Texas Athletics: Taking Over the World

[Bosoxen]

ESPN has Texas at number seven, CFN has us at six.
 
A very good class with two big misses in Murray and Mack, but overall filled key needs: six OL, the number one outside linebacker, some four-star studs at MLB, a four-star QB project in Locksley, a lot of four-star talent at RB and WR and probably the best defensive backfield class in the nation. 29 signees as of now. We can take 31 this year, so maybe a JUCO QB transfer and a late surprise from among the unsigned?
 
Very pleased with this class coming off a losing season and an embarrassing bowl blowout. Once we start winning with these guys, Charlie is going to knock it out of the park.

 
Seriously, if they can get the QB situation shored up, they could find themselves ahead of schedule with that defensive talent. Yes, that's a big if, but we saw glimpses of what that defense could do last season. That high-end talent at linebacker they've just brought in will surely help in that regard.
 
Am I the only one that thinks the Vahe signing was one of the most important ones? The center situation was ghastly in 2014 and it would be nice if he could take that position by the nads and lead the line from day one.
 
I'm loathe to look past baseball season, but with the arrows of both of my football teams pointed up - for the first time in what feels like forever - I'm finding it hard not to really look forward to September. Then again, it's probably just a product of being mired in the February-March sports doldrums.

 

[bbc23]

Favorite quote of the day from Charlie on PJ Locke after flipping him from Oregon in roughly a week, "Let's take a swing. What's the worst he can say? No?" You'd never have seen anything like that from Mack.

 

[ethangl]

A very good class with two big misses in Murray and Mack,

 
It's as good as a class can get after a 6-7 season. It's an amazing class, especially considering where things stood mid-December.
 
Can't really consider Murray a miss.

 

[canderson]

I'm goin to laugh my ass off when Murray opts for baseball before summer camp begins at Aggy.

 

[Kremlin Watcher]

Can't really consider Murray a miss.

 
The only reason I consider Murray a miss is that, according to the Texas boards, Strong and Watson went all in on him in the closing weeks, and he was very close to flipping, especially after Gentry flipped to Meatchicken. Murray was all along a highly probable aggy commit because of his father, but the fact is that Kyler Murray would have been the starting quarterback this fall at Texas, which was very tempting.
 
But I can see him taking the $$$ if he is drafted in the first round, so there's that.

 

[Bosoxen]

 
The only reason I consider Murray a miss is that, according to the Texas boards, Strong and Watson went all in on him in the closing weeks, and he was very close to flipping, especially after Gentry flipped to Meatchicken. Murray was all along a highly probable aggy commit because of his father, but the fact is that Kyler Murray would have been the starting quarterback this fall at Texas, which was very tempting.
 
But I can see him taking the $$$ if he is drafted in the first round, so there's that.

 
Can I just say that I love the bolded? My brother and I have referred to them that way for years. Didn't realize it was so widespread.

 

[ethangl]

The only reason I consider Murray a miss is that, according to the Texas boards, Strong and Watson went all in on him in the closing weeks, and he was very close to flipping, especially after Gentry flipped to Meatchicken. Murray was all along a highly probable aggy commit because of his father, but the fact is that Kyler Murray would have been the starting quarterback this fall at Texas, which was very tempting.

Actually Murray's family and his coach at Allen, all Aggies, were pushing him to Texas. But Sumlin sells the Manziel lifestyle *hard*, and that's what Murray wanted. We're not going to get those kinds of guys as long as CS is running this program, and I'm okay with that.

 

[Old Fart Tree]

This is true.  So much of UT's fortune was tied to Garrett Gilbert being the next stud QB to continue the line from Vince Young - Colt McCoy.  Gilbert was a 5 star prospect and Gatorade National Player of the Year.  He crashed and burned (though was drafted after transferring to SMU - something no UT player could claim last year).  Partly because UT was all in on Gilbert, and partly because of just plain old bad judgment, UT didn't pursue Andrew Luck, RGIII, Manziel, Foles, etc.
 
8 starting QB's in the NFL are from the state of Texas.  None of them went to UT.

 
Jesus Christ. Not a single guy from UT got drafted last year? That's fucking bananas.

 

[canderson]

Strong ha hired Gilmer HS coach Jeff Traylor as TE coach/recruiting (coordinator?). Traylor is a bigtime HS coach who immediately will get Strong ties to my homelahd, the fertile East Texas recruiting grounds.

Traylor just won another state title at Gilmer.

 

[Bosoxen]

East Texas? There's another team that recruits heavily in that region. Hell if I can remember their name, though.

 

[ethangl]

LSU?

 

[ethangl]

Brick Haley!