Coffee & Football: Texas’ SEC Path Gets Clearer: OU Hype, Tennessee Trap Game & Georgia Warning

Summary

On Texas Football – Coffee & Football: Texas’ SEC Path Gets Clearer

Episode Date: July 21, 2026
Hosts: Bobby Burton, Jerry Hamilton, C.J. Vogel, Hank South
Theme: A deep dive into Texas Football’s debut season in the SEC, including rivals’ outlooks (OU, Tennessee, Georgia), Missouri’s running game, Georgia’s warning shot, and state-of-the-conference news and recruiting.

---

Episode Overview

This episode centers on Texas’ shifting path in its inaugural SEC season following Day Two of SEC Media Days. Bobby Burton and team dissect key rivals (Oklahoma, Tennessee, Missouri, Georgia), analyze head coach narratives, quarterback developments, and dig into recruiting ripple effects. The hosts balance homer perspective with clear-eyed, sometimes begrudging, respect for Texas’ rivals, aiming to help fans understand the landscape their Longhorns now face.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Oklahoma’s Evolving Threat (Starts ~01:43)

Brent Venables’ Growth and Defensive Swagger

• Both Bobby and Jerry note Brent Venables’ improvement at the podium and his apparent comfort as OU’s head coach. This is attributed to last season’s playoff run reducing the external pressure.
  • “He’s more comfortable in his skin in front of the mic. You could tell this year, Bobby, that he's a little more comfortable. Probably making a playoff. Feels like the heat's off.” – Jerry (02:55)
• Venables emphasizes developing homegrown defensive talent, with every projected starter developed in-house, not via transfer portal.
  • “Every single starter, not one of them via the portal, talked a lot about the development process... consistency and continuity that it allows for. OU could have the best defense in the country next year.” – Bobby (04:12)

Offensive Shift: Running the Ball to Help ‘Hero Ball’ QB

• The Oklahoma staff is determined to rely less on QB John Matier’s improvisation ("hero ball") by running more and targeting a 175 yards/game rushing benchmark.
  • “He had a goal of 175 yards this year per game. If they run the ball for 175 per game this year, they're going to be a tough out.” – Jerry (02:55)

The John Matier Factor

• Matier admits, “I cringed watching a lot of the tape from a year ago. I realized I was the issue…” (14:34)
• The hosts highlight that for OU to achieve, Matier must reduce risk, trust defense and special teams, and not try to win each game alone, especially given OU’s preseason first-team All-SEC kicker and punter (20:00).

Notable Moment

• “It is lining up to be the two best Texas, Oklahoma teams that have played in Red River in two decades... this could be two top five, top seven teams.” – Bobby (18:55)

---

2. Tennessee: A Sneaky Early Test (36:29)

Hypel’s Offensive Evolution & QB Question Marks

• Tennessee HC Josh Hypel touts his team’s continued offensive production despite switching QBs each year.
• For 2026, a battle is brewing between five-star true freshman Brandon Faison and redshirt freshman George McIntyre. Hank South says, “There's been some buzz Faison Brandon's the leader but I don't think they really threaten you too much as runner.” (39:11)
• Tennessee brings back a 1,000+ yard rusher and brings in DC Jim Knowles (formerly Ohio State), raising the defense’s bar.

Game Context

• Texas faces Tennessee in Knoxville for its SEC opener—a potentially “tricky game that’s not getting talked about enough.” (37:49)
• The concern: Tennessee’s tempo offense and run game historically give Steve Sarkisian fits, though QB inexperience might mitigate the danger.

---

3. Missouri: Ahmad Hardy & Late-Season Ambiguity (07:21)

• Mizzou’s RB Ahmad Hardy is a key figure for their “ground-oriented” 2026 attack, but coach Eli Drinkwitz left his availability and form up in the air.
  • “He really left the door open on Hardy... He got released for full workout...But he left it open-ended because I don't think they genuinely know.” – Jerry (07:46)
• Missouri’s ability to rush the passer is also questioned for this season given recent personnel losses.

---

4. Georgia: Leadership and Warning Signs (52:22)

• Kirby Smart underscores his Georgia team’s leadership: “This is the best group of leaders he’s had of his tenure.” (52:41)
• QB Gunner Stockton is praised for toughness and leading from the front, with Smart making comparisons to Colt McCoy in terms of competitiveness and program loyalty.

---

5. SEC-Wide Themes & Playoff Math (69:18)

Schedule Parity and Playoff Limitations

• The hosts predict only three SEC teams will make the expanded playoff, citing the brutal nine-game league schedule and high-profile early OOC clashes (e.g., Texas-Ohio State, OU-Michigan).
  • “If two of those teams lose that game, I don’t think they’re making the playoffs...I’m the same as you, Jerry.” (69:41)

Potential Dark Horses and Coaching Pressure

• Florida emerges as a possible "dark horse" if new OC and DC hires connect. (65:54)
• Pressure meters: Mike Elko (A&M), Pete Golding (Ole Miss), and Clark Lea (Vanderbilt) were debated.
  • “I actually think the guy with the most pressure this year, maybe Elko to repeat...” – Jerry (28:10)

The Future of College Football: Conference Size Debates

• Greg Sankey and the SEC are pushing back against proposed legislation to limit conferences to 19 teams and discussing the possibility of a true breakaway league—“taking its ball and going home”—potentially merging with the Big Ten in a new structure (43:14, 45:24).

---

6. Texas-Specific Recruiting & Personnel Nuggets

Running Backs & Linebackers

• Longhorns heavily favored to land running back Landon Williams-Callis (“You can envision him as the next great Texas running back.” – Hank South, 47:25)
• No panic about linebacker recruiting despite decommitments—coaches likely to rely on senior tape and potentially hit the portal. (48:34, 49:06)

WR Cam Coleman: NFL Over Awards

• Cam Coleman is expected to have a strong season, but Jerry doubts a Biletnikoff Award due to Texas’ spread-the-wealth philosophy.
  • “If Cam Coleman ends up having that type of season, I think Texas is going to have a really good season barring injuries. For me, it's not about awards, it's about ascending in the NFL draft.” (58:40)

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On OU’s Defensive Mentality:
  “When you've got a guy like Brent Venables calling plays... why? ‘Because I'm good at it.’ Well, yeah, you are good at it.” – Jerry (05:06)
• On Matier’s Growth:
  “Growth of a quarterback is to understand the team you have... It’s OK to throw the ball in the stands and punt.” – Jerry (18:55)
• On Texas Playoff Prospects:
  “A lot of people are picking Texas to win the league this year. But at the same time, Bobby, a lot of people are like, ‘I'm not still not sure if they can get over the hump.’” – Jerry (67:41)
• On SEC Culture:
  “The slogan ‘It just means more’ shows up at media days... The people walking around covering the SEC, how revered it is. You get a feel how special this conference is.” – Jerry (68:24)
• Light-hearted moment:
  “I had a lot of funny things to say... but Clark Lea was sitting literally right next to me. Bobby’s trying to get me beat up.” – Jerry (61:23)

---

Key Timestamps (MM:SS)

• 01:43 – Show begins, recap Day 1 SEC Media Days, Venables at the mic
• 02:55 – OU’s offense philosophy and Venables’ defensive confidence
• 10:25 – CJ Vogel on Venables’ media day presence and John Matier’s mindset
• 13:01 – Oklahoma’s schedule gauntlet: early tests at Michigan, vs Georgia, Red River
• 18:55 – Red River Rivalry could feature two top-7 teams
• 36:29 – Tennessee preview with Hank South; new QB, Coordinator, run game
• 39:11 – Tennessee’s quarterback race, implications for Texas matchup
• 52:22 – Kirby Smart: Georgia’s 2026 leadership & Gunner Stockton’s Colt McCoy parallels
• 65:54 – Florida as a possible SEC dark horse
• 69:18 – How many SEC teams make the playoff? Hosts pick three
• 70:50 – SEC’s playoff math, Notre Dame angle, OU’s high stakes early games

---

Tone & Takeaways

• Language & Tone: The show maintains a friendly, occasionally bantering tone with a heavy Longhorn flavor, peppered with good-natured, analytical honesty when discussing rivals.
• For Texas Fans: Expect a challenging but exciting SEC debut, with real threats from OU and Tennessee especially, and a need for Texas to up its game physically and mentally in a deeper, tougher league.
• Big Picture: Texas arrives as a favorite for the SEC, but with major hurdles, both in opponents and schedule design, and the constant volatility of college football’s structure.

