IT Live: The Key to the Texas Offensive Line

Summary

Inside Texas Football – IT Live: The Key to the Texas Offensive Line

Date: July 15, 2026
Host: Texas Homer (Connor)
Guest: Ian Boyd
Theme: Assessing the Texas Longhorns’ Offensive Line — Blame, Challenges, and Paths to Success

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Episode Overview

This episode of Inside Texas Football centers on the pivotal question: "What is the key to the Texas Longhorns' offensive line?" Hosts Texas Homer (Connor) and Ian Boyd break down last season's struggles, allocate blame, debate coaching philosophy, player development, and scheme, and ultimately assess what level of offensive line play is required for Texas to make a national championship run in the 2026 season. The conversation is frank and spirited, encompassing in-depth technical and organizational debates, and is peppered with listener questions and lively anecdotes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

I. Diagnosing 2025’s Offensive Line Struggles

Timestamps: 01:12–11:30

• Blame Distribution (“Blame Pie”):

  • Initially, Ian apportions 3 of 8 “blame slices” to O-line coach Kyle Flood, 3 to head coach Steve Sarkisian (Sark), and 2 to strength and conditioning.
  • Debate about responsibility for personnel choices, especially the failed decision not to take a transfer guard.
  • Connor: “Are we doing the global thing of, like, you recruited these players ... who selected the players?” (02:41)
  • Ian: “Flood was like, no, we don’t need a transfer guard. Which was a disaster.” (03:05)
  • Reflecting on periods of injury and lack of command in the 2025 offseason.

• Scheme and Coaching Problems:

  • The offensive line frequently looked confused, especially in early season games — UTEP and San Jose State highlighted as lowlights.
  • Connor: “Our tackles are closer to their ceiling … I give you zero credit for Kelvin Banks.” (07:18)
  • Discussion on whether interior O-line coaching and support staff structure is sufficient; suggestion that more than one O-line coach, as at Alabama and LSU, could help. (08:17–09:04)

• Strength & Conditioning:

  • Chronic issues with generating push in the run game attributed in part to S&C.
  • Ian: “The inability to get push I attribute mostly to strength and conditioning.” (10:03)
  • Breakdown in technique (lunging, lack of confidence) tied to being physically overmatched and lack of in-game simulation.

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II. Can Texas Succeed With “Just” an Average Offensive Line?

Timestamps: 12:11–20:37

• Debate Over “Average”:

  • Can Texas make a playoff/national championship run with an "average to occasionally good" OL?
  • Connor: “We made it to the semis with average to occasionally good [OL] in a lot of ways.” (12:33)
  • Ian: “If the line is meaningfully better than last year, I think the team will be fine. I don’t think they need to clear that high a bar.” (14:27)
  • Consensus: With the skill talent at QB, RB, WR, only a solid floor — not top-tier, but not a disaster — is necessary.

• Modern Football Context:

  • Most recent national champions (except perhaps Michigan) haven’t relied on elite OL play; the system and talent at skill positions are more critical.

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III. The Structure and Challenges of the Texas O-Line System

Timestamps: 21:31–29:38

• System Complexity:

  • Flood’s system is “extremely multiple” — many blocking schemes, techniques, and in-game adjustments expected of linemen.
  • Ian: “It’s a pro style philosophy and it’s just this… Without pro players.” (25:22–25:28)
  • The complexity may contribute to frequent penalties, slower development, and more transfer attrition.

• Recruiting & Development Issues:

  • NIL/salary cap makes it impossible to stockpile high-4-star OL everywhere—the need to develop "three-star dudes" into contributors.
  • Two approaches: take lean, athletic in-state recruits and bulk them up, or recruit big-body “fat dudes” and shape them. Texas is struggling with both.
  • Example successes: Christian Jones, but his development took six years—faster timelines rarely available due to NFL departures.

• Continuity Problems:

  • Unlike some traditional power programs (e.g., Notre Dame), Texas often lacks four- or five-year continuity among starters.

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IV. Scheme, Penalties, and Risks of Overload

Timestamps: 29:39–34:41

• Mental and Schematic Overload:
  • Overly complex blocking rules, timing issues due to pre-snap motions/shifts, and diverse scheme requirements make for frequent mental errors and penalties.
  • Connor: “If you’re constantly…worrying about legit edge, and in the back of your mind you’re having to time up…the H-back goes here…the timing is really tough, man.” (31:40)
  • O-linemen require years of reps to reach consistent performance under this system.

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V. Comparative O-Line Philosophies: Texas vs. Notre Dame & Others

Timestamps: 49:39–55:31

• Notre Dame Comparison:

  • Notre Dame: Gets tall, lean linemen, focuses on three-point stances, quick firing off the ball—different than Texas’ “catch and absorb” technique.
  • Host observes more wrestling and Midwestern football/working-class culture as producing different OL mindsets and skills.

• Texas’ System is Demanding, Not “Player-Friendly”:

  • Because of the "pro system, no pro players" approach, Texas linemen may underperform compared to their talent level.

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VI. Integration of New Transfers & Depth Chart Intrigue

Timestamps: 60:07–63:38

• Newcomers:

  • Watch for pivotal Miami (FL) transfer Lawrence Seymour at guard and Siani at tackle.
  • Lack of spring means less fan/media buzz around some newcomers.
  • The flexibility to field five effective starters, even if it takes some position shuffling, will be crucial by fall camp.

• Depth Concerns:

  • The more "possible names" get trotted out for the two guard spots, the more uncertain the Texas staff is about those positions.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Blame Pie

  • Ian Boyd (02:15): “I would give Flood like maybe three slices of eight. ... I’m gonna give Sark three as well.”
  • Host (03:57): “No blame on the players. No agency for the players.”
  • Ian Boyd (04:01): “I only have eight slices.”

• On System Complexity

  • Ian Boyd (21:52): “The system is being extremely multiple and being able to run the ball in different ways and pass protect in different ways... It usually works more because they’ll catch teams and really hurt them, than because they are consistently able to execute fundamentals.”

• On the “Pro System” Dilemma

  • Ian Boyd (25:22): “It’s a pro style philosophy and it’s just this…”
  • Host (25:26): “Without pro players.”
  • Ian Boyd (25:28): “Without pro players.”

• On Runs and Development

  • Ian Boyd (26:03): “You can’t get 13 high four stars. It’s too expensive. Unless that’s like all you do. Like Georgia kind of does that and then they neglect other positions.”

• On Penalties and Mental Load

  • Host (31:40): “Is that why we see so many penalties in your point of view?”

• On Notre Dame’s Secret Sauce

  • Host (52:13): “Wrestling, I think is maybe the biggest part of it. And they said so many of them wrestle in the off season rather than playing basketball or shot put…”

• On the Floor for Success

  • Ian Boyd (64:18): “I’m not back. I’m back. I’m back where I always land, where it’s like they really just need to be decent.”

• On Siani Transfer

  • Ian Boyd (41:54): “I’ve watched Siani quite a bit in the last two weeks, and the more I watch, the more I think we could have the best tackle duo in the country this year.”

