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1 hour ago, MuellerHorn said:

Chicks Dig the Long Ball (Tuesday) - CJ Vogel

Despite needing a thorough editing, this is a pretty good write up by Vogel on why he believes Texas' offense will be even more explosive this season

  Reveal hidden contents

Chicks Dig the Long Ball (Tuesday)

 

CJ Vogel

By CJ Vogel

  • 4 minutes ago
 

For those on Twitter you probably have scrolled by some tweets of mine calling for the return of the long ball and explosivity of the Texas offense to rise under Arch Manning.

I didn't think siding on the "Texas will be more explosive with Arch Manning" train was such a radical take, yet there was some resistance by folks on the timeline. As a result, I went down a minor rabbit hole to explore the type of ceiling this Texas team could have with Manning as the full time quarterback.

***

Texas Had Big Plays in 2024

Yes. Yes they did. 

I liken the 2024 Texas offense to that of Ichiro back in the 2000s. Ichiro led the MLB in hits seven different seasons over the span of a decade, filled with mostly singles and doubles, yet would scrap together an occasional 10 homer season.

On top of the singles and doubles, Ichiro was consistently north of 30 stolen bases per season with a peak of 56. In other words, the speed allowed for him to stretch small plays into big ones, much like that of Jaydon Blue, Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond did for the Longhorns in 2024.

A stat that gets thrown out often is the "Texas had the most 20-yard plays in the country" in 2024. And you are right, they did. In fact, Texas recorded 108 snaps that resulted in at least 20 yards being gained, that's good!

  • Plays of 20+ yards: 1st (108)
  • Plays of 30+ yards: t-5th (39)
  • Plays of 40+ yards: t-7th (21)
  • Plays of 50+ yards: t-17th (10)

Now let me be up front – it is very difficult to gain 20-50 yards on a single play. The fact that Texas had as many 20-yard plays is 1) remarkable and 2) replica

ble.

The point of my argument was Texas can move on from being Ichiro, – needing to go station to station with first downs to score – to that of a Ronald Acuna Jr. where the speed remains, but the addition of the long ball turns the offense into one of the country's best. 

(For those wondering, Acuna achieved the 5th ever 40 HR, 40 SB seasons in 2023).

The speed will remain on the Texas offense, but there is a true slugger at quarterback with Arch Manning who can consistently hit the long ball.

***

Why Texas Will be More Explosive With Manning

I wanted to run the numbers here and list out all of the 50+ yard plays Texas had in 2024. By my count, there was 10.

  • Ryan Wingo 55-yard rush vs. Michigan (Ewers)
  • Arch Manning 67-yard TD rush vs. UTSA (Manning)
  • Ryan Wingo 75-yard TD reception vs. UTSA (Manning)
  • Isaiah Bond 51-yard TD reception vs. UTSA (Manning)
  • Isaiah Bond 56-yard reception vs. ULM (Manning)
  • DeAndre Moore 50-yard reception vs. Miss State (Manning)
  • Quintrevion Wisner 50-yard TD reception vs. Florida (Ewers)
  • Matthew Golden 50-yard reception vs. Georgia SECCG (Ewers)
  • Jaydon Blue 77-yard rush vs. Clemson (Ewers)
  • Matthew Golden 54-yard reception vs. Arizona State (Ewers)

As you see, of the ten 50+ yard plays in 2024, five came with Quinn Ewers on the field, and five came with Arch Manning on the field. An infamous drop against Miss State also kept another splash play off the tally for Manning in this category as well.

Divvying up the total snap counts as well, Texas had a 50-yard play once every 180.2 snaps with Ewers, compared to once every 46.6 snaps with Manning on the field.

Another stat I came across was % of drop backs that resulted in a pass completed beyond 20 yards downfield. Again, favors Manning by almost double.

  • Ewers: 4.17% of drop backs resulted in a pass completed of >20 yards 
  • Manning: 7.92% of drop backs resulted in a pass completed of >20 yards

And again, let me reemphasize this, 50-yard plays are hard to come by. But the numbers quite favorably lean towards an Arch Manning-led Texas offense putting up massive chunk plays.

***

Where Does the Big Play Come From?

Now this is the question. Texas does not have a 4.29 40-yard dash guy like Matthew Golden, nor a true straight line speed demon like Isaiah Bond. 

However, Speed won't be absent from the wide receiver position this fall. 

  • Wingo recorded 10.50 100m
  • Mosley reportedly recorded a 10.7 100m
  • Moore recorded 10.90 100m
  • Livingstone ran 21.7 in the 200m 

Not to mention, Manning connected on massive splash plays with Wingo and Moore in 2024, and again, would have added another to his tally had Johntay Cook come down with a deep shot against Mississippi State.

Plus, Sarkisian's ability to scheme open receivers (and tight ends) will help with the big play.

***

My best bet is this: Even with the unknown of the offensive line and subsequent running game, the Longhorns end up with their first top-10 scoring offense under Steve Sarkisian.

  • 2024: 33.0 PPG (29th)
  • 2023: 35.8 PPG (15th)
  • 2022: 34.5 PPG (25th)
  • 2021: 35.3 PPG (18th)

In large part due to the home run hitting ability of Arch Manning.

 

This can be a bit deceiving. Texas busted a bunch of screen passes. They are explosive gains, but not necessarily "chicks dig the long ball". Arch had an aDOT of 11.1 and Quinn was at 7.2. That is substantial and gives you bit more information on how far the pass traveled. 

  • Hook 'Em 3
Posted
2 hours ago, closetojumping said:

Full Ride on XM 84 this morning had Childers and Roy Philpott. They had resident shithead Chip Brown on and he immediately proceeds to tell them that Texas has no business being ranked #1. He runs down Manning as inexperienced and then recounts personnel losses.

