Offensive Line recruiting

H

horn4jc

1,000+ Posts
Considering that the present line is held together with gum and Elmers glue, I just wanted to get a few thoughts on OL recruiting. Not counting the true Freshmen, I think there were only 8 scholarship OL. So Searels has had to McGuyver it this year. I know that Camrhon Hughes and Kennedy Estelle are good, but what other prospects are on the radar screen?
 
Curtis Riser has done very well in camps and will make a quality guard.


Out of staters Andrus Peat and John Theus are the big uncommitted (to Texas) targets. Theus is committed to Georgia where his brother plays, but is looking around due to the possibility of coaching changes at Georgia. Both are considered to be towards the very top linemen recruits in the country.

There are a few guys in state that we would look at Michael Starts who is committed to Tech will not be coming here although we wanted him. Javonte Magee from San Antonio Sam Houston is a possibility.

2013 will be another strong year in state and with a large lineman class in 2011, we may stop at 4 recruits for 2012 and wait for the following year rather than dip down for a fifth lineman this year.
 
It looks like Georgia has righted their ship. I believe Richt will be safe. They should be favored in all remaining sec games (home vs Aub and also the Weiss led offense of Fla) (also they don't play bama, ark or LSU) and should win the sec east should Ark beat SC in Faytvile. Anyway Theus is a pretty safe bet to write off...
 
Question: Is it just my ignorance, or are there certain schools that seem to develop their OL better ie get more for less? I never seem to notice Wisc, GT, Mich, Neb getting that many big time recruits. Yet they can always produce great OL's.

It still bugs me that someone like Jake Mathews comes in for a visit and his Dad laughs at what we are teaching technique wise. I know changes were make but damn.
 
I don't know if it's recruiting, coaching, or what, but there was a time not so long ago - relatively speaking - that we were cranking out very good offensive linemen on a regular basis.
 
FWIW, Coach Sherman inherited a weak and understaffed offensive line from Coach Fran. From what I see and read he will go with talent over experience, i.e. two starting true freshmen OTs last year. The offensive line has become a strength on our team.

You'all have consistently won recruiting battles over us for years, including recruiting battles for offensive linemen. I can only conclude that coaching and the culture of rewarding performance is the difference.
 
I'm officially off the "take whoever you can find from the Rivals list when recruiting OL" bandwagon. Just find some big, mean, smart kids and you got yourself a line. We haven't been getting the job done on the field.
 
Just saw on OB that a JUCO OL by the name of Donald Hawkins was offered by us. He is currently a soft verbal commit to the Pokes. Seems like Mack is letting up on his "avoid" the JUCOs way of thinking.

I don't know much about the kid, but I think this is a good sign as we need to get bigger, better, badder, meaner up front. Hoping this kid will fill at least one of the needs up front should he commits.
 
I agree though. I'm tired of the assumption that 2-3 stars doesn't make you a University of Texas player. Hard work and getting the job done makes you a Texas player.

Even the 2002 "Super Class" of recruiting had its fair share of missteps. Out of 28 guys, 16 of them amounted to crap, or were injured/unable enough to ever play. Of those 16, at least 11 of them were 4-5 star guys. Why only stick to online rankings when we could have filled those scholarships with a bunch of 3-star guys who wanted to work hard and play for Texas?

Mack Brown got drunk off of recruiting rankings when the 1999 class got the kiss of death: "Top Recruiting Class." It's funny that people called him Coach February in retrospect, because he honestly wasn't doing a great job in that front. Nabbing Vince Young can make you look like a genius, but what about the other 50 percent of his class that didn't even come close to contributing?

I know this problem isn't unique to Texas, but I think our coaches have to abandon the "good old ways" of recruiting and start worrying more about the types of contributions they can get out of lower-rated guys. Like "Moneyball," except from a college football standpoint. We'd have a more complete team (especially on the OL), and though we might not get a lot of headlines with #19-ranked recruiting classes, neither did Boise State or TCU or anyone else that's been down there.
 
AggieEric, I remember that rumor too. Bruce Matthews would know a thing or two about O-line play being he's in the HOF.

I don't know all the circumstances but Greg Davis and Mac McWhorter did no favors to the O-line. It's been suggested that Davis offensive philosophy and McWhorters methods of training the O-Line were not compatible. Can't confirm it but based on the results on the field, would not surprise me.

Now with Stacy Searles and Bryan Harsin in the fold, we shall see how it goes. O-line runs the ball much better than it has in the past. There's a lot of work to do especially with pass protection.
 
I believe the "stars" are more relevant in the so-called skill positions. For the OL, as DKR put it (sorta), I want angry men.
 
as a former starting varsity guard, i was uphauled at the rediculous blocking technique & scheme employed last year. matthews laughed, i screamed & cursed.

McWhorter gone, i'm not screaming & cursing & matthews isn't laughing any more. we still have some work to do...o-lines aren't created over night, but we're going in the right direction. gd mcwhorter should give his intire 2010 salary back...he didn't earn one penny of it.

o-linemen need to have a mean streak, but they must also be smart. o-line is an organism of 5 individuals that think & act as one. you gotta be smart to do it right. Stacy has us on the right path. may not fully show till next year, but we'll be o.k. soon.
 
I remember the Bruce Mathews comment thread too and all the sunshine pumpers around here massed up and ridiculed it....
 
Tray Allen was a 5 star guy. Whether he was an actual bust or whether McWhorter coached him into mediocrity I personally couldn't say. The fact is we were never going to have a running game with that dancing bear **** even with all 5 star guys.
 
The fact that Jamaal Charles had more ypc in the NFL than in college speaks volumes about how well our OL was prepared in 2006-07. We didn't see it back then and that led to its eventual explosion in the Big 12 CCG after the 2009 season, and the continued piss poor performances in 2010-11.
 
Scheme, The OL was handcudded by GD, so it is hard to blame them. Put JC in the I and allowed to run downhill would have made all of the difeerence.
 
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