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This week’s issue of Burnt Ends is saturated with quotes and nuggets obtained from Saturday’s Under The Lights camp held at DKR in Austin. The camp brought out some of the best and brightest of not only the 2017 class, but the 2018 class as well. Overall, the camp was a great success for the coaching staff and it accomplished precisely what you want these types of events to accomplish – continuity of building and strengthening relationships with recruits and parents, putting eyes on and getting close up evaluations of underclassmen, and allowing players currently in the program the chance to bond with recruits and share their experiences with players on the staff’s radar.
While the effort coaches put forward on the recruiting trail is often talked about, I’m a firm believer that players currently on the roster are the best pitch men when it comes to recruits. This is why I keep bringing up how evident it is that the players already on campus are buying into what Charlie Strong and his staff are preaching. They are putting in overtime on selling the program and its future, and clearly they are actively engaged in trying to procure as much talent on The 40 Acres as possible.
I was able to talk some of the big targets from the 2017 and 2018 classes on Saturday, and furthermore was able to get a feel for what the coaches were pitching to individuals. This was particularly enlightening when it came to some of the top players in the state.
Baron Browning
The five star linebacker made his way to Austin on Saturday to meet with the staff and hang out with several Texas commits throughout the camp. The red carpet was rolled out for him, as he was being chauffeured around on a golf cart with Anthony Hines for a quick tour of the facilities, while just about everyone else walked on foot in the 100 degree heat. Browning likes to keep a low profile when it comes to doing interviews, but he is always courteous enough to talk to me and we always have good discussions when we connect at recruiting events. Browning’s trip to Austin concluded his trips for the summer, as he will now focus on his senior season before having to make his college decision later this fall. We asked Browning what the topic of conversation was with head coach Charlie Strong? The answer: school. Strong stressed the importance of hitting the books. “Coach Strong was getting on to me about making sure I’m doing my online classes so I can graduate early. He told me to stay off the video games and stuff like that.†Browning said he is still on track to enroll early to his college of choice and only has three online classes remaining.
The final note I have on Browning is in regards to his pending official visits. If you recall, he recently had three visits set up that included the Iron Bowl, USC/UCLA, and the matchup between Ohio State and Michigan. When asked if he had given more consideration to his final two visits, he actually backed off his previous statements. “I’m not sure on the Alabama one anymore, I told them to hold off on that until I figure things out. I’m really not even sure anymore, I wouldn’t even count those three I said because I have to go back and see.â€
Browning is going back to the drawing board on official visits, so it will be interesting to see how he fills those spots. With his potential visits wide open again, that can’t be bad news for Texas.
Ondario Robinson
The athletic defensive end from Hutto made the short trip down to campus to take part in UTL and meet with the coaching staff. Robinson recently narrowed his list down to four schools, and listed Texas along with Arizona State, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M. Robinson commented on how he felt this year’s UTL experience was much different from last year’s event, and how he embraced the leadership role this year and tried to help underclassmen.
“Being a senior and being the oldest, people are looking to you to see how to do this and how to do that. I was able to take the coaching from the Texas coaches and coach up the players that are younger than me. I like to do stuff like that and try to help everyone out and make everyone better at the same time.†When asked where Texas currently stood with him, Robinson said his top four isn’t in any particular order, but then followed that up by saying Texas A&M is his leader. He went on to say that the Texas staff has been on him pretty hard over the past month and pushed hard to get him to campus for UTL. Robinson was then asked why A&M held the advantage over the other schools in his top four. “They didn’t just incorporate me and leave out my family. My little sister said she really enjoyed it. They included my family and everything and I’m a very family oriented player. I like to see the coaches’ daughters, sons, and wives and everything up there all time. I like a family atmosphere and they have a good football team.â€
As far as a timeline for his commitment goes, Robinson said the plan is to announce his commitment during halftime of his first game during the fall, but he is going to decide if he wants to extend that timeline after taking some visits. He said he planned to head over to College Station on Sunday following UTL, and then the plan is to head up to Norman, then make a return trip to Austin before the season begins.
