November 24Nov 24 (Eric Nahlin) Texas Recruiting Strategy: Balancing Portal Spending and High School Talent for 2026 Quote We are about to reach a very important time in the college football calendar, but it’s important for 2026, not 2025. Given the modern CFB climate is heavily influenced by portal recruiting, a team’s championship chances can either be improved or diminished in the next couple of months. First up is high school recruiting. The thing is, you cannot disassociate high school from the portal because it’s all tied directly to the same roster. The more aggressive a school is in high school, the less aggressive it typically will be in the portal. Resources are finite, even at a school like Texas. I felt Ohio State won last year’s national championship during this same period, when high school recruiting, portal imports and exports, and retention all converged. Ohio State crushed it in all facets. Texas lost this year’s national championship when it failed to properly address roster holes on offense. Though, this defense wasn’t likely to win a national championship either — but that stems from a different sort of miss on Sark’s part. Texas Must Win the Portal — and It Won’t Be Cheap Texas has to crush the portal this offseason by filling in the robust needs we’ve been talking about for weeks, if not months: O-line, RB, LB, S, CB, maybe WR, etc. However, going hard in the portal is costly, even if you’re not targeting the priciest positions like QB and Edge. This brings up two major questions: Will Texas have the resources to do what’s necessary? Are the coaches properly allocating resources between high school and the portal? Offensive Line Recruiting: The Spotlight Position A popular topic right now is offensive line recruiting — and rightfully so given this season’s struggles. Fans want to feel confident the coaches are adding the right type of athletes to ensure long-term health at the position. Essentially, fans want a reclamation similar to what Texas executed at defensive tackle, where coaches fixed both the short- and long-term outlook of the position by being aggressive in the portal and also spending in the high school ranks. Maybe they were too aggressive. It would have been nice to trade a D-tackle for a competent offensive guard. The coaches left no doubt at defensive tackle and continue to recruit very aggressively. They can leave no doubt at offensive line this season. Evaluating the 2026 Offensive Line Class Given the need for immediate help to protect Arch Manning in his final season, I like the current high school class, even with its questions. First, it’s not an overly expensive group. That matters because retaining Trevor Goosby and overhauling the interior won’t be cheap. Second, they’re taking at least three offensive tackles. Tackles are harder to find than guards, meaning you must make a concerted effort to land them. Elite tackles are expensive, but developmental guys are more budget-friendly. You want a mix — and there needs to be a mix in every class. John Turntine Turntine is highly rated as the No. 79 player in the country, but his weight loss adds volatility to his projection. He’s probably not even 270 pounds right now. As we reported, the Turntines were not as focused on NIL as many similarly rated recruits. That doesn’t mean he’s cheap, but it makes it easier to cover his costs while he adds the considerable weight he needs. Max Wright and Kaden Scherer These two are exactly what the doctor ordered: lower-cost, genuine-upside OTs. They’re similar to John Mills (UT decommit, signed with Washington) last cycle. The more of these guys you can properly evaluate, the better. But, you have to take numbers because they’re far from sure things. Should Texas Add Brysten Martinez? Should Texas even be trying to add Louisiana native and LSU commit Brysten Martinez? That depends entirely on their portal budget, not high school. Given how immediate the needs are, I’d probably prefer more focus on the portal than a costly high school addition. The Derrek Cooper Question A similar situation applies to Derrek Cooper. Cooper is a talented football athlete but probably not the most college-ready running back, especially if the offensive line is still a work in progress. James Simon is a more natural runner, and even he can’t crack the two-deep right now. Rivals recently dropped him to the No. 216 player in the country — they must share some of my reservations. I like him as a prospect and would love to see him develop on the roster, but not at the expense of landing a stud running back in the portal. That’s a must and it’s been obvious since the first game of the season. 2026: The Window to Win It All The goal for next season should be to win the National Championship. “We don’t have money for the portal” is not a valid excuse if it was obvious they had money for high school recruiting. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is actually the right approach given the importance of a swift bounce back. Right now their actions—pushing for Brysten Martinez and Richard Anderson—tell us they have enough money to do what’s necessary in the portal. I’m not sure all of IT’s sources would agree with that, however.
