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- [00:00]
Eric Henry
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- [01:41]
Eric Henry
By state law, Indiana can sort of cement itself as we are no longer this team that's going to be fighting for six wins anymore. Malachi, Tony, is he gonna be ready? Dante Moore. He showed improvement. Better command.
- [02:01]
Bud Elliott
What's going on, y'? All, Bud Elliott here. This is summer school on the COVID 3 podcast and today we got a big one. That's my man, Eric Henry of Horns247. What's going on, dude?
- [02:10]
Eric Henry
Bud, what's going on, man? We go ways back to the Florida days, man. Always great to catch up with you, my guy.
- [02:15]
Bud Elliott
Oh man, the we got nice. We gotta actually we're getting a weirdly like nice not hot April. It's like sunn clouds but like 81. Yeah. In mid April. Like I, I, I keep telling myself like it's gonna be the last nice weekend we get for about 10 weeks and then we get another one. So I don't know, I don't know what's going on there, but I am certainly not going to. Maybe I just jinxed it. Next weekend's gonna be exactly. We're gonna sweater. Well, we're gonna sweat a lot. So last year, 10 and three, you know, really pretty damn good football team. A couple critical moments that they, you know, I'm sure wish they had back, you know, some inconsistencies but you know, the, the first year of the Arch Manning experience was fantastic. I want to dig into. We always kind of start coaching stuff first here. So Will Muschamp comes on as D.C. you know, offense is pretty much unchanged as far as coaching. Right. How do you see the defense like independent of personnel, you know, being called differently under Muschamp?
- [03:14]
Eric Henry
You know, it's really interesting, right, because I took a little bit of heat when the must champ, or I guess I should start with the Pete Kukowski firing when was announced in the same day, the announcement that Will Muschamp would be higher. Right. You know, Will Muschamp is someone who lives in the hearts of Texas fans for all the things he did, you know, two decades ago, right? You know, hitting the whiteboard and all those things. And I'm like, guys, I appreciate what Coach Boone did two decades ago, but Pete Kakowski's been a pretty darn good defensive coordinator over the past five years. Like are we living in the past? Is it just nostalgia? We had a chance to finally talk with Will Muschamp for the first time last week, Buddy, and I think I got it a little bit more. Two things that, and again, we're not going to get into like scheme and personnel. But there's two things I think tangibly he brings that maybe were needed. One, just intensity. You know, Pet Kukowski. Listen, you can't change anyone's personality, right? He is a low key, really well respected guys like Jade Baron, Michael Tapsay, you know, defensive genius always puts us in the right spot. But he's a low key guy, right? He talks in the tone of voice like this and maybe, you know, we're not there at practice. Maybe he gets fired up at times but, but you know, Coach Boom, he runs like this all the time, right. You know, and I think that naturally gets guys fired up to play. I think that is definitely resonating with the team early on in spring camp, or I should say early on in spring camp. And we heard Steve Sarkeesian say as much the last time we talked to him yesterday. The second thing, and again, I know this is going to sound cliche, but I do think there's some merit in this is when we spoke with Will Muschamp, he came to the availability wearing a shirt that said no Thud. No play. It was, you know, NP NT equals np, right? No thud, no play. The physicality aspect, right. And not just, you know, don't get me wrong, we're not talking about, oh, is it because they're going to be hitting. It's football. Right. It's a physical game. I'm saying the mentality with which they do things. You're going to see more man coverage, right? You're going to see being, you know, getting your hands on receivers instead of kind of playing off, just being more aggressive. I do think those things have started to resonate with the way Texas way Steve Sarkeesian wants his defense to play and guys like Colin Simmons and Ty Anthony Smiths and others, Jelani McDonald. I think it's starting to resonate with them. So that, that is kind of the quick early impressions of Wilma.
- [05:24]
Bud Elliott
I'm curious to see. You know, that's a good question. I'm gonna save that for when we talk. When we talk personnel.
- [05:28]
Eric Henry
Yeah.
- [05:29]
Bud Elliott
Offensive wise, like scheme wise. Is there anything you think, like, hey, maybe we weren't doing this last year in phase one, but now that, you know, Arch is in year two, you know, we think we can do this, this and this with the offense just because he's, you know, he's more veteran.