---

This summary captures the heart of the discussion, key analysis, notable moments, and why each segment matters for Texas fans looking ahead to the 2026 SEC football season.

Transcript

[A]

A million alarms, a million snoozes, over a million teas or coffees or whatever that green gunk is. Over a million. Is it half five yet? A million picking up kids or dinner or sore muscles on the way back. Every week, over a million of you make RTE Radio One part of your day.

[B]

Good morning. Good day to you all.

[A]

Which means a million laughs, a million opinions, a million awkward questions, fears, debates. Did you hears all around the country. It's all on Ireland's number one radio station, RTE Radio One.

[B]

Mum, why do they call it Scottish cheese?

[A]

It's cottage cheese, honey, and I'm not sure.

[B]

Do dogs in other countries speak different languages?

[A]

Yeah, I think so.

[B]

When will we get there?

[A]

Well, we've got to fix the car first, but there's someone coming to help us.

[B]

Is it the man from Geneva?

[A]

Not Geneva. He's from Aviva. Oh, there's a van now for car insurance with breakdown rescue. It takes Aviva visit Aviva ie to save 15% acceptance criteria.

[C]

Terms and conditions apply. Minimum premium of €310. 15% discount applies to new policies bought online. See Aviva Ie for details. Car insurance is underwritten by Aviva Insurance Ireland dac. Aviva Direct Ireland Limited is regulated by the Central bank of Ireland.

[B]

Good morning, everybody. Happy Tuesday here at On Texas Football's Coffee and football. I'm Bobby Burton, joined by Jerry Hamilton. This episode brought to you by our friends over at Texas Road Day 2 SEC Media Days Jerry, we saw day one. Brent Venables went to the mic, talked about John Matiere and his team coming up. Eli Drinkowitz over at the Missouri revealed that Ahmad Hardy, the running back out of Mizzou, will be available to start the conference play. It looks like Josh Hyple at Tennessee talked a little bit about his team and maybe some changes he'll have to his offense in 2026. And then will Stein, the new. The new coach over at Kentucky, also spoke to the media. We'll talk about all of that and more. Day two, the headliner is obviously Kirby Smart, the Georgia head coach. We'll have more from him in a little bit as well. Let's start, though, with the folks up in Norman, the arch rival of Texas Longhorns, obviously, Brent Venables. Yesterday, Jerry talked a lot about how he tried to put pieces, better pieces around John Matier on offense this year. And I think that was a big, big, big thing that that was part of the discussion.

[D]

Yeah, I noticed that. And I wanted to say one other thing about Brent Venables, too, before I get to that. I always got to give guys credit. He's more comfortable in his skin in front of the mic. You could tell this year, Bobby, that he's a little more comfortable. Probably making a playoff. Feels like the heat's off. That helps. Also growing into a job as a first year head coach, I thought he was a more confident coach yesterday in front of the mic. I thought he did a really good job. So I wanted to give him credit there. And he started off with got to run the football better. And I think that I was just talking to Aaron Hogan on Austin radio about this is, you know, because Mater can try to play hero ball at times and that will get you in a lot of trouble in this league and on the schedule they play. And I think Venables went right at it. We got to run the football better. We got to be all. He's got to be able to turn around and put the ball in somebody's stomach can take some of the pressure off of him. So maybe that allows him, Matier to not feel like he has to play as much hero ball because he's not going to ever be a great pocket quarterback. He's never going to be a super accurate quarterback. But what can they do to help maximize John Matier, to maximize their team? And in my opinion, the way they're going to do that is run the football more effectively. He, he had a goal of 175 yards this year per game. Yeah, if they run the ball for 175 per game this year, they're going to be a tough out.

[B]

Yeah, they will be because they have all that defensive talent returning as well. We'll visit with CJ Vogel, who also interviewed John Matier yesterday for us here in a bit. Going back to Venables though, in that defense, he made a point yesterday of saying that, look, all of these guys that we've got are homegrown. Every single starter, not one of them via the portal, talked a lot about the development process that he has for defense and that consistency and continuity that it allows for. Oh, you could have the best defense in the country next year. I mean, pains you to say it, but it's the reality.

[D]

Yeah, I mean when you have a coach that is a really good play caller that presents multiplicity in a difficult way to disguise. If he has the players, he's going to be really good on defense.

[B]

Right.

[D]

And, and, and Brent Venables is very confident looking the homegrown. I mean his deep interior defensive front is going to be really good. The Kid at the Edge they brought up here yesterday Taylor Wayne, who is self made. It kind of reminds me of the Kyron Brown recruitment. The guy that kind of said was offer and said I want to commit. He's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, let's just come down and have one date first. That type of guy who has played his way was a homegrown laid offer guy who's maximizing his talent. That secondary is going to be really good. They got three guys back who are good players and they got a couple of backers back. They got guys familiar with the system who are growing up in the system, who have grown up in the system. And when you got a guy like Brett Venables calling plays because like Rod Baber says, why are you calling plays? Because I'm good at it. Yeah, that's what he said. Because I'm good at it. Well, yeah, you are good at it. Going all the way back to the conversation I had with Major App like one year say he is his multiplicity and how he brings pressures is in an elite level. And that was years ago. That was years ago that Major said that when he was coaching at Texas. So defensively they're, they're going to be, I think when you combine, I'm not going to say they have the best starting 11 personnel necessarily. There may be some guys with higher, more higher draft picks. But when you add his play call into it and the continuity of it, they have a chance to be really good.

[B]

Before we get going further, we're going to talk a little bit more about Ahmad Hardy coming back. You're going to talk more later with cj. I'll talk with Hank.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

About Tennessee, but I want to mention that Blake Monroe not with us this morning. Blake is, is. We had some technical issues yesterday and so we decided to just go solo today from here. But Blake is, is doing well. Everything's fine. Everybody wants to know what's going on. He's totally fine. He's just rested back in Comanche. We'll bring him back in on Friday once we leave here from media days. Let's talk a little bit now about Ahmad Hardy, if you don't mind. Eli Drinkowitz. I thought talk about guys that grow on you a little bit at the microphone. He's growing on me a little bit. Certainly quirky would be a way to

[D]

define Rodney Dangerfield's not in danger of losing his place in the all time comedian ranks. Drink which tries. Yeah, a little awkward but he's super smart.

[B]

Yeah, he's intelligent. Yes, that's what I was going to say. And the way he talked yesterday, yesterday about Hardy coming back along with the other running back that he brought here. Mizzou is going to be ground oriented in 2026, there's no doubt about that. Which you know, Texas goes to Missouri, Jerry, late in the season, October, November, time frame, your thoughts on that situation and what Eli Drinkwitz is doing.

[D]

Man, he really left the door open on Hardy.

[B]

Right.

[D]

That was my takeaways. You know, look, he got released for full workout yesterday, I think was his first workout. But he didn't.

[B]

He kind of.

[D]

He kind of left the door open of when you could see Hardy and if Hardy would be the same player. I think there's a little bit of an unknown there where, where he's going to be. But let's say he's there by the time they play them because I mean that's what Texas fans care about that Texas fans really don't care about a Mod Hardy Week 1, 2 or 3. They care about him when, when the Horns board the flight to Columbia. But yes, ground oriented. And the other thing with Missouri, they've been really good rushing the passer. Are they going to be as good rushing the passer this year? Because they've lost some pretty good parts over the last couple of years of that pass rushability. Are gonna. They're gonna be as good rushing the passer. But I did think he left it open ended yesterday because I don't think they genuinely know what the status of Ahmad Hardy is going to be and

[B]

when he will be back on the

[D]

field and will he be the same player as before?

