THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Promoting Bryan Carrington to an interim coach was an excellent move by Texas
I’m not sure who came up with the idea to promote Bryan Carrington from Assistant Director of Player Personnel to interim coach, but it was yet another example of brilliant outside-the-box thinking by Tom Herman and the Texas staff.
When word came out last week that Carrington would be promoted, allowing him to hit the road and recruit for Texas off campus, it seemed like such an obvious move, but I have to admit it had never crossed my mind before last week.
Texas employed a similar strategy last year when Herman was first hired and was working to fill out his coaching staff, promoting support staff guys like Michael Huff and Derek Chang so they could be more involved, including sending Huff on a few key in-home visits. So while the move isn’t unprecedented by Herman, the promotion of Carrington this year is carrying more weight.
First off, Carrington is a dynamic recruiter who has had a full year to develop strong relationships with prospects and their families, so having him visiting schools and homes could have a key impact on how Texas closes out this year’s class. Carrington has built up tremendous connections with a large number of the Longhorns’ commitments and targets in the Houston area – some actually knew him from his days on Herman’s staff at Houston – and you’ve already seen players like Keondre Coburn, Daniel Carson and Vernon Jackson singing his praises on social media (in addition to players committed to other schools).
With Texas apparently in no rush to permanently fill its 10th coaching position, look for Carrington to continue to be heavily involved on the recruiting trail, while also holding down his on-campus duties that have been so integral to UT’s recruiting success.
Keep reading for more on Carrington later in this column.
2. The Texas women’s hoops came up short against UConn but should have gained some confidence
The Longhorns put up a valiant effort in a hard-fought loss to No. 1-ranked UConn, but in falling 75-71, Texas gave the Huskies their toughest test of the season. UConn’s closest game prior to Monday night’s outing in Austin was a 9-point win over No. 3-ranked Notre Dame.
The Longhorns did stumble to TCU last week, dropping Texas behind Baylor in the Big 12 standings, but Monday’s game against UConn is a pretty good indicator that this is another Texas team that could challenge for a deep run in postseason play.
Texas came out shooting well from deep in opening up sizable leads in the first two quarters, but was unable to make big shots down the stretch (5-of-21 on 3-point attempts) to overtake the Huskies, who also connected on 90 percent of their 19 free throw attempts. UConn was the better team overall, but a different bounce here or there and Texas pulls off the upset.
If you missed the game, I encourage you to give the women’s hoops team a try at some point. I started watching them some last year when they were stringing together wins in the Big 12, and the women’s games are filled with quite a bit of excitement, and it helps pique the interest because the the team is really damn good.
Texas’ next big game will be next Thursday, when the Longhorns travel to Waco to square off with Baylor (ranked No. 4). There seems to be no love lost between those two programs in recent years, which always makes for an entertaining atmosphere.
3. This could be a telling weekend for the Longhorn’s chances with Jaylen Waddle
Texas didn’t get an official visit from wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, which is usually a pretty good indicator that a team is behind in that particular recruiting race. The same can probably be said for Waddle’s situation, but all hope is not lost with Waddle contemplating an unofficial visit to Texas sometime in January.
When OB spoke with Waddle recently down in San Antonio during Army Bowl week, he mentioned that he’d like to get back to UT for a visit, but didn’t know if he would be able to make it work because of his basketball schedule with Houston Episcopal. As luck would have it, Episcopal will be playing two games in Austin this weekend (Friday and Saturday), which would seem to open up the channels for Waddle to get some facetime with the Texas coaches (I’m still trying to pin down the exact rule, but I believe since the games are not on UT’s campus, Waddle would be free to swing over to the football offices at any time).
If Waddle does spend some time with the UT staff this weekend, the Longhorns would have a puncher’s chance at landing the dynamic receiver. If not, I certainly wouldn’t expect Texas to give up, but that would seem to be a pretty big indicator of which way this one is trending. There’s always a shot he could return to Austin in the next couple weeks, but this weekend would be much more convenient if the stars align.
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TWO QUESTIONS
1. What makes Bryan Carrington such a valuable recruiting weapon for Texas?
There’s plenty of praise to go around for a Longhorn football staff that has secured one of the nation’s top recruiting classes, and Carrington has had a big hand in UT’s success, mostly behind the scenes up until last week.
As we’ve been mentioned on the board, Carrington has done a fantastic job of developing relationships with both recruits and parents, and we caught up with a couple of those parents this week to get their thoughts on what makes Carrington so special.
“The first and most raw, honest thing I can say is that Bryan looks different. I’ve said it to plenty of coaches. It’s sometimes hard for these young black boys to actually bond with middle-aged white men. It doesn’t matter if you’re a coach, a reporter, or what. It’s a disconnect,” said Natalia Vaughns, mother of Texas linebacker signee Byron Hobbs (and one of UT’s biggest supporters on Twitter under the handle mUTha hustla). “When I first met Bryan, he just has a lot of good energy. He just has a good vibe about him. He’s always been consistent. He’s old enough for guys to respect him, but young enough for guys to relate.