November 24Nov 24 5 hours ago, IDIOTsavant said: Speaking of, I’d love it if he became assistant to the regional manager here….maybe replace Alina after the season. If we just made the upgrade RIGHT NOW, would anyone know?
November 25Nov 25 Cummings is a good looking athlete but he's too tall to be a LB who plays in space. He's going to be an edge. He might be redundant in the class, but it is an end of the class take and he's not chasing any of our higher rated players off. We'll see. Nice developmental prospect.
November 25Nov 25 1 hour ago, satyanash said: (Eric Nahlin) Texas Recruiting Strategy: Balancing Portal Spending and High School Talent for 2026 That was a stupid article. yeah we need help in the portal but not at the expense of bringing in high school athletes. You have to be able to recruit quality linemen like Banks and not just look for them in the portal. And developmental guys are fine: wright and Scherer should never see the field though: they just aren’t athletic enough. Developmental guys are like the 2nd LSU line commit from MS, Tyreek Jemison from Georgia, Samuel Roseborough from Texas. and what the fuck is he saying about Cooper, that we don’t want him? That’s just dumb.
November 25Nov 25 On 11/15/2025 at 1:49 PM, SOHHvet08 said: I haven't been keeping up with this current recruiting cycle because honestly the Transfer Portal makes H.S. recruiting less of a priority for me to follow. Anyways, seeing how the "Big Humans" strategy at O-Line recruiting got exposed this season... have Sark/Flood started to shift their developmental O-Line recruiting towards recruiting big athletes that you can put weight on instead of Big Humans that need to lose weight & get into better athletic shape OR nah? Watching UGA highlights this week & comparing the UGA O-Line to the UT O-Line, Sark/Flood should shift to this strategy ASAP if they haven't already. On 11/15/2025 at 1:55 PM, texifornia said: Doesn't seem to be a big shift. To be fair, Flood has always liked big dudes even on his awesome Bama lines - it might be more of a Sark problem. That said, we're probably going to finally be all over some transfer OL. On 11/15/2025 at 2:19 PM, Bevo said: Big humans hasn’t been that big of an issue. I wouldn’t consider Banks and Baker huge and Cojoe and Goosby are good and large. Turntine coming in this year is actually undersized. The problem is more of a numbers issue. We are recruiting non-starters like Stroh and Wright and aren’t recruiting enough guys who can start. Lee, Martinez, Utu, and Roseborough were all fine prospects and we may get one of those guys. Meanwhile, we have a huge hole in the middle of the line again with a class that will have 2-3 starters in it. Basically, we aren’t devoting enough resources into the offensive line. 8 minutes ago, Lonestar88 said: These final commitments all just seem like lottery tickets. Both Max Wright & Kaden Scherer seem to fit the mold of big athletes you can put weight on, so I'm fine with both of them as developmental O-Line takes.
November 25Nov 25 Someone last week on a 9.95 site posted a list of recruits outside the top 1000 we’ve signed the last 10 years or so. A few more success stories than I would have thought. OL Devin Coleman RB/WR Savion Red OL Max Merril LB Jaylan Ford DL Sawyer Goram-Welch OL Sam Cosmi QB Matthew Merrick DE Breckyn Hager RB D'onta Foreman OL Elijah Rodriguez OL Alex Anderson Edited November 25Nov 25 by Hookem2147
November 25Nov 25 9 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said: Someone last week on a 9.95 site posted a list of recruits outside the top 1000 we’ve signed the last 10 years or so. A few more success stories than I would have thought. OL Devin Coleman RB/WR Savion Red OL Max Merril LB Jaylan Ford DL Sawyer Goram-Welch OL Sam Cosmi QB Matthew Merrick DE Breckyn Hager RB D'onta Foreman OL Elijah Rodriguez OL Alex Anderson Ok….now filter by white guys outside the top 1000. Quite a list left.