- [05:44]
Eric Henry
But this is gonna sound so simple because I, it's a great question you ask, right? But I, I laugh because it's actually something that I think was really simplistic going back to when Quinn, yours was at quarterback. When Steve Sarkeesian, you know, entering last year, he kind of talked about wanting to push the ball downfield. Feeling that's a strength of Arch Mannings. And it was, you look at the numbers, Arch completed, you know, over 55, 60 of his passes that travel north of 20 yards or more on the air. He is an excellent downfield passer. He attempted to more downfield passes in one year almost. And Quinn, yours had combined the last two years, but they got away from the quick passing game. Now, part of that just may have been they didn't have some of the shifty guys, right? So what, what I mean by that is this. You take a look at 2023, 2024. I'll just run down a list of names. Xavier Worthy, Jaden Blue, you know, Adnai Mitchell, you know, Keelan Robinson. All guys that you get the ball in their hands and space, let them do their thing. You know, those are easy completions with the quarterback that keep you on schedule even when the run game isn't necessarily hitting. Well, we know last year the run game did not hit. Texas's offense end up in a lot of, you know, behind the chains, you know, second and eights and third and sevens. Because if the run game wasn't hitting, they didn't have that quick passing game. I'll give you this quick note. You know, running backs in 2023 and 2024 accounted for over 70 receptions both of those years. Last year, that number shrunk to 39. Just 34 from the starters, right? So that's something, I think with the additions of Hollywood Robinson and Relique Brown. So Hollywood Robinson, Hollywood Smothers. Wow, that's a dated reference. Hollywood Smothers and Relique Brown. Bud's laughing at that. Geez, I think you're gonna get back to that for sure.
- [07:21]
Bud Elliott
Nice. All right, let's hit our first break here so we can take care of the sponsors. We come back, we'll dive into this offense big time.
- [07:29]
Eric Henry
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- [08:28]
Bud Elliott
All right, back here on summer school on the covertree Podcast. That's my man, Eric Henry of Horns247. So we started talking about Arch. He did have a little minor foot procedure, I think after the Citrus Bowl. Foot stuff sometimes, maybe more in basketball has a tendency to linger. Is. Is he expected to be full go and if so, when?
- [08:48]
Eric Henry
Yeah, you know, again, perfect timing. You ask that. We spoke with Steve Sarkeesian yesterday. He said that Arch Manning, for those, you know, whenever you may watch this. We are currently in the final week of Texas Sprint Camp. The Steve Sarkeesian said that Arch Manning could be out there if he wanted to, but just felt like what's the point of putting him out there for the final two, three practices to go full tilt when his goal and the quote is to have him 100 ready to rock and roll come June, July and August. Right. So the foot procedure seemingly has gone. Well, Arch Manning is thrown. He's just hasn't thrown in front of us in front of the media, you know, for obvious reasons. We'll see if he throws in this Saturday's kind of spring practice. But short answer, no. The expectation is he'll be ready to go come, you know, summer and into the fall.
- [09:30]
Bud Elliott
Like, we already kind of talked about the next steps for him, you know, hitting some of the checkdowns, you know, keeping the offense on, on schedule. You know, part of that being personnel based. Speaking of personnel based, we, Texas did go out and get a major free agent essentially in Cam Coleman, who has to be just like, wake up. Like he's in, you know, you know, in the Twilight Zone now that he has somebody thrown to him, like, you know, Arch Manning and not, not the guys that Auburn rolled out there over the last couple seasons. How does he unlock this offense?
- [10:00]
Eric Henry
He unlocks his offense in a way that quite frankly, you go back last year and this is no shade on Ryan Wingo. I think Ryan Wingo is set up for a really good year this year. But Ryan. Ryan openly talked about NASA playing with a ton of confidence at times. Still a little unsurety. Cam Coleman gives Tex that Xavier worthy type, that Adnai Mitchell type, even a Matt golden, right, Someone who, you know, can threaten the. The opposing defense. Shallow, intermediate, deep, and it's just a dynamic playmaker. And I think that is something that was missing from the offense last year because they were trying to, again, no disrespect to a Parker Livingstone. I think Emmett Mosley is a nice, you know, piece that will develop this year, but they were trying to manufacture a lot of that offense instead of just having a guy to say, hey, just go get open, go do your thing and the ball will find you.
