THREE THINGS WE LEARNED

1. Ramonce Taylor has fond memories of his time at Texas

Ramonce Taylor’s life could easily be turned into a movie. A great player for Texas during his two-year career in Austin, Taylor was an integral part of UT’s 2005 National Championship and’s still regarded as one of the most exciting players to ever wear a Longhorn uniform.

Taylor’s story is well-known among Longhorn fans, with the former Belton product getting dismissed from the Texas program after two years due to some off-field issues. Fast forward to 2021, and Taylor has come through his struggles and found peace within himself to become a better man. Even more impressive, he’s now giving back to the community, using his platform to help guide young boys and girls in his job as a high school football/track coach in addition to being the founder of the Ramonce Taylor Youth Association, a non-profit group that will serve nearly 800 Central Texas children this year.

We caught up with Taylor to reflect on his UT career and talk about his current life:

On what he remembers when he reflects on the 2006 Rose Bowl:

“The great atmosphere, all the hype leading up to the game. The way you know you’re going to be playing against great players, the Heisman Trophy winner (Reggie Bush), Matt Leinart. Just the excitement to see him in person. See Reggie Bush actually in person after seeing highlights and turning on ESPN during the week just to see a Reggie Bush highlight. To actually get to see him in person was exciting.

“And then again, just to be out there with my brothers and know that we’re competing to be the best team in the country. It doesn't get any better than that, and knowing that I’ve got all my brothers behind me ready to win a championship. There’s no better feeling.”

On national media not giving Texas much of a chance in that game:

“It was crazy. When we were out there, we go the week before, even while we were out there and walking at the mall. We’d have on our Texas stuff and the arrogance of the USC fans was crazy, like they had already won it.”

On if the lack of respect was something the team used as motivation:

“That definitely motivated us. We knew we had the best O-line, I would say that the best defense in the country with the best DBs, and the best football player. It was like, for you all to count us out, that’s crazy. We’ve got some dogs over here.”

On his 30-yard touchdown run in the national championship game:

“Whenever I see green, it’s ‘Can you catch me now?’ That’s my mindframe. Whenever I see green, can you catch me? I'm a firm believer that you can't tackle something you can't catch so once I put my foot in the ground, I'm putting everything into it. (Former UT running backs) Coach (Ken) Rucker always made sure he stressed to me about getting skinny, getting through there with your pad level low and keeping your eyes downfield. When Vince handed the ball off, my eyes were downfield and I made sure to make that one cut and get skinny. If you do too much dancing, that gives the defense the opportunity to get their hands on you.”

On how often he relives that moment when crosses the goal line:

“To be honest, where I’m at in my life right now, I don't really relive it too much. People come up and talk to me about it but I try not to relive it because I don’t want that to be the best thing that I feel like has happened to me, that I stress over. I'm very grateful for my opportunity and God giving me the God-given talent to be able to compete at that level and play in that game and accomplish those things, but being a father and changing these kids’ lives is what I thrive on.”

On Mack Brown making a similar statement about not letting that Rose Bowl win be the biggest moment in the players’ lives:

That’s right. That stuck with me to this day.

On him still being a favorite of a lot of Longhorns fans:

“I figured that out the other day. It’s crazy. It kind of touched me a little bit. During my time there and during the time that I went through my situation, I was getting the negative feedback from the fans, always getting the negative feedback. The other day, someone made a post on (Twitter) and when I say the support was crazy, it was like ‘Oh my gosh.’ The fans, everything was supportive now. Nothing was negative. That was crazy, but it just goes to show that lot of people don’t really know you for you, they just know you for what they hear from the media.

On what it was about Texas that made him want to go to UT:

“I was always an Aggie fan growing up and then (Belton) coach (Jay) Warrick, he was like ‘You should go to this one-day camp at Texas.’ I said ‘Are you sure?’ and he said ‘Yeah, just go to this one-day camp.’ So I went to the camp, and that’s when all the top receivers were there. I remember this kind of like it was yesterday. All the top DBs were there, running back Adrian Peterson was there. That’s when I ended up running a 4.2 in the 40. Then we went up in one-on-one drills and I started killing every top DB - Marcus Walker and all those top guys were out there. And then I went to DB and started locking down Jordan Shipley and all the top receivers. They were like, ‘What’s really going on here?’ I left the camp, I wasn't even in Jarrell, Texas yet and I got a phone call phone call from coach Brown, offering me on the phone, wanting to bring me there. So when I went back (that same day), Cleve Bryant was there, coach Brown, me, my mom, my dad. We walked into the bubble, VY, Roy Williams, Ced (Benson), Derrick Johnson, all of them had their arms open. So I was like, oh yeah, that’s a wrap.”

On Mack Brown:

“Coach Brown, he was tough on me, but he knew he had a great player in me and I had some issues. He never held that against me. He always helped me, always tried to lead me into the right direction. I just chose to do some things and be hard-headed.

