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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.
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After a wild and crazy coaching search that ended Friday night with the hiring of Tulsa’s Sterlin Gilbert and Matt Mattox, the Longhorns can push into the 2016 season with a focus on the new offense and incoming recruiting class. Lost in all of the insanity of the moment was an intriguing interview Will Baizer had with a trusted source inside the Tulsa football program.
On what staff he might take from Tulsa: "Nothing officially, but it wouldn't surprise me if he took (Tulsa offensive line coach) Matt Mattox with him because I know how close those guys are. They are kind of attached at the hip".
On Sterlin Gilbert as a recruiter: "When he got hired, they had 10 days to put together a recruiting class. He came in and basically threw his Bowling Green hat in the corner, put on a TU hat and hit the road." "We were all waiting for the season to wrap up this season to have a better idea of the type of impact he had with recruits. From everyone I talk to who knows him in Texas, I haven't heard one bad thing about the guy".
"He gets it, he's a young cat and he's not going to really sugarcoat anything. "Texas fans need to understand that while he may be the enemy, being able to carry around that Art Briles tag to the high school coaches is more important than anything."
On his influences: "It's not only Art, he's taken a lot from Dino Babers from his time at Bowling Green. People automatically want to throw Art in there as one of his true mentors, but Dino is up there nearly as high as Art."
On the offensive system: "The system is proven. This is such a unique opportunity because there's so much air raid influence that's been in the Big 12 conference anyway and now to have a true Art Briles protege go into another school is big".
"You take what Baylor has and simplify it a bit simply because of talent and it being year one and that's what Tulsa's offense was".
"It's a fairly basic offense, there's nothing in it X's and O's wise that will blow you away and you'll see that with Sterlin. They will tell you it has principles of the inverted veer in it which Art learned at Houston. That's the run emphasis and the run base off of it. People think it's up tempo so you throw it all the time, but it's a run based offense taken directly from the inverted veer".
"You have to have the right kind of players to make it work, and I think Texas does".
On Gilbert's career path: "I was surprised (Gilbert and Mattox) came to Tulsa, because I thought the next logical step from Bowling Green was going to a bigger program than Tulsa".
On Gilbert's role in offense: "His input was considered, but make no bones about it, it's Phil's offense. Matt was down on the field and Sterlin was upstairs. There's great rapport back and forth between them and the playcalling was mainly between Sterlin and Monty".
"Art called his plays at Baylor, and with this being Phillip's first opportunity he's going to run with it. He was almost in the exact same role Sterlin is in now. It's a carbon copy of what they do at Baylor, from the wide splits at receiver to reading the safety to determine if you're going to hand off or throw the 9 route".
On the Air Raid: "People need to realize the Air Raid has adapted. What Dana (Holgorsen) is doing now at West Virginia is not anything close to what Leach was doing at Texas Tech. Look at what Lincoln (Riley) is doing in Norman. He's taken Dana principles and what he learned on his own at ECU, and what you guys saw against Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl is not even the same type of Air Raid they ran in the second half of the season".
On Matt Mattox: "Matt is also a non-bullsh*tter. He's a big fundamentals guy and he's not going to fill you with a whole bunch of BS. He had his work cut out for him because of injuries, but he's not afraid to get in their face on the sideline".
Plenty of solid Gilbert/Mattox nuggets for Longhorn fans to be optimistic about....
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When covering recruiting, you never want to break the news to a recruit that their coach is not going to be coaching at the college they committed to next year. Unfortunately we found ourself in that position on Saturday when we revealed to Arlington Bowie offensive lineman Tope Imade that Joe Wickline would not be returning. At first Imade seemed distraught over the news and said to us “Guess it’s time for me to get to know some new people.†He then asked why Wickline would be gone and we explained that Sterlin Gilbert would be bringing his own offensive line coach with him.
What happened next caught us by surprise. “They hired coach Mattox from Tulsa?†Imade asked. We told him yes and asked if he knew him. Imade immediately relaxed. “Of course. We have a great relationship. A close relative of his is an English teacher at Bowie and she kept trying to get me to go to Tulsa,†Imade told us with a laugh. While coaching changes can often shake up commitments, it’s clear that Mattox should have no issues holding on to this one.