- [10:48]
Bud Elliott
I. I'll. I'm also. Man, I wonder if he's not a red zone unlock at times. You know, Texas has been frustrating to watch in. In the red zone. I know Arch's legs help with that some, but I mean, I go back to that Vanderbilt game, right, that he had last year for Auburn, and just the. The ability to attack vertically, not deep, but like vertically. Literally, like, you know, leaving the surface of the earth and going up to get the ball. Like, I feel like he's a guy, you know, 50, 50 balls ain't 50, 50 with Cam Coleman against most DBs. And I'm, you know, curious to see like, you know, Sark is so good at scheming it up. And then, you know, you get down in their compressed area where you have a little bit less. Less room to play with. You know, he kind of creates room, you know, like literally throw it up type room. I think that's going to be really fun to watch for Texas.
- [11:31]
Eric Henry
No, I agree with you. It's interesting you mentioned that because Steve was asked earlier in camp about, you know, kind of some of those 50, 50 balls, right? If he feels like he has someone in Cam Coleman who can do those things, he said yes. He also noted Ryan Wingo. But I agree with you, right? When you have a guy that's just, hey, that guy is going to come down with it or at least you know, just give the chance where it's touchdown or incompletion, right? You know, as long as it's not interception. And I think you have that in
- [11:54]
Bud Elliott
Cam Coleman with the backs they brought in, obviously, you know, Hollywood, you know, Bama thought they had him and then Texas said, not so fast. And I mean, speaking of fast, like, that is some serious speed out of that Texas backfield. How much load do we think those guys can carry and maybe just if they're splitting it that they have plenty of.
- [12:12]
Eric Henry
No, I listen those two guys and keep it on. Derek Cooper again, you know, true freshman coming out of Shaman Madonna down there in South Florida. They've raved about him all camp. I think he legit can be the running back three. But in terms of, you know, really Brown and Hollywood smothers. Yes. Quick rundown. You talked about it, right? In terms of just sheer speed they bring to the backfield, that was something that was missing last year with Trey Wisner, and I'm a big Trey Wiser fan. You know, I think Trey's going to do great things at Florida State. But C.J. baxter was banged up coming off of his injury. Those guys are an upgrade in terms of speed. Let me give you this. Trey Wisner, and Trey was open about this, that one of the things he really kind of needed to work at was putting his foot in the ground and making a guy miss. He did not force a lot of missed tackles. Something that Jaden Blue, Jonathan Brooks, you know, Bion Robinson, those guys did. Right? You take a look at the advanced numbers. Both Brown and Smothers forced a lot of missed tackles and ripped off chunk plays. Again, it's those little things, I think, that were missing from the offense last year that puts so much more on Arch Manning to kind of manufacture offense that I think the Texas and Steve Sarkeesian are going to be able to get back to with these two packs.
- [13:18]
Bud Elliott
So offensive line wise, I mean, what. Baker's going inside, they take Melvin Siani and Seymour out of the portal. Do we know how this is going to shake out? And what's your confidence in this group compared to last year? I mean, two years ago that. That was a pretty damn good offensive line.
- [13:34]
Eric Henry
Yeah, I mean, listen, right now, the offensive line you talked about, Melvin Ciani, he is in camp, though. Wake Forest Trans, he's going to be at right tackle. Brandon Baker, as you mentioned, kicks inside to guard. Probably looking at Connor Robertson at center right now. Lawrence Seymour is still up in, you know, Mile Neck of the Woods, Conference usa, Western Kentucky. He's finishing up his degree, so he is not with the team in spring camp. It's probably looking at him at left guard. And then of course, you get All American candidate and Trevor Goosby at left tackle. That automatically is an upgrade from last year. I think the question right now is A, how will Lawrence see more fit? B, how does Brandon Baker kind of fit at guard? From what we've heard during camp, though, the reviews have been been good. And then C, death. Right? Because knock on wood, none of these guys gets hurt. I think there's a lot of, you know, underclassmen, guys who have not played a name. I'd like to hear more about Dylan Sikorsky, transferred from Oregon State. He started there, so we'd like to think that, hey, that guy who had some experience a little bit can be that. That next guard or, you know, interior offensive lineman. We'll see. But that's something to keep an eye on, right? I honestly feel, Bud, as if those, you know, starting five are going to be better. But again, you know, in today's college Football, you need to have six, seven, eight guys.