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Listener Q&A — Highlighted Exchanges

• On O-Line Development Models:

  • (29:11) Why isn’t Texas turning big, athletic high schoolers into quality starters as well as Notre Dame?
  • Ian Boyd (29:11): “I don’t know why the fat guy one is not working better, especially with the big human. The big Human’s philosophy was basically like, you’re just gonna bring them in big enough and still it doesn’t work.”

• On SEC Line Play:

  • (58:02) Has SEC O-line play declined?
  • Ian Boyd (58:11): “I don’t know what research into this would look like, so I’m not sure... we’ve been workshopping a ‘fall of OL civilization’ piece.”

• On the Impact of “Distractions” in Austin:

  • (57:06) Is Austin too big a distraction for players?
  • Host (57:19): “If Austin was such a distraction, our volleyball team wouldn’t be great, our baseball team wouldn’t be consistently great… Texas is constantly winning the Directors Cup, so… it doesn’t bear out.”

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Assessment & Final Thoughts

Timestamps: 55:39–64:47

• Integration and Optimism:

  • If Texas can just set a solid “floor” (limit major breakdowns, achieve and sustain “decent” run blocking), the team’s 2026 skill talent is robust enough to make a national championship run.
  • There is lingering skepticism about whether the “imports” (transfers) will gel, and whether the scheme demands can be met by college-level athletes with limited time and continuity.
  • Both hosts end on a cautiously optimistic note, with the bar set at “do not be a liability.”

• Summary of What’s Needed for Success:

  • Strong tackle play from Banks and Siani.
  • Quick integration of newcomers, especially at guard.
  • Improved, but not elite, run blocking — just avoid catastrophic busts.
  • Coaching focus on both technical execution and player confidence.
  • (Host, 64:23): “As long as I don’t see stunts completely demolish [us]... just give me what they gave me at the end of last season and I’m comfortable with the level up.”

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“If You Missed It” Takeaways

• Texas’ offensive line issues are multidimensional: recruiting, development, coaching structure, strength program, and the sheer complexity of the system.
• Improvement doesn’t have to mean dominance — just stabilization and cohesion.
• Integration of high-level transfers AND a more streamlined scheme may be the best hope for a title run.
• The debate on where blame lies is unresolved but nuanced: it’s not just one coach, nor is it simply the players.
• The staff and fans should brace for some early struggles, but if last year’s late improvement is built upon, Texas’ title hopes remain alive.

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For those following Texas football, this episode is a deep dive into one of the program’s most persistent questions: what will it take for the offensive line to finally pull its weight — and just how high must they reach for the team’s title aspirations to come true?

Transcript

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[Host (Texas Homer)]

Good morning everyone. Welcome to it live. I'm Texas Homer. That is Ian Boyd today where we will be discussing the offensive line for the Texas Longhorns. Then whatever you guys want to talk about after that, first head over to inside Texas where you can join for $1. Then 50% off your first year. For those new members, link in the description below. Ian has been doing a position series, position by position and I was gonna say. Are you officially done now?

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah. Great. I probably drag it out. I could probably add like I never did, Sam.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah, well, you can't double back to defense after you get the offense. That's against.

[Ian Boyd]

I can do whatever I want, Connor.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

No, no. It's against the rules. You did defense first. You did offense. You could.

[Ian Boyd]

I don't. I want to be done.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

You will never ever return.

[Ian Boyd]

It's been good. It's been. It's kept me with. The hardest thing in the off season is coming up with what to write.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Ian Boyd]

And it's kept me afloat.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

The season is so easy. Off season is a nightmare. It's easy in the beginning and then you're on like month six of this like. All right, what's going on? Bobby Petronic asked to start off. Will this team make a playoff run if the offensive line is merely average to occasionally good versus the Tara bad bad to adequate addition filed last year. Mostly one's positions and position coaches failings.

[Ian Boyd]

I don't agree with the blame pie distribution by Petronic. I don't think it's all on flood. Bill Simmons does this thing now blame pie where there's like eight slices, I guess and it's like who gets how many slices of the blame? And I would give flood like maybe three slices of eight. Yeah.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Well, are we Doing the. Are we doing the global thing of, like, you recruited these players? Are we just. We're just completely getting rid of that concept.

[Ian Boyd]

Oh, like, does the general manager get some.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah, well, it's like, if you're like, well, the players weren't good enough, it's like, yeah, who selected the players? So it's like, are we getting rid of that factor?

[Ian Boyd]

I mean, I think you take that into consideration, but I think. I don't. I. I don't think that the. The front of Texas's front office, such as it is, would get that much blame, because it's. From what we've heard, Flood was kind of. The blood was like, no, we don't need a transfer guard. Which was a disaster.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah, now you're confusing me now because it's like. Though that does lead to a big. At least an extra slice.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah, I think so. I think so. We'll give him four slices.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Okay, so he has half of the

[Ian Boyd]

blame pie right now we give two slices to. No, let's give him three, and I'm gonna give Stark three as well.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Okay.

[Ian Boyd]

It's like, you're the head coach, and then I'm gonna save two for strength and conditioning.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Okay. No blame on the players. No agency of the players.

[Ian Boyd]

I only have eight slices.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Sounds good.

[Ian Boyd]

I wish I knew more about what happened with Netto. No, I'm sure there's blame to go there.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

All right, so break down your breakdown of the blame slices. Why they were portioned such way.

[Ian Boyd]

That was it. I don't know. Clearly.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

I know. Not completely thought out. It's on the spot. But specifically, the interesting thing of Sark, beyond him being the head coach. What do you. What do you mean? Play selection. How else?

[Ian Boyd]

More just like, how did you not know this was going to be a problem? It's just, you know, the off season from hell, where it seems like Sark went into the season without as much command of the team as normal.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Right.

[Ian Boyd]

The last off season just seems like it was lost in so many ways. It seems like Sark was very distracted because he had so much going on, and they had all these young guys that everyone was like, well, these young guys are going to be awesome. And then they weren't awesome enough.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

When we were kind of. We were kind of going off a little bit of a high. It seemed like they thought they're like, the system is built. The players just plug in. Now it seems like we had a little slight arrogance that wasn't purely a talent that, you know, Bama has been built and it will continue forward.

[Ian Boyd]

There's a lot of things that went wrong. And then like I, I keep mentioning, like I, I talked all off season about how Wingo was like a huge, enormous piece of, piece of the puzzle and then every single time they had a camp, he was like quickly injured and missed most of it. So yeah, I, I heard from a source, like leading up at some point in fall camp, it was like they have two receivers on the team they trust, Livingston and Wingo, and that's it. And that was like, oh no, it's not good.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

But where do you. Beyond getting personnel? Why do you think Flood didn't have the offensive line ready? Why did they look so confused beyond just, you know, we can talk about the strength side and the technique side, but you know, remember watching that all 22 early, they had no clue what was going on.

[Ian Boyd]

Was that it? I thought they just were bad.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

No, they like, they were, they were climbing up to reeds that didn't exist. They were pulling in weird ways. Like San Jose State particularly is one that stood out to me.

[Ian Boyd]

You mean Sam Houston? No, no, no, no.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Sam Jose.

[Ian Boyd]

Utep.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

UTEP was one of them too. But San Jose State is the one. I think, I think that's the one I sent you clips from.

