40 Acres Sports

The Longhorns didn’t finish off the 2009 recruiting class with the bang some fans were hoping for, but the class is still one of the top in the nation. Rivals.com ranks Texas as fifth overall class overall, but is with [tag]Florida[/tag] and USC for best average rating per prospect. Check out a brief video feature on the entire top ten below:

We’ll have a post up when the dust settles, but 2010 recruiting is underway and the Texas coaching staff has hit the ground running. The first 2010 [tag]Junior Day[/tag] was today and since last night six commits have pledged to play for the Longhorns. Make sure you’re following @40acressports and you’ll always be up to date on the latest Longhorn news including this huge recruiting weekend.

Here’s the breaking news and commits you might have missed in the last two days:

• Another 2 big defensive pickups confirmed today. Waco Midway S Ahmad Dixon and Cedar Hill LB Aaron Benson are commits 9 & 10. #UT 12:35 PM Feb 9th
• Two more commits from Garland (GHS this time) were confirmed last night. Athlete/safety Adrian Phillips and linebacker Tevin Jackson. #UT 8:02 AM Feb 9th
• Several other rumored #UT commits on Orangebloods, go check it out if you want the scoop: http://tr.im/fce6 ($) 8:26 PM Feb 8th
• DeSoto WR [tag]Darius Terrell[/tag] also committed to #UT last night. Another big (6’3″) WR like Harris, Terrell has impressive offer list. 6:31 PM Feb 8th
• Another top state DT has committed to #UT: Alief’s [tag]DeAires Cotton[/tag]. According to Orangebloods, Cotton and Bible are the state’s top guys. 6:06 PM Feb 8th
• Horns 4th commit of 2010 is a familiar name: QB [tag]Case McCoy[/tag]. Just like in his bro’s class, #UT likely looking to bring in 2 QBs this yr. 6:02 PM Feb 8th
• Denton Guyer DT [tag]Taylor Bible[/tag] is the Horns’ 3rd commit. He is Orangebloods’ top DT in the state. Big pickup. #UT 7:32 PM Feb 7th
• 2nd commit is WR [tag]John Harris[/tag] from Garland. Should be more to come and we’ll have a recap of what is sure to be a big haul tomorrow. #UT 6:30 PM Feb 7th
• Orangebloods was reporting 2 weeks ago #UT might not take any OL recruits this yr, instead [tag]Trey Hopkins[/tag] is the 1st commit of the 2010 class 6:24 PM Feb 7th

Round Rock Stony Point defensive end [tag]Tevin Mims[/tag] was the last recruit to join Texas’ 5th ranked 2009 recruiting class but he’s excited to be a Longhorn. Mims exploded during his senior season and went from a relative unknown to a highly sought after 4-star player. When he finally got the offer in January from his boyhood favorite he jumped on it quickly.

Watch Tevin discuss his commitment to UT on [tag]National Signing Day[/tag] below:

In a recent meeting, UT’s Athletic Director Deloss Dodds revealed that part of the $27 million renovation project in the south end-zone with include replacing the current natural grass field with a synthetic turf. The field will be replaced after spring practice and available for use before the start of next season.

Luckily the technology used to create these synthetic has increased dramatically since the old astro-turf that everyone associates with causing knee injuries. The new fields contain small rubber pellets to soften the impact on the body. But with this new technology also means a significant increase in price. Fields are expected to run between $500,000 and $2 million.

Not sure how I feel about this change, but from everything I have read the previous grass field was pretty slick and you might remember seeing many players slipping in the last Texas / Texas A&M game. When I was on the field I remember it feeling like I was walking on a green at a golf course, so I can see how those can get slippery with any sort of moisture.

One interesting note, the last time Texas switched from grass to turf (1969), the Longhorns won a National Championship. See you at the Rose Bowl.