- [14:46]
Bud Elliott
Yeah. Almost everybody we have come on here says yeah, depth wise, like it's a little sketchy and like. Yeah. Because guys don't stick around and be a good seven anymore, you know, as an upperclassman, they will get paid somewhere else. Is there a guy on his offense who we maybe have not talked about or not talked about a lot so far in this recording that you think maybe if, if he hits his ceiling like a year before you or I, or even internally, they expect him to like, if he makes a jump over the next four or five months that kind of changes this offense's trajectory.
- [15:18]
Eric Henry
Yeah. You know, I'm not going to say a jump, but stick with me, right? I'm gonna go tight end Michael Mask, the transfer from Michigan State. The reason I say that, and again, this has been a bit of a hot take, but you know, J.T. sanders was a great tight end of Texas. Right. Super athletic is a reason he was, you know, third, fourth round pick with the Panthers. But I would make the argument that Texas offense is truly unlocked when you get a guy who is as equally adept as a blocker as he is a receiver. And of course I'm referring to Gunner Helm. Right, of course. Was drafted, you know, a couple years after JT with Tennessee. I think that was missing last year, right. Jack injuries. Part of it was blocking isn't necessarily his strength. I think also part of it is his skills as a receiver weren't able to be, you know, kind of actualized because he was asked to stay in and block a little bit more than expected because of the offensive line struggles. If you can get the offensive line together and then you get a guy like Michael Masness who was a good Sierra blocker. Right. Probably a better blocker than Jack Injuries was. But we're hearing he's making some plays in the past game. I think if he, you know, to use the word jump, if he can build on kind of what he did at Michigan State and be Even, you know, a 30, 35 catch guy while also maintaining his blocking, I think that's gonna, you know, kind of unlock a higher level potential protection's offense.
- [16:30]
Bud Elliott
All right, let's take our second break here and on the backside we'll hit this Texas defense.
- [16:37]
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- [17:07]
Eric Henry
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Bud Elliott
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Eric Henry
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- [17:28]
Bud Elliott
Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. All right, we're back here on Summer School. That is Eric Henry Horns247. All right, let's dive into this Texas defense. We already talked, you know, kind of the different stuff that Musham wants to do. The physicality brings. One thing that he will not have is the services of Anthony Hill who's, you know, was just kind of a do it all guy for them and an absolute freak. Not that they're going to be able to. I mean, I don't anticipate they'll be able to completely replace him, but I, I mean, how do they solve for his loss?
- [18:00]
Eric Henry
Yeah, I think you solve for his loss when you go and get a Rasheem Biles from Pitt, a guy who has, you know, several pick sixes in his career, a guy who forced fumbles, a guy who's been a playmaker. And Bud, you know, some of that stuff is kind of circumstantial, not saying that, you know, guys fall into forcing, you know, turnovers. But you wonder is that a skill or is that, you know, kind of just happenstance you're hearing in, in camp? He's always around the ball, he's getting his hands on the ball. So I think Rashin Biles is certainly an answer to that. I think Ty Anthony Smith, his development from year one to year two as a starter, I mean, Ty Anthony Smith got some starts when ant was banged up last year, right. I think that is how you do it. And also a guy from your neck of the woods, Justin Cryer, right, he seems to be filling a David Benda like role for Texas that they missed with Benda's graduation. I think those three guys are really going to help feel kind of, you know, the, the do it all sense that, that, that Anthony Hill brought to Texas.
- [18:53]
Bud Elliott
So Colin Simmons is somebody that will must shape has to play with. I'm kind of wondering like, well, you're, you're you're, you watch Florida. Is there some like Dexter Fowler potential there for from those must champ defenses when he was with the Gators?
