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Reminds me of Owen Daniels
Time for a few DBs to jump on board
Reminds me of Owen Daniels
WR's Laquvionte Gonzalez and Quincy Adeboyejo have committed to A&M.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/tamu/footbal...U6X_.xa9g8t5B4
http://rivals.yahoo.com/tamu/footbal....NqoRrzgI8t5B4
siap
I think Texas is almost certainly done at TE. I'm not sure who does the dirty work, but ships are too tight for another TE.
Last edited by billfromlaketravis; 03-09-2012 at 08:02 AM.
Saw someone post this on 247.
6'6" - Daeshon Hall
6'6" - Durham Smythe
6'5" - Darius James
6'5" - Kent Perkins
6'5" - Jake Raulerson
6'5" - Ricky Seals-Jones
6'5" - Tyrone Swoopes
6'4" - Naashon Hughes
6'4" - Jake Oliver
6'4" - A'Shawn Robinson
6'3" - Deoundrei Davis
5'11" - Jacorey Warrick
5'10" - Kyle Hicks
damn
At the risk of being completely wrong, I'll continue to say we shouldn't give up on Manning. That weekend has proven to be a big weekend in past years and I imagine it will be again if certain guys make it to Austin. The more patient he is with the process the better for UT.
And excellent news on Smythe. I'm pretty confident he'll end up in the Top 150 or so once this class is signed. He's a great TE prospect. To put things in perspective for this class so far (and another reason why I won't concede Manning), Mack has 19 offers out with 13 in the bag. Those remaining six are uncommitted with three of them being Texas leans (D. Wilson, Samples, Prevot). That leaves Manning, Harris and Bell. UT recruiting fans have many reasons to be optimistic.
I wouldn't be surprised if UT was. I feel like RSJ is destined for TE as I don't think he has that burst needed to play WR. Incredible athlete, however.
I pretty much gave up on Manning, but after reading the bit on Sooner rivals site, he sounded pretty pessimistic about them as well. If he goes to Spring Game that is huge.
It's got to be hard to ignore that Sooners have 1 commit and Texas has been getting almost all their targets at will - even without pressuring as in the past. Everybody wants to play on winning side.
There is a rumor on OrangeBloods from El Mahico (who is connected to Akina) that an in-state DB could be offered soon. Maurice Smith is my first guess if that's indeed true.
Getting him around all of these other top-notch guys is an advantage UT has to work with if he does end up making it to Austin. Like you said, everyone wants to win and most blue-chippers want to play with other blue-chippers. No doubt he's aware of what's going on right now. Combine that with UT's great individual recruiters (both coaches and players) and I can't give up on Manning.
A few quotes from TE Durham Smythe and his father. He committed to Mack in person yesterday and said he will be doing interviews today. Crazy that he won't even turn 17 until August:
"The family atmosphere really stood out. Players and coaches were really close. They had top of the line facilities," Smythe said. "Coach (Bryan) Harsin talked to me about the overall scheme. Coach (Major) Applewhite talked to me about utilization of tight ends, and I had a real long conversation with coach (Bruce) Chambers and he showed me some video. They're slim at the position right now because they have some guys that are graduating and some guys that are veterans. He focused on versatility. That's a big part of my game. They do a lot of things with their tight ends - flex, block, split them out and more."
"Durham committed in person to Coach Brown and UT tonight. We are excited to have the chance to be a part of the Longhorn family and tradition."
I wonder if the problems at OU are making Manning look around
Quotes from the 2012 signees via OrangeBloods, starting with DE Hassan Ridgeway:
"I thought about switching before I went on my official visit. I was about to. But I changed my mind at the last minute. I talked to the Texas coaches again and I just changed my mind," Ridgeway said. "But it was really a split decision. I didn't really know until signing day that it was Texas."
"It was just the program where I think they'll be at in the next couple years. I think we'll be winning and I don't think A&M will be," Ridgeway said.
"I'm happy. Wherever I went, I was going to have to work for whatever I get. That didn't affect the decision as much. The main thing is that I wanted to win. I'm very happy with my decision."
"Some of the stuff is the same, some is a little different. You just have to adjust to it. They want everything fast-paced but most of my workouts are fast anyway," Ridgeway said. "I know as much as I prepare, I don't think I'll be fully prepared for it when I get there (to campus). But I'm going to try to be in the best condition when I go."
"I just want to go in there and give my best. I hope to play, but whether or not I do, I'll give my best. They have a lot of defensive ends coming in too."
"I'll just go out there and give as much effort as I can, try to make some plays."
OL Curtis Riser:
"I'm definitely feeling good. I ran a 4.95 a couple weeks ago. I'm feeling back to 100 percent," said the 6-3, 285-pound Riser.