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Texas had a nice group of recruits in town this past weekend on official visits. Commits Demarco Boyd, Shane Buechele, Collin Johnson, and Peyton Aucoin mixed with uncommitted prospects Irvin Smith (Texas A&M Commit), David Reese (recent Michigan decommit) and D’andre Christmas-Giles (decommitted from Tennessee following the visit). We’ll give you some quick hits from people we talked to this weekend.
Things were kind of crazy on Friday night when the recruits arrived, but the coaching staff who were on campus along with the student hosts kept them entertained. On Saturday everything was back to normal and the new coaching hires inspired some real enthusiasm.
We heard Shane Buechele is very excited about the prospect of learning and operating this new offense. Buechele is a very cerebral player with the ability to convey an intense focus when you talk to him, and I’ve heard Gilbert and him hit it off famously. I was told by a source close to his recruitment that while Shane has always been a very strong commitment, “He left Austin re-energized for Texas.â€
Peyton Aucoin told us the visit went great and the new coaches were down to earth and relatable. Aucoin also said the football visitors only stayed for the first half of the basketball game so they missed the exciting finish at the Erwin Center on Saturday.
Irvin Smith is Aucoin’s teammate, and the Texas A&M commit had a great time on his trip to Texas from what we were told. Texas is getting closer and closer to flipping territory here and while it wouldn’t surprise me if it happened, they still need to push a bit harder. Aucoin told us he’s working hard to get Smith to flip.
D’andre Christmas-Giles has seen his stock explode recently. The big defensive tackle got a recent offer from LSU, and that combined with the great visit to Texas caused him to open his recruitment back up. Brick Haley has an opportunity to really earn some cred here down the stretch but it won’t be easy. I’m told DCG really values the in-state offer from LSU and he really likes TCU.
David Reese loved his official visit as well as his in home with Charlie Strong last week. The vibe on this one is all over the place but word is the former Michigan commit is choosing between Nebraska, Texas, and Florida. We’ve heard distance is a factor for his family so at this point I’m leaning towards Nebraska.
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With the final stretch of recruiting underway we’d like to bring you our version of the Crystal ball feature for the rest of the season. Each week in this space we will do a short breakdown of the serious targets on the UT board and tell you how the recruitment is going complete with a prediction and level of confidence in that prediction on 5 point scale.
Devwah Whaley – We continue to hear positive things about the Beaumont Central running back in regards to his recruitment. We spoke to someone this weekend who indicated things are trending very well for the Longhorns.
Prediction: Texas
Confidence level: 4.5
Kyle Porter – The Katy runner is not a fan of recruiting and would probably skip the whole process if he could. His team is headed for the state championship game this weekend so he hasn’t spent a lot of time thinking about it. He’s hard to read but he likes Texas a lot. One thing that’s unclear is how a commitment from Whaley could change the numbers Texas is willing to take.
Prediction: Texas
Confidence level: 3
Lil’Jordan Humphrey – It will continue to be between Texas and Cal for this one. Humphrey loved his time on the west coast when he visited, and has a role in the “Bear Raid†offense. We just can’t see Humphrey leaving the state, and the new offensive direction could be the factor that ices it.
Prediction: Texas
Confidence level: 3.5
Irvin Smith – The Texas A&M commit loved his visit to Austin this weekend but there is still a hill to climb. There are some serious problems behind the scenes at A&M right now and it is starting to alter recruiting (as you’ll see further down). Smith has other factors at play for him as well that could land him somewhere outside of Texas. For now we’ll pick him to hold firm for the Aggies, but this one is teetering on the edge of losing control.
Prediction: Texas A&M
Confidence level: 1
Jamal Pettigrew – The LSU commit flirted with Texas a lot this season, and I think he really loves Charlie Strong and what the Longhorns can offer. That said, outside of guys like Shiro Davis it’s very difficult to pull Louisiana kids away from LSU.
Prediction: LSU
Confidence level: 4.5
Jean Delance – Delance can be a wide eyed kid at times who is wowed on all of his visits (and he’s visiting some great programs so we don’t blame him). In the end we’ll stick with the home state and the mom.
