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The point on a brisket is typically the fattiest cut. Pitmasters often trim the point (and select edges) off a brisket and return those pieces to the smoker.
Are burnt ends tough, chewy worthless cuts of meat, or are they heavenly bites of smoky goodness? It depends on who you ask...
Rather than discard the trimmings and fat, we choose to savor all the information that flows through the site. So, sit down and help yourself to some burnt ends.
This is a free site, so anyone can read this report. If you share it with someone, please take time to attribute the information to HornSports.
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Texas had a another big week in recruiting that included camps, the UT Elite Passing Academy, and several important 2016 visitors on campus. Several offers were extended, and Texas seemed to generate a bit of momentum in what has been a pretty quiet summer. Here are two notes on a couple of the players who were on campus this week:
- John Tyler (TX) WR Damion Miller received an offer early last week. The 2017 East Texas wide receiver is already high on multiple ranking lists - the Texas offer ranks as number six for Miller joining Houston, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech. We’ve reached out to Miller a couple of times but have been unable to connect with him to comment about the offer.
- Elsik (TX) DB Chris Brown also received an offer this week when he made his way to Austin as part of a trio of talented Houston prospects. Brown is seeing significant interest from schools around the nation, but there is thought from those close to his recruitment that Texas is the offer Brown covets. The 5-11, 190-pound safety/nickel back is one of the more underrated recruits in the state, and could be primed for a big senior season. His close friendship with Elsik’s Dontavious Jackson could be advantageous for the Longhorns if they were to get Brown, but the Houston-area prospect has more than enough talent to stand on his own merit.
The 2017 quarterback recruiting radar has been focused on Denton Guyer star Shawn Robinson for some time now. Last week the Longhorns hosted their Elite Passing Academy as a way to evaluate other prospects, and an offer has already gone out on an attendee – 2018 Somerset prodigy Zadock Dinklemann.
Dinklemann made recruiting headlines when he committed to LSU as an eighth grader. As a long time commitment to LSU it will be interesting to see if Texas can make an impact in his recruitment. Needless to say, there is a long way to go until 2018 signing day.
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While we’re on quarterbacks…2017 Refugio dual threat quarterback Jaylon Mascorro is a name we’ve been telling you to circle for months. Mascorro competed at the Elite Passing Academy and talked to us about the experience afterwards:
“It was awesome. I’m performing better than ever, my confidence is out of the room right now.â€
Mascorro is still adjusting to the recruiting scene and admitted it’s been a bit of a trip so far:
“Getting recruited is amazing, I never thought it would be this way.â€
Mascorro told us that Texas was not allowed to recruit at the camp event, but Shawn Watson did speak with some prospects after the camp concluded. One of the recruits Watson singled out was Mascorro, and he said that Texas' Offensive Coordinator indicated they would be recruiting him very hard. An offer from Texas would be the most prestigious one yet for Mascorro.
The 2017 class is loaded at quarterback and Mascorro, who readily acknowledges that talent level, says he has a backup plan:
“If the quarterback process doesn’t work out as I plan on it, I’m an athlete therefore I can play anywhere.â€
Mascorro went on to tell us that if he couldn’t play quarterback he would prefer to play safety at the next level. These days it’s uncommon to see a highly rated passer indicate plans to play anywhere but quarterback, but that mindset reveals the character and attitude of Mascorro.
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If you’re looking for a candidate to receive the next quarterback offer, 2017 Austin Westlake passer Sam Ehlinger would probably be smart money. Ehlinger attended at the passing academy, and when we asked him how it was going he told us, “Brilliant."
Ehlinger said the best part of the camp was working with Shawn Watson. After hearing this from several of the prospects at the camp we asked Ehlinger what it was about Watson that incited these comments:
“Not quite sure, the vibe he gives off I guess.â€
Ehlinger, who ranks in the top 15 on our 2017 Top 50 list is really hoping for an offer but isn’t quite sure where Texas stands at this point:
“He’s [shawn Watson] not allowed to talk recruiting at the camp, but afterwards he said we will talk about his plan.â€
There is a feeling that Ehlinger, who lives a stone’s throw away from the UT campus, could be a candidate to commit quickly if offered. Despite efforts to guard his intent, he does have a level of enthusiasm when talking about UT.
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When news on Du’Vonta Lampkin’s academic and enrollment situation started to trickle in, it was a contentious story with the UT signee and various sites reporting different things. Now that multiple outlets have “clarified†the information, the situation seems even more confusing.
