Burnt Ends (6-29)

[HornSports Staff]

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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On Friday, a huge domino in the 2017 class fell when Denton Guyer quarterback Shawn Robinson chose TCU. Robinson is the #1 player on the HornSports 2017 Top 50 and a candidate to be the top player at his position nationally on several recruiting sites. 

HornSports spoke to a source close to Robinson’s recruitment who praised the work turned in by TCU quarterback coach and offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie. The source also indicated TCU’s head coach Gary Patterson went all in on Robinson:

“In the end, there was a lot of familiarity with the program and a high level of comfort for Shawn and the family. Everyone felt it was just the right fit.”

Robinson’s father is a coach on the Guyer staff and is respected within the coaching community. Coach Robinson held a couple of head coaching jobs including two in the Fort Worth ISD. Coaching so close to the TCU campus, he had easy access to the TCU staff. All those things were certainly contributing factors in the Frog’s pursuit of Robinson and his subsequent pledge.

So what does this mean for Texas? First off, they won’t stop their pursuit of Robinson until the ink is dry on his letter of intent. Meanwhile they still have to keep things moving forward with respect to their 2017 class. 

Westlake’s Sam Ehlinger appears to be the next man up, and could be in line for an offer at the Under the Lights camp on July 18th. After a false start last week, Ehlinger told us he’s confident he will receive an offer in late July. It will be interesting to see if Ehlinger commits on the spot or takes his time. The local product makes no secret of the fact that Texas is high up on his list, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him pull the trigger shortly after being offered.

Assuming Ehlinger is option 1, then Refugio quarterback Jaylon Mascorro should be considered 1A.  Mascorro is a gifted athlete who also holds the Longhorns in high regard.

Would Texas take two quarterbacks, given that they will still pursue Robinson? The situation is more tenable if one of the players is an Athlete, and while Mascorro is a gifted quarterback, he can also play safety or wide receiver. In this interview with HornSports, Mascorro expressed a willingness to change positions in order to see the field. One thing to watch in the coming weeks, Mascorro says he’s planning to come to Under the Lights but isn’t sure at this time if he can make it. 

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There was fallout on all sides from Shawn Robinson’s announcement. Especially since Robinson is a 2017 recruit, the news had folks from all sides jumping to conclusions.

Put Matthew Merrick on the short list of folks that didn’t overreact to the news. We caught Merrick for a quick quote, and Texas fans are going to love his attitude:

“Well I'm for sure going to Texas to play quarterback sooner or later, and I'm doing all I can to get ready. I'm sure Shane [buechele] and Kai [Locksley] are doing the same thing! So the future is bright regardless of 2017 quarterback.”

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With his reputation as a leader among in-state players, Alief Elsik linebacker Dontavious Jackson is a player that has been mentioned steadily in Burnt Ends as a potential key to the 2016 recruiting cycle. As a Top 5 rated ILB in the country and a Top 15 player in Texas, Jackson is a recruit that is circled on plenty of programs’ wish lists regardless of his relationships with other recruits.

A few weeks ago, Jackson tweeted:  “If Your Shying Away From A Strict Program Your Crazy. Discipline Builds Character.”

The prevailing thought on Jackson is that he is a Longhorn lean, and that tweet did nothing but strengthen the rumor. Over the past two weeks, we had two high school coaches tell us that Jackson is attracted to the idea of joining the Longhorns’ 2015 haul at ‘backer.

In addition to favoring Texas, one coach had this to say about Jackson’s tweet:

“Sure it favors UT – that’s pretty obvious. What’s interesting to me is that Jackson is sending a message to other recruits.”

We asked him to elaborate:

“Lots of recruits are using social media to make public statements. I heard that Dontavious’ tweet was meant for a specific guy. I don’t know if that’s true, but I can tell you that kids on my team were talking about it, and Elsik is on the other side of the city from us.”

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With the recent commitment of Aurora (CO) tight end Jack Stoll to Nebraska, Texas is running short on options at the position. The good news for the Longhorns is that one of their prospects is close to a decision and has Texas squarely in the hunt. 