- [19:06]
Eric Henry
I, I, I would completely agree with you. I mean listen, Colin Simmons is a game wrecker. I would make the argument this is no disrespect to, you know, Dexter Fowler, even some, you know, guys in the past. I think Colin Simmons is the best pass rusher that Will Mushkam's had in a very long time. Right. And I think he is going to wreck college football. And I say this, you take a look at Collins year last year and you think man, you know, he, Collins a very confident guy and said he wanted to set the program record for sacks in a season. Didn't quite do that. And he was pressing by his own admission earlier in the year, but still had a hell of a year but a really good year. I think with the level of confidence, quite frankly, the maturity. I'll give a quick example. Steve Sarkeesian said that in previous years in practice, right. You know, when Colin would rush free and, and you have a chance to sack the quarterback, right. He would have to touch the quarterback. So now the, the play is broken. Right. You know, the, the rest, the other 21 guys can't get a rep because Collins had to go touch the quarterback. Now he's swooping around the guy, letting the quarterback continue getting that throw off, the rest of the play can continue and everyone gets a rep. Right. That level of maturity from Colin Simmons I think will translate onto the field.
- [20:18]
Bud Elliott
So where are the, the concerns for this Texas defense? Obviously we mentioned, you know, replacing Hill. Like they have a plan it, you know, best laid plans and whatnot. Like where else are you like maybe not concerned because Texas is well coached and they have a lot of money but like stuff that you maybe just lingering questions you might have that linger into the season that we're going to need to see answered.
- [20:40]
Eric Henry
I'll give you one. You know, Ethan Burke's really good football player and that guy never felt like he got the recognition at least I, I don't think he felt like got the recognition he deserved. That's a guy who you think, all right, you know, didn't have 10 sacks or you know, 50 tackles, but was always excellent in run defense, always there. He was supposed to got his hands on passes batted down passes and you think all right, yes, Lance Jackson, an emerging sophomore. You have, you know, Brad Spence and other guys you can fill in. Yeah, you know, we'll just replace Ethan Burke. It's not that simple. So I'm really interested to see how you replace him. On the other side of Colin Simmons, that's one Anthony Hill. As I said, I do believe Rashin Biles is more than capable of doing. If Anthony Hill was a all American type for several years. How do you do that? I'm also kind of curious to see how the secondary comes together again. Michael Taft, a really good football player, graduating. I do believe that Jelani McDonald, you know, Xavier Philsmi, the return of Derrick Williams, I think those guys certainly as a trio can, can fill that, you know, the production. But Michael Taft's leadership, just who he was, you know, how do you replace that?
- [21:50]
Bud Elliott
So Muhammad left, right, As a, how thin do you think the corner room is? And like, who, who do you expect to emerge as a starter there? Like, you know, among the guys who need to emerge.
- [22:02]
Eric Henry
That's another name, right? Manny Muhammad. Malik. Muhammad was a guy who, you know, some people felt like, oh, he never reached his potential, but still was a really darn good cornerback for Texas. I am not one of those people who thought he didn't reach his potential. Right. So you talk about who could replace him. I'll give you two names. You know, one, you're looking at Cade Phillips, a true freshman who ended up being a starter by the end of last year. That's one. Here's a name I'm glad you mentioned because you reminded me of Corner to keep an eye out. Bo Masco, a transfer from Rutgers.
- [22:27]
Bud Elliott
From Rutgers, yeah. Really good in the slot, man. Like that's a, that's a great get for them. Sorry, I, I, no, no, no.
- [22:34]
Eric Henry
Everyone is boasting about him. His former cornerbacks coach Mark Orfe was at Rutgers, made the move to Texas last year. He's been raving about him. That's a name to keep an eye on as well as far as guys could replace Malik Muhammad.
- [22:45]
Bud Elliott
He, he was a like Kissimmee guy. Yeah.
- [22:48]
Eric Henry
Osceola, right? I believe.