[Ian Boyd]

But oh, maybe you're right because they

[Host (Texas Homer)]

like UTEP was scary too because. But that was more like we were physically getting beat. Whoever that nose was for, UTEP looked like an all American versus us. They were like throwing our guys around. It was, it was wild.

[Ian Boyd]

It felt like utep. They threw all kinds of junk at us and either the junk would blow everything up or the line would murder it and then the running back would run the wrong way. Yeah, it was amazing.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

It was totally discombobulated. But what, what do you think that was? That's just what in inexperience I'm kind of leading you towards. I think there's a problem with interior align coaching. I feel better about the tackles, but also oftentimes like our, our tackles are closer to their ceiling. Christian Jones is a counter example. So there are counter examples, but it's just like I give you zero credit for Kelvin Banks, you know, that kind of thing.

[Ian Boyd]

So did they have any shakeups with the support staff before the season?

[Host (Texas Homer)]

I don't remember because normally like when did Chris leave.

[Ian Boyd]

Before the year? I don't know. I don't know how much he was involved in that.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

He was run game coordinating, wasn't he? I can't.

[Ian Boyd]

No, I don't think so. He Was like an analyst.

[Kalshi Advertiser]

Okay.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

I don't know if it was my position, but, like, the whole point of Chris was to bring in a run game.

[Ian Boyd]

Maybe.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

At least that's how it was billed.

[Ian Boyd]

They. I do wonder if. I wonder if Flood had somebody less reliable to delegate. I noticed that in his LSU staff, Kiffin hired two offensive line coaches.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Bama's done the same.

[Ian Boyd]

I feel like that should be how teams do it.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah. That's why I'm. I'm on that. Bama did it. I was like, that makes total sense. It's a lot of positions, man. It's like being a DB coach. Like, there's a corner coach, nickel coach and a safety coach. They're different positions, but they work in tandem like an offensive line. So to me, it's like, why do you have one guy with five positions? Technically three positions mirrored. But I would argue there's still five separate positions. But I agree. I'm more into that camp now of more than one offensive line coach.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah. But I wonder if they had. If they lost someone that he was delegating stuff to because, honestly, last year was so much worse than the other years. I feel like much of last year, people do the thing where, like, this guy was a fraud all along. It's always been like this. It was not always like that.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Not at that scale. They've always had problems pushing guys around.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

There's been consistent. There's consistent run blocking issues, red zone finishing issues the whole time. But luckily we were able to pass block. Well, in the past, that was rather consistent until, like, Georgia would come along or something like that. So we'd get kind of exposed at the top end. But we were able to throw enough touchdowns that didn't feel that bad. But the run blocking has always been suspect. And then as soon as we didn't have running backs that were explosive or could make big plays, I think it got exploited even more. Make it evident that the running backs were doing a lot of heavy lifting in the run game at Texas.

[Ian Boyd]

The inability to get push I attribute mostly to strength and conditioning.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Sure.

[Ian Boyd]

Which is. I mean, people like Joe Longhorn fan usually just blames everything on Flood. That's a normal. That's a normal fan. Thing is blame it all on the direct position coach. Maybe the more cynical. Blame the head coach. You should blame the head coach because it's ultimately the head coach's responsibility. But the. The. Yeah. Me and Paul have been ripping on stuff about strength program for a while now. And yeah, if your guys are not strong how do you teach them dirt?

[Host (Texas Homer)]

So here's a lot of the technique sucks, like for the interior blocking, but it's. Does the technique suck because they're being taught for technique or does the technique suck because they. The player feels they're outmatched physically, so they start doing dumb stuff so they know they can't hold up against that tackle, so now they start lunging. Or are they just lunging because they're not being taught properly? I've seen a lot of the flood clinics, you know, whenever I'm watching them, I'm not like, this makes no sense and is stupid. I mean, the coaching points are there. But is their technique breakdown because they're not confident, not ready, not athletic enough, not strong enough, or is something getting between practice and games? Is the simulation off for them?

[Ian Boyd]

Whose technique was breaking down a lot? A lot of that was like,

[Kalshi Advertiser]

of

[Host (Texas Homer)]

course, like Strobe, but Hudson. Hudson's technique would break down all the time. They'd be at that 90 degree angle all the time, their shoulders over their legs, lunging towards people. It was never like confident climbs. You can just see it in all 22. Like, what is a confident. Where does he know where he's going and he's going there correctly versus this kind of like panicked lungy style that they employ. So technique breakdowns were incredibly common, especially on the interior. Tackles have it too, but they're just. This might be to the point they're more athletic so they can kind of make up for it more often.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah. To answer the actual main question, will this team make a playoff run if the O line is merely average to occasionally good versus the terror bad to adequate addition laugh from last year? I say yes.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Well, we made it to the semis with average to occasionally good in a lot of ways.

[Ian Boyd]

What's. Average average? No, they were better than that. Not.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

You're. You have the flood mentality of outsized pass blocking. It's. They were never. They were always average run blockers. Thank you. We can't just calculate in pass blocking.

[Ian Boyd]

Okay, but if you're an average run blocker and then you're a good pass blocker, then you're better than average.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah, there's. Then you get into the occasionally good part.

[Ian Boyd]

No, they were not. I. I don't think that's. I think that's too.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

I think they were in the occasionally good because whenever they played.

[Ian Boyd]

How many teams. How many teams are included in the average? All 132 FBS teams. All the P2 teams. What's. What. What do you need to be. If you're average, what's the middle. What are you the middle of?

[Host (Texas Homer)]

FPS. You can do power. Power. Power 4 instead of P2 or FBS.

[Ian Boyd]

Okay. If it's FBS, they've been way above average the entire time. Because now you're counting like the Sunbelt schools and all those schools. They do not. If you. If they played SEC schools every week, those places would look awful. If it's power four, I still think they were better than average.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

I mean, we're just at an impasse here.

[Ian Boyd]

I.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

They were. They were average in my stance and they're above average in yours, but my thing was even above average. Then they got to the semifinals.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

So the answer to you would be no.

[Ian Boyd]

What?

[Host (Texas Homer)]

The answer would be no because if they were above average in semi final. Here he's asking average make the national championship.

[Ian Boyd]

If they're better than last year, I think they're good. I think they'll not. I don't think the line is good. If it's better than last year. If the line is meaningfully better than last year, I think the team will be fine. I don't think they need to clear that high a bar. Like Bobby Patronic says, better than average OL power forward. Don't field players with zero grades for games. I don't know about that. I love that's true.

[Grow Therapy Advertiser]

They.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

So do they need to be we. The language here. I'm getting lawyery. Better than last year doesn't mean anything like, because they had really bad performances. Like going from being, you know, one of the worst performing lines earlier in the season to better. So you just mean Overall in P4, they're like top 25 and can get to the national championship. Using them in relation to last year doesn't mean anything to me because they sucked last year.

[Ian Boyd]

But that was like the. If they had been decent last year, they probably wouldn't. They would have made the playoffs.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

I agree with that because we saw them at least stabilize towards the end and it looked a lot different.

[Ian Boyd]

And the overall team is a lot better than last year.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Right.