November 25Nov 25 9 minutes ago, Dbeasy said: Ok….now filter by white guys outside the top 1000. Quite a list left. It’s going to be Sam Cosmi’s all the way down
November 25Nov 25 Just now, Duane Moore said: It’s going to be Sam Cosmi’s all the way down White upper middle class linemen have no nasty to them. They ain’t hungry.
November 25Nov 25 35 minutes ago, Lonestar88 said: These final commitments all just seem like lottery tickets. Cheap guys who hit are much better than expensive guys who sit on the bench. Nahlin pretty much let the cat out of the bag when he talked about Scherer already being committed.
November 25Nov 25 1 hour ago, BurntOrange&White said: White upper middle class linemen have no nasty to them. They ain’t hungry. Like all the Matthews boys. Or every OL Michigan or Notre Dame ever recruited.
November 25Nov 25 1 hour ago, SOHHvet08 said: Both Max Wright & Kaden Scherer seem to fit the mold of big athletes you can put weight on, so I'm fine with both of them as developmental O-Line takes. Yeah. Regarding big humans there should be a binary category on their 247 pages of “could they survive doing a cartwheel.” I’m fine with taking the guys that can.
November 25Nov 25 1 hour ago, BurntOrange&White said: White upper middle class linemen have no nasty to them. They ain’t hungry. Yet they keep having to start as the best option
November 25Nov 25 Yea Sark has to crush the portal this off-season. we only have Arch and Simmons for one more season. Im not trying to look at 2026 like I looked at 2023 or 2024
November 25Nov 25 8 hours ago, Da Fino said: Yeah. Regarding big humans there should be a binary category on their 247 pages of “could they survive doing a cartwheel.” I’m fine with taking the guys that can. Exactly, the problem is not cheap vs expensive, white vs. black, rich vs. poor. The problem is athletic ability. We keep bringing in guys who are slow. We have 4 guys recruited. 2 can move and 2 can't. Those 2 who can't should never see the field, but they probably will because of the numbers. And then we sit there and wonder why we can't run the ball or execute slow developing plays.
November 25Nov 25 10 hours ago, cafe society said: Like all the Matthews boys. Or every OL Michigan or Notre Dame ever recruited. Or Dan Neil. Or Lyle Sendlein. Or Kasey Studdard.
November 25Nov 25 3 hours ago, ClubWhatever said: Or Dan Neil. Or Lyle Sendlein. Or Kasey Studdard. Or Will Allen. 3 of our national title winning O linemen starters in 2005. In fact, Studdard might be the nastiest O lineman we've ever had. He would tell the D on the goal line what the play was and we'd score anyway. Edited November 25Nov 25 by Scholz
November 25Nov 25 13 hours ago, D3zii said: Yea Sark has to crush the portal this off-season. we only have Arch and Simmons for one more season. Im not trying to look at 2026 like I looked at 2023 or 2024 Agreed. Gotta maximize the Arch/Simmons window. Not saying to ignore HS recruiting completely but portal and retaining key players should be the priority this offseason.
November 25Nov 25 Man these last few commits and guys we are after seem like JAGs and our plan B and C options. This staff has shown the ability to find late risers and have hit on their fair share of 3 stars and players that were offered and evaluated late so I guess they get the benefit of doubt. But yeah, taking guys from Standford, Cal, Minnesota doesn't seem like a recipe for success when we want to beat UGA and tOSU.
November 25Nov 25 6 hours ago, Bevo said: Exactly, the problem is not cheap vs expensive, white vs. black, rich vs. poor. The problem is athletic ability. We keep bringing in guys who are slow. We have 4 guys recruited. 2 can move and 2 can't. Those 2 who can't should never see the field, but they probably will because of the numbers. And then we sit there and wonder why we can't run the ball or execute slow developing plays. If we have slow guys executing slow developing plays aren't they just plays for them?
November 25Nov 25 24 minutes ago, victory88 said: Man these last few commits and guys we are after seem like JAGs and our plan B and C options. This staff has shown the ability to find late risers and have hit on their fair share of 3 stars and players that were offered and evaluated late so I guess they get the benefit of doubt. But yeah, taking guys from Standford, Cal, Minnesota doesn't seem like a recipe for success when we want to beat UGA and tOSU. I think we are going to need to see the entire cycle play out before being able to draw conclusions. If there is a concerted effort to focus more on transfers to fill holes, then I could get behind that strategy as I think that’s the way of the future. But if this is indicative of the type of players we are now chasing in general, then I think the alarm bells are valid.
