Part 2..
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New Texas wide receivers coach Jay Norvell hit the ground running this week. I was told Norvell hasn't even met a lot of the folks around Moncrief because he immediately hit the recruiting road after taking the Texas job last Friday.
His efforts have paid off already.
JUCO all-American WR Dominique Reed was previously scheduled to visit Auburn this weekend, but thanks to Norvell's previous relationship with him dating back to Norvell's time at OU, Reed will now take an official visit to Texas this weekend.
Reed was tentatively planning to visit Oklahoma on January 30, but he said since Norvell is not there and no replacement has been named, he may cancel that trip. Look for a possible trip to Auburn instead.
Reed's thoughts on Texas ...
"It's a pretty good school. I have family in Dallas, so I've been to Texas a lot but not Austin," Reed said. "I've watched them a lot. I actually watched them play Arkansas but they didn't do really well in that one.
"I know coach Strong had a down season. Every school is going to have a downfall every now and then. But I actually like coach Norvell a lot. That's why I'm visiting. When he was recruiting me to OU, I really enjoy talking to him. He's a really good coach too."
Reed, out of Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, is originally from Camden, Ark. and there's been a lot of talk about him being a heavy lean for the Razorbacks. He said he's not locked into anyone, and is mostly looking for a place where he can go in and contribute right away.
"I'm not locked in on anyone," the 6-4, 175-pound Reed said.
We'll follow up with Reed after this weekend's visits to get his thoughts. (Suchomel)
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We've been hearing for a few weeks that Kris Boyd was down to Texas and Texas A&M, with the Longhorns out in front, despite Boyd never making that public declaration.
On Thursday, he officially trimmed his list to two ... Texas and Texas A&M.
Boyd took his official visit to Texas last weekend but has been silent since that time. He'll visit Texas A&M this weekend.
This one's not over and the Aggies could make things interesting with a great visit, but we've heard nothing that leads us to believe that Texas isn't still out in front heading into the weekend.
In fact, we heard that during new A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis' stop by Gilmer last week , Boyd was, shall we say, less than enthused to hear Chavis' sales pitch. Sounds like A&M has some work to do. (Suchomel)
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We've had Texas out in front for Houston Lamar DB Holton Hill for a while, and that still appears to be the case with less than two weeks remaining until signing day.
Hill will visit Texas A&M this weekend in a last-minute change (he was previously scheduled to visit Baylor) and he'll visit Alabama on January 30. The Aggie visit will be interesting to follow since they've really begun to make a push for Hill, and because he and Boyd would like to play together in college. But the signs on this one still seem to favor Texas heading into the weekend.
Hill told us this weekend that he really enjoyed his official visit to Texas last weekend. Equally as important, his parents enjoyed it. We've heard from people close to Hill that his parents would like him to stay closer to home if possible, and Hill said this week there's some truth to those statements.
"My parents had a great time. They really enjoyed themselves," Hill said of the UT visit. "They're cool with me going away if I decide that, but they wouldn't mind making traveling arrangements to somewhere a lot closer."
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Aledo WR Ryan Newsome will announce his decision on Friday at 3 p.m. at his school. He'll choose between Texas and UCLA.
From my conversations with Newsome, and based on everything I've heard behind the scenes, this has been a very tough decision for the talented slot receiver.
Consider this quote Newsome gave our UCLA site earlier this week ...
"I'm honestly torn down the middle," Newsome said. "I don't know what I'm going to do on Friday. I can promise you that. People are going to think that's a load of crap. But man, I swear man, God as my witness, I pray to him every night and I don't know what I'm going to do. It's a tossup. That crystal ball says otherwise, but that couldn't be more wrong."
Newsome did tell us last week that his parents prefer him closer to home, and he has a longstanding relationship with Texas assistant coach Tommie Robinson. This one's closer than most think, but the guess here is that the Longhorns add to their commitment list tomorrow afternoon. (Suchomel)
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Let's take a look at this weekend's confirmed list of official visitors (Note: how crazy has this week been?? This is something we usually put at the top of the story.).
Deandre Baker - DB - Miami Northwestern - People who have followed his recruitment think Texas has a great shot. Would be another huge pick-up, especially since DaVante Davis' situation is up in the air.
Breckyn Hager - LB - Austin Westlake - No need to worry about this one. Hager doesn't say much, but he's locked in.
Tristian Houston - RB - North Shore - There was a time when Houston was considering other visits, but he's shut that down and is now locked in for Texas.
Soso Jamabo - RB - Plano West - As we noted above, if Texas gets Murray, this one's a lock. If not, it's close to a toss-up between Texas and UCLA.
Jamile Johnson - DB - South Oak Cliff - Has never once wavered since he committed, and he's not about to start now.
Du'Vonta Lampkin - DT - Cy Falls - This one's been talked about at length. There's been a lot of smoke that Lampkin may be considering a flip to Oklahoma, but Texas will have a chance to reel him back in this weekend. He'll be one of the more interesting stories to follow during the weekend.
Kai Locksley - ATH - Baltimore Gilman School - A Florida State commitment, Texas has been recruiting Locksley for a while. It may be tough to get him to flip at this late stage, but if Texas can show him an opportunity for early playing time, the Longhorns have a decent shot. Locksley's father is a fan of Charlie Strong and the Texas staff.