Philpott: "Who would you have #1?"

Brown: "Clemson"

Philpott: "Clemson? Texas just beat them in a game that wasn't really close for most of the game. Why Clemson?"

Brown: "They return everybody and they've all gotten better. Klubnik is a stud and is the best QB in the country. Dabo is a championship coach. I just don't think Texas is ready."

How in the world is that shitty motherfucker still allowed credentials to this program? He's another one of these buffoons that are constantly negative about the program they cover. This is a guy who has written hit pieces designed to harm the program as a means, allegedly, of paying off gambling debt. He's never said an informed thing that any other writer or talking head couldn't have said better when talking to a national audience. It's despicable. 

The rest of their discussions that meandered in and out of Texas for 2025 were all positive. Hell, Joe Cook was on Off Campus yesterday and he did a fine job and sounded relatively informed. It's not that hard to just not be a fuck up. 

 

6tdjaj.gif

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Posted
They kicked the tires, thinking about depth risk, but Oregon was willing to pay for a starter, which Texas didn't think it needed. Most of the OL entering the portal want starter assurances. That position in particular is as much about PT as money in the portal. Frankly, OL are still the most stagnant people on a given roster. Good ones stay put, bad ones will stay put if you keep paying them, and mostly only the hungry ones not starting are leaving to start. 
Compare that to DT where starting isn't the priority for a lot of guys. It's almost kind of weird. Even WRs, the biggest prima donnas in the portal, have joined UT's roster and others merely for playing assurances in their system for good money. 

After Cojoe went down didn’t Sark answer a question about addressing it in the portal something like, ‘There is no such thing as a starting OT in the portal.’
Posted
1 hour ago, TrashMaster G said:

I caught yesterday's College Football Live and was entertained by our own Sam Acho opining that Texas as #1 is suspect because, even though we made the playoff the last two years "You've got to do something once you are there."

Or, words to that effect.

🙄

I caught that too.  He said something about "...you can't go to the playoffs and always lose" or something close to that.  Dumb take.

Posted
2 minutes ago, Teamdirtyleg said:

I caught that too.  He said something about "...you can't go to the playoffs and always lose" or something close to that.  Dumb take.

Good take: Final four, position to win at the end... and... nope.

This time, make it happen.

Posted

So  I listened to Sark's press conference this morning and I was shocked to hear him mention Aaron Butler being a highlight player from the scrimmage this weekend and having a lot of catches.  Were the "insiders" wrong or was Sark trolling them after they put out he was dropping passes over the weekend?

Posted
20 minutes ago, Teamdirtyleg said:

I caught that too.  He said something about "...you can't go to the playoffs and always lose" or something close to that.  Dumb take.

Well, consider the source.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted

Is the social media team posting fewer highlight clips from scrimmage and practices this year? It seems like in years past we had videos of several sick catches and random big plays by now that we can all overreact to. 

Or, presented in the style of satyanash, I think we’re probably doomed because we haven’t produced a single notable highlight in practice so far this preseason. 

  • Haha 4
Posted
54 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

This can be a bit deceiving. Texas busted a bunch of screen passes. They are explosive gains, but not necessarily "chicks dig the long ball". Arch had an aDOT of 11.1 and Quinn was at 7.2. That is substantial and gives you bit more information on how far the pass traveled. 

*deceptive

🤬

1 minute ago, UncleSonny said:

Is the social media team posting fewer highlight clips from scrimmage and practices this year? It seems like in years past we had videos of several sick catches and random big plays by now that we can all overreact to. 

Or, presented in the style of satyanash, I think we’re probably doomed because we haven’t produced a single notable highlight in practice so far this preseason. 

This. All the practices are closed because we suck.

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Posted
46 minutes ago, ShaggyBevo RIP said:


After Cojoe went down didn’t Sark answer a question about addressing it in the portal something like, ‘There is no such thing as a starting OT in the portal.’

No. If you watch the media availability where he said that, he was referring to going to the portal right now. "I'd be better off going to the co-op." He wasn't referring to the portal in general.

He could very well believe that. Maybe him and Kyle Flood simply don't think there's a good payoff for a quality OL in the portal. But that's not what he said. Or at least, not the complete context for it.

I will say this. The biggest issue as much as anything else since Mackovic was fired, is that the head coaches simply don't bring in enough bodies at OL. Certainly not enough quality bodies. The quality part almost goes without saying. But also not enough bodies period. OL is the hardest position group IMO to give a projected evaluation.

Sarkisian and Flood reversed that quickly when they got here, but now we're moving towards the same dynamic. We're simply not bringing in enough OL in our recruiting classes. I thought we were going to have a group of 5 or 6 in this class, and maybe we still will. But our tackle group in particular is very thin. I'm not exactly a lone wolf on this. I see plenty of other posters making comments on it, so I'm not out here saying I'm seeing something other people aren't. I'm simply saying I agree with posters who look at our roster and depth chart and think there's something amiss with our talent acquisition strategy in terms of sheer numbers. 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted
24 minutes ago, GTJ1982 said:

So  I listened to Sark's press conference this morning and I was shocked to hear him mention Aaron Butler being a highlight player from the scrimmage this weekend and having a lot of catches.  Were the "insiders" wrong or was Sark trolling them after they put out he was dropping passes over the weekend?

I believe everything a coach says in a media availability literally. There's never any agendas involved. 

If he mentions him several times, then we see him on Saturdays being productive, then I'll believe it. Until then I'm going to assume he's giving a call out to be encouraging and to help keep Butler's buy in for the season. 