[B]

It's all a fair question. We are 46 days away by the way.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

From the kickoff there is a number 46 that is legend in Texas football. That is Roosevelt leaks the ball from Brenham by the way. So Rosie leaks 46 days away. All right, before we hand it over here to CJ to come talk a little bit more about about the Oklahoma centers. Want to say thank you to our friends over at Texas Road, our friend Rick Bo and the guys at Texas Roads. They are your full service solution for major road projects in and around Austin. With the full support of multiple crews performing utility dirt work concrete and asphalt. Texas Road provides on site concrete through volumetric trucks. For smaller volumes. They are able to complete road building in a high profile environment. Again, Rick Bob and his team at Texas Road your full service solution for major road projects. CJ I want you to come on in here and take over for me.

[D]

I'LL let you get going and you

[B]

and Jerry can talk a little bit about the Longhorn.

[D]

All right, C.J. josie's in the chat. Ready for your John Mateer comments.

[E]

I can't wait.

[D]

Yes, yes, he's ready. So I, I want to start with this with Oklahoma. We're going to get the material. But one thing I noticed yesterday was Brent Venables is more comfortable. He seems to have grown into the job and maybe it's because he made the playoffs and the heats off a little bit and maybe he's still really confident in his team, but he looked more comfortable in front of the mic and confident yesterday. And you're, you're at this every year. You see him every year, just like I do.

[E]

Well, what's interesting is normally with Venables, you get, you know, about a 20 minute rambling session of him with his introductory conference. And that wasn't the case yesterday. It was precise, it was quick, it was all right. I'm ready to field questions now. And that probably wasn't the case few years ago given. I think that seat was a little bit warmer.

[D]

Yeah, very.

[E]

Than what he's feeling now. But I do think you're right, you know, making the playoffs a year ago, you're able to walk in a little bit more confident. Chin held higher a little bit. And we saw it yesterday.

[D]

And look, if we, if we're gonna, we got to be very fair on these shows. Right. Even though this is on Texas football, we talked about how confident Sark is in his team.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

I saw the same thing from Brent Venables yesterday.

[E]

I did too.

[D]

I. I really did. He's confident.

[E]

Well, it's the way that he talked about his defense.

[D]

Right.

[E]

I think that's always going to be the thing with Oklahoma. The defense will lead the way. But the thing that stood out to me, we've talked about this a little bit. He's kind of glowing about his offense.

[D]

Yeah.

[E]

And I think a lot of folks are sitting there saying really well, that quarterback.

[D]

My whole thing, my whole thing with Oklahoma, the off season has been. And he hit it right out of the gate yesterday. They have to run the football better.

[E]

They do.

[D]

Because, look, John Matier has the hero ball mentality at times. He can play reckless too much. He can play reckless. He can make some reckless decisions. How do you take pressure off a quarterback that has a tendency to play that way? He can turn around and stick the ball in somebody's stomach and they can run it effectively against good teams.

[A]

A million alarms, a million snoozes over a million teaser coffees or whatever that green gunk is. Over a million. Is it half five yet? A million picking up kids or dinner or sore muscles on the way back. Every week, over a million of you make RTE Radio One part of your day, which means a million laughs, a million opinions, a million awkward questions, fierce debates and did you hears all around the country. It's all on Ireland's number one radio station, RTE Radio one.

[C]

Since January, my future fund has been helping you invest in your future. While you've been paying in, your employer has paid in. With the state topping it all up, it's already growing with over 400 million euros saved by 800,000 participants in just six months. Continue protecting your future. It's already looking brighter. Learn more at myfuturefund Ie.

[D]

And with Oklahoma's schedule, Venables knows at Michigan, at Georgia, Oklahoma fans are going to know very quickly if this team is running the football better. And that's gonna, I think that's going to determine their season.

[E]

Well, that was another question that I got is three of your first five games are at Michigan. You play Georgia and in Dallas against Texas.

[D]

Yep.

[E]

The three what we expect to be really good front sevens. You can't run the football. Why would you then have any confidence that you're going to be able to do that for the remainder of the season? Right. Or in the playoffs when it truly matters about Oklahoma's in their running game. Oklahoma hasn't had a running back in the last three years run for 750 or more yards. And that's a far cry from what we've known that offense to be.

[D]

Oklahoma almost ran for that in 2000 against Texas, but that's kind of been a staple, Right.

[E]

With Lincoln. Riley was like, okay, is this guy going for 1400 or 1800? Essentially. That's essentially been gone from that office and it's put too much pressure on the quarterback, whether it's Jackson, Arnold, Michael Hawkins, obviously last year with Heroball Matier. So that's the thing. And Venable said yesterday that he feels like he has nine offensive linemen that he could play winning football with. Now winning football for Oklahoma might just be 21 points.

[D]

Yeah.

[E]

Because I think that's kind of the, the game plan is don't make mater do too much because when they ask him to do too much things don't typically go the right way.

[D]

Yeah. So now let's see. Now what the fans want is your takeaways from John Mateer yesterday. What, what did you hear from mater that you like, didn't like or thought, wow, that was a crazy statement to make.

[E]

Yeah. Well, I think there's a couple things and I'm sure this is what everybody was excited to wake up and hear about this morning. So bear with me. He said, look, I cringed watching a lot of the tape from a year ago. I realized I was the issue and I think a lot of the tape would agree with that. Now, again, that running game was not good last year for Oklahoma.

[D]

No.

[E]

But neither were his eyes, neither were his decision making. Neither was really just reading defenses. And Texas obviously saw that firsthand with three really poor interceptions going to the Texas Longhorns here. But that's something for me. And again, if Oklahoma can run the football, they got two tight ends, Hayden Hansen, Rocky Beers, that should be able to block efficiently in that C gap, just like how Texas hopes with Michael Masunis. I do think you're going to see less on the plate of John Mateer. And if that's the case, then, hey, I do think you're going to see more efficiency from the quarterback spot for Oklahoma.

[D]

I'll tell you another thing Venable said yesterday that really struck me because we've, we've all been in the business a while. The way he talked about Jason Whitten is not the way you talk about a normal assistant coach.

[E]

Right.

[D]

He is extremely high on what Jason Whitten has brought to the program. And it's not just about coaching tight ends. It's about leadership, being in the locker room, being a coach that is great in the locker room with. He gave him a lot of credit for his confidence in this team, which I thought was interesting how he went on about Jason Whitten, which is interesting

[E]

because I'm not sure you would have gotten that Same answer about DeMarco Murray right. the end of his team at Oklahoma. Right. That was something where Oklahoma fans, riders were saying, probably time for a move. But with Whitten coming in and obviously I think having even in, you know, that tax private Texas high school world, having some sort of coaching experience at leading men is very important there too.

[D]

Yeah, absolutely. All right, C.J. thank you very much for talking. Oh, you will be back.

[E]

My pleasure.

[D]

We're talking Kirby Smart a little later today. I'm quite sure driving is hard. I'm looking for the driving is hard quote from Kirby today. Hi, CJ Muhalo. All right. All right. We're gonna get Bobby back in here in a second. But that was just talking a little bit of Oklahoma football. There. That's what we're going to do every day here at SEC media days. We're going to cover the coaches that spoke the day before, especially the guys on Texas schedule like today on media day today, Tuesday here, SEC media days. There isn't a coach on the schedule for Texas in 2026. It's Kirby and a number of Vanderbilt. Right. And so a number of coaches at South Carolina, Shane Beamer. So guys that Texas isn't playing Auburn today as well but we CJ and had a good discussion about Oklahoma there and I'm looking forward to seeing what Hank has to say about Josh H. I listen to Josh Ho's press conference. I was set in on it yesterday. Listen to it again this morning before the show and let's just see what Hank has to say about what he

[B]

heard from Josh H. Yeah, look I listened in a little bit on your conversation there Very the reality of it is is John Matier is going to be the focal point. They're going to try to make sure he doesn't lose them games this year. I mean yes, he they just want him to improve ball ball control. They don't want him throwing the ball for six points the other way which he was want to do at times last year. And I look ou's oh you have some reason to be very excited about this year. They're coming off of playoff appearance largely based on a defense.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

That was extraordinarily stingy and I think that they've got some things working up in Norman. Is it going to be enough to actually put points on the board against Texas and Red River? That's a different story but it could be the best. I I will say this. It is lining up to be the two best Texas, Oklahoma teams that have played in red river in two decades. I mean going back to 08 maybe is the last time 09 when both teams I mean these this could be two top five top seven teams if oh you take care takes care of business and Texas takes care of business leading up to October.