“Still to this day, he reaches out to me, he makes sure to check on me. Anything that I need, he lets me know that he’s just a phone call away and he’s going to always be there for me. As a football player, that’s the type of person and type of coach you need in your life. That’s the type of coach I try to be to my youth kids, my kids at the high school. I also learned a lot from coach Brown as far as coaching. I analyze and I’m aware of everything around me. I paid a lot of attention to how to coach Brown coached, how he trained his assistant coaches to make sure that his team was right.”

On how hard it was to come out of his struggles to be a better person on the other side:

“It was super-hard because just dealing with the comeback and the feedback from people, always hearing ‘You should have gone to the NFL, you should have done this and that.’ Dealing with that for so many years, to this day I deal with but I cope with it a lot better than I did seven or eight years ago. I know deep down I should have gone to the NFL and I'm the only reason why I didn't go to the NFL. Sometimes, that was affecting me a little bit, what they call depression-mode. When I wound up going to prison, I had to get my mind right, contemplate on what I wanted from life and what was my plan, why God really had me on this earth. The NFL was not it. … If I make it to the NFL it’s going to be as a coach.”

2. Taylor’s passion now is helping young student-athletes

Taylor is currently an assistant football coach and head track coach at Marlin High School. His coaching career has been a 12-year (and counting) journey that’s seen him coach at a few different schools while also continuing to work towards his Texas degree. Four years ago, he started the Ramonce Taylor Youth Association and that organization now mentors young athletes in several sports both Belton County and now Marlin.

On his life now and the satisfaction he gets from mentoring young athletes:

“I started coaching back in 2009. I started coaching a 7-on-7 team at Fort Worth All Saints and then moved over to the junior high team. Our junior high team never lost a game. In fact, one of our kids on that team is over at Texas now (Luke Brockermeyer). Then I had another kid that went to Texas but he had an injury, Max Cummings. I went to the high school a little bit and helped coach (Aaron) Beck at the high school with some of those guys.

“I think it was 2012, I went to the TCU and Texas game. I was in the stands. I had got there early. It was pregame and they were warming up. I saw Arthur (Johnson), and I said ‘What’s up?’ He went over and got coach Brown, and coach Brown came over and gave me a hug. I gave Arthur my phone number, and that Monday morning he called me and they gave me my scholarship back to come to Texas to finish my academics.

“When I went back, I left Fort Worth All Saints in 2014 and started coaching under Ty Detmer at St. Andrew’s in Austin, and I started back at school at UT. Our first year at St. Andrews we went 9-1, I think the best in school history. I ended up becoming the track coach there and we did some things they had never done. A couple kids got scholarships in track. The resume just started building and I ended up having my first son, and it took too much for me to be coaching, going to school and being a father. So I came back to Temple.

“When I came back to Temple I started doing some personal training with some kids. It went from two kids to 22 to 26 kids I was training. Then I ended up being the PE teacher at the elementary school and I thought I just needed to go ahead and start my own Youth Association. I decided to start my Youth Association, made it a free program for all the kids. They don’t have to pay anything to participate. It’s run on straight donations and sponsorships and nonprofits. I started a celebrity kickball event to raise money when we first started off with Vince Young. Vince came, Quan Cosby came, Billy Pittman, Aaron Harris. So we ended up doing that and we raised like $8,000 from that event and started it off. We’re in year four now, rocking and rolling. We’re serving 780 kids in Central Texas. This year just expanded my Youth Association over to Marlin also.”

On how rewarding it is to be able to mold young kids’ lives:

“I love it. I love it. Every day I go out there and I see that I'm able to change a kid’s life and it’s crazy. You should come to my practice. These kids don’t even know me from a man on the moon but when I walk onto the field, it’s like I’m really their role model. They’ll stop in the middle of practice and just run up to me, and I don’t even coach these kids. It’s crazy. The parents and people see that, see the love that I have for the kids, they see that ‘he doesn’t care of this kid is not good, if this kid is good, he’s going to make sure he gets these kids right.’ They’re the next generation and I know if I would have had someone leading me in that direction, I probably wouldn’t have taken the detour I took in life.

“It’s very exciting, very humbling. Very humbling. I just enjoy it. I just enjoy seeing those kids smiling, knowing that what I’m teaching, they’re going out there and executing it.”

On being a father:

“It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I love being a father. There’s no better feeling than seeing your son, hugging your son, cuddling with your son. I love it. I’m not really too into sports with my kids. I just enjoy being a dad with them.”

On his current job at Marlin:

“The culture of Marlin, I feel like it’s where I grew up. Me being there, helping lead those guys in the right direction, putting them where they need to be to make sure they’re successful, that’s all God’s plan. God does things for a reason. I never would have imagined I’d be coaching at Marlin, being the head track guy at Marlin and winning the district championship with them. Now just developing these kids and getting them ready for the next level, getting them mentally right, prepared for college and what to expect so they won’t go to college and then come home and be homesick and then boom, their career is over. I just try to make sure I stay in their head, be a good example for them. Be there coach, be their mentor but also be a big brother for them. Be someone they can call on anytime.”

