dangerman antics on PR. I'm loving the idea of him being a halfmad adrenaline junky who refuses to fair catch because it's for pussies and he needs another fuckin hit goddamnit! 

Even if the coaches don't like it and part of me wishes he would take it just a little easier, I have to tip my hat to anyone who lives life at full tilt. 

Z91wshOLQ8wGQ.webp

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Posted
1 hour ago, kevwun said:

That makes more sense because I don't think he's fast enough to play their full time like Bobby mentioned.

It may be mostly match-up based, when there's no burner on the other side, to give to the athletes  opportunities with their range, and experience.

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