[D]

I think the the another thing with mater for me and I didn't hit on this with CJ but we're going to hit on this is growth of a quarterback. One of the things I think is most important in growth of a quarterback is to understand the team you have. He has all American candidates at kicker and punter. Okay. He has a tremendous one of the top defensive minds in college football and really good players on defense. It's okay to throw the ball in the stands and punt Yes. I mean, and that's going to be big when you watch Oklahoma this year is what is. Where is John Matier's true growth when he's under duress, not when we're talking about it, but under duress. When he says maybe there's a play I could force here, does he put that rock in the stands and punt the ball and let his defense help

[B]

him win the game?

[D]

I think that's going to be huge in his growth this year. But I think it starts with running the football helping him out more. But then it comes down to few decisions and some really tight games and tight situations of saying ball's going in the stands and we're going to put this thing and win it on defense

[B]

and they have the defense to do it. I would add this. They are expected to have maybe the best special teams unit in the sec.

[D]

First team on sec, free season, kicker and punter.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. So, look, I'm not trying to scare

[D]

anybody, but here we're talking about it.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I think Venables was Jerry's point earlier. Venables appears to be growing into the job.

[D]

I think so.

[B]

When he first took that job, you could tell he was. He spoke fast, tried to get a lot of news and information out very quickly. Now I think he's a little bit more deliberate, a little bit more settled into his skin. And you know, they had a good year last year and I think they, they probably are going to have another good year this year, despite everybody's talking about the difficulty of their schedule. Just telling you, good football team.

[D]

They're recruiting, they're recruiting well. They had a great in state group of kids in 2027, the best in years in that state. They're recruiting well from the high school level as well. So a lot of reason for there to be confidence in Norman.

[B]

All right, let's go to the chat a little bit. I mean, we haven't done that.

[D]

Let's do it.

[B]

We weren't able to really do that yesterday. And I always like to bring in folks Bobby and Jerry. Quick question. I like the RV room, but do you guys ever see the single season rushing record being broken at Texas? That's from Terence Jones. Look, we've talked about Ahmad Hardy at Mizzou already this morning at Texas, Deontay Foreman holds that with more than 2,000 yards rushing in a 5 and 7 season. Actually, I don't see that being broken. Not while Steve Sarkeesian's the coach.

[D]

No, I don't think so. Look, in the Running back positions change so much, right? You know you're coming out of high school. Think about this because we're all, we're talking about Landon Williams callous recruitment, right? What's he going to do? We believe he's a Texas league, he's had a lot of carries in high school. So when that guy comes into college, if you have good people around you, you don't. Nobody really wants to take 30 carries anymore. They wanted to save their body for the NFL and that's part of recruiting, that's part of player development as well. And you know what Jabar Jaluk said yesterday is another reason. I don't think even under Sark we could see this record broken. Jabar Jalute talked about physicality position when Blake Monroe and Jeff Howell were at thsca yesterday in this league, who you're playing, the level of talent, the level of big bodies you're playing, you're recruiting to play to you recruiting those guys to say, okay, you're going to get your touches, we're going to get you touches in the passing game, we're going to develop you as an all around that I don't see the day again and I might be wrong. Maybe, maybe there's a guy that's coming along that's going to be similar to Bijon in that regard. But I don't see the day where somebody's going to average 27, 28 carries under Steve Sarkeesian. I think you're gonna have too many good backs and too many good players.

[E]

Hopefully.

[D]

Hopefully.

[F]

Yeah.

[B]

You don't want Deontay Foreman getting 45 carries against Kansas and then fumbling late and opening up a day for the win.

[D]

You don't want a guy. How many guys in the S.E.C.

[F]

really?

[D]

I mean if you're, if you're in Missouri and you have a Hardy, you may have no choice. Right? That's. I mean that's how you, that you go big in the portal to get one of those guys because you're limited, you're not a Tech, you're not in Texas position or an A M's position in Il wise, but I think it's going to be rare. Look, Georgia won national championships rotating guys. How many backs did Bama play under Nick Saban? It's all the same pretty much. Ohio State went and got Quinshaw, Judkins and had Travion Henderson. That's what you're going after. You're not going after the 2000 yard rusher anymore. You're going after two guys who are thousand plus yard rushing talents, 1500 yard plus rushing talents and playing those guys together and there's their numbers may not be as big but their impact may be greater.

[B]

Rocky P over in Round Rock has this question for us. Jerry who is under more pressure Golding to prove last year's success wasn't just kidding Lee to prove he can do it without Pavia or Elko to prove his success with more than just his schedule. All good questions here. I, I want to say this. We talked a little bit as a group last night. Yeah, we're staying at a VRBO here in, in Tampa as a group and as a group last night we talked about Clark Lee at Vanderbilt. Guy won 10 games but before Diego Pavia showed up, Barkley was on the chopping block. Now we've seen him walk past us here at this, this, this morning. He's going to be on the dais a little bit later. My question to you, is he a product of Diego Pavia? Because frankly as, as we've talked amongst ourselves, his defenses have been bad. They're not good defenses, they're bad defenses. He's a defensive coach. Has he been saved by Diego Pavia from the Grim Reaper? Because I, I, I kind of agree with that assessment. Although I do believe they're improving their talent level. I don't know.

[D]

I, my take is I think it's hard to get the defensive players at Vanderbilt to compete at the highest level SEC one because you, you start 9th, 10th, 11th on a recruiting list of those guys you ideally want then you got to go evaluate great behind that. I, I give him credit for a program and a university that now believes they can win. I think the toughest thing when you take the Vanderbilt job, and I think James Franklin did a pretty good job of it before is do the players believe they can actually compete and win in the sec? Do they believe when they go into Athens that they can win a football game? Josh Eichel was asked about losing the Vanderbilt yesterday. It was a really quick response. Yeah, that wasn't the question he wanted but look, I give Clarkley a lot of credit for, you know, I think culture's over used term but I do believe he's instilled a real belief in winning culture and how his, the what his vision was for the Vanderbilt players when he got there, he's delivered on. So when you start believing, I think through flare change you still have a chance to be better.

[B]

Now last night, let's just cut to the chase.

[D]

But if you start a freshman quarterback in the SEC. If he goes 6 and 6, you got a pretty good job.

[B]

I was going to say over, under wins. Last year he had 10.

[D]

Do I think his job's in jeopardy?

[B]

Hell no. His, his job's not in jeopardy because he's at Vanderbilt.

[E]

Right.

[B]

But if he goes from 10 wins to five, all of a sudden it is pavia. Yeah. And what you're over. Under for wins on. On Vanderbilt as he, he's literally right.

[D]

He's sitting next to us right now.

[B]

Yes.

[D]

I think 6 and 6 is a good year with a freshman quarterback.

[B]

Interesting, interesting.

[D]

I think six, by the way, Golding, I think has a ton of pressure.

[A]

A million rollovers in bed, a million Soccer to swimming, to play dates. A million lawns or gutters or fences or shelves. A million. I'll see you in there's. Every week over a million of you. Make RTE Radio 1 part of your weekend.

[B]

Hello there, good morning, good afternoon, hello there. You're very welcome.

[A]

Which means a million discoveries, a million escapes, a million conversation starters and unexpected victories all around the country. It's all on Ireland's number one radio station, RTE Radio one.

[C]

Since January, my future fund has been helping you invest in your future. While you've been paying in, your employer has paid in. With the state topping it all up, it's already growing with over 400 million euro saved by 800,000 participants in just six months. Continue protecting your future. It's already looking brighter. Learn [e-mail].

[A]

i'm such a chill customer.

[B]

I don't get embarrassed when I forget someone's name.

[A]

Hey, new haircut.

[C]

Become a chill customer. To automatically get the best deals from 14 insurers every year. It's insurance and it's chill. Chill Insurance Ltd. Trading as Chill insurance

[B]

is regulated by the Central bank of Ireland on him.