A&M holds the lead currently on this one, but Texas is not going down without a fight, and I also wouldn’t rule out Oklahoma.
TaQuon Graham
The defensive end from Temple made his way to campus with his mom to hang out with the coaches and players again. Graham has put on some good muscle mass and told us that he was up to 262 pounds. Suddenly, I’m not so sure him playing Fox is in the cards with that kind of size, but he is so talented. Those are the problems you like to have. Get you get on campus and worry about that later.
If you didn’t know who he was, you probably would have thought he was a current Texas player since he was decked out in burnt orange. As you remember, Graham was set to announce his commitment back in May, but decided at the last minute to hold off. While that may make some nervous, this is simply a case of a kid wanting to make sure he is 100% certain about his decision. “Making sure I’m making the right decisions in my mind and not rushing myself based on outside influences and everything. I don’t want to de-commit and go through the process of finding another school to commit to again.†That makes plenty of sense to me, TaQuon.
As far as the new commitment timeline goes, Graham says he wants to make his decision before the season starts, but he also wants to do all five official visits in the fall. He says he currently has four of them planned out, and is thinking about where he wants to go for the fifth. “Oklahoma, one of the teams on the West coast, Texas, and TCU†are the four that he has planned out. The pitch from the Texas coaches has been relatively simple and has revolved around him playing 45 minutes away from home so his family can come see him play on a regular basis.
While a lot of Texas commits and players are recruiting him hard, Graham says that Sam Ehlinger is probably working on him the hardest, and that they text on a regular basis. On top of that, the two have competed against each other on the field so they are very familiar with one another, and have great respect for each other as players. Graham told me he tries to study up on Houston Texans defensive end JJ Watt, and tries to take what he can technique-wise from his game. When you want to be the best, you try to learn from the best.
All in all, I couldn’t be less worried when it comes to TaQuon’s recruitment. I think nature just needs to take its course. After speaking to a source on Saturday, I wasn’t told anything that made me feel like Texas is worried about where they stand with Mr. Graham.
Bumper Pool
Good luck finding a better name in the business. While most love his name, they will love Lovejoy linebacker Bumper Pool even more as a player. During his sophomore year, he tallied nearly 150 tackles, had 18 TFLs, 4 sacks, 6 PBUs, and forced 5 fumbles. He is what I like to call a stat sheet stuffer.
There’s a good reason why he has already received offers from schools like Alabama, Arkansas, Michigan, TCU, and USC. Pool made his way down to Austin for Under the Lights to compete and to interact with the coaches. “First off I want to thank the coaches, I had a great time. Really instructional, we were doing a lot of 1 on 1s and open field, open the hips and all that stuff. We are used to doing a lot of 7 on 7 stuff, so that is right up my alley. I had a great time, the coaches are all excited and they have a great thing going down here. I’m looking forward to continuing talking to them.â€
As far as Texas’ pitch to Pool, the coaches discussed that they want linebackers that can move in open space, given the way offenses are evolving and spreading defenses out, and they also want guys who can be leaders on the field in the middle of the defense. Texas has been loading up on linebackers the past two cycles, and is targeting guys like Baron Browning and Anthony Hines this cycle, but that doesn’t shy Pool away from competition.
“I love competition. I think it makes me better and everyone around me better. That’s what you have to do to be great.†I don’t disagree one bit with that notion Bumper. As far as an offer, Pool was not offered during his time on campus, but he expects to be in contact with the staff once they have sat down and discussed everything.
What would a Texas offer mean for him? “It would be huge. It’s been a great program over the years and has had a lot of talent. And they have a lot of good linebackers here, so they can obviously recruit some good guys.†As far as schools standing out, Pool mentioned Baylor (his first offer), SMU, and Texas A&M. I got the vibe that he may not be looking to go too far from home, though he said he is simply looking for the best fit for himself.