“And he cares. He talks to them like little brothers. He’s kept the class together in the background. I want him to be bigger, but I don’t want him to be bigger because I don’t want him to go anywhere.”
Part of Carrington’s draw, Vaughns said, is that he’s at a perfect age where he’s young enough that he can still relate to recruits, but is old enough and dedicated to his job enough that he also earns respect from parents.
“Because he does his job so well, when I see him, I almost feel like I’m looking at someone who could be my kid, but there’s a level of respect because of his position and how seriously he takes his role in the recruitment,” Vaughns said. “But he’s also not going to break those relationships with the kids. He’s just good at interacting with kids.
“Bryan is great. Just all and all, he’s great. Now he can go in homes, lock up deals face to face with some of the parents, other male figures in these kids’ lives. He’s a big impact. He is the lynchpin of this class. Bryan is in daily contact with these recruits. He has daily interaction with them. I can say Bryan is who I talk to the most on the staff.”
Wisley Epps, father of Texas tight end signee Malcolm Epps, echoed Vaughn’s thoughts. Spring Dekaney, where Malcolm Epps attends school, was one of Carrington’s first campus visits last week, and Mr. Epps said Carrington has been valuable in Malcolm’s recruitment from the beginning.
“He’s been wonderful. He’s been really, really caring and attentive to detail. Not just with the players, but the parents as well,” Epps said. “Anything within his power that he can do, he does. I’m older, and he makes me feel like he’s my oldest son and respecting what I’m saying and doing. He brings a refreshing bit of recruiting, has that ability to cross over in more than one age group.
“Malcolm loves him, he really does.
2. Which players are most likely to fill out UT’s recruiting class?
I’ve been avoiding addressing this question in this column for weeks because there are so many recruitments that could impact each other that it’s nearly impossible to predict which way some guys will fall, but let’s take a stab at predicting the players most likely to wind up in UT’s recruiting class over the next few weeks, in descending order from the highest probability to lowest.
Keondre Coburn and Keaontay Ingram … still expecting both to stick with Texas, despite the likelihood of visits, especially for Coburn.
Joseph Ossai … I don’t expect A&M to just give up, but this one has been trending UT’s way for a couple weeks – maybe longer – and I’d put it as a very strong possibility that he winds up a Longhorn.
Mike Williams – Texas will visit Williams this week and then he’ll take a UT official visit over the weekend. Williams doesn’t have a UT offer yet, but told OB that Texas is his top choice even without an offer in hand. If Texas offers, this one looks good for Texas.
Caleb Okechukwu – A new name to UT’s radar, he’ll visit Texas this weekend. His situation is similar to Williams in that he doesn’t hold a Texas offer yet and UT is still doing homework on him. From conversations I’ve had, both guys may still have a bit of work to do before becoming fully qualified, which could impact things.
Joshua Moore – As soon as Moore decommitted from Nebraska and told OB he’d visit Texas, I had a hunch this one might fall UT’s way. This one’s had so many twists and turns that it’s tough to say anything with complete confidence, but with Texas’ need at receiver, the in-state draw and his ties to UT, it just makes a lot of sense.
Vernon Jackson – He visited Texas last weekend but is still committed to Alabama and will visit there this weekend. Can Texas convince him it’s in his best interest to stay closer to home? Tough one to predict because Jackson doesn’t top his hand much. A&M is also in play here.
Jaylen Waddle – Let’s see if he takes an unofficial visit to UT and go from there. Waddle has kept everyone guessing – including all the recruits he hung out with during Army week – but this one still feels like a longshot, and he told some fans after the game he’d likely wind up at A&M.
Moro Ojomo – I’m expecting him to take a UT official visit, but the competition for this one has picked up over the last month and it may be too much for Texas to overcome.
Lawrence Keys – Texas is supposed to see him this week. The Longhorns’ chances basically come down to whether or not they can get him on campus for an official visit. Right now, Keys is undecided on that.
Courtre Alexander – This one went from feeling like a strong UT lean when Texas first offered to the Longhorns now trailing Arkansas. People in Fayetteville are confident and Alexander has been pro-Arkansas on Twitter of late.
Tyree Wilson – He’s still committed to A&M and this one has the feel that it could come down to the Aggies or Arkansas, but Wilson is supposed to visit Texas (per someone at his school) so the Longhorns have a shot.
Daniel Carson – All signs appear to be pointing to Nebraska, but I can’t honestly say I have a good handle on this one.
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ONE PREDICTION – Texas gets one, but not both of its graduate transfer offensive linemen candidates
The information on Rice transfer Calvin Anderson and Stanford transfer Casey Tucker has been tough to come by of late, so this is more of a gut feel than anything, but I’ll go with Texas having a higher chance of landing Anderson over Tucker right now. We likely won’t get an answer on either player until they take several visits, but Anderson certainly has more signs that would seem to point in UT’s favor … the Longhorns’ need at offensive tackle, him being from Austin Westlake, the UT staff’s relationship with Rice head coach David Bailiff.