[D]

Because Ole Miss fans are forever going to say, if Piffin Hat left last year, we have won the national championship. Whether they would or not, they're always going to wonder. Yes, okay, they're always going to wonder. Kind of like when Colt McCoy's injury against Alabama, you always say, man, Texas fans say, wow, we'd have won that game. We were dominating that game. Ole Miss fans sit there and say, we could have won the national championship last year. So there's always going to be that. And I think with, I think with Golding, if there's any slide on the defensive side of the ball in year one for him, then people are going to say, okay, this is a defensive minded guy. What are we going to look like under Pete Golding. But to your to this point, I actually think the guy with the most pressure this year, maybe Elko to repeat because the A M fan base spent since 1939. It's a long time since they won a national title. It's been that long since they felt like they were in contention. Okay, so they make a playoff last year. They know they have big nil money in college football. They see recruiting really good players and the expectations go way up on Mike Elko. So can he deliver on those expectations? Because if A and M doesn't make a playoff this year, what are the A and M fans going to say? I mean see he. He victim of your own success a little bit. But he's given A and M fans hope for the first time and now that they have hope, the expectations are going to go through the roof.

[B]

I think there's a reason that some people name them Texas 8 and 4 and I think that's probably what they're likely to revert to this year. Although they are more talented than maybe some would assume given that they lost so many players last year to the NFL draft. Look, it's a remade offensive line in, in Aggieland. I think that's part one. We have to ask. It's a new offensive coordinator. Maybe one of the weirdest tires. We've talked about this in Holman Wiggins. A M's got a lot to prove. I don't think they're going to be 10 win team this year. I think Texas and, and Steve Sarkeesian went to the semifinals two years in a row and then had a down season at 10 wins. I think a M got to 11 wins and they're not getting past it. That's my opinion. I just, I don't see the Aggies. They, they weren't that loaded to begin with and they over, they, they, they over overachieved last year a little bit. I think it's time to come back to, to earth, so to speak.

[D]

Yeah. By the way, and they're. They're the same as some of. They're the same as the other SEC teams we've talked about that have an early Power 4 game against a confident opponent. Look, you're going to know by the end of September A and M fans will know where this team is at and it's going to be at. They have Arizona State at home okay. In week two. Arizona State's a good program under Kenny Dillingham. They will be a confident opponent even though it's A home game and then they go to LSU on September 26th. They're going to know at the end of September where they're at and are they going to be as good or is this going to be a small step back and how they'll be able to grade Holman Wiggins pretty quickly. Yeah, I, I, I, I really believe that because look, Arizona State is a well coached team. They're not going to be as talented, but they're a well coached team. They're a competitive team under Kenny Billingham. They, they, they've played in big moments in that they beat Texas Tech last year.

[B]

Is Arizona State's quarterback going to be Cutter Bowley, the guy that was at Kentucky last year? Do we know?

[D]

That's probably the leader in the clubhouse going in.

[B]

Okay, so he's a, he's a graduate. All right, a Portal transfer. All right, Pete Golding, what about him?

[D]

Look, I think, I think Golding's got, I think he's got a lot of pressure. And I mentioned defensively, look, he's a defensive coach. So they expect to play good defense. At Ole Miss they lost some really good defensive players.

[B]

They did, they lost both.

[D]

Yeah. So he's gonna, he's gonna prove those chops really quickly. What they do in the Portal. There can't be any slip on defense this year for Ole Miss because then Ole Miss fans are gonna say we have defensive coach. He's another guy that just could have success under Nick Saban. You know how the whole deal goes there. And offensively, you know, look, if we see any signs. Ole Miss lost some really good wide outs off that team last year. If you see any signs of Trinidad Chambers taking a step back offensively this year, I think, I think he becomes, he gets a lot of pressure. In his second year at Ole Miss, he gets a lot of pressure. I, I don't think he's, I don't think I like, you know, Pete Golding, I think solid coach. I don't think he's guaranteed four or five years old. Oh no, I don't think he's guaranteed.

[B]

No, no.

[D]

Like if they, if they see any slippage this year, I, I think he's going to start feeling it.

[B]

They won't have the receivers they had last year. They have one good one coming back. But Lane Kiffin had done a good job of stockpiling those guys. While they have Trinidad Chambers, while they have Kwan Lacy, they don't have the receiver.

[D]

You know what they had last year too belief. If you see any signs that they Lack the belief. That team lacks the belief this year. That's a problem.

[E]

All right.

[D]

They should not like the belief of Trinidad. Channel's back.

[B]

All right, Jerry, we're going to bring in Hank South. Before we do that, we need to tell folks about Ridge. If you don't mind, our sponsor for this episode of On Texas Football.

[D]

Yeah, you guys know we're big fans of Ridge. They make awesome wallets, power banks, luggage, and premium everyday gear. And we've been using their stuff for a while now. Rich just launched their annual sweepstakes as well. And this year's prizes are absolutely wild. From July 4th through September 8th, two lucky winners get to choose between a Lamborghini Stado, a Hennessy Velociraptor, and a custom ford Bronco or $100,000 in cash. If it were me, I'd probably take the. I'm taking the cash. I'll let all the call. I'll let all the nil deals. And for the college guys, have the. The Lamborghinis and the Velociraptors. I'll take the cash. So let us know what you'd pick. OTF community. Ready to upgrade your wallet and maybe your ride For a limited time, head to ridge.com and use code on Texas All Caps at checkout for $10 off your order and a chance to win Ridge's biggest sweepstakes ever. A Lamborghini Stado, a Hennessy Velociraptor, a Ford Bronco, or my choice, 100k in cash. And I won't be posting Instagram stories of me holding it all either. No purchase necessary to enter, but every dollar you spend gets you more entries that Ridge. That's Ridge.com and use code on Texas All Caps after the purchase. The last where you heard about him. The place where Hank south talks Tennessee Football.

[B]

We're not going to talk too much Tennessee Football. Also, I need to tell you guys about Prize Picks. You guys know we're always looking for ways to make watching games a little more fun. And that's exactly why we love Prize Picks. It's America's number one sports pick app. And honestly, it's about as simple as it gets for Player Picks. All you do is choose more or less on a few player stats and lock in your lineup. That's it. And if you're someone who likes picking teams instead of individual players, Prize Picks has you covered there, too. You can now pick the winner, the spread, or the total on games and even fights. Prize Picks is available in most states, including Texas, California and Florida. So chances are you can jump in today. And one of my favorite features is that you can follow users on the app. If you like the picks they're making you can tell tail them with one click and you can follow your friends picks too. Now here's the best part. If you've never tried price pick before, they've got a new special. Play your first five dollar lineup and if you win you'll get 150 in bonus lineup. So it's 150. Just make sure you use code HMA when you sign up. They actually just updated this offer so there's never been a better time to get started. Download the prize picks app today. Use code HMA, plate that first $5 lineup and if you win you'll get $150 in bonus lineups. That's prize picks code HMA. Good luck and as always, play smart, Play responsibly. Play Prize picks. Day two of SEC media days are upon us. We bring in managing editor of on Texas football.com Hank South. Hank, how you doing this morning?

[D]

I'm good, ready to go for day two.

[B]

I promise folks we talk a little Tennessee football since Longhorn's first SEC game this year is going to Knoxville as well as the fact that you know, Texas has to has to face Josh Hill and a new look offense perhaps from him. What, what are your thoughts from hearing from Josh Hyp and the matchup with Texas?

[F]

Yeah, I, I thought it was interesting. You know obviously he touted the fact that they still field top 10 offenses and scoring and total offense despite consistently having to change their quarterbacks each season which is what they're gonna have to do this season. Obviously Joey Aguilar is not going to be back. It's going to be a battle between George McIntyre and eyes on Brandon the, the true freshman, the five star quarterback. So he talked about that a lot. I talked about how they kind of went away from what he traditionally does offensively because Joey Aguilar if you remember joined the team last June and so he didn't have a lot of time to you know, get caught up. So they did a little bit more pro style than what know, I guess we've seen from Josh Ho in the past. I think we're going to see more of that. Absolutely. Obviously you know they have a thousand yard rusher back and Sean Bishop, pretty strong defense with Jim Knowles who we touted coming in from Penn State private previously was at Ohio State.

[D]

So he's excited about the team and you know, look, I Think it's, I

[F]

think that's a tricky game that's not getting talked about enough on Texas. Scotland is the SEC opener. You go to Tennessee, they're going to be undefeated. Most likely their toughest game entering that is at Georgia Tech.

