Defensive tackle Derek Johnson is a big dude. Can he play? (Image: MBTF)

Defensive tackle Derek Johnson is a big dude. Can he play as good as he looks? (Image: MBTF)

After nearly two whole months without Texas football, Friday was finally the first day of Spring practice. No tidbits yet (practices are closed to the public) but the official site does have a short video to watch and a nice photo gallery as well.

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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.

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Garrett Gilbert and Paden Kelley sign their Letters of Intent (Image: Statesman.com)

Garrett Gilbert and Paden Kelley sign their Letters of Intent (Image: Statesman.com)

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 …)

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Posted January 3rd, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football, Recruiting

Robert Timmons, Marcus Davis, and Alex Okafor will play for the Horns (Rivals.com)

Robert Timmons, Marcus Davis, and Alex Okafor will play for the Longhorns (Rivals.com)

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 1 star1 star1 star1 star
[tag]Marcus Davis[/tag] 28 Cornerback Yes 1 star1 star1 star1 star
[tag]Calvin Howell[/tag] 99 Defensive Tackle Yes 1 star1 star1 star1 star
Devon Kennard 42 Defensive End No 1 star1 star1 star1 star1 star
Dre Kirkpatrick 13 Cornerback No 1 star1 star1 star1 star1 star
[tag]Alex Okafor[/tag] 80 Defensive End Yes 1 star1 star1 star1 star1 star
[tag]Garrett Porter[/tag] 78 Offensive Tackle Yes 1 star1 star1 star1 star
[tag]Greg Timmons[/tag] 81 Wide Receiver Yes 1 star1 star1 star1 star
[tag]Chris Whaley[/tag] 25 Running Back Yes 1 star1 star1 star1 star

View the full US Army rosters.

We’ll have thoughts on these guys and the rest of the game this weekend.

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Rivals has posted an interview from new Orangebloods.com editor Jason Howell with three of the Texas commits participating in the US Army All-American Bowl this Saturday at noon. Jason talks to [tag]Alex Okafor[/tag], [tag]Tariq Allen[/tag], and [tag]Greg Timmons[/tag] about their experience preparing for the game, going up against top competition, and being part of the Longhorn family.

Man I love Timmons hair, definitely a look that should never have gone out of style. All three players look like they’ll represent the University well, and Allen and Okafor in particular are very well spoken young men.

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Posted March 8th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Football, Recruiting

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 starstarstarstar 65 Irving
Thomas Ashcraft OL starstarstarstar 13 Cedar Hill
Eryon Barnett DB starstarstarstar NR Euless
Marcus Davis DB starstarstarstar 15 League City
Garrett Gilbert QB starstarstarstarstar 2 Austin
Trey Graham TE starstarstar NR Waco
Dominique Jones DE starstarstar NR Kilgore
Paden Kelley OL starstarstarstar 31 Austin
Kyle Kriegel DE starstarstar 64 Elysian Fields
Barrett Matthews TE starstarstar 59 Galena Park
Patrick Nkwopara LB starstarstarstar NR Grand Prairie
Garrett Porter OL starstarstarstar 30 Odessa
Greg Timmons WR starstarstarstar 10 Aldine
Kenny Vaccaro DB starstarstarstar 53 Brownwood
Chris Whaley RB starstarstarstar 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.

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