November 25Nov 25 Offensive line recruiting: The number remains five (11:40am CST) By Gerry Hamilton The Texas Longhorns have four offensive line commits with the flip of local product Kaden Scherer from Stanford Monday. Steve Sarkisian and Kyle Flood still want to sign five next week, however. Texas remains in the mix fo0r two of the nations best, one from Louisiana and one from Hawaii. The commits ... John Turntine III, OT, Fort Worth (Texas) North Crowley #AllGasNoBrakes OnTexasFootball ranking: 5-star Nicolas Robertson, IOL/C, Klein (Texas) High #AllGasNoBrakes OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star+ Note: Has play quite a bit of center as senior. Texas will look at him at both guard and center. Max Wright, OT/IOL, Melissa (Texas) High #AllGasNoBrakes OnTexasFootball ranking: 3-star++ Note: SMU is making this a fight. Wright is scheduled to be back in Austin Friday. Kaden Scherer, OT/IOL, Georgetown (Texas) High #AllGasNoBrakes OnTexasFootball ranking: 3-star++ Two top targets remain... Malakai Lee, OT, Honolulu (Hi.) Kamehameha - *Michigan commit OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star++ The latest: Texas remains all in on trying to flip the elite tackle prospect. Where it ultimately goes, will likely know more this weekend. Brysten Martinez, OT, Gonzales (La.) East Ascension - *LSU commit OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star+ The latest: Waiting to see who the next LSU coach is. Texas is giving it their all. Brysten and mom have warmed to the idea of Texas. Edited November 25Nov 25 by MuellerHorn
November 25Nov 25 1 hour ago, victory88 said: Man these last few commits and guys we are after seem like JAGs and our plan B and C options. This staff has shown the ability to find late risers and have hit on their fair share of 3 stars and players that were offered and evaluated late so I guess they get the benefit of doubt. But yeah, taking guys from Standford, Cal, Minnesota doesn't seem like a recipe for success when we want to beat UGA and tOSU. My guess is these guys aren’t demanding much in NIL money and we’re close enough to the end of the season that it’s clearer which players will be expecting a raise and how much needs to be allocated for portal recruits.
November 25Nov 25 7 minutes ago, LCHorn said: My guess is these guys aren’t demanding much in NIL money and we’re close enough to the end of the season that it’s clearer which players will be expecting a raise and how much needs to be allocated for portal recruits. At haven't been following cycle this closely but I think it's probably becoming obvious having a material portion of your salary cap allocated to 5 star freshman sitting on the bench isn't a good use of funds. Need a mix of developmental guys happy with a scholarship and chance to work their way into being paid like a starter if they develop + proven talent in the portal.
November 25Nov 25 26 minutes ago, Skipper said: At haven't been following cycle this closely but I think it's probably becoming obvious having a material portion of your salary cap allocated to 5 star freshman sitting on the bench isn't a good use of funds. Need a mix of developmental guys happy with a scholarship and chance to work their way into being paid like a starter if they develop + proven talent in the portal. I think we’ve discussed lots of ways this whole thing may mature, but probably a relatively predictable one will be for money to accrue mostly to players that look to play early rather than based on their ceiling (the former will be a product of talent, physical maturity, but also depth chart). Obviously position will play a big role (you’ve got to pay for QB’s even if they are riding pine, probably less so for two reserve WR).