[Ian Boyd]

So if the weakest part of the team becomes like decent and everything else improves, I think that's enough.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

That's where I think is ultimately, if they can just set the floor and not do horrific things where stunts are just demolishing them and are just getting hit by two guys at the same time, and then you add in Cam Coleman and then you add in explosive backs, I think you actually could make the national championship here with an average offensive line with the occasionally good there as well.

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[Host (Texas Homer)]

All right, let's hear some thoughts here. Ryan Nelson I think Stroh and Hudson were by far the worst athletes we had played at Interior under Sark. Majors and Connor were solid athletes for the position only exposed against big boys. Sure. I mean Stroh was absurd watching that tape. That was. I don't know how what did Neto do man, he must have just done something evil. I guess behind the scenes that that'll be that'll haunt us forever. As Texas fans, we don't play o line earlier in their career so they have no continuity over the years. There is a little bit of that where, like, we would start a tackle and he goes straight to the NFL and just selfishly to be a little bit nicer, to have him on a longer curve.

[Ian Boyd]

You don't want to play. You don't want to play. Alignment earlier in their career.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Correct. That was the trick, too. But you do have that situation that happens where, like, a team sucks and you're gonna have to bear that. And so they start all the alignment, and then, you know, four years later, it's like, these guys are all seniors and played 9,000 snaps together. But that doesn't always work either. You'll hear that a lot in preseason talks, that these guys have X snaps together. And it doesn't really bear out necessarily. I don't think we need elite offensive line play to make a run just above average and have a decent floor. I agree. 100.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah, the. When's. Who's the last national champion that had an elite offensive line? Who's the last national championship that won? And it was like, well, I'll tell you why this team won. Offensive line play.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah. There's always the guys, I think, what. Who made it, who won it. No, but the last one that was a big deal was like, what? Washington, when they made their run, had a good O line.

[Ian Boyd]

Michigan, people are saying, Michigan. That's a good one. Yeah, Michigan's very unique. Nobody. Nobody else really plays that way. Yeah.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Good luck recreating that style. The point is, it, to me, it doesn't take elite to win the national champion. It doesn't hurt. I would take it. You just can't have whatever the hell we had last year. They just can't be total liabilities and getting beat.

[Ian Boyd]

That's.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

To me, it's a floor position. It's a defensive protection perimeter around the quarterback. You just. The perimeter can never be breached. It just takes one person to sneak in the perimeter and blow up the whole base.

[Kalshi Advertiser]

So it's a.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

It's a floor position.

[Ian Boyd]

Jackson Miles says we can't just be plugging in transfers every year with no continuity. I don't know if we can. Other teams definitely can. Other teams do often, yeah, other teams do. I don't know if we can, because the diversity of scheme and technique that we use might make that more difficult. And I think that's probably why Flood was resistant to the idea of solving problems last year with the transfer portal. He's like, no, I need guys. I need to work with these guys and teach them my Stuff our system

[Host (Texas Homer)]

is like an anti system. If everything is in the system, is it really a system? And that's where it is with the run game. So can you explain that? Just what they're asked to do.

[Ian Boyd]

We're getting an article.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

I'm leading you into the article, but we're having a good flow here. I don't want to just go reading off the article. So I'm incorporating through my hosting skills parts of your article.

[Ian Boyd]

All right. Fair. Yeah. The system is being extremely multiple and be able to run the ball in different ways and pass protect in different ways and flood. I mean, Flat has a system for trying to teach as many techniques and schemes as he can. He'll do like, same as like, he'll. He'll teach a technique for this run scheme and then on the next run scheme be like, okay, we're going to use this technique on these blocks. So it's actually the same as this. It seems like generally it works decently. It usually. It often works more because they'll catch teams and really hurt them than because they are consistently able to execute fundamentals. Except in 24, they were legitimately pretty consistent at outside zone. They could run outside zone consistently every week and be good at it and execute the fundamentals. Until they played Georgia and then they got crushed and then Arizona State also crushed them, which was really, really disheartening.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

We?

[Ian Boyd]

I don't know.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

I won't say we. I can't remember your analysis, but I did not see that coming.

[Ian Boyd]

Paul.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Paul pointed it out. I think he said we struggle with the smaller lines. That is something that I noticed too. What year it was it. But we played Rice and they were little and undersized and they were making us work. So it's actually the littler lines at times too, that have just been able to. To give us more panic, which is weird because we select for the faster, more athletic offensive linemen. But I think ultimately your big point is it's so varied that it's not that we're executing up and down the field, it's that we have so many different places the ball can go that eventually they're going to mismatch their defense to one of our seven runs. And as long as the running back is fast, we can then hit an explosive run. If the running back's not fast, then nothing happens, as we saw last year, but it's more of just searching. Eventually they will have the wrong defense and be in the wrong spot. And then you have to be able to make a huge run off of it. Is that the key?

[Ian Boyd]

Yep.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Read a little bit more here.

[Grow Therapy Advertiser]

Let's see.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

There's a question about SEC average line play. I'm trying to find that here. But basically the question was if we have SEC average line play, are you good there?

[Ian Boyd]

I think so. Another trick is that because we run so many schemes and we also run more pro style versions of some schemes like Outside Zone, we are asking more of our offensive linemen than everyone else is. And so there's probably a lot of guys that have come through Texas in the last few years that people were like, that guy really wasn't that great. Like guys better than that are at every other school. And it's like, no, no, no. If that Texas guy had been at that school in that system, he would have looked if good or better than that guy. But he wasn't. He was in our system, which was much more demanding, which is. It's really not. I really don't like. I, I really think our philosophy is wrong.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

So do I.

[Ian Boyd]

It's a pro style philosophy and it's just this.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Without pro players.

[Ian Boyd]

Without pro players.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah.

[Ian Boyd]

So. And one of the things I note in the article is that exactly that we have a pro style philosophy without pro style players. And now we have a sort of de facto salary cap. And so it's like, how do you. If you need top athletes in every position on the offensive line, how are you going to afford to get them there?

[Host (Texas Homer)]

You can't get 13 high four stars.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah, you can't get 13 high four stars. It's too expensive. Unless that's like all you do. Like Georgia kind of does that and then they neglect other positions. Tex, Texas does. Sark's whole system is not. He's not going to neglect receiver. He's not going to neglect quarterback. He's going to go get the big money guys there. He's apparently going to get the big money guys at running back and not stop there either. So you need a system that helps the offensive line and you need a system of development that turn. You need to be able to turn like three star dudes into top guys. And so it doesn't seem like we really nail any part of that. Like we can go get the big stars.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah, we can get the gonna be an NFL in three years. Anyone could see a guy and we

[Ian Boyd]

don't waste them, which is definitely a big credit to us. We can go buy the transfers that have already proven it. We'll see if we can plug them in if that works or not or if there's difficulties. Boy, if they. If they can't get Seani and Seymour to execute this system, then that's what a nightmare this season will start out as. Yeah. And then. Yeah, the ideal. There's. There's two things that you would. You would hope could work. One would be to get lean, strong athletes like Caden Sharer or guys sort of like that, and then you bulk them up and develop them into monsters over time. I am a big fan of that approach in general, and I think it actually works really well at Texas because Texas has a lot of guys like that within the state. Every year. The state has guys that are like 65260. Good athletes. Just need time in the weight room to add enough weight, like Cosme and Connor Williams. And then there's been a bunch of other schools that didn't come to Texas.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Those also weren't our coaching staff.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah, we. But we can't do that because our strength program. That's what I'm gonna say. John. John Turntine is another one. John Turntine should be like, the king of those guys. We'll see how that goes. And then the other approach, which you would think would work, would be. Okay, well, forget that. We're not gonna pack a lot of weight on guys, get a bunch of massive, naturally huge fat dudes, and then get Becketon to work them into good shape. And then somehow we're not, like, nailing it on that one either. I don't even know why that one's not working, because it seems like it works amazing on defensive line.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah, that's what's so weird. It's like there's other positions you can show in Beckton strike program. That's not a problem at all. Maybe we need to start moving over some defensive lineman. Old school. Yeah, that's. That's a tough spot.