I will say there are players he mentions on multiple occasions and I do pay attention to that. For example, he keeps bringing up Ty'Anthony Smith. I don't think Smith is going to get starter snaps, but I do think he could play a bigger role this season than we generally think, and I think that primarily because Sarkisian keeps making a point to bring him up. 

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Posted (edited)
6 minutes ago, SL Xpress said:

No. If you watch the media availability where he said that, he was referring to going to the portal right now. "I'd be better off going to the co-op." He wasn't referring to the portal in general.

He could very well believe that. Maybe him and Kyle Flood simply don't think there's a good payoff for a quality OL in the portal. But that's not what he said. Or at least, not the complete context for it.

I will say this. The biggest issue as much as anything else since Mackovic was fired, is that the head coaches simply don't bring in enough bodies at OL. Certainly not enough quality bodies. The quality part almost goes without saying. But also not enough bodies period. OL is the hardest position group IMO to give a projected evaluation.

Sarkisian and Flood reversed that quickly when they got here, but now we're moving towards the same dynamic. We're simply not bringing in enough OL in our recruiting classes. I thought we were going to have a group of 5 or 6 in this class, and maybe we still will. But our tackle group in particular is very thin. I'm not exactly a lone wolf on this. I see plenty of other posters making comments on it, so I'm not out here saying I'm seeing something other people aren't. I'm simply saying I agree with posters who look at our roster and depth chart and think there's something amiss with our talent acquisition strategy in terms of sheer numbers. 

there are 2 truths about the OL. The portal has very few quality bodies. Trying to get a legit dancing bear at LT from HS is an absolute bloodbath of a recruitment. There is a reason Tackle is the highest paid position in the NFL. They just are not a lot of them around. 

According to Spotrac.com, the average salaries for various position groups in the NFL for the 2024 season are as follows:

  • Long Snapper: $1,069,016
  • Fullback: $1,724,440
  • Punter: $1,520,940
  • Running Back: $1,789,687
  • Cornerback: $1,999,348
  • Wide Receiver: $2,277,703
  • Tight End: $2,055,238
  • Safety: $2,196,749
  • Kicker: $2,228,472
  • Defensive Tackle: $2,496,660
  • Center: $2,394,058
  • Defensive End: $2,996,247
  • Guard: $2,500,421
  • Edge Rusher: $3,234,289
  • Outside Linebacker: $3,703,880
  • Inside Linebacker: $3,856,602
  • Quarterback: $4,855,892
  • Right Tackle: $5,128,198
  • Left Tackle: $8,952,680
Edited by Codaxx
  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted

Chip Brown. Kirk Bohls. Geoff Ketchum. There are a couple of others with the same schtick. Heck, Bobby Burton when he founded National Recruiting Advisor always seemed to discount Texas affiliated players a bit to keep from seeming biased. Not to lump Burton with any of them, because he's always had an air of professionalism even before he tied himself to covering UT exclusively, and has kept it that way.

I don't think there's another program in the country with more villain status people covering the program as their main gig. There are plenty of haters around the country. We're a polarizing program. But to have these talking heads represent us in talk formats everywhere as "Longhorn homers" when they giddily love planting blades between our shoulders simply as a point of emphasis to show they're capable of it is infuriating.

I remember when the thin skinned Mack Brown was trying to control the narrative around his program early on, he tried to shut out media representatives from having access in different ways. Not overtly, but in subtle ways. He did a full on press with Chip Brown when CB was at the Dallas Morning News trying to ingratiate him so he'd only print a Longhorn slant on everything he wrote. There was a complete misjudging of character. 

Posted
56 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Maybe. He IS a doctor. Maybe he's a doctor in a hospital that has a mandatory white tube sock policy. 

Never wear ankle socks with long pants - too annoying.

Posted
6 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

there are 2 truths about the OL. The portal has very few quality bodies. Trying to get a legit dancing bear at LT from HS is an absolute bloodbath of a recruitment. There is a reason Tackle is the highest paid position in the NFL. They just are not a lot of them around. 

According to Spotrac.com, the average salaries for various position groups in the NFL for the 2024 season are as follows:

  • Long Snapper: $1,069,016
  • Fullback: $1,724,440
  • Punter: $1,520,940
  • Running Back: $1,789,687
  • Cornerback: $1,999,348
  • Wide Receiver: $2,277,703
  • Tight End: $2,055,238
  • Safety: $2,196,749
  • Kicker: $2,228,472
  • Defensive Tackle: $2,496,660
  • Center: $2,394,058
  • Defensive End: $2,996,247
  • Guard: $2,500,421
  • Edge Rusher: $3,234,289
  • Outside Linebacker: $3,703,880
  • Inside Linebacker: $3,856,602
  • Quarterback: $4,855,892
  • Right Tackle: $5,128,198
  • Left Tackle: $8,952,680

But at some point it's not necessarily about getting a starting NFL tackle. I know that's the aspiration at Texas, and it should be. But if you don't have enough bodies in the pipeline, if you're going to compete for national championships you better get them somehow. 

It's still a very legitimate point, and I'm not trying to argue it. It's also the easiest thing in the world to spend someone else's money. I have no agency in any of this. To me it makes sense to wait for chaos and then take advantage of opportunities if they present themselves. 

Posted (edited)
17 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm longing for Matthew Golden regardless of how good Jaggy McJaggerson is.

Golden was a junior, of course. Livingston is a freshman (rs) starting at WR. The exact opposite of a JAG. After Worthy and Wingo, when’s the last time we had that?

Edited by mwaadeeb
lol wrong golden was a jr and forgot wingo
Posted
2 minutes ago, SL Xpress said:

But at some point it's not necessarily about getting a starting NFL tackle. I know that's the aspiration at Texas, and it should be. But if you don't have enough bodies in the pipeline, if you're going to compete for national championships you better get them somehow. 