To find out more about Taylor’s Youth Association, including sponsorship/donation opportunities, click here.

3. Defensive lineman Aaron Bryant will announce his decision on Thursday

Southaven (MS) defensive lineman Aaron Bryant has had the date of August 26 earmarked for his commitment ceremony for more than a month. We’re rapidly closing in on that decision, and Bryant tells OB he’s ready to get his commitment out in the open and put the recruiting process behind him.

“It’ll be a really big relief because that’s something I’ve thought about for a long time,” Bryant said. “To get it out of the way and be done with it, it’ll be a big relief. Now I can just play football and not have to worry about it.”

The 6-4, 295-pound Bryant plans to announce his final decision at his high school auditorium. He has a final three of Alabama, Texas A&M and Texas. Bryant breaks down his finalists:

Alabama – “It’s just the idea of playing with the best. Alabama is always one of the best teams, so it would be great to be able to play with them.”

Texas A&M – “The system, and coach (Elijah) Robinson is a really good coach. He’s one of those guys when I talk to him, I have a lot in common with him.”

Texas – “Really, it’s coach Bo (Davis). He’s a really good coach, has coached a whole lot of players, a lot that are similar to me. I would like to play with him. Also the city of Austin is just a great city. And the quality of education I can get as well as play really big football.”

Bryant said his mind has been made up since August 1. He and his teammates will begin their season on Friday and Bryant said he’s anxious to get started.

“I’m really just hoping to show everybody I’m one of the best. I believe I’m one of the best, believe I’ve shown that, now I just have to keep it in everybody’s mind,” Bryant said.

Whoever wins out for Bryant will get a big, physical interior defensive lineman who has a nice, easygoing demeanor away from the field but is able to flip the switch once he steps between the lines.

“I just feel like I can bring good defensive line play, someone that’s going to work hard, is never going to be complacent in their ability,” Bryant said. “I will continue to work hard. I will also bring a nasty side, play with a lot of aggression.”

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TWO QUESTIONS

1. Can Texas get Larry Turner-Gooden back on campus?

A quick follow-up on Rivals250 DB Larry Turner-Gooden after our War Room report on Thursday night …

I mentioned on Thursday that it’s my belief that Turner-Gooden will eventually re-open his recruitment and back off his current Arizona State pledge. Technically, Turner-Gooden is still committed to the Sun Devils, but I’d call it a soft commitment at best at this point.

I’m told Turner-Gooden has plans to take four official visits this fall and is working to set up his fifth visit.

Texas, Arizona State, Oregon and Penn State will get visits. Colorado or LSU could get his fifth visit, if Turner-Gooden does take all five.

It’s a bit too early to make any bold predictions with the Mission Hills (CA) Bishop Alemany product, but this certainly has the feel of a race Texas could win in the end with everything going on at Arizona State.

2. How does the Big 12 stack up heading into the season?

We’re less than two weeks from the start of the Longhorns’ football season, which means the next time I pen this column I’ll have a week’s worth of games to evaluate as I rank the teams in the conference. My preseason rankings …

1. Oklahoma – You all won’t like hearing it, but this is an easy choice from the top spot. The other teams in the conference have to prove they can dethrone the Sooners before they’ll get any consideration for the top spot.

2. Iowa State – I could see a scenario where Texas moves into this spot, but ISU has a ton of talent and experience returning.

3. Texas – This is a UT team that has some holes and inexperience at key positions, but I have confidence that this new staff will maximize the talent on campus.

4. TCU – Am I giving Gary Patterson too much benefit of the doubt? Maybe. But with some experience at quarterback I expect the Frogs to be a tough team this year.

5. Oklahoma State – Mike Gundy’s teams are always scary with an experienced quarterback so I could see Oklahoma State being much better than this.

6. West Virginia – WVU does have some offensive talent and this one feels like it could be a tricky road game for Texas late in the season.

7. Kansas State- Like WVU, K-State has talent at the quarterback and running back position.

8. Texas Tech – Tech has an experienced roster and a transfer at QB should help, but the guess here is that Matt Wells continues to struggle.

9. Baylor – Remember the days when Baylor was actually competitive in the Big 12? Feels like forever ago.

10. Kansas – It’s Kansas.

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ONE PREDICTION – Aaron Bryant commits to Texas this week

Technically, defensive lineman Aaron Bryant is down to three schools but if you’ve been paying attention to our reporting on this one for the last couple months, Texas has been the one constant in Bryant’s recruitment. Immediately after his UT visit he told us it was down to Texas and Texas A&M. The Aggies are still under consideration but this one looks very good for Texas on Thursday.