[Ian Boyd]

I don't know why. I don't know why the fat guy

[Host (Texas Homer)]

one is not working better, especially with the big human. The big Human's philosophy was basically like, you're just gonna bring them in big enough and still it doesn't work. Or they're clunky. Or they're big enough, but they're clunky. Their feet suck on the interior.

[Ian Boyd]

That's definitely happened a few times. Yeah, I guess it's worked for some. Like Hayden Connor worked out okay, but

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Hayden Connor is more of an example of a tackle that moved to guard.

[Ian Boyd]

Well, yeah, that's the other thing that we. The only way that we can get our system to work is by recruiting like four tackles, which is not possible. Same thing we just said. In a salary cap era, you can't recruit four tackles. Maybe they'll get that. Maybe if they just get like marginal tackles, that'll work. People are mentioning Christian Jones. Christian Jones was a huge success story.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Oh, he's always the great counter example.

[Ian Boyd]

Jones was always extremely promising. Tom Herman had to play well, he didn't have to, but Tom Herman played him too early and he was awful. And then in year one with Sark, they played him at left tackle and he was awful. And then he like stuck around. He, he found like, I think two more years of eligibility. Right. He was able to play in 22 and 23 in his sixth year and he just finally had enough time to make it work. Yeah.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

And he was awesome at right tackle.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah, 22 and 23. Especially 23. He had become a legitimate dude.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

And the problem is we don't really get that long with players because we, we recruit a lot of tackles that are just headed to the NFL three, maybe four years. So we don't have a lot of Runway. We do have Runway with the interior guys, but if we keep moving tackles to guard too, then we don't have Runway as much as that. So I don't, I just don't think we have that five year, four year window consistently, which is okay. There's plenty of schools that have great offensive lines that don't do that. They get them developed into the NFL. But there's some time lining here that can happen. That's weird. Jackson Miles going back to the scheme thing. And I have a question about this. All those schemes make them think too much on the field. Is that why we see. I'm setting you up for a question. I think this is the reason. Is that why we see so many penalties in your point of view?

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah, probably.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

I think the timing is really tough, man. Like if you're constantly. You're worried about a legit edge, you know you're gonna have to pass block. Meanwhile, in the back of your mind, you're having to time up. The H back goes here and the wide receiver goes here. And when the ride receiver crosses the second guard, that's when Arch is going to snap it. I think there's a lot of that and you should just watch the ball. But they. That's not necessarily what happens. I think there's a lot going on in the backfield, timing wise, that can cause them to jump.

[Ian Boyd]

The motions and the shifts.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yep.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah, the motions and the shifts, plus the diversity of calls. Who do I block? Who do I block if they move this way? Who do I block if they do this? I think also that's partly why we keep seeing these things. Like, here's two counter examples that illustrate the same point. DJ Campbell played, like, all four years. He played some as a freshman, was a mess, but he played some and then played sophomore, junior, senior years and was like a co. Starter or starter. And it wasn't until almost halfway through his senior season. Yeah, that he really turned it on. And I think for him, I think he kind of flipped a switch internally for whatever reason. Maybe it could have happened sooner. We just said Christian Jones was like, his sixth year and then he was awesome. God knows. Connor Robertson, he. Maybe he'll be shockingly good this year, but it's like his fifth year. I'll be like, where does this come from? And I was like, well, he had five freaking years to finally get here. Cole Hudson had to play all four years. He didn't get a red shirt. And then everybody's like, hey, we lost Kibble, we lost Daniel Cruz, we lost Nick Brooks. Before that. We lost other dudes. We were trying to get. Coach Kojo is like, coacho is the ultimate test case of, can you get a huge guy with nimble feet and backed him, be able to, like, condition him into a good flood? Linemen, we haven't been able to tell because he got injured. So many of these things just require time. And even though this is year six, like, you just haven't necessarily had that time with everybody. We've had young athletes that we had to immediately press into service. Many of them are already gone. You had guys that came in behind them, many of whom who transferred out because they were tired of waiting around or it wasn't like, happening then. You have, like, another wave of young guys, but it's like they're going to need time, too. The whole thing is. Has been. It's not. It's. It's maybe not ideal.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Not ideal.

[Ian Boyd]

There may be a vision here that can work totally great, but they've just not been able to nail the timing of it. This is the hardest thing in Kali.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

All right, we will talk a little bit more offensive line here in a second, but I want to talk to you about old Drew. If you're running a business in Texas, real estate, construction, manufacturing. I've got to tell you about fellow Longhorn Drew Smith with Hub International. Most companies are still operating with the same insurance program they had when they first opened their doors. What's the problem with that the business has grown, changed and evolved. So is the market, but the insurance never did. That's where Drew is different. He doesn't believe in just firing up the quote machine, blasting your information out to 20 carriers and hoping for the that also saves you a lot of emails. He believes in building long term partnerships and creating insurance programs tailored to the business you actually have today. Drew's team evaluates risks from the ground up, identifies coverage gaps before they turn into costly uninsured claims, and designs a strategy that protects what you've built when something does go wrong. Insurance isn't supposed to disappear when you need it most, and it often does. Unfortunately. Hub's dedicated Central Texas claims team will take care of you. And Drew and Hub have delivered actual real world results. After a client's building burned down, the carrier denied the claim. Drew and the Hub team challenged a decision and got it paid in full. In another case, Drew helped a large real estate portfolio save nearly 500 grand simply by restructuring its insurance program. The market is moving fast right now. Property rates are dropping for the right risk if you position them correctly. Auto premiums are a mess. If your agent's only answer is it's a hard market, it's time to call Drew Smith at 210-393-8382. Talk to Drew before your renewal, not after. Contact information in the link in the description there. All right, offensive line, let's keep chatting. You guys are active today. Offensive line gets the people going every time. All right, Ryan Nelson states up here, flood and Stark O line plan looks good on a whiteboard.

[Ian Boyd]

Everybody's playing looks good on a whiteboard.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

That's why whiteboards are awesome. Because theoretically you have dominated the competition. But we talked about a bunch of reasons for the disconnect. A mental overload. And with that mental overload of plays, you end up not selecting for body types or skill sets that favor a certain scheme. Maybe they do lean more towards a certain scheme, like outside zone or something like that. But still you don't get this. We run inside zone and this is an inside zone blocker. They have to do a bunch of different stuff. Drew said earlier the system requires a first round running back and quarterback and receiver. Yeah. And that's where I'm just like, well, is it a good system then?