It's still a very legitimate point, and I'm not trying to argue it. It's also the easiest thing in the world to spend someone else's money. I have no agency in any of this. To me it makes sense to wait for chaos and then take advantage of opportunities if they present themselves. 

To your point on evaluating OL. There a lot of LT in the NFL that were grew into their bodies later. It a hard game to play, but I wouldnt mind offering a lighter kid with a basketball background as a 4th or 5th in classes (aka Goosby). 

Posted
3 minutes ago, mwaadeeb said:

Golden was a senior, of course. Livingston is a freshman (rs) starting at WR. The exact opposite of a JAG. After Worthy, when’s the last time we had that?

a. Golden was a junior.  

b. 2024 Ryan Wingo

  • Haha 4
Posted

It's an ill-advised question, simply because NIL and the transfer rules have completely transformed college football.  I'm not sure it will be possible for a school to become a dynasty of the type that Bama was for well over a decade.

Posted
25 minutes ago, SL Xpress said:

But at some point it's not necessarily about getting a starting NFL tackle. I know that's the aspiration at Texas, and it should be. But if you don't have enough bodies in the pipeline, if you're going to compete for national championships you better get them somehow. 

It's still a very legitimate point, and I'm not trying to argue it. It's also the easiest thing in the world to spend someone else's money. I have no agency in any of this. To me it makes sense to wait for chaos and then take advantage of opportunities if they present themselves. 

They were blindsided by ATM going ridiculously rich for Krempin. They are paying an IOL OT money in part because Texas was steering guys away from visiting ATM for June and it ticked them off. It’s kind of amusing in some form, but not in the context of needing that body. 

Ojo straight up Perrillouxing them is a different lesson someone needs to learn. If a comparable guy wants to commit to you but you’re taking the in-state guy instead, best make sure he isn’t a flake. Flood shot himself in the dick on the Lee recruitment. 

They’re allegedly resolute on getting another quality guy in this class, Lee or otherwise. 

6 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

It's an ill-advised question, simply because NIL and the transfer rules have completely transformed college football.  I'm not sure it will be possible for a school to become a dynasty of the type that Bama was for well over a decade.

It reads like a well-intended article not trying to take shots at Texas while praising the program. That said, I doubt anyone ever wins 6 titles in 13 seasons ever again. So, the premise is silly in general, but it’s certainly drawn traffic. 

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Posted
2 hours ago, Hard Times said:

Yes, and not just the level of competition, but with more reward comes more risk. Arch won't have time to sit back and wait for WR's to get downfield against OSU and UG. And I sure as fuck don't want to watch OSU take a fumble back for a TD again. In a defensive battle it's usually turnovers and giving a team first down or two on a penalty that wins or loses it.

I'd like to see a couple of long balls to keep them honest, but I don't think the long game is going to win those games. The running game, short/intermediate passing and running the clock will likely be the best strategy. Move the damn chains and tire out their defense. Bombs away against SJSU and UTEP to pad the stats. 

Greg Davis confirmed.

  • Haha 2
Posted

I don’t buy the ranking and predictions for Clemson. They haven’t managed the portal or NIL well, so I don’t see how their talent can be top 10 quality. 

On The Ticket they were talking about a statistic where 1-2 pre-season Top 10 teams end the season outside the Top 25 almost every year. I don't think Clemson will be that much of a bust because they have a cupcake schedule. But they won’t compete for the title. Littleton made a wise choice. 

Posted (edited)
6 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

On The Ticket they were talking about a statistic where 1-2 pre-season Top 10 teams end the season outside the Top 25 almost every year.

LSU.  Actually, the loser of Clemson/LSU could probably 1 of those teams. 

Miami, because Beck, Bert and Bozo (Cristobal) 

Oregon, because I think their choice in portal QB is a bust

 

I think ASU and Illinois are two teams outside the top 10 who could be top 10 by the end of the season.  Illinois hosts Ohio State and USC and their only tricky road game is Indiana.  They missed Michigan and Penn State and Oregon 

ASU hosts Tech, but they go to Iowa State

Edited by Js1
Posted

The Off Campus #14 is South Carolina. So today they announce that and then they have Patrick DiMarco on to talk about the Gamecocks for 2025. He’s a former SCar Fullback and played for a while in the NFL. 

The juxtaposition of listening to this guy after listening to Chip Brown this morning is stark. This dude couldn’t have honked more for South Carolina if he’d have been given a bullhorn. They couldn’t get him to say an objectively negative thing about their outlook for this season. The closest he came was saying that they might lose a couple in the middle of games 6-10. Give me a little of that from our asshats every now and then. Good lord. 

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Posted
27 minutes ago, Getafix said:

 

"Probably?" :-)) 

 

Gay Pride GIF by BuzzFeed

 

(Clemson 247, referring to (the content of) the story on Horns 247.)

image.thumb.png.7a6157eab6970eba1cc5d7bdd37f89d2.png

 

 

I know, I know, it's FCB ... but ignore the click bait-y heading. Lots of quotes from Taaffe, Guilbeau, Joseph, LIttleton' mom, etc..).

 

The Insider: The story of freshman Graceson Littleton and why he could end up starting in Texas' secondary
In this week's Insider, we give you the story of freshman Graceson Littleton and why he could end up as a starter in Texas' secondary when the Longhorns open the season at Ohio State and take the field against All-American receiver Jeremiah Smith on Aug. 30.
Chip Brown (Horns 247)
 

  Hide contents

 

The Insider: The story of freshman Graceson Littleton and why he could end up starting in Texas' secondary
In this week's Insider, we give you the story of freshman Graceson Littleton and why he could end up as a starter in Texas' secondary when the Longhorns open the season at Ohio State and take the field against All-American receiver Jeremiah Smith on Aug. 30.
Chip Brown (Horns 247)
 

In Texas' No. 1 overall recruiting class in 2025, who had 6-foot, 180-pound nickel cornerback Graceson Littleton as the prospect in the class that would have the biggest impact as a freshman?

