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.
Today’s US Army All-American Bowl is the first of two high school all-star games this weekend that will give Texas fans the opportunity to see some future Texas Longhorns play against elite competition. Back in 2002 this game was our first chance to see how special a young man named Vincent Young might be. Today, seven commits and a few possible blue chip targets will play at noon today on NBC for the West squad.
The defensive line will be full of Horns with tackle [tag]Calvin Howell[/tag] and ends [tag]Alex Okafor[/tag] and the uncommitted stud Devon Kennard likely spending a lot of time in the East backfield. I also want to see how running back [tag]Chris Whaley[/tag] looks and if a big back can fit into Texas’ spread offense.
Here are the Texas commits and targets to keep an eye on during the game:
Name | Number | Position | Commit? | Ranking |
---|---|---|---|---|
[tag]Tariq Allen[/tag] | 43 | Linebacker | Yes | |
[tag]Marcus Davis[/tag] | 28 | Cornerback | Yes | |
[tag]Calvin Howell[/tag] | 99 | Defensive Tackle | Yes | |
Devon Kennard | 42 | Defensive End | No | |
Dre Kirkpatrick | 13 | Cornerback | No | |
[tag]Alex Okafor[/tag] | 80 | Defensive End | Yes | |
[tag]Garrett Porter[/tag] | 78 | Offensive Tackle | Yes | |
[tag]Greg Timmons[/tag] | 81 | Wide Receiver | Yes | |
[tag]Chris Whaley[/tag] | 25 | Running Back | Yes |
View the full US Army rosters.
We’ll have thoughts on these guys and the rest of the game this weekend.
It’s barely March but it looks like [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] is close to wrapping up his 2009 recruiting class already. After starting out strong with Garrett Gilbert and six other commits at the team’s first junior day, the Horns have since added eight more of the state’s top football players to bring the total tally up to fifteen.
Two of the biggest commits were at linebacker, where Irving’s Tariq Allen and Grand Prairie’s Patrick Nkwopara made their pledge to play for defensive coordinator [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag]’s defense. Both players were top targets of the Texas defensive coaching staff and appear to fit their mold perfectly for a linebacker, speed guys who aren’t afraid to knock your head off. If you’re a Rivals subscriber, watch Allen’s videos and you’ll be very excited about our future middle linebacker.
The team also got help in the defensive backfield by picking up commits from cornerbacks Eryon Barnett from Euless and Kenny Vaccaro out of Brownwood. Vaccaro is one of the state’s most heavily recruited DB’s and held offers from the likes of Florida, Oklahoma, and Stanford when chose the Longhorns. Barnett was a virtual unknown before committing to the Horns but Texas offered quickly and he certainly passes the eyeball test so he looks like a player who will shoot up the rankings once the scouting services get film of him.
Texas also did an excellent job filling needs from the top in-state options. Defensive end and tight end were both positions the Horns needed to fill holes at in this class. At defensive end the two big fish are still out there, Alex Okafor and five-star Devon Kennard, but the Horns added two very capable prospects in Dominique Jones and Kyle Kriegel. The tight end commits look like the two best in the state in Trey Graham and Barrett Matthews. I’m particularly excited about Matthews, whose versatility, athleticism, and toughness allow him to play an H-back role or maybe even end up on defense. It doesn’t hurt that he plays for Galena Park North Shore, a school that has now put out three top Division I tight ends in a row.
The fifteen current commits are listed below:
Name | Position | Rating* | LSR** | Hometown |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tariq Allen | LB | 65 | Irving | |
Thomas Ashcraft | OL | 13 | Cedar Hill | |
Eryon Barnett | DB | NR | Euless | |
Marcus Davis | DB | 15 | League City | |
Garrett Gilbert | QB | 2 | Austin | |
Trey Graham | TE | NR | Waco | |
Dominique Jones | DE | NR | Kilgore | |
Paden Kelley | OL | 31 | Austin | |
Kyle Kriegel | DE | 64 | Elysian Fields | |
Barrett Matthews | TE | 59 | Galena Park | |
Patrick Nkwopara | LB | NR | Grand Prairie | |
Garrett Porter | OL | 30 | Odessa | |
Greg Timmons | WR | 10 | Aldine | |
Kenny Vaccaro | DB | 53 | Brownwood | |
Chris Whaley | RB | 8 | Madisonville |
*Note: Most of the star ratings are just estimates based on the video I’ve seen of the recruits and Orangebloods.com’s state rankings.
**Note: LSR is Geoff Ketchum’s Lone Star Recruiting Top 100. The numbers represent the player’s ranking as of 2/13/2008.