November 25Nov 25 The SEC just announced it is increasing the football scholarship limit to 105 to match what everyone has done following the NCAA limits change (part of their walk on rule changes). Probably safe to assume we knew this was coming and that it played a role in some of our recent takes. That RB and OL guy are great culture fits who might in a few years manage to contribute. Not guys you would typically waste a spot on if you are tight up against a limit but now that it is basically a former walk on spot? Absolutely. edit: I jumped the gun a bit in that I guess technically it has only been announced that the SEC will vote on the limit but it is overwhelmingly expected to be a unanimous vote to bump the cap. Edited November 25Nov 25 by HateYouAndMyself
November 25Nov 25 37 minutes ago, HateYouAndMyself said: The SEC just announced it is increasing the football scholarship limit to 105 to match what everyone has done following the NCAA limits change (part of their walk on rule changes). Probably safe to assume we knew this was coming and that it played a role in some of our recent takes. That RB and OL guy are great culture fits who might in a few years manage to contribute. Not guys you would typically waste a spot on if you are tight up against a limit but now that it is basically a former walk on spot? Absolutely. edit: I jumped the gun a bit in that I guess technically it has only been announced that the SEC will vote on the limit but it is overwhelmingly expected to be a unanimous vote to bump the cap. Yeah, the increased scholarship limits, along with the fact that we can push underperforming players into the portal anyway, makes me not upset about the recent takes. But I also understand people not being excited about them, I'm not either.
November 25Nov 25 Sucks on Lott. Yes we need to kill it in the portal but the position I want the most is o-line, but not any o line man. I need a Michigan, Wisconsin, northwestern, Iowa, that kind of true corn bred from an o line known school and show the Texas team how to pancake and make some lanes.
November 26Nov 26 Both IT & OTF seem to be talking up that UT is recruiting size at RB as part of the solution to fix the running game & redzone offense woes that UT has had these last couple seasons.
November 26Nov 26 3 hours ago, HateYouAndMyself said: Probably safe to assume we knew this was coming and that it played a role in some of our recent takes. That RB and OL guy are great culture fits who might in a few years manage to contribute. Not guys you would typically waste a spot on if you are tight up against a limit but now that it is basically a former walk on spot? Absolutely What about those two guys makes you say this?
November 26Nov 26 3 hours ago, HateYouAndMyself said: The SEC just announced it is increasing the football scholarship limit to 105 to match what everyone has done following the NCAA limits change (part of their walk on rule changes). Probably safe to assume we knew this was coming and that it played a role in some of our recent takes. That RB and OL guy are great culture fits who might in a few years manage to contribute. Not guys you would typically waste a spot on if you are tight up against a limit but now that it is basically a former walk on spot? Absolutely. edit: I jumped the gun a bit in that I guess technically it has only been announced that the SEC will vote on the limit but it is overwhelmingly expected to be a unanimous vote to bump the cap. Doesn’t matter per Bobby and them that Texas will stick to 85 due to allowing more allocation of nil.
November 26Nov 26 2 minutes ago, Jimmy Two Times said: What about those two guys makes you say this? There were some funny comments on OTF about Jett Walker. I mean, they weren't meant to be funny. "He'll be a real team-first guy. Great for culture. You can tell he's unselfish" etc.
November 26Nov 26 30 minutes ago, Jimmy Two Times said: What about those two guys makes you say this? Knowing people who have kids on their team. Also their skin color (/s)
November 26Nov 26 13 hours ago, victory88 said: Man these last few commits and guys we are after seem like JAGs and our plan B and C options. This staff has shown the ability to find late risers and have hit on their fair share of 3 stars and players that were offered and evaluated late so I guess they get the benefit of doubt. But yeah, taking guys from Standford, Cal, Minnesota doesn't seem like a recipe for success when we want to beat UGA and tOSU. Have you looked at their classes?
November 26Nov 26 He could very well be right, but I'm pretty sure Gerry has seen like 3 high school linemen in his career that he thought could play tackle in college.
November 26Nov 26 When Wright flips to SMU he’s gonna get another one of those threads where everyone posts the same pics and gifs of hot chicks and Thor yelling yes! etc.
November 26Nov 26 40 minutes ago, crash_davis said: This is why our recruiting sucks. Kate, WTF did you do?