[Ian Boyd]

It's a good system for attracting those people.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Sure. But I'm just like, if you need the best of the best at every position, then it's like, well, what's the system really? What lifting is the system doing here then? No comments.

[Ian Boyd]

Cirque's been really good for Texas.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

He has. Yeah. We're in the nitpicking stage. We're in the we want to knit. We're in the spoiled and fat. I want a national championship phase. There's no question that it's miles ahead of Herman and we are wandering in the desert for a decade. But now we're in. We've already. We've moved past that. We're better now. Return.

[Ian Boyd]

I like Herman's system better. I just think that their talent evaluation was lacking. Bad.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yep.

[Ian Boyd]

It probably used some of Beckton stuff for the skill players too. Like Herman knew how to bolt guys up and get him strong for sure.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah. When I've talked to former players, they say they've never been stronger than when

[Ian Boyd]

they were with the Ansi, but they.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

But they were. Everyone looked like a fullback as well whenever they played under Yancey.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah, they also. Somewhere in the middle they got their DBs all injured. It's probably fine. All the Oklahoma guys look like fullbacks too, and that's worked for them for a long time.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

That's true.

[Ian Boyd]

And they all. They also have injury issues too. So I don't know.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

I think there's something with being that tightly wound that injures you. It's just somewhere in the middle. Like, Beckton's not totally wrong, Yancey's not totally wrong. But if we could combine Becton's conditioning approach and Yancey strength approach, man, that'd be cool. But we'd have to create a human being for such things to happen. We have an execution problem. We do at the schematic level, but also too. Just like at the technique level. At the one. On one level we can struggle with technique once again. Is that because they're not confident in their strength? I don't know. It's so multifactorial. It's hard to parse out. It's exactly this or exactly that. And a lot of the offensive line stuff. I know people are getting fired up. Weight room is non existent to the O line, which is weird because it's existent to the D line.

[Ian Boyd]

No, not really.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

They're not. There's one player that was getting pushed around last year, but I never see a problem with us getting blown off the ball.

[Ian Boyd]

But they have naturally freakishly powerful dudes on the defensive line.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

So that I agree there that there's a little bit of selection bias.

[Ian Boyd]

And they also usually have transfers at the defensive tackle positions.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

You and Paul always point this out that as soon as someone transfers in we get intel that they're the strongest person in the program, and it's like, well, the transfer is always the strongest. What's going on there?

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah, I'm looking back to see if there's other.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

All right, let me see. Yeah, there's so many. I'm having to read through them.

[Ian Boyd]

Ryan Nelson says Flood just isn't getting it done. Ian, I think just talking about this, I'm like, have we overlooked. Have I overlooked the risk that Flood is not going to be able to integrate transfers, especially including a transfer that arrived in the summer, into his program and system in time for them to be good at this in the fall?

[Host (Texas Homer)]

I think there's a softening effect that, like, I wanted Flood gone at the end of the season, and then he's not gone, so there's nothing you can really do about it. And then you start to just get hopeful for the season. And I told myself it's like, whatever I would, whatever I do, I'm not giving the offense the benefit of the doubt. Like, they lost it last year, and I can feel myself kind of doing that already because I want them to be good. And so I do think that quite. Just posing that question to yourself is. Is healthy. Because I think I might be getting a little burnt orange glasses. Not a lot, but I might be giving 20, 30% too much credit at times here.

[Ian Boyd]

Blake Bryant, on the positive side, says, I watched. I've watched Siani quite a bit in the last two weeks, and the more I watch, the more I think we could have the best tackle duo in the country this year.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

I like Siani a lot. When we were talking about getting him, I had to evaluate his tape. And Ian points out, too, we were looking at Seaton at that point as well.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

And if you look, Seaton is an incredible athlete. He's gonna get drafted, like, early. He's. He's just a rare human being. When I actually watched him at Colorado, I wasn't that impressed. Like, a lot of the times he wasn't doing anything. He looked awesome doing it. He looked awesome running somewhere, looking kind of confused. He moved, but he wasn't. Like, he wasn't. He's not a dominant technician. He's all development based and. And rare human based, so. And he does some great stuff in the past. Blogging, I think I'm discrediting a little bit, but it wasn't. His name and notoriety was not linked 100 to his. His film. So then they were like, well, Siani, can we Moneyball this where we can Get a comparable tackle, maybe not in like measurables or 40 time, but in on field production. And I think Siani does give you on field production similarity to see and we'll see if he explodes out of the roof at lsu. Maybe. Colorado is not really known for their offensive line coaching, but I think you can moneyball this. I do like Siani and he moves well. He was doing a ton of sweeps and stuff like that. He does a lot of the things we ask.

[Ian Boyd]

You know, one thing with Siani and Seymour is that they were both pretty good and inside zone last year. Just what everyone else does. And you could see this line being good at inside zone if they focused on that. But then they lose. And it might be easier to just be good at inside zone for next year. It's an easier scheme than outside zone. But then they lose like all the advantages of how quick everyone is, and then they lose the advantage of how devastating outside zone is to like Oklahoma in particular and other. Other college defense.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah. It would be a funny situation where we do start mauling once we actually got the bodies in, and then suddenly we can't beat OU and A M, which would be equally devastating.

[Ian Boyd]

You still beat A M. A and M is the run in general is trouble for them.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah.

[Ian Boyd]

Unless those tackles are a lot better this year. But Oklahoma, for sure.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah. Yeah. That's. Yeah. It's just in.

[Grow Therapy Advertiser]

In.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

You have, you know, the playbook in the past. What, Alabama, they were more inside zone focused at Bama. Right. Most of their RPOs came off of that. I know Sark did a whole clinic on it, specifically inside zone, like RPOs, but.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah, somehow it switched.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

It switched to an outside zone focus.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah. Which has been good, I think.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

I. I don't. I don't know if it's good or bad. I'm not assigning a value to it, but I just. There is a difference.

[Ian Boyd]

It has strengths and weaknesses. The strengths are that it's the easiest system to build everything around when you're. Especially when you're in the spread, like every high school, every big high school in Texas, it's like, hey, if you can find a bunch of big kids at your school and they're willing to commit, you can get them strong. You can get everybody benching 300. You can get everybody squatting 400. Did you get that high in your days? Benching 400, benching 300, squatting 400?

[Host (Texas Homer)]

No, not neither.

[Ian Boyd]

You didn't start though, either, right? Or did you start?

[Host (Texas Homer)]

No, I started. No.

[Ian Boyd]

Okay. The Bigger schools can usually get like four or five guys that can do that every single year. And then you just train them to run inside zone tight together, and you just push. And it's the same in college. You just get a bunch of big dudes and you teach them. But then the problem is, is that because it's what everybody does, everybody has counters to it. And the outside zone just gives Texas all these different unique advantages. But then it also just plays on the same problems we already have, where it's like, now everybody has to be an athlete, everybody has to be good at a million things.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Devastating scale of 1 to 10. How concerned will you be if Texas can't run inside zone again Week one before Ohio State against Texas State?

[Ian Boyd]

You know, I think if we did

[Host (Texas Homer)]

run it, it wouldn't mean anything to me. But if we couldn't run it, that would mean something to me. Sure.