The Longhorns are still early in training camp, but it's conceivable Littleton will find himself lined up against Ohio State sophomore All-American Jeremiah Smith in the slot in both teams' season opener on Aug. 30.

In front of 102,780 deafening fans at Ohio Stadium, known as "The Horseshoe," Littleton could be playing in his first-ever college game trying to defend the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Smith, who caught 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024 and is considered the best receiver in college football.


"I doubt anything is going to faze Graceson, because he's all about preparation," said Mark Kantor, Littleton's coach at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Tampa, Fla.

Nothing fazed Littleton as an early-enrollee freshman during spring football when he immediately caught the attention of Texas fifth-year senior safety Michael Taaffe.

"Graceson Littleton plays with his hair on fire," Taaffe said in April when asked if any young guys were standing out.

"He's a really good player. He's gonna be a stud for us, whether that's this year, whether that's a couple years down the road, he's gonna be a really good player. He knows the game, plays physical and plays with a great amount of effort."

Drake Damon, Graceson's 27-year-old brother who played cornerback at Friends University in Kansas, trained his younger brother and taught him to watch film at a young age.

"I think just giving him that edge of understanding the game a little bit more statistics-wise," Damon said. "Football is a game of percentages and numbers. I just taught him how to break down the game like that, so you're not looking for every single type of play they may run. By knowing what to look for, based on down and distance, you put yourself into the best positions to make a play. And if you watch Graceson's film, that's exactly what he does.

"He took all that in. Other kids might let it go in one ear and out the other. But the game slows down a lot more for those kids who know to how figure out what the offense is trying to do to them."

Littleton's mother, Heather Bouler, said during the recruiting process, "Graceson was interviewing the coaches on visits as much as they were interviewing him."

"He would ask them about their defensive schemes," Bouler said. "He would ask them how they mixed coverages? 

"He wanted to know how they ran practice and what availability he would have in the film room? Was it unlimited? Did they have an open door if he was wanting to evaluate practice - things like that.

"He was asking, 'What is your plan for each of your players? What's your plan for me? I want to know how you're going to coach me, how you're going to push me? How can you help get me to that next level?'

"And so he would ask the coaches all that, and they would say they could tell his football IQ was high, and they said, 'You don't get very many kids that are wanting this feedback, wanting this knowledge, before they're going to commit to a school."


Former Texas secondary coach Terry Joseph, who is now with the New Orleans Saints, was the one who recruited Littleton for the Longhorns.

"They definitely wanted a detailed plan for how we saw him [Littleton] fitting into the defense and the plan for his development," Joseph told Horns247.


Graceson Littleton with former Longhorns' DB coach Terry Joseph on a visit to Texas. (Photo: Texas Athletics)
Joseph said Littleton "has a football mind and very good feel for the game."

"When I watched his tape, he played with a calming presence," Joseph said.  "He is very smart and a good communicator. Also, he has verified track times. The final piece for me was his family. They were all about work ethic and discipline."

Littleton ran the 100 in 10.9 seconds high school.

Damon said he knew his brother might be special when Graceson delivered a hit at the age of 8 that knocked an opposing player's helmet off.

"You don't see that very often at that age," Damon laughed.

Heather Bouler, who also has a 26-year-old daughter, Jaden, who was a long jumper and triple jumper at Wichita State, said when she took Graceson to his older siblings' sporting events, "He studied what his sister and brother were doing."

Damon said Graceson had so much energy as a kid that sports became his outlet.

"As he got older, and you could see how he caught on to everything so quickly, I told my mom that Graceson was going to have his pick of schools to go to," Damon said.

"What sets him apart is his ability to adjust and adapt at a rapid pace. He's a problem solver, and he earns the trust of his coaches and teammates by getting the job done."

That's exactly how Texas senior Jaylon Guilbeau, who moved from nickel to outside cornerback in the spring, described Littleton.

"Graceson, he one of them ones," Guilbeau said. "I feel like he gonna do his job, and he gonna get it done."

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian heaped so much praise on Littleton in the spring that Sarkisian said, "Maybe it wasn't fair to him, because I was talking about him too much."

"But he just comes back and he works," Sarkisian said of Littleton. "He's very savvy. He's smart. He's tough. He works at his craft. Football is the most important thing in his life, and it shows. He came out and had a good day today. You can coach him hard. He takes hard coaching. He responds. He tries to get better. So it's a good start for him [to training camp]."

Bouler said her son has always been serious-minded when it comes to football.

"They called him 'Flash,' because he was always really fast, and he was always working hard, even as a young kid," Bouler said. "He never wanted to miss practice. He never had excuses. If the coaches pulled him aside, even at a young age, he took the feedback, and then he'd tell me after practice, 'OK, Mom, this is what I'm going to be working on now.'

"You're not going to see him out partying," Bouler added. "That's just not who he is. You're going to see him in the film room - even nights and weekends.

"He told me he's going to take this opportunity and take all of the resources that Texas has and become the best football player he can be."

Keynodo Hudson, who coaches the nickel cornerbacks at Texas, said Littleton "lives in the football building."

"I have to make him get out of my office at times," Hudson said. "And everybody already knows it. Like, everybody passes by my office and see him in there, so they call him my other son."

