40 Acres Sports

Nobody recruits like Mack Brown. He hits early and hard. Only a couple of weeks after inking a top 2010 class, Mack and his coaching staff are 13 recruits into a strong 2011 class. ESPNU recruiting experts discuss Texas’ quick start…

Probably my favorite press conference every year, Texas head coach is finally able to talk about the incoming recruits and sits down and goes over film of each one of them. Great to hear him talk about the entire incoming class and about the strengths of each player. Definitely worth your time to watch the entire thing:

Texas head coach Mack Brown talks to ESPNU about the incredible haul of recruits he brought in today and about Garrett Gilbert replacing Colt McCoy. Watch…

Well it’s official. Maybe. Texas coach has finally released an official statement. From the Dallas Morning News…

Muschamp clarified his intentions Wednesday night.

“I’m happy at Texas and plan to be here for a long time,” Muschamp said through a Texas football spokesman.

He added that he has not interviewed for any other jobs nor does he have intention to do so.

While Muschamp did not address any specific rumors or schools, his name has surfaced most recently at Tennessee after Lane Kiffin was hired at Southern California.

Previous Muschamp to Tennessee updates

• From this morning… Tennessee offers head coaching position to Will Muschamp?
• Say what now? Muschamp flies to Knoxville, meets with Tennessee

Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp will follow Mack Brown as next Texas head coach. Right?

It’s been a wild day.

This morning everyone’s sources within UT were 100% confident that Texas defensive coordinator wasn’t going anywhere. That was the story for most of the day. Orangebloods, Inside Texas, and the Statesman all spoke to multiple sources in the am and there appeared to be no issue, no smoke, and no chance the Horns would lose their big name coordinator.

But the official confirmation never came.

As the day wore on it became more and more troubling that the University had not made an announcement about Muschamp. Nothing official was coming out of Belmont. And coaches of high school recruits were reporting they hadn’t heard any status updates either. What in the world was going on?

Will Muschamp had flown to Knoxville at 5:45 am to meet with Tennessee. Say what?

From about 4 pm until 7 pm that’s all we heard. Everything from the morning seemed false. Not only was this a big name school who was interested in him, but Muschamp had actually already met with them in person. And no one’s sources had said anything about it. Three hours with no new news. That’s not good.

Finally around 7 pm IT editor Ross Lucksinger tweets that, yes, Muschamp did meet with the little UT this morning but two sources have told him that Coach Boom turned down their $3 million offer and is staying at Texas. A Knoxville radio station reports the same and that the Vols are moving on in their coaching search.

And finally, the saga comes full circle and all the news is once again that Muschamp is saying and more importantly the Texas staff is calling up recruits to tell them. Orangebloods and Inside Texas are now both reporting that recruits are starting to hear from the staff that Coach Muschamp isn’t going anywhere. Whew.

That’s all we know. And I’m not even sure how much we know is true. If/when Texas finally makes an official we’ll keep you in the loop.

Update: According to Muschamp himself, reports of him interviewing with Tennessee or any other team are false. He’s happy at Texas. (10:44 pm)

• From this morning… Tennessee offers head coaching position to Will Muschamp?
• Final word? Will Muschamp says he’s staying at Texas

Will Texas coach Will Muschamp be wearing the wrong orange for the wrong UT next year?

Update: Will Muschamp says he didn’t interview with anyone and he’s happy at Texas. More info. (10:31 pm)

Wow. The college football coaching dominoes fall fast.

Saturday word broke that the Seattle Seahawks would hire USC’s Pete Carroll as their new head coach. Yesterday evening, instead of hiring Jeff Fisher or Jack Del Rio the Trojans bring in the obnoxious controversial Lane Kiffin after only one year at Tennessee. That started “riots” in Knoxville.

Are riots in Austin next?

According to Volquest.com, Texas defensive coordinator is at the top of Tennessee’s wishlist and they have reportedly already offered him the position. Muschamp is one of the two highest paid coordinators in the country and has been named Texas’ head coach-in-waiting, but head coach just signed another contract extension and looks like he could be at Texas for several more seasons. Muschamp also does not have a buyout in his contract, meaning it would cost Tennessee nothing beyond his salary to get him out of Austin.

Muschamp has repeatedly stated that how much he loves Texas and loves Austin and that he intends to stay the defensive coordinator for the Longhorns until it’s his turn. But things change. Is the opportunity to be the head coach of an SEC power too good to pass up?

Both Geoff Ketchum of Orangebloods.com and the Statesman’s Suzanne Halliburton have reported last night and this morning that every source at Texas they talk to says Muschamp is saying. The one person no one has talked to is Muschamp himself.

I don’t expect the Muschamp rumors to last past today, this thing is going to go down fast. Either the school will make an announcement he’s staying (and probably a raise) or we’ll find out he’s gone. We’ll have more news when we hear it.

Update: InsideTexas.com now also reporting more sources saying Muschamp will turn down the Vols. (10:54 am)

Update: News has taken a turn for the worse. Seems once confident sources are now unsure what is going to happen. (4:40 pm)

Update: Will Muschamp flew to Knoxville this morning to meet with Tennessee. He reportedly turns down a $3 mil offer. More info. (8:30 pm)

Update: Finally. Will Muschamp says he’s happy and he’s staying at Texas. (10:31 pm)

Usually the United State President gives the team that wins the championship a phone call, but Barack Obama was so impressed by the Texas Longhorns’ attitude and comeback against that he called up to tell him so. He also wanted to congratulate quarterback on his outstanding career.