[Ian Boyd]

Not. Not that concerned. This wouldn't be that shocking to me.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

That's what I'm saying. I'm not concerned just because I, I frankly, I expect that to happen. I just don't want to see the total combobulation versus this team. Like they don't know where to climb up to. They're not working double teams together. Like, if that confusion is what freaks me out more than, hey, you just couldn't, in your terms, bench press the guy off of you. At least you were at the right spot. I get freaked out when they're not working together, not talking to each other before the snap, not executing the scheme. That's when you know there's wider issues that spread to other schemes and cohesion and really just effort and work in the off season. That's. That's far scarier than getting outmatched physically. Even though you don't want to be outmatched physically.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah. Somebody notes Byron Murphy was strong at Texas. Byron Murphy was strong coming in.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah,

[Ian Boyd]

on this one, I don't know. They're. They're. Gonna. To me, it will not be that alarming if they have a lot of stuff to work out in the first few weeks, especially with all the transfers

[Host (Texas Homer)]

and there was growth through moving guys around at the end. So we did see them get better. We know we can. But we don't have till week nine to figure out offensive line this year either. No, like you will lose several games before you, quote, unquote, figure it out. So it's also that reality too is like, I did see them improve, but it was way too late. It kept us out of the playoffs last year. This schedule is deadly. You cannot have that happen. You know, maybe it's rough a little bit worth Texas State, maybe it's rough against Ohio State. But like they have to be ready. Like Tennessee. They have to be good enough.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah, yeah.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Sometime in game one teams can confuse you up front. Sure, there is the level of game one, but I'm kind of talking. Last year we were into, we were into several games where we had no clue what was going on. So there is that adjustment period.

[Ian Boyd]

It got worse every week that got worse.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

So that's. I do agree. I will allow some like, hey, you're, you're back in the season and if I see it once or twice, I'm good with it. If I'm seeing it 10 or 12 times like I was and it was getting worse versus not good competition, that's when you'll know that it's going to be a longer season for us. What does Notre Dame run? Because they have a factory up there.

[Ian Boyd]

Notre Dame has many, many differences in how they do things in Texas. Notre Dame gets leaner guys and they never actually get that big. You look at their line, they have like maybe one guy that's like 320 plus, but he's also like 6, 7. They get tall, lean dudes, kind of like Indiana. They lift really heavy. They mostly play in a three point. Maybe not mostly. They play a lot in a three point stance. Texas like never does that. Hardly ever.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Everyone looks like a tackle. Yeah.

[Ian Boyd]

Three point stance, meaning you look in Notre Dame's offensive linemen have their hand in the dirt and their pads down and they play a different style. Where Texas you want to absorb. Texas is guys you want to catch and absorb people, let them go where they want to go and then just keep pushing them that way, which is a great way to do it. Lots of really good teams do it that way and it works really well with the big human thing. Notre Dame fires out, hits the guy and tries to move him like with initial in like when initial leverage, which is why they are leaner. So they have a completely different style.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

That's why they start lower. So they have start lower. They have the leverage.

[Ian Boyd]

There's not a whole lot of teams to do it the way Notre Dame does it go. Lesh does it that way, interestingly I noticed. And he does it that way in the veer and shoot, which is a fun wrinkle.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

The downside is it affects vision. So you guys have to really know what they're doing and know exactly where they're going. If you know you're hitting this tackle to your left, then being lower is all good. But otherwise you can't see linebackers as easily and that kind of stuff too. So vision helps in a kind of a tackle stance. There's benefits and downsides to both.

[Ian Boyd]

They also. Notre Dame gets Midwestern kids that are just a little different than down here.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

They've like culturally. Culturally, they have. They just make better offensive linemen up there. Or meaner.

[Ian Boyd]

I guess they, I think there, well, there's. I don't know, there's a few different components. There's like the workingclass deal. They got a lot of workingclass kids like in the Rust Belt and stuff.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

It's the wrestling culture, I think helps.

[Ian Boyd]

Wrestling, I think is maybe the biggest part of it.

[Kalshi Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Ian Boyd]

And they said so many of them wrestle in the off season rather than playing basketball or shot put or whatever.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

And you gain an incredible understanding of blocking and wrestling, just where to position your body, how they can counter you. I mean, that's a hell of a sport for teaching offensive linemen. I'd even teach them sumo. We need to integrate more sumo as well.

[Ian Boyd]

More sumo, sis Connor?

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah, more sumo, more wrestling. Any type of like physical wrestling style I think is great for off. It's a blind man.

[Ian Boyd]

What do you do off season, Connor?

[Host (Texas Homer)]

In high school? Yeah, we did, yeah, we did the, we did the wrestling matches, but they were, they were basically gladiatorial for a bunch of 25 year old coaches just to go battle kids. There was no technique. It was. You had to be on your knees, on the mat. They wouldn't even let you stand up because a lot of people would get injured. So they wanted like to reduce your force output. So you'd have to start on your knees and then you would just collapse. But that was the first place I got a concussion because on the mats me and a kid just went at the exact same angle, just smacked our heads together. That was the first time I got woozy from it. But. So we did quote, unquote, wrestling, but it was really coaches having fun battling kids. It wasn't. We weren't learning technique. It was just whoever knocked the other one guy over. Everyone would cheer, but it wasn't like, hey, the reason why you got knocked over is because your hand placement was wrong. There was no coaching occurring. It was just a series of small fights.

[Ian Boyd]

This is changing around here partly because we have an enormous like around here, like Texas, because we have an enormous influx of Midwestern and Chicago area in particular in nation migrant people. It's like when I went. When I. When I did, like in Pop Warner. There are so many dads and coaches and higher ups involved where they start talking and you're like, am I in Chicago right now? Why does he sound like that? And they're. And they all care about, like, o. Line play and run blocking and stuff like that. And then there's like, more wrestling programs in high schools around here now than there used to be. And that's more of a. So we're getting some northern influence because Texas has been so attractive to in nation migrants. And I think, in particular, I think the people that are moving to Texas from, like, California and Chicago and wherever else are particularly the kinds of people that were like, the big drivers of football in those places.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah.

[Ian Boyd]

So it's.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

You're also selecting for people that kind of, like, agree with the stereotypical Texan thing. Like, it'll crack me up whenever I hear people that just moved here, like, talking about what Texas is and what Texas represents. They have this, you know, idealized version of the west and total freedom and these kind of things. But I think you do select for the people moving here with this kind of more aggressive, physical mindset. Watching cowboy movies pretty often.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah. Well, they're all. They're all working class and. Or Republicans, basically.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah, pretty much. And. But it'll crack me. You'll see, like, Joe Rogan be like, let me tell you about Texas. And it's just like, you're reading this sounds like a brochure. Makes me laugh. But hopefully that happens.

[Ian Boyd]

We need to assimilate them a little more, but I'm happy to receive their knowledge on how to create offensive line.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

In exchange, we will take that. We will take that knowledge. Any kind of final pieces here. Overall, it ended up being. I feel less confident after this conversation, but I do ultimately think, hey, set the floor. Don't do dumb stuff. Know what you're talking about. I don't think they're gonna get meaningfully stronger. Maybe they do. They have said this off season they are lifting heavier. It has been a focus. They have heard the critiques. So maybe. And the end of last year got much more reasonable. So if they can just continue that. Integrate the transfers who we think clearly have the talent to start. We just need to see if the integration process works effectively, that we could have something that works in tandem with the running backs, quarterback and wide receiver.

