Texas 20016 NSD Wrap - 'Horns close Strong

[Epictetus]

The keys to this class, as opposed to last year's, are Coach Strong had obviously begun to establish himself with Texas high school coaches and he is getting a better quality of player for his system.

I was never high on last year's overall class because it had too many OOS prospects and too many grade risks. I understand Coach Strong had to go to Florida and get what he could, because Florida is where he had a lot of familiarity. He isn't going to be successful at Texas primarily recruiting marginal qualifiers from Florida and losing out on local talent.

Well...This class really looks to check off everything we want to see in a program that is headed in the right direction. Not only is Coach Strong getting the players he is targeting, he is able to target players that he believes will work well in his system.

The true opportunity for Coach Strong coming to Texas from Louisville was to be able to mesh his system with the type of truly high caliber talent he could recruit, given the resources available at a place like UT. This is the first class where he seems to be doing exactly that.

There is a shit ton of work left to be done to rebuild the program. In the immediate future, he needs to get all the recruits through the clearinghouse, get the new talent on campus for summer classes and get them ingrained in the academic work they are facing. The kids need to get culturally ingrained into what is expected of them off the field in the Charlie Strong system and they need to show they have the maturity to make the next step as student athletes.

What makes this recruiting class seem so good is that it is the first solid opportunity for Charlie Strong to be able to have his players in his system and not being the Angus MacGuyver of college football.

Oh, and who wants to give me an over/under on when Travis Haney comes crawling back out from under his rock to talk about Charlie Strong? I will take the over.

Agree on all points. Also to say... years following the 2005 season (2006 title game) came to really appreciate that entire group from a leadership point of view and all they represented as stellar players and men. This class seems to bring that potential, so looking for those special qualities from them as well. I just really enjoyed the demeanor and looks of all of them.

I'm kind of a people person in a strange kind of way, similar to how we see character actors. People can just look a certain part by appearance, body language, how they carry themselves and so forth. I often feel that Longhorns are just a special type of person, and then see players on other teams and they just seem to fit there, too. (In some cases in other programs I see not-so-admirable characters, I must say. Can you spell Bai-lor).

This class really has class!! is what I am saying. The NSD appearances made that quite evident.

Nice assessment by Duke.

 

[Epictetus]

I do the rankings, and yes I have jones as the top guy in the state. Somewhat controversial, but I stand behind it.

I was not sure he was rated 5-star as I had not seen that much about Texas with potential to land a 5-star, but glad to see at least one (or more) service giving that rating. He does deserve it. So now we have him and Jefferson on that side of the ball. I like it!

 

[primal defense]

Final Scout Team Rankings --

Scout's rating is better for UT's class than 24/7. Scout has three 4 star recruits that are rated as 3 stars with 24/7. Lil Jordan Humphrey, Reggie Hemphill, and Marcel Southall. Also Brandon Jones has a fifth star with Scout. I don't put much stock in Rivals anymore.

 

[primal defense]

Charlie Strong's former pupil Teddy Bridgewater has seen this before

SAN FRANCISCO — Teddy Bridgewater sees similarities between the program Charlie Strong built at Louisville and the one he’s creating at Texas.

While in town for Super Bowl 50, the Minnesota Vikings quarterback — who was Strong’s star pupil at Louisville and part of the coach’s first full recruiting class in 2011 — explained that what’s happening in Austin mirrors what happened in Louisville.

“He’s doing great,†Bridgewater said. “You know it takes time. He’s laid a foundation and now he’s gotta build on that.

“It reminds me of our days at Louisville. It took him two years. Our first two years I think we finished 7-6 and then over the next two years we only lost three football games.

Strong was hired at Louisville in Dec. 2009 and as Bridgewater correctly recalls, the Cardinals went 7-6 in 2010 and 2011 after consecutive losing seasons under Steve Kragthorope. But over the next two years, they went a combined 23-3, with two bowl victories, including a Sugar Bowl win against Florida in 2012.

In two years at Texas, fans have been impatient as the Longhorns have gone 11-14 following subpar seasons under Mack Brown. But on Wednesday's National Signing Day, Texas finished with the strongest class in the Big 12. The Longhorns entered the day with the nation’s No. 35 class and finished No. 11.

Strong flipped commitments from Texas A&M, LSU and Michigan, which is something he also did while at Louisville. Bridgewater, for example, had been verbally committed to Miami, but ultimately signed with Louisville.
“You know it’s a process,†Bridgewater said. “You have to trust it and buy into it.â€

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2016/02/06/charlie-strong-teddy-bridgewater-louisville-texas-football-minnesota-vikings/79919304/

 

[texasdalton]

This is the year then we have to turn the corner. I really hope that happens because if it does then we will start pulling in top 5 recruiting classes every year and be dangerous. 

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011