"Basically, feel like I'll be ready, but can't wait to get down there to see how the weight program is," Riser said. "I'm going to have to get used to it. I'm anxious to see how I react to it. I need to keep working hard, but I feel like I can keep up."
"On signing day, my coach came up to me and said 'Are you going to come up to me and go to LSU?' I was like 'what?' He said that's what people were saying on the internet and the Texas coaches had been calling to check. I said 'no.' When he asked me, I had on a burnt orange polo, had orange balloons, and had all my Texas stuff on the table."
"We (Riser and UT) had a family bond. When I went down to Texas the first time for the spring game my sop re year, there wasn't any awkward silence," Riser said. "We all (the recruits) bonded and kept that for the last two years. Now we'll all become teammates at Texas and hopefully win a national championship in the next couple years."
"In the beginning of recruiting, I told my coaches it would be between Texas and LSU. I like LSU, but that's kind of far away from my family. We talked it over, as recruiting kept going, I felt like Texas was my home. I went down there several times and Texas was the one for me."
"I feel my feet and athletic ability are high. They want to get me down there and work with them. They're looking for me to play early," Riser said.
"I would love Dontre to come to UT. But he has to think of it from his point of view. He's definitely highly recruited. I let him do his own thing. I would love for him to be at Texas though," Riser said.
DE Bryce Cottrell:
“A lot of the schools called me towards the end. I told everyone else no, I’m sticking with Oregon until Texas called and talked to my coach,” Cottrell said.
“Stressful, man. Real, real stressful,” he said.
“Chip Kelly going to the NFL, it put things in perspective,” he said. “Would he be there for the next four years of my career, and if he leaves what’s going to happen to me?”
“It’s just the school in general and it’s always been my dream school to play for,” Cottrell said. “I want to major in business and you know how good their business school is. It was just like I have to go see this.”
“They (Oregon) came to my house the day before I left to go to Texas for an in-home visit,” Cottrell said of the Ducks. “They asked me if I was still staying with Oregon. At the time I couldn’t really tell them no. So I told them ‘yeah, I’m still with Oregon right now, but I don’t know I’ve never seen Texas and it’s always been my dream school.’ That’s exactly what I told him. [Coach Don Pellum] was like I understand so go check it out and if you like it you like it and we’ll go from there and if you don’t we’ll be over here. After I visited Texas and everything… we went from there.”
“It was the most awkward conversation in the world. You don’t even want to know,” he said. “It was in front of all the coaches and the president of the school. I looked at my phone and was like ‘Oh, Chip Kelly.’ He said not to go and I was already kind of there.”
“It was amazing,” Cottrell said of the visit. “I never knew Texas was like that before. I took an unofficial before but when we went on my official visit I was like ‘Wow, they have a lot of stuff here.’ It was crazy.”
“Sunday afternoon before I left Austin in coach Brown’s office talking to him,” Cottrell said. “He asked me a question and I’ll never forget it. He asked me do I want to play for Oregon and play for the Civil War every year, or do I want to play in the Red River Rivalry? I was like yeah that’s a good point. And he asked me what school I wanted to go to before if football wasn’t an option, Texas or Oregon? I was like Texas and that’s when I knew I wanted to go to Texas.”
“They knew it was going to happen because they knew deep down it was the school I always wanted to go to since I was little,” he said. “They just told me Bryce it’s your decision so I sat down and prayed about it and looked over my options with both schools and Texas was more in favor. I didn’t go there because of my girlfriend or anything. I went there for me.”
“She (Cottrell's girlfriend) wanted me to go to UT,” Cottrell said. “She bought a belt buckle and everything before I even knew I was going to UT. She said ‘Bryce, I’m buying a belt buckle now. It’s a nice belt buckle. I’ll have to show you sometime.’ It’s a nice diamond belt buckle with a Longhorn. She was like ‘Yeah, you’re going to UT. I can see it now.’ And it came true, I’m going to UT.”
“Basically the family environment and Coach Brown, and they didn’t just want me they kind of needed me,” he said. “They only have four defensive ends coming into the spring and it just seemed like a better fit for me then actually. I asked my coaches and friends and family and they told me I would be better at defensive end than linebacker.”
“It feels great because I’m going to a school I’ve always wanted to go to, to be honest,” he said. “It kind of felt surreal when it started happening. When I look back on it I made the best decision of my life. I’m going to the school I’ve always wanted to play for, and I get to wear orange and beat Oklahoma every year. There’s nothing bad about it.”
24/7 reporting that RB Dontre Wilson and WR Ra'Shaad Samples also plan to be at the UT spring game on April 1st. Wilson's father mentioned that they plan on taking a separate trip to Austin as well to meet with the coaches.