[B]

I think they'll probably take care of

[F]

business there, but that's going to be a top 25 matchup to open SEC play on the road for Texas 11am so that might help a little bit. But they, they've added playmakers, TK Keys, the talented wide receiver. Obviously they're going to have a talented quarterback. It's just. Is that youth gonna bite them?

[B]

Yeah, early in the season that, that may be good for Texas to play him that early. The question I had around Tennessee as it relates to this game is you have a situation where Jim Knowles is the new defensive coordinator. You mentioned him. He comes not only from Ohio State and Penn State, but prior to that was at Oklahoma State and played that three high safety look which has given Sark some problems. Also when we had Gene Chisk on yesterday, he, I asked him what were some of Will Muschamp's difficulties as a defensive coordinator at Georgia or wherever he's been and he said tempo and QB run. Guess what? The veer and shoot does they run a lot of tempo and they do a lot of QB run.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Is this a sneaky difficult game for Texas in your opinion because of those two factors?

[F]

I think so. But I look at both these quarterbacks. I mean there's been some buzz of fies on Brandon's the, the leader but

[D]

I don't think they really threaten you

[F]

too much as runner. So if that's one way you can look at it where Texas can maybe help itself there have an advantage. But yeah, I mean Josh Hypo is one of the best play callers in college football. He's, he's brought, you know, Tennessee football back to, to, you know, respectability.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. They're not elite, they're respected.

[F]

Yeah, exactly. So, you know, I think that that's somewhat of a concern. But I look at, you know, this, the running back they have back, he's their first thousand yard rusher back since Jalen Hurd in, in 2016. So that they've got skilled players that, that can, that can hurt Texas. So it, you know, certainly a game you can't overlook and you know Texas

[B]

is not going to overlook that.

[F]

It's, it's open to SEC at sec play at Florida last year and look what happened.

[B]

That wasn't good right yeah, that was ugly, actually. Hey, other guys that you listen to. Anything else on Venables or Matier at ou? Drink wits at Missouri with Ahmad Hardy. Yeah, we haven't mentioned even Will Stein yet. The former Lake Travis offensive coordinator, now the head coach at Kentucky. Anything else stick out to you at the media days?

[E]

Day one?

[F]

Yeah, I think the biggest in terms of teams talking outside of Greg Sankey, you know, Maud Hardy, I think he's probably going to be available at some point this season. He's, he got fully cleared. Will Stein doesn't lack for confidence. He was asked, you know, why do you think you can win big at Kentucky? And he said, because of me.

[D]

So, you know, when everyone else has

[B]

failed, by the way, that was the, the other part of that.

[F]

Right, right. So that, that, that was an interesting note. Brent Venables talked about, you know, being better in the run game, which certainly,

[B]

you know, I think everybody wants to,

[F]

you know, focus on that too. Mater, you know, was asked about playing Texas again, getting another crack of them. He's excited about talking about Parker Livingston a little bit and you know, his, his football IQ and his ability to catch the ball in space. So, you know, that, that was, those are the main takeaways yesterday, I think, I think Eli Drinkwoods had them. He was. The more, he's probably the, the more lively speaker, I guess. He's cracking jokes and, and going back and forth with some guys. But, but yeah, Hypo ended the day and you know, I, I asked him, you know, Texas coming to, to Tennessee, you know, is there any extra eagerness there? You know, obviously Josh played at Oklahoma. He is, you know, animosity towards Texas probably. And he said, you know, he kind of gave me coach speak, but you know, he's at the Peyton Manning ties and Arch, he said we respect Texas. He's like, we're excited about that game. So that was, that was kind of the main, main takeaways from yesterday.

[B]

Yeah, I, I think about this. And you mentioned Greg Sankey just then. A lot of stuff going up on up in Washington right now. The SEC sending a note to the, the lawmakers yesterday saying we applaud the current efforts, but they're not enough. Yeah. So we're still waiting on that. Some of the things that came up as we just have some time to talk here between you and I, they want to limit the size of conferences to 19 teams. That's an odd number. Now it may be up to 20. The SEC obviously at 16, Big Ten at 18. And yet it feels like this Bill. As it goes forward, Hank is just not answering what everybody needs out of college sports. Instead of tackling the very easy stuff, they're trying to put everything into one.

[D]

Bill.

[B]

And it looks convoluted and doesn't work all together.

[F]

Yeah.

[B]

Your takes on what's going on based on what you're, you're hearing and reading in that situation.

[F]

Yeah. I think the biggest thing I took away from Greg Sankey talking yesterday was they just want everyone to be held to the same standard and they want the rules to be enforceable, which is kind of what you hear. Sark Echo too. That was my big takeaway. And it, you know, I, I kind of wonder if this is going to get done in, in the fashion they wanted to because he didn't seem very off. I mean, you know, he didn't seem obviously.

[B]

Yeah.

[F]

It doesn't seem optimistic about anything actually coming out of this. And he gave, you know, he had like a 10 point checklist and a 4 point checklist of what they all what they wanted to see before. Before they would, you know, acquiesce.

[B]

Yeah.

[E]

Back.

[F]

Something like that. And I, I can't imagine that they're going to get everything they want out

[B]

of that or anything.

[F]

You know, at this point. We're now what this was introduced in May.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

We're now sitting here late July. I mean, do we really think this,

[D]

something's going to come out of this?

[F]

I'm not sure.

[B]

I'm not either. And you, you mentioned one piece of that that I think is important for everybody to discuss or think about as we, we look at it. And that's the idea of the possibility of a real breakaway. Sankey went pretty deep on that yesterday and was asked, hey, is this just a leverage point with Congress to get what you want? And he said, no, this is real. What does that even look like? Have you, I mean, a 16 team league where only the SEC would play. The SEC, is that real or does he then hope, okay, we're gonna do the 16 team league and then maybe if another league wants to join us, they can join us and another league after that with these rules.

[F]

What are your.

[B]

That seems like such a.

[C]

Since January, myfuture fund has been helping you invest in your future. While you've been paying in, your employer has paid in. With the state topping it all up, it's already growing with over 400 million euros saved by 800,000 participants in just six months. Continue protecting your future. It's already looking brighter. Learn [e-mail]

[A]

you know those moments you'll never forget. The excitement on the drive to Killarney, the laughter in the play areas, family meals together filled with stories from the day's adventures at Hotel Killarney. Everything is designed with families in mind. Spacious family suites and rooms, fantastic leisure facilities, delicious dining and unforgettable experiences waiting right on your doorstep. Book your family escape today at HotelColarney ie Hotel Killarney, where childhood memories begin.

[B]

It's almost like the SEC is taking its ball and going home. But at the same time, maybe they're trying to lead other people into this new idea of what college sports might look.

[F]

Yeah, maybe not a leverage point in terms of like the D.C. and this bill, but maybe a leverage point and saying, hey, look what we might do.

[D]

You want to come with us?

[F]

Like, you know, we're looking at you Big ten. Like, you know there's some sort of leverage playing there. I mean, he says there's no leverage, but yeah, I thought that was really interesting and yeah, I, I didn't walk away from it thinking anything was really in in the works of getting solved.

[B]

Managing editor of ontexasfootball.com Hank Southwest with us. Hank, I want to talk to you a little bit. I always like talking to you about recruiting because you've covered recruiting for a long time. Still do for us here at on Texas football Longhorns down to one commitment right now that they're waiting on Landon Williams callous the running back out of Richard Richmond Texas Randall High School 3, 500 yards rushing last year, 59 touchdowns. Jerry always says hey, right now we feel like he's leaning to Texas. I know that you have said that as well. Is there anything that can mess this up before August 1st when he announces?

[F]

I yeah, you never want to go all in on something in the Nile era, you know.

[B]

Well, you do this trending Texas right.