Anthony Cook
Lamar High School in Houston has become a defensive back factory over the years as they’ve continued to produce FBS quality DBs year in and year out. Texas dipped into that talent pool recently by signing Holton Hill in 2015, but now they are after the latest stud prospect coming out of “DB High†in 2018, corner Anthony Cook.
Cook already holds 20 plus offers from some of the best programs in the country, but he still showed up to compete at Under The Lights on Saturday. So how did it feel to be back in Austin? “It felt good to come out here and compete. Texas feels like home, so whenever I’m out here it feels good.†While he didn’t get to hang out with Hill during his visit, he did get to hang out with his cousin and recent Texas signee Eric Cuffee, though he couldn’t quite speak on Cuffee’s new hairdo (we all got a little chuckle out of that). Texas has built a solid pipeline into Lamar over the years, and between that and having family on campus already, it is easy to see why Cook said it felt like home being on The 40 Acres. I expect Texas to factor in this one in the long run and even more so if guys like Hill and Cuffee continue to find success on the field.
Keondre Coburn
Unlike with Lamar, it has been a while since Texas has been able to tap into the talent-rich pipeline at Spring Westfield. You have to go back to 2011 when Texas landed a commitment from Desmond Jackson to see the last time a player from Westfield made it to campus in Austin (Toby Weathersby committed to Texas, but signed with LSU in 2015).
Texas tried to get in the mix with Ed Oliver last year, but was unsuccessful as he opted to stay home and play at Houston. Can the Longhorns have better luck with the man that played beside Oliver? 2018 defensive tackle Keondre Coburn is next in line at Westfield, and he already has close to double digit FBS offers. The big defensive tackle made his way to Austin and spent most of the camp getting coached up by Brick Haley as he tried to improve his technique.
“I think I did straight, I know I need to work on some stuff. I wasn’t the best out there, but I tried to. I think it was a good experience, I love the coaches, everything was organized, and there was great competition.†As far as what he could improve on, he told me the coaches want him to get better with his hands and that is something he has been working hard on improving this summer. As I watched him go through drills, I noticed he is very violent with his hands, so as he continues to hone his technique, he is only going to get better. As far as an offer goes, Coburn told me that Charlie Strong joked around with him on the field about Texas not being welcome at Westfield, but he inquired if Texas would be near the top of his list if they did offer and he said, “yeah, definitely.â€
Coburn went on to tell HornSports that a Texas offer “would mean the world.†“I’ve been watching Texas play ever since I was a little boy.â€
As far as schools standing out for Coburn, he told me Oklahoma, TCU, and Texas A&M are on his list, but if Texas puts an offer on the table, they will be right up there with them as well.
Jaylen Gipson
While Texas already has Sam Ehlinger in the boat as their quarterback for this cycle, that sure didn’t discourage a guy like Mexia quarterback Jaylen Gipson from showing up to compete in Austin on Saturday. I like that because it shows that the kid isn’t going to back down or shy away from competition. At a camp like this, there are going to be some of the very best players around out here showcasing their talents to the coaching staff, and Gipson came with the intention of making an impression.
“I felt like I did pretty good. We had some good receivers here, and even though I had a couple balls get away from me, I felt like I did pretty good for the most part.†During his time on campus, Gipson worked with Sterlin Gilbert, and said he got good feedback from the Texas offensive coordinator. He said he also got a chance to talk to Charlie Strong, and is hopeful that he will be able to stay in contact with him throughout the process. As things sit right now, New Mexico, New Mexico State, San Diego State, and Texas State all stand out for Gipson. As far as future visits, Gipson plans on getting back down to Austin for an unofficial visit in the fall, and also wants to go check out SMU and TCU. When asked about who he would compare his game to, Gipson said he doesn’t like to compare himself too much, but he looks up to Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and loves the way that he plays the game, the way he leads his team, and that he is a man of high character.