Prediction: Texas
Confidence level: 3.5
JP Urquidez – We're throwing him in here because new Texas OL coach Matt Mattox visited him last night. It’s too early to say what might happen if Texas were to get back in on this one seriously.
Prediction: Baylor
Confidence level: 2.5
Zach Shackleford – We’ve been waiting for indications that the Belton native is leaning towards Texas for weeks, but Kansas State is doing a good job here. The home allure may be too much in the end but that remains to be seen until they get him on campus for an official.
Prediction: Kansas State
Confidence level: 1
Patrick Hudson – He’s already been identified as a high priority for this type of offense and the Longhorns have been on him for a while. Matt Mattox might be able to close the deal here but our money is on Baylor.
Prediction: Baylor
Confidence level: 3.5
Jordan Elliott – Right now he’s committed to Michigan and he’s selling the narrative that it’s a hard commit. We will see, because his history suggests otherwise but this particular commitment is a little sturdier than the previous two. Get the big prospects in Houston and Elliott just might follow.
Prediction: Michigan
Confidence level: 3.5
Kelvin Lucky – The Alabama athlete has been very quiet since his initial offer from Texas happened. Alabama was involved but haven’t come through with an offer yet. If things hold we’d say Texas is sitting in the pole position.
Prediction: Texas
Confidence level: 2.5
Tyrell Chavis – After hearing good things about Texas and the JUCO prospect early on, chatter has all but dropped off. We’d expect things to heat up when recruiting resumes in early January.
Prediction: Auburn
Confidence level: 3
Keyshon Camp – Once upon a time this looked like a guy Texas could potentially flip, but credit to USC for stabilizing their coaching situation quickly.
Prediction: USC
Confidence level: 4.5
Stephon Taylor – Man this would be a big one if Texas could get it done. Had they offered his teammate Sci Martin they could probably have the package deal. Taylor really likes Texas, but he also likes TCU where Martin is committed.
Prediction: TCU
Confidence level: 3.5
D’Andre Christmas-Giles – This is another guy that really blew up after Texas offered him and new film emerged. He really loved his visit to Texas this weekend and his de-commitment might show favorable signs there, but based on what we are hearing there are possibly 2 schools in front of the Longhorns.
Prediction: LSU
Confidence level: 4
Marcell Southall – This one has been trending a certain way for weeks now.
Prediction: Oklahoma
Confidence level: 5
Mike Williams – Once again, it will depend on whether Williams gets his acceptance to Stanford but if he doesn’t we believe the Longhorns will benefit.
Prediction: Stanford
Confidence level: 3
Dontavious Jackson – This feels like the lynch pin for things, but D-Jack is planning on taking this all the way to signing day. He has some out of state options he loves but we're still picking Texas here.
Prediction: Texas
Confidence level: 2.5
Jeffrey McCulloch – The aforementioned issues at A&M have pushed the Shark back towards Texas, but A&M is still holding a slight edge. Like Jackson, he also has some out of state suitors (Florida, Notre Dame, Stanford) that he is high on. Until we hear more I’m leaning towards the home state.
Prediction: Texas A&M
Confidence level: 1
Erick Fowler – Where once we strongly considered him a candidate to flip, it seems like those chances are slipping away.
Prediction: LSU
Confidence level: 3
Deontay Anderson – After being one of the last holdouts on the Anderson to Texas train I’ve decided to get off at the next stop. Things could change on his official visit and the race is down to Texas and Ole Miss from what I hear.
Prediction: Ole Miss
Confidence level: 4
Brandon Jones – Here’s another instance where issues in the Aggie football program could cost them an elite player. Jeff Traylor is on the case and that is not to be laughed at. Traylor is chipping away at every opportunity along with Chris Vaughn. All season we’ve picked the Aggies, and still will but this one is turning.
Prediction: Texas A&M
Confidence level: 0.5
Eric Cuffee – We wrote him off when I was told he silently committed to A&M earlier in the fall. Recently he’s been coming around Austin more and making it known he’s still open.
Prediction: Texas
Confidence level: 2
Chris Brown – The Elsik DB loves Texas, and if they get Dontavious Jackson he’s a shoe in. He might be even if they don’t get Jackson.
Prediction: Texas
Confidence level: 2.5
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