November 26Nov 26 22 hours ago, victory88 said: Man these last few commits and guys we are after seem like JAGs and our plan B and C options. This staff has shown the ability to find late risers and have hit on their fair share of 3 stars and players that were offered and evaluated late so I guess they get the benefit of doubt. But yeah, taking guys from Standford, Cal, Minnesota doesn't seem like a recipe for success when we want to beat UGA and tOSU. You know, who gives a shit beacuse they are essentially lottery tickets that cost pennies on the dollar. You give them 1-2 years to see if they develop while not having to ultilize a lot of NIL funds on them, so you have more money for the portal and roster retention. You may not like the idea but it's prudent given that money is finite. Edited November 26Nov 26 by HtownHorn
November 26Nov 26 Few notes from IT Spoiler Inside Texas takes a look at the latest in 2026 recruiting with notes on Max Wright, Rocky Cummings, Toray Davis, and Josiah Vilmael in Wednesday’s recruiting intel. Max Wright, Melissa (Texas) – #AllGas26 One of the most underrated commits in the Texas class is looking hard at the local university. SMU has amped up the recruiting efforts for months, but Wright stayed true toSteve Sarkisian and Kyle Flood. Then Wright took his official visit to the land of Mustangs last weekend. Now, Wright wants to make a final decision by the end of the week. With SMU’s NIL package being stronger, little closer to home, and he’s connected with more coaches at Southern Methodist, we expect Wright to flip to SMU this weekend. Texas still needs another OT and they’re trying to flip LSU pledge Brysten Martinez. Rocky Cummings, LB, Carlsbad (Calif.) – Cal commit We put in an RPM for Cummings to flip to Texas on Monday. We wouldn’t be surprised to see something here over the next 24 hours. Toray Davis, DB, Boulder (Colo.) Fairview – UCLA commit The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Rocky Mountain defensive back and UCLA pledge will finally be making his official visit to Austin this weekend for the Texas A&M game. We feel the Horns want one more defensive back in this class. It could come down to Davis or Josiah Vilmael. Josiah Vilmael, DB, Richmond (Texas) Fort Bend Travis If Davis doesn’t flip to Texas, we feel like the Longhorns are in prime position to wave in the Houston area defensive back.
November 26Nov 26 59 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said: Now, Wright wants to make a final decision by the end of the week. With SMU’s NIL package being stronger, little closer to home, and he’s connected with more coaches at Southern Methodist, we expect Wright to flip to SMU this weekend. hahahahaha
November 26Nov 26 3 hours ago, HtownHorn said: You know, who gives a shit because they are essentially lottery tickets that cost pennies on the dollar. You give them 1-2 years to see if they develop while not having to ultilize a lot of NIL funds on them, so you have more money for the portal and roster retention. You may not like the idea but it's prudent given that money is finite. Yes. I thought this was something discussed when the NIL all got started. It's impossible to recruit 4 stars two deep every year. It's cost prohibitive and many will leave if they don't start after a year. That's wasted money and development time. These late takes are promising players instead of proven stars. They'll likely stay, develop, learn the system, and anchor the culture. I'm not saying we should be through pursuing high star talent. The point is that these guys fill a need as well. Sorta related, it's interesting to me that NIL has an element of parity creation because nobody can afford to fill up on top players. Every school has at least some money to wave in front of a star. There's something to like about NIL. The amount of money pouring into college football programs is obscene at the moment. It's worst with coaching salaries, but the whole thing seems out of control.
November 26Nov 26 Not all top rated guys are created equal either, so it becomes really important to determine how quickly these skill players can contribute once they get to campus.
November 26Nov 26 3 hours ago, HtownHorn said: You know, who gives a shit beacuse they are essentially lottery tickets that cost pennies on the dollar. You give them 1-2 years to see if they develop while not having to ultilize a lot of NIL funds on them, so you have more money for the portal and roster retention. You may not like the idea but it's prudent given that money is finite. Of course the problem is that we've ended up with these "lottery ticket" types starting on the OL this year when they in reality should never have seen the field, or at least not any time soon. It's a fine strategy if we fill in as needed with the portal and the occasional 5-star high school blue chipper. For whatever reason, we've been skipping that 2nd part of the plan, hence a major reason why we started the season #1 and are going to end up in the Whogivesashit Bowl.
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