In the interest of getting unbiased information on the subject, we asked a high school coach (who isn’t connected to Lampkin) what his understanding is of players qualifying to enroll at UT. Here is what he told us – add this to all the different versions of the Lampkin story, and things are less muddy…
The first key piece of information is that there are multiple ways to qualify academically – they are commonly called the “regular plan†and the “minimal planâ€. Most 4-year colleges in Texas do not qualify kids using the minimal plan because it requires a painstaking amount of documentation. Essentially, especially at UT, a player has to be on the regular plan.
Lampkin’s struggle to qualify is with a foreign language component – in his case, it’s Spanish. Lampkin failed Spanish, but there is no foreign language component on the minimal plan.
UT could most likely get Lampkin admitted on the minimal plan by getting the appropriate documentation completed, but that would be atypical. Not to mention that it sets a precedent for other UT coaches and future football recruits.
Since the state of Texas establishes the parameters to qualify kids, Lampkin doesn’t have much choice other than going to an out-of-state school. For the d-tackle to qualify, In-state public schools represent the same challenge as UT.
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One of the more intriguing prospects in attendance at the quarterback camp was 2017 Arvada (CO) Pomona quarterback Dante Sparaco. The Colorado passer is hard to miss at 6’5, 257 pounds, and is still developing at the position after playing defensive end early in his career.
Sparaco was very impressed with the camp and talked about it at length during some downtime:
“It’s been great so far. I was a little too tight this morning trying to force everything, but I loosened up and did much better this evening.â€
Sparaco told us this was his first time to visit Austin and he really fell in love with the city and campus:
“I love it here. Austin is a great town. I can’t believe the campus, there are a few historic programs that I have been to, and this is one.â€
While each quarterback we spoke with had different experiences at the camp, the one constant was adoration for Texas quarterback coach Shawn Watson. Sparaco was no different, and told us he learned a ton from Watson:
“I am kind of old fashioned. I like the historic programs like Texas, Notre Dame, and Ohio State. I love Coach Watson, he is an excellent coach.â€
Aside from spending time with the coaches, Sparaco said the challenges and drills were the part that stood out most for him:
“Throwing on the run and accuracy drills were competitive. They were at the end of practice.â€
Sparaco ran into two familiar faces when Loren Mondy and Anthony Hines were on the 40 Acres for a visit. Sparaco played with the duo on the Team USA Freshman All-American team and said it was great to see them again.
With a strong in-state crop of signal callers in 2017, it’s unclear if Sparaco will be targeted for an offer. Regardless, he is a name to watch as Watson searches for his perfect prospect - especially since he told us he is praying for an offer from the Longhorns.
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As previously mentioned, Elsik DB Chris Brown earned his offer while on a visit this past week as part of a trio of Houston products. Elsik ILB Dontavious Jackson, and Hightower DT Darius Anderson joined Brown and spent the latter half of the week in Austin. We caught up with Darius Anderson after the first day of the visit, and he told us they were having a great time and would be staying overnight.
Dontavious Jackson is one of the more important recruits on Texas’ board, as his influence over other prospects could help stem the recruiting momentum that Houston is starting to generate. Jackson has always been high on the Longhorns, and as frontrunners in his recruitment, getting him on campus as much as possible is critical.
The biggest competitors for Jackson will be Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Alabama.
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While things are seemingly calm on the surface, there’s still quite a bit of action happening behind the scenes at the Disch…
Baylor hired Pepperdine’s Steve Rodriguez to be their Head Baseball Coach. We have it on good authority that the Bears had Skip Johnson extremely high on their list of candidates, but all signs point to UT blocking BU from contacting the Horns' pitching coach.
As Burnt Ends previously reported, Patterson is willing to let Augie Garrido coach for the remaining two years on his contract, and every indication we hear is that Garrido intends to return for at least one more year. On that note, there are a wide range of reasons given for 2015’s shortcomings – the most popular two can be broadly categorized as “lack of upperclassmen leadership†and “injuriesâ€.
The decision-makers in Bellmont believe the roster is loaded for a run at Omaha in 2016 and beyond. With Garrido in the dugout, the belief is that Skip Johnson’s presence is necessary to capitalize on next season’s potential. So necessary in fact, that there may be new contract provisions included in Johnson’s contract to ensure that he isn’t lured away.
