OT - Texas got 10 commitments from Junior day
This seems absolutely absurd to me, and either suggests
a.) Mack Brown goes after a lot of home-grown boys who are die hard horns fans
b.) Something a little sketchy is going on in his recruitment processes.
I would tend to believe a little bit of both. Especially after the article Jamarkus Mcfarland had written. Certainly some kids are going to just love Texas and know thats where they want to go, but Mack ALWAYS has a ton of kids commit early. They had something like 17 back in June of last year. What do you guys think?
February 10th, 2009 at 11:57 AM ^
We just have to accept it. Although, I do remember reading from the top recruit in Texas last year, a recruit who eventually committed to Oklahoma talked about some suspect activities that Texas was engaged in.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:03 PM ^
That was Jamarkus McFarland, and I wouldn't take his word on it. He was just being a kid.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:02 PM ^
they do this every year
it's (a)
February 10th, 2009 at 12:03 PM ^
It's just a big recruiting weekend for them. If you look at the commits they are all from Texas. These are just home grown kids going to the best instate school.
Also, I have read elsewhere, that UT does not hand out official offers until this weekend. So where you might normally see these kids commit during their junior year they have to wait until this weekend.
Mack just has a juggernaut rolling right now, especially with A&M's head so far up its ass. If they ever figured what they hell to do they would at least challenge UT for these commits.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:04 PM ^
That Jamarkus Mcfarland story was at best exaggerated and at worst pretty much made up. Don't read too much into it.
Also, a.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:07 PM ^
This happens every year. (1) Texas really is the dream school of a lot of these kids... not a lot of them dreamt of playing up north, (2) Brown is clear that his offers have time limits, i.e., get in while you can. A few kids, he'll recruit to the bell (Mouton, Kilpatrick, etc.), but that's mostly out-of-state kids (who he doesn't expect to jump the second UT offers). For in-state kids? Mack takes a very simple approach - Texas should be your dream school, so when we offer, you accept or you reject. No in between.
How does he get away with it? Something to do with the fact that there are 1000s of kids every year playing Texas HS football that (1) are awesome and (2) are dying to be a Longhorn.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:19 PM ^
Mack playing Ryan *Big Tex* Mallet like that,either you commit now or we walk with the schollie,however the good guys won in the end.
Mack plays hardball within the borders of Texas.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:28 PM ^
that the good guy's did not win in the end, unless by that you mean Arkansas is the good guys, or maybe you mean that Mallett was bad, so gettting rid of him was a Win.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:50 PM ^
of you to interpreted,btw the lines,that was what I was meaning...only I didn't want to slam the kid.
Talented kid...imatured beyond belief. Hopefully maturity will kick in sooner than later.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:12 PM ^
...there is nothing sketchy about this (and not just because I have an M.A. from UT).
Mack Brown absolutely selects his class, it is not recruiting in the traditional sense. There are enough big time recruits in Texas to easily make a big-time class, A&M is only competition for them in a small area of eastern Texas (see: McGuffie), and Oklahoma competes in some areas of northern Texas. Otherwise, he can basically go to 20 4-star recruits every year "here's your offer, take it, or I'll move on to another batch of guys." And since they have spent their whole lives being UT fans, and they are absolutely blown away by the facilities (I've been backstage there, and it is mind-boggling)... it is really, really easy to get 11 of them to say "yes" a year in advance. On a certain level, Ohio is in the same position. How much of Tressel's class was filled before June with Ohio 5 and 4 stars??
February 10th, 2009 at 12:15 PM ^
Here in Texas, the Longhorns are kings. Every kid here wants to play for the Longhorns; they are bred to be Longhorn fans from day one. If they offer, you accept it. Texas very rarely loses an in-state kid that they want. Expect the majority of their class to be full before the summer starts.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:30 PM ^
From the early 80's until Mack got there they have been a disaster. With that much talent hanging around your campus and die hard fans with facilities like that seems like they would have had to try and be terrible to have their record. That might be an intersting book.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:39 PM ^
It would be... in the 80s, Oklahoma (Switzer) and A&M (Jackie Sherrill) were pulling in recruits and being successful... and they were both also cheating. That had stopped by the 90s but Mackovic was lukewarm; part of the problem was that he didn't have a folksy way to him (came across as too uptight) so he didn't connect with boosters, HS coaches, recruits, etc. Mack Brown does. So at that time a lot of big Texas recruits were going all over the place. And, the facilities got a boost after Mack showed up and success bred success.
February 10th, 2009 at 1:14 PM ^
Oklahoma is as successful as ever, there is enough talent in Texas to go around and they were a dominant team on the national stage thru the 60's and 70's. As crazy as the state is about football to have the state school middling around(not sure of the actual numbers but for about 15-20 years they were a mediocre program with some minor upticks) is astonishing when you look back. I'm not saying they should have had NC every 3 years but a 8-3 should have been expected. It seems USC was in a simlar funk for a smaller stretch of time, I guess finding the right coach is critical....how ya doin Notre Dame!!!
February 10th, 2009 at 2:05 PM ^
located in Dallas. They were probably siphoning off a chunk of that talent in the 70s and 80s up until they got the death penalty.
February 10th, 2009 at 1:00 PM ^
Mack was made to order for the state of Texas with his recruiting prowess. Remember he made the move from NC leaving that program with a plethora of talent only for the next coach to squander it with inept coaching (his name escapes me)...Mack can recruit.
Mackovic should have put down the fine wine and pop open a can of red,white and blue and got to know the natives better.
February 10th, 2009 at 1:04 PM ^
His name was Carl Torbush. Then they hired UNC alum John Bunting.
February 10th, 2009 at 1:17 PM ^
You have the power house program in a powerhouse high school football state, probably going into the season in the top 3, recruiting some of these kids since they were freshmen in high school. It's A.
February 10th, 2009 at 1:27 PM ^
usually keeps its in-state talent. Something like 90% of U of Texas players are from Texas. This is where I see Seastrung ending up as well. Accept it, it is Texas!
February 10th, 2009 at 4:37 PM ^
Must be all those flat-screen TVs, crazy parties with alcohol and drugs, and topless college girls romancing each other while the recruits snort blow off the girl's naked, glistening brea... oh, sorry, lost myself for a minute.
It's probably because they are mostly hometown kids who dream of playing for UT since they were 5. So (a).
Now back to my dreams...