Matthew Merrick - QB - Dallas Cistercian Prep - Lined up for a greyshirt, Merrick's still thrilled with his decision.
Charles Omenihu - DE - Rowlett - He'll be a guy that will be in the ears of the uncommitted players trying to get them to join the fold.
Dominique Reed - WR - Coffeyville C.C. - A late addition to the visit list, Jay Norvell did quick work to get Texas in the mix. Let's see if the Horns can blow him away and pry him away from Arkansas, who most feel is the leader.
Cameron Townsend - LB - Missouri City Ridge Point - Committed to UT in October and hasn't looked back.
Anthony Wheeler - LB - Dallas Skyline - Committed at the Under Armour Game. This will be the only visit he takes.
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Junior college receiver Dominique Reed made a simple comment during an interview with Orangebloods this week. Reed was asked about his upcoming to Texas. He was also asked about his conversations with newly hired receivers coach Jay Norvell.
Reed was told Texas wanted to spread the ball around this season, an offensive style any receiver would love. Of course, we were not sure what that really meant. Did Reed mean they were going to spread the ball to different receivers? Did it mean other players were going to be involved? Did it mean an entire change to the offensive system?
Well, after doing a lot of digging, Texas' 2015 offense will not look anything like 2014.
Texas is planning to switch to a spread offense this season, and Charlie Strong has been selling the change to recruits. We cannot say if the spread offense simply involves more zone reads, be more up-tempo, or a pistol formation. Considering the number of running backs Texas is recruiting, the pistol formation makes the most sense, but those details will eventually trickle out.
Texas offensive coordinator Shawn Watson and Strong wanted an offense that relied heavily on the run and ate up a lot of clock. They pointed to Alabama as the offense they hoped to duplicate in Austin. Running backs Malcom Brown and Johnathan Gray were expected to rush for 1,000 yards each in 2014, but they finished with 683 and 628 yards, respectively, during the regular season.
In addition, Texas averaged 23 points a game (regular season), which ranked eighth in the Big 12. Texas also ranked eighth in first-down and third-down conversions, but had the ninth-ranked red zone offense by scoring on 23 of 30 possessions (19 touchdowns), while Texas Tech was last with 18 of 25 conversions (12 touchdowns).
Texas is actively pursuing quarterbacks Kyler Murray and Kai Locksley. Both men are athletic quarterbacks who ran spread offensives in high school, which explains why Texas is so interested in both players. The spread offense not only suits those quarterbacks, but could be a system that helps Jerrod Heard compete against Tyrone Swoopes in the spring.
We previously reported the changed that were going to occur on Texas' offensive line this year.
After learning about the switch to a spread offense, Texas' offense will look totally different than last season - and that could be a good thing for Longhorn fans.
(Richardson)
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Some Notes from the Senior Bowl
- Quandre Diggs had a huge day of practice on Thursday at the Senior Bowl. It means he most certainly left scouts with a good and lasting impression as everyone moves on to the next phase of the draft process. Diggs had one athletic interception and also an eye-opening run-stuff that opened lots of eyes. I spoke with Diggs and he told me he has met with all but three NFL teams during the week. He has been told he'll play nickel in the NFL and the draft round he has heard from scouts ranges from late round 2 to round 5. Between Hicks having a great week through all three days of practice and Diggs coming on strong to end the practice schedule, both former Longhorns made themselves some money this week.
- I spoke to an AFC South scout about John Harris and his thoughts were interesting and something I would have never thought of. Honestly, I'm not even sure how much sense it makes. He said that this particular team liked Harris - and thought he had the body to be a receiving H-back.
- I caught up with former Longhorns DC Greg Robinson at length Wednesday evening about a number of Longhorn-related topics, but one interesting tidbit he passed along is that last week, while in California to cover the Rose Bowl as analyst, Mack and Sally Brown had dinner with Robinson (who now coaches at San Jose State) and his wife. One of the topics Robinson said they spoke about quite a bit were the media reports and press clippings about Charlie Strong bringing back "toughness" to Texas. Robinson said both he and Brown felt that, because of the institution Texas is, and the type of kids it attracts, a "tough coach" will never work. He said Texas gets good kids who can learn and assimilate things and develops them into great players.
- One other tidbit: When Robinson was hired (the first time) at Texas, it was thanks to none other than Seahawks HC Pete Carroll. Pete Carroll had promised Mack a candidate for the DC position. It ended up being Greg Robinson, who left Kansas City because the Chiefs had dedicated minimal resources to the defensive side of the ball and his best player was Chester McGlockton who brought a $12 million dollar cap hit and little else production-wise. After Robinson left Texas following the 2004 season, Carroll called him prior to the 2005 National Championship (when Carroll was then head coach of USC, the team Texas would face) and told him "you owe me one," and wanted the entire book on everything Texas did - and how to stop its dominant attack with Vince Young. But Robinson had developed a loyalty to Mack Brown and the University of Texas by then, even though it was Carroll who had gotten him that very job in the first place. He told Carroll, watch the tape from the (2004 season Michigan) Rose Bowl. Carroll called Robinson back after reviewing the tape and said, "what do you mean? They couldn't stop Vince." Robinson said he then told his good friend Pete Carroll just one word: "Exactly."
- Dunlap