[F]

You know our training taxes forecast is certainly still still on Texas with Landon Williams callous. They've done a really good job of you know having the early momentum when Tashard choice was the running backs coach years ago. Kind of lost out lost out on it with Chad Scott and then Jabar. Luke has done a very a tremendous job of coming in and connecting with Landon Williams callis and getting that Texas momentum book back going. You know, you look back at at the start of spring Landon Williams calls was at the first spring practice for Texas this season came back to the official visit. A kid that took eight official visits by the way. That that's a lot of schools to to kind of go up against. But Texas really kind of turned the

[D]

tides towards their favor on that June

[F]

19th through 21st official visit, obviously already with Noah Roberts, who they love in the class, the running back from Arizona. But Jerry, I go back to the point Jerry's made several times is the fact that people in this camp can envision him as the next great Texas running back. And you know, there's been out of state schools involved, whether Missouri, we just talked about Oregon, Ellis, I think LSU at one point or another. But this is, this has been a kid that, you know, I think Texas, smu, Texas, Amen have been the main schools in play. So I never want to rule out that another school can't come in, you know, 11th hour and make. Make some noise. But I think Texas has positioned themselves well and, and then he can envision himself in this offense and I think excites him, you know, play with the play call like circus.

[B]

Yep. We're going to bring Jerry Hamilton back in here in a minute. One last question. Kate Hogg, the Katy linebacker that was committed to Texas, committed to SMU yesterday, didn't go on any visits like Michigan and things like that that maybe some people thought he might go on. What do you make of what Texas is doing at linebacker right now in recruiting? Because that is the one spot where beyond Jabarius Garror, who's more of an edge, they haven't really hit on a linebacker. What's, what's your thought process on that?

[D]

Yeah, I think they're going to go

[F]

into the season and do some senior evals.

[B]

Maybe.

[F]

We'll see. You know, a situation like Rocky Cummings last year where they find a guy they really like, maybe flip late if they have to, or a guy that's uncommitted, that just as a senior riser, I think they'll stay in contact with a guy. Izzy Hammonds is a guy they really like that's committed to Oklahoma State to tell who early on, you know, Texas was. Was really pushing for. He committed to Oregon. You know, do they stay in contact with him or, you know, if they need to just go to the portal, then how does, you know, five to five come into play too, and who they can get back?

[B]

Brad Smith. Exactly. Yeah.

[F]

So, you know, it's not like panic mode or anything at all, you know, Kate H. More of a developmental guy

[B]

that we're going to bring in and build up.

[F]

And he's obviously gone to SMU now, but I think they're in an okay position. You know, obviously they signed a pretty strong class last year, all three of those guys, they, they want to bring back in 2027. So I think they'll, I think they'll be in good shape when it's all said and done.

[B]

All right, I'll let you get back to your duties here. Day two, Kirby Smart getting ready to go to the podium. I was just listening before we came in here and went on air to the officials commentary up at the dais. And I'm, I've got to tell you, that was about as boring as boring gets. Kirby Smart will be a little bit better. Thanks. Appreciate you.

[F]

Thank you.

[B]

We'll bring Jerry back in, but first I'm going to tell you guys about one of our sponsors. That is Zen AI this summer, don't just watch the game. Vibecast it. Zen AI is the home of vibecasting, a new way to capture and share real sports conversations. No studio, no fancy gear. Your phone is the whole setup. Arguing about who should have taken the last shot, breaking down every play, hit record, talk it out. And Zen AI turns that combo into a sportscast. You can share as clips, reels, even tick tocks. An AI producer works behind the scenes, cleaning up your audio, cutting highlights and helping you tweak edits just by chatting in plain English. Go live while the game is on or record your heart takes after. Bring your own co host or find another fan in Zen AI's network. This summer, Zen AI is paying new Vibecasters to launch their first sportscast. Humans are the talent. AI is the infrastructure. Zen AI is invite only. Head to Zen AI to join the wait list. That's Zen AI or tap the link in our show notes. Jared Hamilton, you're now back with us. Tell folks about one of our key sponsors, Bon Lane.

[D]

The smartest way to get to the game. All right, Longhorn fans in the Woodlands in north Houston, listen up. Bond Lane just launched a new route between Austin and the Woodlands. And you can book trips right now through October. That's a lot of Texas home football games. That means football season is covered. No more white knuckling it down 290. No more fighting for parking. You ride in the first class leather seat, connect the Starlink, Wi Fi, grab a cold drink and show up at the game ready to roll. But it's not just for game days. This route's perfect for business travelers headed to Austin for meetings, state government work or the UT campus. And for folks in Austin, it's a straight shot to the Woodlands for concerts, family visits or business in the area. Without dealing with that. Oh, Houston Traffic. I call it a number of four letter words. We can on there. And here's what you're not paying for on Vaughn Lane bag feast seat assignments or any of the nickel and dime nonsense the airlines have cooked up. Everything is included. Wi fi snacks, beverages, hot towel service and complimentary meals. On select departures, you board at a private hotel terminal with no TSA and no lines. Von Lane connects Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Plano, the Woodlands, Nashville, Memphis in Atlanta. Book@bon lane.com and enter code OTF26 at checkout for $20 off your first ride. What's Von Lane? It's private jet on wheels and no OTF community. I've not had a chance to ask Kirby if he thinks Von Lane should be available.

[B]

Athens it should be. He wants to take him from Atlanta to Athens so they don't get in trouble.

[D]

Hey, so I want to start off with. So while Hank was on here, I was in listening to Kirby.

[B]

Okay.

[D]

Okay. So and by the way, if you're not a member of OT OTF, I'm Texas football.com great time to be there. We're updating our the media live SEC Media Days thread every day. Jordan Str has recruiting stuff up. We're a whole teams here in Tampa. So I want to, I want to hit on a couple of things Kirby said.

[B]

Okay.

[D]

This is the best group of leaders he's had of his tenure at Georgia. Okay. Do coaches say that all the time? They say things.

[B]

But he really best though best.

[D]

He likes his team. Okay. I was in there 10 minutes. He likes his team. The other thing he said was so when, when I studied Gunner Stockton in high school and we were talking about him last year and they're different players, but I said he reminds me of Colt McCoy.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And Kirby said this about Gunner Stockton just now. He leads from the front. He takes hits. He embodies everything our program is about in toughness, the culture and the love for the university. Sounds like some things Matt Brown used to say about Colt McCoy. Yeah, there's. There's some similarities there in the pride for the school. They play in a school that they always love. They lead from the front in the program. You know, Colt had to gain a lot of weight to take the punishment of college football. They're different players, but I think there's some similarities in those two guys and what they mean for their programs. And when Gunner Stockton came along for Kirby Smart in Georgia after he had the national championship success, wasn't the most hot. Wasn't he Was highly rated.

[B]

Right.

[D]

He was a really good player in high school. Maybe he wasn't the top quarterback in the country.

[B]

Right.

[D]

He wasn't thought of as this super NFL prospect because he's. I saw him at Man Academy, six feet tall, Right. And he's a six foot tall guy. He's not thought of as some super NFL prospect coming out of high school, but what he is, was thought of as a competitor, a true competitor. It's going to mean something every day. Every day he puts on that Georgia jersey. I think there's some similarities there.

[B]

Yeah, there is some similarities that go beyond that. Not only is he kind of undersized, but he's stockier than. Yeah, than Colt McCoy was. But he's not, you know, six foot four and a half like Arch Manning. That's. That's some similarities to Colt McCoy. The other thing that I think that is similarities. Son of son of a coach.

[E]

Yes.

[B]

And a player himself. I think that that whole idea of maximizing one's talent from the son of a coach, I think that can be part of it too, as well. Arthur, Jerry, I want to ask you a couple of fun things here that are going on. Did OU this from Casey Hership. Did OU send the only three people that have all of their teeth to Media Day? You see them all?

[D]

I did not. Because we were on air and we were recording some other shows, so I can't.

[B]

Do you have anything funny for us? You usually bring the humor.

[D]

You're. You're not bringing the humor this morning.

[B]

It's not enough.

[D]

Yeah, I. I'll get going on that in a second.

[B]

Come on. No, I'm gonna. I'm gonna coax it out.

[D]

Yeah, you will.

[E]

You will. All right.

[B]

Sarah McCoy. Sorry I didn't ask this earlier. Sarah, when Hank was on, who will be the starting quarterback for Tennessee? There's. There's. It's down to two. Brandon Fazell, a true freshman that just joined the team in January, and then George McIntyre, a red shirt freshman, if they. If we can even use that term anymore. Now that there's five for five officially coming up, the thought process right now, at least from what we're hearing, is they're leaning towards going to the younger player.