New Orleans (LA) Brother Martin tight end Peyton Aucoin received an offer from Texas this spring and visited campus in the summer to check things out. Aucoin recently narrowed his list to two finalists: Texas made the cut along with Florida.

The Louisiana TE told HornSports he will be deciding sometime between late July and the start of his senior season.  Aucoin visited Florida recently and is planning to get back to Austin one last time before making his choice. 

The Brother Martin blue chip is one of the more important recruits on the board with Devonaire Clarington’s eligibility still a question. Considering the absolute disaster the tight end position has been over the last few years, HornSports has a guy dialed in on this recruitment and will keep you updated.

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In-state offensive line recruits are making early commitments on a near-weekly basis. Even with the pledge of Tope Imade to Texas, Longhorn faithful are getting antsy that UT is getting beat regularly at a position of need.

Some fans believe UT is systematically working through a prioritized list that is significantly different than ones on recruiting sites; some think Texas looking at other linemen stems from having their options unexpectedly limited by early commitments. Regardless, there are several talented but unheralded in-state linemen being reviewed by Texas. One of the players currently under consideration is Crosby’s Keenan Murphy.

At 6’2” and one good meal shy of 300 pounds, Murphy has a solid build for a player his age – a college strength coach isn’t going to have to whittle weight off him before packing on mass. UT has been by Crosby twice already and is scheduled to look at more film on the Cougar’s prospect next week.

Once Imade got his offer, it didn’t take long for him to commit to playing college ball in Austin. But in Murphy’s case, the Longhorns have been slower to act than several in-state schools. Texas and A&M both trail Houston and Texas Tech, primarily because both offered scholarships. 

If Joe Wickline offers a scholarship after next week’s film review, that changes the landscape for Murphy. In fact, someone connected to Murphy’s recruitment told us that UT would, “shoot to the top of the list” if they offer a scholarship.

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The Longhorns got a commitment from Destrehan (Louisiana) defensive tackle Gerald Wilbon last week but wants to add at least one more DT to the ’16 class. The Texas staff is looking closely at several players, and with offerees Kendell Jones, Ed Oliver and Jordan Elliott committed elsewhere, the looking glass seems to focus more and more on Hightower’s Darius Anderson. 

Anderson’s ace-in-the-hole might be his connection to the Texas program - his God-brother is former Texas running back Fozzy Whitaker. The communication between Anderson and Texas has picked up lately, with Anderson telling us that he and defensive line coach Brick Haley talk, “every other day or so.”

Iowa State and Baylor are showing increased interest in Anderson as well. With the available talent at his position dwindling, expect Anderson’s stock to soar when the upcoming season begins. 

Anderson, #41 in the HornSports Top 50 for 2016, admits he thinks a Texas offer will eventually come, but he’s not preoccupied with it. Instead he’s attending camp at his high school this summer and spending free time working with his personal trainer to stay in shape.

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2016 Beaumont Central running back Devwah Whaley is the top-rated back on the Longhorn’s board.  Whaley trimmed his list to 5 over the weekend – Texas made the cut along with Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Georgia. 

Once considered behind in Whaley’s recruitment, the Longhorns have closed ground in the last few months by getting him on campus multiple times and making their case. Another key to Texas making up ground is that Whaley’s best friend is Texas signee PJ Locke. Locke is steadily working on Whaley to get him to come to Austin.

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The North Shore football program is no stranger to success on the field, nor to the expectation to produce Division I talent – former Mustangs that went to UT include Corey Redding and current freshman Texas running back Tristian Houston. The Mustangs made a solid run in the playoffs last season, defeating Dobie and Clear Springs before eventually losing to Cypress Ranch in the Regionals (Cy Ranch lost in the 6A Championship Game to Allen).

With a new season approaching sans Tristian Houston, Tyler Moore and several others that are now playing at the next level, can the Mustangs win district and possibly more?