Read the release from the university:

Longhorns head coach Mack Brown received a surprise phone call on Saturday morning. On the other end was President Barack Obama.

“President Obama called to congratulate us on a super season,” Brown said. “He told me to tell the kids how impressed he was with the never-give-up attitude the team had during the game. He said he loved their heart and effort and that despite all of the adversity, they hung in there and fought until the end.”

President Obama got to know Brown and the Texas team when the then Senator of Illinois visited the football facilities during a Democratic debate with Hillary Clinton in Austin in the spring of 2008.

“The President said we treated him first class on his visit and he enjoyed meeting Colt (McCoy) and the guys,” Brown added.

“He wanted me to congratulate Colt on a great career and let him know how disappointed he was for him that he wasn’t able to play in his last game.”

Brown said the team had such a great time visiting the White House after the 2005 National Championship. That was among the biggest disappointments in not winning this time.

“Going to the White House and meeting the President was such a great honor,” Brown added. “That’s something that will be a goal for our team every year, to get back to the White House.”

Follow along live with 40 Acres Sports on Twitter and below for our thoughts and analysis during tonight’s national title game on ABC. We’ll be live right around kickoff for Texas vs so join us to discuss the game at 7:00pm Thursday night.

Things might be a little less wordy than normal, but please feel free to leave comments and questions using the live tool, but not all comments will be published. Read below for more notes on comments and how the live blog will work. Hook ‘em!

(continue to read full live blog …)

It could come down to which QB plays best. Who would you choose? McCoy or McElroy?

Here we go ladies and gentlemen. The king of college football for the 2009 season will be crowned tonight at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. In front of a every sports fan in the country, the #2 Texas Longhorns will take on the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide for all the marbles. In a few hours the winner of the Citi BCS National Championship Game will hold up the crystal football and have a moment they will never forget.

Predictions from the national media are all over the place. Some think Bama wins big and think Texas doesn’t stand a chance, others look at the entire body of work and think the game could go either way. Our predictions for the title game are below:

Brian - Enough talk, time for some action. The Horns have heard they’ve got no chance to win for almost a month and it will motivate them to come out and play their asses off. Will it make them overly hyped or give them the burst they need to win? I don’t think it matters. Texas defensive coordinator has his goon squad ready and pumped to shut down the Tide and they’re going to do it. The defense and special teams give the Horns good enough field position all night to allow to throw caution to the wind (a little) and score just enough points to beat a great Bama defense. Horns win in defensive struggle decided by special teams and turnovers.Texas 23, Alabama 13

Matt - This season and game reminds me a lot of the 2005 National Championship run, but I love being the underdog and overlooked by most people in the nation. All I keep hearing about is how good Alabama’s defense is and how they dominated Florida. Well I have watched quite a few of Alabama’s games this year and I think some people need to go back and watch film on the Alabama vs Tennessee and Alabama versus Auburn games.

I think the key to the game will be if Texas can get off to a fast start. It seems in almost every game this season Texas just goes through the motions in the first half, makes some adjustments, and comes out on fire in the second half. That simply won’t work in this game. A lot of that responsibility will be on Colt McCoy. He needs to take over the game early and do whatever it takes to start off strong, even if that means running the ball more like he did in the A&M game.

Alabama does have a strong defense but I am severely unimpressed by their quarterback McElroy. He seems slow in the pocket and Texas has the speed on defense to give him some problems. I think he will have a couple of key turnovers which will be the difference in the game. I actually believe this game will be a little bit higher scoring than most people think. And because of the Texas Longhorn Rose Bowl history, I am going with a last second field goal to win. Texas 31, Alabama 30

Ross - 13-0 in 2009. 25-1 over two years. This has been an incredible run by our Horns. Do you see where this prediction is going? I had the same feelings going into the 2006 National Championship game and it turned out pretty good. The UT coaches (Will and Greg) will have a lot to say about the outcome of this game more than any other game this year. The Horns have a daunting task against the most complete team that they have faced all year. I pointed out what the Horns need to do to win with the new year’s resolutions post. The Tide have the momentum from the SEC Championship game, but the Horns have the chip on their shoulder. I think Saban will have Bama wound so tight while Mack will have the Horns playing with nothing to lose. Horns will win a close one. Texas 26, Alabama 24

Predictions from Twitterverse

• TDFINN: 31 – 27 horns
• hockeynightdoc: 17-13 Texas in an ugly ugly defensive struggle
• carlmc: Texas 15-12
• texfan23: im going with 37-15. Colt has. +300 Passing, tre gets +60 with a big run over 20. ET gets a Pick 6.
• rcmercado: Texas 27-17
• livingnearshamu: UT 24 UA 14 Hook ‘em ‘Horns!
• whitneyredman: Here’s my prediction. My stomach will be in knots all night and I will come down with a stress fever. Hook ‘em.
• ATexican: score prediction Texas 31 Alabama 21 #HookEm #UT

More Predictions

• Inside Texas
• Orangebloods
• Statesman Prediction Contest

Mack Brown was a master yesterday putting on an amazing press conference performance, where as the Houston Chronicle’s Richard Justice put it, he was “part gospel preacher, part CEO, part coach.” Watch the whole 30+ minute question and answer session below:

(watch parts 2-4 after the jump …)