- [22:49]
Bud Elliott
Yeah, I think so, yeah. Yeah. Because his brother was Chad, the, the quarterback who was, I mean he can't control this, but like he was really good as a freshman but just didn't grow, you know. Yeah. If he's 6 4, you know, maybe he's, he's still kicking around, you know, at a higher level. Man, I'm excited, I'm excited about this Texas team. The schedule is, is interesting. So you do get Ohio State at home that the first year of the five game SEC schedule. One name. I know that Texas fans are excited not to See on the on of this year is Georgia probably a little break from, from the Bulldogs. I kind of like the way this sets up in most spots in that like you do draw Mississippi State, Missouri, Arkansas and you don't get Georgia. Now look, there's a lot of good SC teams so you got to play A M on the road, LSU on the road, you know, Oklahoma at a neutral and then you know, at Tennessee. But like there's some of these teams I think I like playing. Like I'd rather, I'd much rather play Florida and Austin than in the Swamp. You know what record do you think gets them like to where they want to go? Like you know, college ball playoff and a good spot in it.
- [24:00]
Eric Henry
You know, I think you take a look at last year, right. And it's obvious that nine wins in the regular season didn't get the job done. Right. So I think you kind of to set that benchmark at double digit wins now of course, I mean I guess you could say in theory, you know, how do those wins and losses shape up? Right. You know, you can't just, you know, that certainly matters, right. And I think losing to Georgia, while that was not, you know, a 35, 10 or whatever ended up being that that game was much closer. You know, the final score can't look like that. So some of those nuances matter. But I do think you got to set the benchmark. I think Steve Sarkeesian will say it after experiencing what he did last year. You got to set that benchmark at double digit wins in the regular season to feel confident that you are going to have a shot at the College Football Playoff.
- [24:41]
Bud Elliott
You know I, I do this kind of like where does the bye week come analysis. You know, it setting us up like so you get the early bye week after the road trip to Tennessee, before Red river and then I mean they play what 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8, 7 or 8 games in a row to finish season with no buy week. Which is weird. Like just because of if you don't play the August game this year, most of these teams are just going to get, you know, one bye week. I like having the Mississippi State, Missouri, not those teams are automatic wins, but I mean they're projected what bottom four, bottom five in the sec. I think if you look at most of the, the you know, the odds by Vegas that's kind of like not a bye week but it's a nice potential breather. Like you're probably not losing Mississippi State at home. Even if you roll out like Your B minus or your C minus game, you know, it's. That seems to set up well. I don't love having to go to A M on short rest in the year on the Friday. But you do get a home game against Arkansas, which might be the worst SEC team this year. If it's not Mississippi State, like, that's probably the best placement. You know, if you told me I had to go play at A and M on short rest, I don't want to come off a road game before that, and I don't want to play like. Like a monster before that either. So I guess in theory that sets up nicely.
- [25:52]
Eric Henry
Yeah, I do agree with you. And I'll say this just kind of, you know, throw, you know, maybe a little not curveball was kind of throw this back at you. Right. Texas traveled a lot last year. Right. And I say a lot by, you know, kind of the standards. It's not like the ACC, you know. You know, you got some Pac 12 teams in there. But you understand what I'm saying, right?
- [26:10]
Bud Elliott
At Kentucky is a pain, you know.
- [26:12]
Eric Henry
Yeah, right, exactly. I do genuinely think, okay, you know, you get a. That's your road game this year. Right. So you're only having to leave the state of Texas three times. Missouri, LSU and Tennessee. Right. I. I think that helps. I, I do genuinely think that kind of setup. Genuinely. If you take a look at this team and if you take. Let's. Let's use last year's team as an example, right. For a team that was still finding their footing, all of the things Arch Manning and is he the first bust, you know, that headline. The. Is Steve Sarkeesian going to the NFL headline, all those things and having to travel. I do think that took its toll on Texas towards the end of the year right now. The fact that they at least, you know, some of the. The trips are shorter. I do genuinely believe that that plays in Texas favor, honestly. And if you take a look at recent history, I think it's shown that,
- [27:03]
Bud Elliott
man, just with all the superstar potential on this team, if the depth holds up, you know, and the new, like the new defensive scheme, I mean, they got to be on the real short list and they are certainly to really take it home and to do something special this year, I don't be really excited to watch all your coverage on Horns247 and see how this team evolves, man. I appreciate your time on summer school here.
- [27:21]
Eric Henry
Anytime, bud. Thank you. All right.
- [27:23]
Bud Elliott
I hope you're well.