College coaches are not allowed by NCAA rules to talk about potential recruits or commits until National Signing Day. With signatures from all 20 commits this morning, Texas head coach [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] finally has a chance to talk about each of the future Longhorns and breaks down each one on film. Mack sits down in front of reporters and talks to reporters for nearly 30 minutes and it is definitely worth your time to sit down and watch.

Watch Mack talking about the class and discussing each of the recruits below:

Many thanks to Statesman.com for again providing embeddable video of Mack’s press conferences.

Wednesday is [tag]National Signing Day[/tag] and we’ll have frequent updates throughout the day on the 40 Acres. This is the first day high school senior recruits can sign a binding letter of intent to play college football. The Longhorns have 20 commits in the 2009 class with 8 already on campus and 12 expected to send in their LOI tomorrow. We’ll have updates when those letters come in as well as the important news on the two remaining targets, linebacker Jarvis Jones and corner Dre Kirkpatrick.

Follow @40AcresSports on Twitter (after the jump) and keep track of other #signingday news as well.

(more …)

The 2005 recruiting season was an up and down one for the Texas Longhorns full of hits and big misses. Nothing had a bigger impact on the future of Texas football than the roller coaster ride that was Ryan Perrilloux. Perrilloux eventually decommitted (after months of lies) leaving the Horns with only a unheralded 3-star QB named [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag]. Guess that turned out alright after all.

Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated takes an interesting look back at the 2005 quarterback class and finds a lot of busts and only a few stars, of course including our own McCoy. Bill Walsh and [tag]Greg Davis[/tag] have a hypothesis on why QB recruiting is full of so many misses, too much focus on arm strength:

Texas offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Greg Davis says most talent evaluators put too much emphasis on a quarterback’s arm strength. Several years ago, while coaching in the East-West Shrine Game in San Francisco, Davis got to sit with 49ers legend Bill Walsh at a dinner. He asked Walsh the most important qualities he had identified in the many successful QBs he drafted.

“He didn’t hesitate,” said Davis. “No. 1, he said: ‘Accuracy.’ Then he talked about athletic ability, intelligence. Way, way down on the list was arm strength.”

Davis knows well the importance of digging beyond the recruiting rankings. During his and head coach Mack Brown’s 11-year tenure in Austin, the Longhorns have signed two QBs who were No. 1 in their class — [tag]Chris Simms[/tag] (1999) and [tag]Vince Young[/tag] (2002) — and originally received a commitment from Perrilloux.

However, they found their current star quarterback — three-year starter and 2008 Heisman runner-up Colt McCoy — tucked away at a small school in rural Tuscola, Texas. In the ’05 class, McCoy — then listed at 6-foot-1, 180 pounds — was ranked just 15th among pro-style QBs, behind Pittsburgh’s Bill Stull, Notre Dame’s Evan Sharpley and Wisconsin’s Dustin Sherer, among others.

Source

Nothing makes Texas fans happier than the misery of rivals [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] and Texas A&M. The Sooners sneaked their way into the [tag]BCS[/tag] National Title game, but as just like they’ve done in five of their last six bowl games they went home as losers. We went to bed happy when OU lost to [tag]Florida[/tag] but one Oklahoma sorority girl could not be consoled:

(Side note, I had no idea the Rooster Teeth guys were UT grads.)

Former Texas Longhorn and Atlanta Falcon defensive tackle [tag]Shane Dronett[/tag] was found dead today in his suburban Atlanta home. The cause of death is currently unknown but reports are that a 911 suicide call came in this morning from his residence. Shane was dealing with recovering from brain surgery but was well enough to make two Texas games this fall.

Read more at Statesman.com and AJC.com.

RIP Shane. Our thoughts are with his wife and family.

Update: Dronett’s death has officially been ruled a suicide.

Benbrookhorn has updated his great Texas football roster breakdown for the 2009 season. Every position is broken down by class and it includes the incoming 2012 seniors and even the 2013 targets. Useful.

Go check it out.