Quotes from LB Michael Hutchings of Concord, CA:
“Texas A&M offered. UT didn’t,” stated the nation’s No. 17 prospect in the Rivals100. “I want to get in contact with them (Texas). I know they stay in state most of the time, but they will probably start venturing out."
“Yeah, I want to reach out to them on the own,” said Hutchings. “I’ll probably call the athletic offices and their desk phones this week and hopefully get an answer and introduce myself.”
“I’ve only been to one junior day so far,” stated the native of Concord, California. “I went to Cal because it was right down the road from me. I’ll probably go down to USC at the end of the month.”
“Offers are just coming in right now,” stated Hutchings. “I can’t put a leader on it right now. I’ll start to sort things out in the summer. I grew up a USC fan, but I have to throw that out of the picture for the recruiting process. I think I’m going to go through the whole process, see how the incoming freshmen I know do and how the new Pac-12 coaches do. I want to see how they (the freshmen he competed against and knows) compete on that college level at their schools. I want to see the impact they make.”
Also, on LB Jermaine Grace of Miramar, FL, his coach said Texas A&M offered and didn't mention anything about UT being in contact.
SI article on QB Tyrone Swoopes:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...xas/index.html
Jake Raulerson @JakeRaulerson55
#longhornnation it's official.. @D_Smythe88 is a longhorn!! Welcome him to the Dream Team! #hookem #DT13
Gerry Hamilton wrote this one on the 2013 class:
http://www.statesman.com/sports/long...printArticle=y
Any news on Wilson and his Oregon visit?
More from TE Durham Smythe on his commitment:
“It was fantastic. It was a great visit,” Smythe said of Stanford. “What really stands out is just how different Texas and Stanford are, but at the same time similar in the fact that they are both great schools and have great athletic programs."
“Stanford is beautiful. They have a beautiful campus. I loved all the coaches. They were great guys. The school was obviously fantastic. That combination of things is really enticing, but at the same time Texas has all of those things. When schools are that even in your mind it really comes down to where you feel the most comfortable and for me that was Texas. Both places I have complete respect for.”
“I guess it’s been speculated distance was the deciding factor, but in my mind it really had no impact,” he said. “I love Austin. It’s only an hour away so I can come home at any time, but at the same time Stanford is in a beautiful place on the west coast. How many chances are you going to have to live on the west coast for four years for free?"
“At the end of the day I weighed it and they came out even as far as distance because really it’s important to be close to your family but at the same time they would’ve come out to support me. Distance didn’t play a huge factor, it just came down to where I felt the most comfortable and where I fit in the best and have the best chance to succeed.”
“I don’t know about the overall decision but it definitely adds to the comfortable feeling because he’s (David Ash) a guy who has helped me out along the whole process,” Smythe said. “He’s been really good about not being biased. He would always tell me that we would love you to be at Texas, but at the same time you need to find the place that’s right for you. Of course it doesn’t hurt that you have some chemistry with the starting quarterback.”
“Coach Chambers is an awesome guy,” he said. “He has a lot of experience. This is his 15th year coaching with coach Brown. He has a lot of experience coaching the tight end position and he has had a lot of greats come through.
“You have to like your position coach because in college you’re going to be spending a lot more time with them than even your head coach or offensive coordinator. I feel like that relationship is important because of the amount of time you’re going to spend with them. They’re going to be the one’s coaching you. Coach Chambers is an awesome guy. I can’t wait to get in there and be around them.”
“Let’s go win a national championship.”
More...
"We wrote some things down and checked some things off and it really came down to one question I had for coach (Bryan) Harsin," Smythe said Friday morning. "That was 'How are they going to use the tight ends in this offense?'"
"Obviously, with coach Harsin, he came from Boise St. and they had a more pro-style mixture offense where they utilize tight ends a whole lot," Smythe said. "Texas, prior to him coming, ran a spread and that's a big transition from a spread to his offense."
"With that transition period you have to be able to recruit people who will fit your offense. That's what they were doing with the spread but now that we're transitioning to the pro-style he's trying to recruit someone who can block and receive and move around a lot. He talked about playing in the slot, outside receiver, at the regular tight end spot, in the backfield, and things like that. There's a lot of motion. It's going to be cool to see just how he utilizes the position."
"The plan all along was to do it today, but at the same time it's been between two schools for so long and there's only so much information you can know about both," he said. "I felt I had all the information I needed for a couple of days now and it's not going to get any easier and I got my question answered. At that time it felt right and I'm 100 percent confident."
"There was definitely some excitement in the room," Smythe said. "I feel like tight end was definitely a key position for them in this recruiting class just because of the depth they had and not being able to sign one last year. They looked relieved just like I was. It was mutual. I'm definitely excited about it and I think they are too."
"It feels awesome," he said. "It's a relief and I'm excited to be a Longhorn."
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