We checked in with a source close to the program and were told to expect good things – senior QB and Ohio State commit Maciah Long is reportedly much improved from last season and the tailbacks, including senior Tyler Boudreaux, will be very solid. With a secondary led by national 5-star defensive back and LSU commit Eric Monroe, our source said the secondary will be, “stout.”

The optimism in the defensive backfield is not exclusively due to Monroe’s skillset – Kieston Roach, younger brother of Texas basketball player Kerwin Roach, is making plays at cornerback. 

If North Shore has a position of concern it is the defensive line. The guys up front are a bit on the small side, we were told.

Recruiting services have North Shore’s blue chip safety rated highly, but interestingly our source didn’t shower Monroe with praise. According to him, UT dodged a bullet when Monroe pledged to LSU. In addition to questioning Monroe’s work ethic and heart, he was categorized as not “SEC caliber”.

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After hearing that review of the Mustangs, HornSports wanted to add a player’s perspective of the current capabilities of the team, so we checked in on one of our favorite 6A quarterbacks, Maciah Long. For starters, North Shore’s signal caller told us he expects big things from his team on Friday nights this season:

“I think we will do very well, and no there aren’t many holes we need to fill this season.”

Long will play linebacker at Ohio State, despite playing very little there in high school. As a 6-2, 225-pound raw athlete, Buckeye coaches plan to mold Long into a lean, quick linebacker that keeps quarterbacks on their toes.  Some guys just have the body type for the position, and Long is one of them. 

But for his senior season Long remains a dual threat high school quarterback that wins games. Many preseason projections have North Shore winning Division 21-6A and Long will be a large part in helping accomplish that.

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On Monday, Wisconsin hoops coach Bo Ryan announced plans to retire after the 2016 concludes. In his statement he said his preference is for his long-time assistant Greg Gard to be the Badgers’ next head coach.

How and why does that matter in an article that reports on Longhorn athletics? The news itself doesn’t, but like your mother taught you, it’s the thought that counts…

In the bustle of compiling a week of intel for this article, one of our baseball contacts reached out, asking if we’d heard the news on Ryan. After confirming that we read Ryan’s statement, we thought the booster’s next statement was revealing:

“Augie needs to take a page out of Bo Ryan’s book. If he would announce his intentions, it solves several problems: it eliminates Bellmont’s guessing game and removes the chance of them potentially tarnishing a hall of fame career; fans get to recognize his presence throughout a final season; recruits aren’t dealing with an unknown; and UT can immediately start working on securing his replacement.”

Our contact then cut loose with one more reason that is even more interesting than all of those things:

“Did you see how Ryan set the stage for his assistant to be hired? If Wisconsin goes in another direction and doesn’t hire Gard, Ryan can rest easy knowing he gave his assistant the best endorsement he could. I’m not the only one that thinks Skip Johnson’s chances of being a head coach at UT need that kind of boost.”

 

[streettopeschel]

Great point on the Ryan-Augie thing. I'm of the opinion we need a change now but evidently that's not happening. So Plan B should be announce a 2016 farewell.

 

[Johnstark23]

I agree with you Street and I'm no longer absolutely convinced on Skip like I was this time last year. However, it isn't happening this year or it already would have, so a farewell tour would be the ok imo.

 

[Mike Roach]

A little more on Aucoin. I asked him what had Florida and Texas standing out and he replied with this.

"

They're both great programs with rich history. The new coaching staffs at each school are about to have massive amounts of success."

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

“Well I'm for sure going to Texas to play quarterback sooner or later, and I'm doing all I can to get ready. I'm sure Shane [buechele] and Kai [Locksley] are doing the same thing! So the future is bright regardless of 2017 quarterback.â€

Don't sleep on this Merrick kid. I like that kinda confidence in a QB

 

[Matt Cotcher]

Don't sleep on this Merrick kid. I like that kinda confidence in a QB

He's also a good kid & is handling his situation admirably. Not many recruits would stand by and wait like Merrick.

 

[HornSports Staff]

There could be important news on a recruit mentioned in Burnt Ends. We're working to get confirmation.