But Hudson said there is intense competition at the nickel cornerback spot between Littleton and 6-foot, 184-pound redshirt freshman Wardell Mack of Westminster (La.) John Ehret.


Texas redshirt freshman DB Wardell Mack (center) is battling Graceson Littleton at nickel cornerback. (Photo: Jordan Scruggs, 247Sports)
"Wardell Mack is right there with him," Hudson said. "So it creates that competition. Wardell Mack is a dynamic blitzer with great spatial awareness and elite cover skills. He's tough, relentless, and now his football IQ is dramatically improved.

"He [Mack] has grown up another semester in the weight room. He has a year under his belt being at a major university and understanding the tradition and the mindset and the standard that it's going to take for him to be great here. So he's done nothing but been extremely impressive.

"It also helps that he's got another freshman [Littleton] that's in the building with him just battling and pushing him. So it's like they're feeding off each other a little bit, and I like that a lot."

Kantor said Littleton played primarily outside cornerback at Wiregrass Ranch.

"We got a word from from Texas saying that they wanted to see him in the nickel a little bit," Kantor said. "So, we gave him some time at the nickel and played him a little bit at the strong safety spot."

Kantor said one of Littleton's most remarkable games at Wiregrass Ranch came in a 21-14 victory over South Sumter in 2024 in which Littleton scored on a 98-yard kick return and on a 99-yard scoop-and-score.

"So there is 14 points that we didn't have to do anything offensively for, because he got us 14," Kantor said. "Once we got into the playoffs, his game went to another level.

"He was a shut-down corner. We could go man and put him on the backside, away from the trips [receivers], and we knew his side of the field was shut down. Then, we would flip it and put him to the trips side and play coverage. So he just became more of a dominant player as his senior year went on."

Kantor said Littleton's recruitment took off once college coaches saw he could play zone coverage as well as he played man coverage.

"The college coaches want you to play everything," Kantor said. "They want to see you playing zone, man, off-ball technique, press technique, bail technique. They want to see all the techniques. For quarterbacks, they want to see you throw the hitch, the slant, the out, the fade, the 20-yard out - all from the opposite hash. For corners, they want to see you play all the techniques, and we mixed our coverages, so college coaches saw that Graceson could do it all."

Littleton was initially committed to Clemson but ended up picking Texas over Michigan. After Littleton committed to Texas, Ohio State tried to convince him to come to Columbus.

On Aug. 30, Littleton will indeed be in Columbus - wearing his No. 29 icy white Texas jersey in his first college game.

"It's going to be a great matchup," Damon said of his younger brother possibly lining up against Jeremiah Smith. "Graceson actually does better against bigger receivers."

 

 

 

I enjoyed that article from Chip Brown. The quotes from his brother and Mom were terrific.

But the starting five at Ohio State barring injury IMO are going to be McDonald and Williams at safety, Taffe at nickel, and Muhammed and Guilbeau at corner. But it looks to me like Littleton is going to see a lot of playing time this season, and could become a starter at some point. 

Posted
17 minutes ago, SL Xpress said:

I enjoyed that article from Chip Brown. The quotes from his brother and Mom were terrific.

But the starting five at Ohio State barring injury IMO are going to be McDonald and Williams at safety, Taffe at nickel, and Muhammed and Guilbeau at corner. But it looks to me like Littleton is going to see a lot of playing time this season, and could become a starter at some point. 

To ctj's point re: how shitty the douchebags that cover Texas sports are; if you are right prepare yourself for FCB to write some bullshit ambush piece about how Littleton was betrayed and the coaches lied to him etc etc and that in his recruitment he was promised he would be a day one starter.

Posted
2 hours ago, Teamdirtyleg said:

you can't go to the playoffs and always lose" or something close to that

QE3 plays for the dolphins now, so maybe it's their problem now. Arch is undefeated as a starting QB in the playoffs!

Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, honolulu horn said:

I assume our OL will have some big problems -- QB protection given their relative inexperience vs a very good OSU pash rush, and penalties given the home crowd in the Shoe. I am expecting a pretty ugly game all around, with Texas trying to get a running game established. If they can get a consistent run game going, I like our chances. I'm not as optimistic as others about winning that game, but I also have to remember that our DL will likely be very effective against their unproven QBs (which should limit OSU's biggest offensive advantage -- their receivers). That will be huge for us, and I think our defensive advantages should be enough to overcome our OL concerns. If our OL can just avoid penalties and play solid, consistent football and get an adequate run game going, I feel good about us winning. 

I have no hard evidence to back this up other than my own eyeballs, but it feels like elite front 7’s are always going to have the advantage more often than not in college football even when going against quality offensive lines. We saw what our own DL did against Georgia and Ohio State. Their offenses just made the extra play or two to come out on top and at that point you tend to forget some of the bad stuff.

I’m beginning to see some bellyaching about Flood on the 9.95 sites and how his unit “underperformed expectations” last year. I certainly expected us to rush for more than 1 yard a carry or whatever it was against Georgia and Ohio State and there are always places for improvement, but it also ran over some good fronts throughout the season and provided quality pass protections despite Ewers having zero pocket presence.

You aren’t just going to have your OL manhandle everyone in a 16 game season in the college game.

Edited by Hookem2147
  • Hook 'Em 5
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Wishbone said:

Chip is actually short for “chipmunk”.

I was going to guess "chip" is short for shit weasel.  Shit nugget will also be accepted.  

Edited by Mdhorn
Posted
2 hours ago, GTJ1982 said:

So  I listened to Sark's press conference this morning and I was shocked to hear him mention Aaron Butler being a highlight player from the scrimmage this weekend and having a lot of catches.  Were the "insiders" wrong or was Sark trolling them after they put out he was dropping passes over the weekend?