[Ian Boyd]

I would hit some questions. Is that okay?

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah, we have a bunch. Tell me the time stamps whenever you say them so I can find Them.

[Ian Boyd]

Let's do this. 1024, Bobby Petronic.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Aren't a lot of distractions in South. Oh, this one. Which is a solid technique to improve quickness and wrestling ability. You're not wrong.

[Ian Boyd]

Okay. Whether that's true or not, there aren't. Aren't a lot of distractions in South Bend. Just the weight room and snow. There's, like, a lot of college towns, though, that are not, like, just bloated with distractions, so.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah, I just. I just don't.

[Ian Boyd]

Most of them, really.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah. And I did a video a long time ago. Like, if Austin was such a distraction, our volleyball team wouldn't be great. Our baseball team wouldn't be consistently great. Like, it's. I don't. I don't take the distractions reason at all.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

It makes no sense. It would affect every program, and Texas is constantly winning the Directors cup, so I just. I just. It just doesn't. It doesn't bear out. It's not a. It's not a reasonable thing when you apply it to the whole school.

[Ian Boyd]

I think it's. There's probably truth to it, but to your point, other programs overcome it. So there's. And it's not like these are. What do you really need as a college student? To be distracted and get into trouble.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Correct. Are there not girls in bars, alcohol,

[Ian Boyd]

and you need young girls. Guess what? You can find in every single college town in America.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Right.

[Ian Boyd]

So. Yeah. True says it's not Miami. I think that's a good point.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah.

[Ian Boyd]

Ryan Nelson, 1026. Do you think SEC online play has declined from your research?

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Oh, you shouldn't have brought this up.

[Ian Boyd]

I don't know if I have done. I don't know what research into this would look like, so I'm not. I'm not sure.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Well, you and Paul have been workshopping.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

A fall of offensive line civilization piece, so.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah, I know, but I. I haven't necessarily been researching it exactly. I don't know what. I don't know what.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

That all my friends that went to school in dry counties would just drive 30 minutes to the county line every time, which would actually increase dangerous behavior because they would be driving in states they shouldn't be driving in. So it ends up backfiring with the college kids. Because they're gonna go find it. They're gonna go get it no matter what.

[Ian Boyd]

Jackson Miles tries to attribute the success in Midwestern blocking to the German influence. I don't know.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

We've had. Texas has German influence.

[Ian Boyd]

Oh, yeah.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

It should have been there already then.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah. Now they do have. There are lots of places in the Midwest where there's lots of big framed, big boned people. That's probably partly related to the, you know, like the, the heavy per capita rate of northern European people from like Germany or Scandinavia, Minnesota or whatever. But maybe more than that is like the just how many like working class towns there are there and how it like was just a. So much of the Midwest was a hub for immigrants to come work in like steel factories and things like that. So you just have that kind of hard working class mindset with big framed people. It helps some. Seems like we got plenty of big people other places in the country too though, so I don't know.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

David Keith Williams what's up man? Why is Lawrence Seymour not getting more acknowledgment as a transfer to Texas? He is filming a position that is a cavernous hole for Texas. Yeah, I think that's the upside. Right. I think one reason is he didn't show up until the summer. So you just, you know, it's easy to build your legend in spring and we're able to report on you in spring. So I think that's just a natural. Part of it is no one actually knows. And then, you know, he started off in Miami but then he had a unique path after there. It's not as simple as being like that's an Alabama transfer which automatically fans get excited about. So I think that's what's going on. But I do agree if, if Flood integrates him properly, it could be a huge upgrade.

[Ian Boyd]

We have heard very little about him.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah.

[Ian Boyd]

In off season since he's arrived.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

So all you could really hear is that he, he ran good or he lifted heavy.

[Ian Boyd]

It'd be really funny if he came in and fled. Saw he was like 6 foot 1 and he's just like nope.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

And I'll allow it.

[Ian Boyd]

And then it's like week eight and we finally play him and he's good.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah. But I, I 100 agree. Like figuring out that left guard spot is absolutely crucial.

[Kalshi Advertiser]

All right.

[Ian Boyd]

Good case scenario for this year maybe. So I think the tackles are going to be good. Somebody said we might have the best tackle duo in the country. I think that's possible. Doesn't even really need to be true. I think Baker is going to translate fine at right guard.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

I don't know what to make of him in some ways and like run blocking. I think he'll be fine in pass blocking. But just where I don't know. It's not That I don't believe he can do it or believe he can do it. I just don't know.

[Ian Boyd]

For his run blocking side, David's also asking why. Why is it such a certainty that Baker will play right guard and Lawrence Seymour will play left guard? I don't know. I've never understood David. They kind of locked that in early, probably for comfort and reps or something. I don't know.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

But I generally agree. I want my Mauler more at right guard, but that. And that's just. And I want my pass blocker at left guard because what happens is defenses isolate the 3 and the 5 technique more often to the left tackle side, forcing them into one on ones. So you need to be able to pass protect better at left guard. Generally you can put your run blocker at right guard, but so to me it would make sense traditionally to have Baker at left guard.

[Ian Boyd]

But.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

So I agree a little bit with your confusion. And of course we had right guard was the mauling position with Campbell last year too.

[Ian Boyd]

It's been. Yeah.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

So I don't. I don't know the. I think it's a good question to ask.

[Ian Boyd]

We'll see in the fall. This is going to be a major place of intrigue for fall football. But, you know, there's still Kojo, there's still the Coleman twins and there's still Sikorsky. I'm not trying to do the thing where it's like you mention a bunch of names and hope.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah. What's your rule? The more names you mentioned, the more trouble you. You're in.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I. Al. Those guys. No, many of those guys have like, played or showed something before. So I feel like there's a good chance that they will be able to find a five that works and have a little leeway with depth.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

And I think some things that are different. Sark is far more locked in this off season that mattered.

[Ian Boyd]

He's talking trash.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Yeah, he's talking trash. He's calling people out. I think he's more fired up. I think he's been able to renew a little bit after a tough off season last year for him. So I think that matters. Of course the coaches hear all of this. Nobody wants to be on Twitter and see that they're repeatedly called the weak link and calling for their firing. So I would hope Flood too, is is far more locked in. I. They generally do hear the fan base on these things.

[Ian Boyd]

Yeah, I. I'm optimistic. I got myself down for a little bit here.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

You're back, baby.

[Ian Boyd]

I'm not back. I'm back. I'm back where I always land, where it's like they really just need to be decent.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

That's exactly where I'm at. As long as I don't see stunts like completely demolished, simple stunts destroying left guard. They can just give me what they gave me at the end of last season and I'm comfortable with the level up in arch in another year. Backs, they can score and then wide

[Ian Boyd]

receiver threats confident that Colorado will not have a better offensive line than Texas.

[Host (Texas Homer)]

Hey, that's that's a good way to end it. Flash sale join for $1 and then 50 off your first year link is down in the description below. Stay locked in y' all for the rest of the shows coming at you today and we will see you later.

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