At this point, a lot of what we're reading seems to be for player retention purposes.  If everybody is doing well, potential portalers may wait and see, as will we all.  

Posted

About this ol talk. I would love Texas to be 3 deep at tackle but that just wouldn’t be normal these days. What team in ncaa has 3 deep talented tackles waiting their turn?? 

Posted
1 hour ago, Getafix said:

 

"Probably?" :-)) 

 

Gay Pride GIF by BuzzFeed

 

(Clemson 247, referring to (the content of) the story on Horns 247.)

image.thumb.png.7a6157eab6970eba1cc5d7bdd37f89d2.png

 

 

I know, I know, it's FCB ... but ignore the click bait-y heading. Lots of quotes from Taaffe, Guilbeau, Joseph, LIttleton' mom, etc..).

 

The Insider: The story of freshman Graceson Littleton and why he could end up starting in Texas' secondary
In this week's Insider, we give you the story of freshman Graceson Littleton and why he could end up as a starter in Texas' secondary when the Longhorns open the season at Ohio State and take the field against All-American receiver Jeremiah Smith on Aug. 30.
Chip Brown (Horns 247)
 

  Hide contents

 

The Insider: The story of freshman Graceson Littleton and why he could end up starting in Texas' secondary
In this week's Insider, we give you the story of freshman Graceson Littleton and why he could end up as a starter in Texas' secondary when the Longhorns open the season at Ohio State and take the field against All-American receiver Jeremiah Smith on Aug. 30.
Chip Brown (Horns 247)
 

In Texas' No. 1 overall recruiting class in 2025, who had 6-foot, 180-pound nickel cornerback Graceson Littleton as the prospect in the class that would have the biggest impact as a freshman?

The Longhorns are still early in training camp, but it's conceivable Littleton will find himself lined up against Ohio State sophomore All-American Jeremiah Smith in the slot in both teams' season opener on Aug. 30.

In front of 102,780 deafening fans at Ohio Stadium, known as "The Horseshoe," Littleton could be playing in his first-ever college game trying to defend the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Smith, who caught 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024 and is considered the best receiver in college football.


"I doubt anything is going to faze Graceson, because he's all about preparation," said Mark Kantor, Littleton's coach at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Tampa, Fla.

Nothing fazed Littleton as an early-enrollee freshman during spring football when he immediately caught the attention of Texas fifth-year senior safety Michael Taaffe.

"Graceson Littleton plays with his hair on fire," Taaffe said in April when asked if any young guys were standing out.

"He's a really good player. He's gonna be a stud for us, whether that's this year, whether that's a couple years down the road, he's gonna be a really good player. He knows the game, plays physical and plays with a great amount of effort."

Drake Damon, Graceson's 27-year-old brother who played cornerback at Friends University in Kansas, trained his younger brother and taught him to watch film at a young age.

"I think just giving him that edge of understanding the game a little bit more statistics-wise," Damon said. "Football is a game of percentages and numbers. I just taught him how to break down the game like that, so you're not looking for every single type of play they may run. By knowing what to look for, based on down and distance, you put yourself into the best positions to make a play. And if you watch Graceson's film, that's exactly what he does.

"He took all that in. Other kids might let it go in one ear and out the other. But the game slows down a lot more for those kids who know to how figure out what the offense is trying to do to them."

Littleton's mother, Heather Bouler, said during the recruiting process, "Graceson was interviewing the coaches on visits as much as they were interviewing him."

"He would ask them about their defensive schemes," Bouler said. "He would ask them how they mixed coverages? 

"He wanted to know how they ran practice and what availability he would have in the film room? Was it unlimited? Did they have an open door if he was wanting to evaluate practice - things like that.

"He was asking, 'What is your plan for each of your players? What's your plan for me? I want to know how you're going to coach me, how you're going to push me? How can you help get me to that next level?'

"And so he would ask the coaches all that, and they would say they could tell his football IQ was high, and they said, 'You don't get very many kids that are wanting this feedback, wanting this knowledge, before they're going to commit to a school."


Former Texas secondary coach Terry Joseph, who is now with the New Orleans Saints, was the one who recruited Littleton for the Longhorns.

"They definitely wanted a detailed plan for how we saw him [Littleton] fitting into the defense and the plan for his development," Joseph told Horns247.


Graceson Littleton with former Longhorns' DB coach Terry Joseph on a visit to Texas. (Photo: Texas Athletics)
Joseph said Littleton "has a football mind and very good feel for the game."

"When I watched his tape, he played with a calming presence," Joseph said.  "He is very smart and a good communicator. Also, he has verified track times. The final piece for me was his family. They were all about work ethic and discipline."

Littleton ran the 100 in 10.9 seconds high school.

Damon said he knew his brother might be special when Graceson delivered a hit at the age of 8 that knocked an opposing player's helmet off.

"You don't see that very often at that age," Damon laughed.

Heather Bouler, who also has a 26-year-old daughter, Jaden, who was a long jumper and triple jumper at Wichita State, said when she took Graceson to his older siblings' sporting events, "He studied what his sister and brother were doing."

Damon said Graceson had so much energy as a kid that sports became his outlet.

"As he got older, and you could see how he caught on to everything so quickly, I told my mom that Graceson was going to have his pick of schools to go to," Damon said.

"What sets him apart is his ability to adjust and adapt at a rapid pace. He's a problem solver, and he earns the trust of his coaches and teammates by getting the job done."

That's exactly how Texas senior Jaylon Guilbeau, who moved from nickel to outside cornerback in the spring, described Littleton.

"Graceson, he one of them ones," Guilbeau said. "I feel like he gonna do his job, and he gonna get it done."

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian heaped so much praise on Littleton in the spring that Sarkisian said, "Maybe it wasn't fair to him, because I was talking about him too much."

"But he just comes back and he works," Sarkisian said of Littleton. "He's very savvy. He's smart. He's tough. He works at his craft. Football is the most important thing in his life, and it shows. He came out and had a good day today. You can coach him hard. He takes hard coaching. He responds. He tries to get better. So it's a good start for him [to training camp]."

Bouler said her son has always been serious-minded when it comes to football.

"They called him 'Flash,' because he was always really fast, and he was always working hard, even as a young kid," Bouler said. "He never wanted to miss practice. He never had excuses. If the coaches pulled him aside, even at a young age, he took the feedback, and then he'd tell me after practice, 'OK, Mom, this is what I'm going to be working on now.'

"You're not going to see him out partying," Bouler added. "That's just not who he is. You're going to see him in the film room - even nights and weekends.

"He told me he's going to take this opportunity and take all of the resources that Texas has and become the best football player he can be."

Keynodo Hudson, who coaches the nickel cornerbacks at Texas, said Littleton "lives in the football building."

"I have to make him get out of my office at times," Hudson said. "And everybody already knows it. Like, everybody passes by my office and see him in there, so they call him my other son."

But Hudson said there is intense competition at the nickel cornerback spot between Littleton and 6-foot, 184-pound redshirt freshman Wardell Mack of Westminster (La.) John Ehret.


Texas redshirt freshman DB Wardell Mack (center) is battling Graceson Littleton at nickel cornerback. (Photo: Jordan Scruggs, 247Sports)
"Wardell Mack is right there with him," Hudson said. "So it creates that competition. Wardell Mack is a dynamic blitzer with great spatial awareness and elite cover skills. He's tough, relentless, and now his football IQ is dramatically improved.

"He [Mack] has grown up another semester in the weight room. He has a year under his belt being at a major university and understanding the tradition and the mindset and the standard that it's going to take for him to be great here. So he's done nothing but been extremely impressive.

"It also helps that he's got another freshman [Littleton] that's in the building with him just battling and pushing him. So it's like they're feeding off each other a little bit, and I like that a lot."

Kantor said Littleton played primarily outside cornerback at Wiregrass Ranch.

"We got a word from from Texas saying that they wanted to see him in the nickel a little bit," Kantor said. "So, we gave him some time at the nickel and played him a little bit at the strong safety spot."

Kantor said one of Littleton's most remarkable games at Wiregrass Ranch came in a 21-14 victory over South Sumter in 2024 in which Littleton scored on a 98-yard kick return and on a 99-yard scoop-and-score.

"So there is 14 points that we didn't have to do anything offensively for, because he got us 14," Kantor said. "Once we got into the playoffs, his game went to another level.

"He was a shut-down corner. We could go man and put him on the backside, away from the trips [receivers], and we knew his side of the field was shut down. Then, we would flip it and put him to the trips side and play coverage. So he just became more of a dominant player as his senior year went on."

Kantor said Littleton's recruitment took off once college coaches saw he could play zone coverage as well as he played man coverage.

"The college coaches want you to play everything," Kantor said. "They want to see you playing zone, man, off-ball technique, press technique, bail technique. They want to see all the techniques. For quarterbacks, they want to see you throw the hitch, the slant, the out, the fade, the 20-yard out - all from the opposite hash. For corners, they want to see you play all the techniques, and we mixed our coverages, so college coaches saw that Graceson could do it all."

Littleton was initially committed to Clemson but ended up picking Texas over Michigan. After Littleton committed to Texas, Ohio State tried to convince him to come to Columbus.

On Aug. 30, Littleton will indeed be in Columbus - wearing his No. 29 icy white Texas jersey in his first college game.

"It's going to be a great matchup," Damon said of his younger brother possibly lining up against Jeremiah Smith. "Graceson actually does better against bigger receivers."

 

 

 

He should definitely get some action on the KO/punt return team.

Guy is electric.

Posted
6 hours ago, closetojumping said:

Case in point, Ohio State was actually desperate for a seasoned OL from the portal. Their best choice was a starting OT from Rice. He's now iffy on being the starter after they penciled him in at RT before he arrived on campus. It's not like the guy he's battling with has drawn rave reviews, either.

They kicked the tires, thinking about depth risk, but Oregon was willing to pay for a starter, which Texas didn't think it needed. Most of the OL entering the portal want starter assurances. That position in particular is as much about PT as money in the portal. Frankly, OL are still the most stagnant people on a given roster. Good ones stay put, bad ones will stay put if you keep paying them, and mostly only the hungry ones not starting are leaving to start. 

Compare that to DT where starting isn't the priority for a lot of guys. It's almost kind of weird. Even WRs, the biggest prima donnas in the portal, have joined UT's roster and others merely for playing assurances in their system for good money. 

I agree about OL.  Wouldn’t mind getting some depth.  But since we weren’t offering a starting spot, probably not much better than what we have.  
 

Not getting a punter last year was befuddling to me.  I predicted on this board that was going to hurt us in 2024.  If it was me, I’d not bother with high school punters and kickers.  Just get a portal guy with a couple years of eligibility.  These are just small complaints.  I love how Sark builds a roster.  Almost no bread.  Mack was such a pussy who was scared to fight until signing day he’d stack half our team with bread.  Especially post 2006 class.  

Posted
8 hours ago, Codaxx said:

Houston QB lit the Texas secondary up to the tune of 32/46 for 378 yards. 3 WRs put up 80 or more yards. Stats were great, but he was not an outlier in the Houston WR corp that day. 

We were terrible and everybody wanted to fire PK. I 'member

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