[D]

Well, what H said yesterday was one of the first guy in the building and last guy to leave. You know, when you start saying those things about young players, young quarterbacks, that tells you, like I said, he really reshaped his body. We know that kid Faison. Brandon's very talented. He might even watch this Huddle knows he's very talented player but Hypo was pretty high on him yesterday and that by the way it's a big an aisle investment.

[B]

It's huge for Tennessee for both of those quarterbacks.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

One of them is going to come off the books next year. Yes. They're not going to keep both of them.

[E]

Yes.

[B]

So we'll see.

[D]

Jordan McIntyre Hypo said it really improved his footwork in the pocket. Some of his quicker decision making in the pocket mechanically in the pocket. I think he's gonna have to play at a really high level to hold off Faison.

[B]

Brandon Faze on Brandon. Yeah, that's that, that's a fair take. All right, we're gonna take Yalls questions the rest of the day here. We've already kind of given you guys everything that happened SEC media days, day one. So we're gonna go to the chat line and keep going. This one from Connor C. Is Cam Coleman a bullet McCaffrey Award favorite or sleeper coming into the season? Jerry?

[D]

Neither. I don't neither. Look, I think Jeremiah. It's Jeremiah Smith award to lose.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

I actually think the biggest threat to Smith is Malachi Tony and I say that because look, Tony is coming off with 100 catch season and that was as a 17 year old freshman that graduated high school early or is he going to be in year two? I think Tony's set up with Darian Minta for a huge season and he's their number one go to guy. He's going to get 100 plus targets this year at Miami. He's got a chance with Cam Coleman. I think Cam Coleman's going to have a tremendous season without putting up monster numbers so to speak because of the guys around him and the offense. And my goal for Sark is 52 run 48 pass or 52 and a half 47 pass. I think that's when Texas is having a tremendous season. So I think Cam Coleman can have a great year on the field without putting up the numbers Jeremiah Smith and Malachi Tony are going to put up.

[B]

I don't think Texas produces a Blitnikov award winner out of this group because I think they have too many guys

[D]

to share the ball 100.

[B]

You know, Miami, like for example Miami's receiver corps, very talented. Not trying to say that they're not telling it but Tony is the true superstar.

[D]

That's right.

[B]

Jeremiah Smith, everybody knows Ohio State receiver corps, very talented. Jeremiah Smith is the true superstar of that group. I don't know that Cam Coleman is the true Superstar over per se. Orion Wingo and an Emmett Mosley and whoever else, Jermaine Bishop, Sterling Burkhalter, Khali Clockett.

[D]

I had a discussion yesterday with the Film Film Guy Network. Brooks Austin has been on our show a number of times, which will producer Matt's going to put up sometime this week or next week. And we were talking about Cam Coleman. We talked about the, the big, A big piece for Cam Coleman this year is yards after catch. Okay. And that's not for bnikov. That's for NFL stuff. Like my goal for Cam Coleman after one year at Texas is to be a top 1012 pick. I think if he has that type of season, then he's going to leave Texas saying they helped me develop the scheme, helped me open up my game. I got to show yards after catch. I got to show him a complete receiver. And if that happens, if Cam Coleman ends up having that type of season, I think Texas is going to have a really good season barring injuries. Because to me, when I look at this Texas team, it's not about awards, it's about ascending in the NFL draft. They have so many draft prospects. If guys ascending, look at Arvl Reese at Ohio State last year, how much he ascended.

[E]

Okay.

[D]

These guys did ascend in the NFL draft. If Texas fans see a lot of guys ascending in the NFL draft through the season, that means you're in the College Football Playoff period. I mean, that's going to equate to your winning.

[B]

I agree with that. I. I don't know about. Here's my take on the. The whole idea behind the receiver group that I just mentioned. You have a situation right now where Sark doesn't want to be too predictable. Yeah. You also have. Sark loves to get the running backs involved in the passing game.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

I just don't. You know, I go back and think about it. When's the last time Sark did that with one guy? And obviously DeVontae Smith was that guy and won the Heisman Trophy. But before that, if, if you don't remember this or not, Jalen Waddle was on that same team at Alabama and Jalen Waddle, until he got hurt, had better stats than devonte Smith. Only when forced to go to devonte Smith did he produce those types of numbers.

[D]

I've always said Wallow might have won the highest product.

[B]

Right. Exactly. And so I, I think that sorts. The whole idea behind him is he wants, he wants to come out for you from multiple ways. So if you take away one thing and easily Go to something second. And it's not abnormal for him to do it. No. And so I don't. You know, even Xavier Worthy, that second year when he became the focal point and had the hurt hand, maybe that's the closest he's come to doing that at Texas, but we'll see where that. That ends up.

[D]

By the way, Bobby, I had a lot of funny things to say at one point in the show, but Clark Lee was sitting literally right next to me. You put me in a horrible spot. The guy was literally doing an interview radio. And Bobby's always, should he be on the chopping block? I'm like, this guy's gonna punch me in a second. He can hear everything I'm saying.

[E]

Six and six.

[D]

Great year. Bobby's trying to get me beat up. That's what he's really trying. He's trying to get me thrown into the water bottles back here.

[B]

Hey, Clark Lee could beat you up, by the way.

[D]

Oh, no, Clark Lee's.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[D]

He doesn't eat my diet.

[B]

All right, this one I do want to follow up. Kozer says, Jerry, do they have corn dogs and mayo out on the buffet for you?

[D]

I will say they had hot dogs yesterday. That's right. That's as close as they got.

[B]

They. So you get it. You get a true sense of who all sponsors the SEC here, Amanda. I mean, look, we've got Dr. Pepper behind and we got all this stuff going on here at sec. One of them is Sonic. And so the afternoon snack yesterday was Sonic. So they were hot dogs.

[D]

Came back to my cutting sixth period of high school days. Right. I'm gonna slip over the Sonic before high school basketball practice starts. I mean, that Sonic is very high school. Like at the end of the day at high school, you and your buddies go to Sonic, get the massive six cheese sticks, and then Route 44 Sweet Tea and go try to play a basketball game three hours later. That was me in high school.

[B]

So you were talent maximizer.

[D]

I hung out at the three point line, but I did it well.

[E]

D.J.

[B]

alexander, what's the drop off? Drop off between Arch and KJ Lacey, if KJ had to start against Tennessee, how would you feel? I. I would think it would go from a game that Texas is going to be probably favored by five to seven points to pick him.

[D]

Yeah, I mean, look, if that's his first career start on the road at Tennessee, I don't feel great about it. I think KJ's a really good player. I went to see him many times at Sarah Lan in high school. But if you said, oh, by the way, Arch got hurt against UTSA in the fourth quarter, kj, you're starting at Tennessee in that environment. Tennessee's the favorite to win that game because it's such an unknown now. The thing KJ has going for him in a situation like that, if it presents itself, he has really good parts around him. He doesn't have to feel the pressure to go win a football game. He can be a bus driver on this team because of all the talent at the skill position. That could help him greatly if called upon this year. But I still think Tennessee would become a favorite because if that's your first ever start and it's on the road in Knoxville, you haven't. You haven't experienced anything close to that in your life.

[B]

You mean he didn't see that at Sarah Land?

[D]

He did not.

[B]

He did not see 100,000 people coach

[D]

and a really good team. But they lost. They lost the state title game with about 15,000 in the stands or won it with about 18,000.

[B]

Yeah, you know, we do have the guys on from Nashville right next to us. We got to talk to them about this game. Yeah. Coming up in. In Nashville. All right. In Knoxville as well. Art. Sarah McCoy. Dark horse team in SEC football this season. Is LSU a dark horse? I guess not.

[E]

Ole Miss?

[B]

Can't be. No, because they, they did so well last year.

[E]

Is there a dark word?

[B]

Florida, maybe.

[D]

Tennessee's schedule was very favorable, but I'm not sure they're a dark horse.

[B]

I can't. I can't do that. I say Florida may be the dark horse, I think.

[D]

Look, I talked to a couple of people about them yesterday. Somerset's a well respected guy amongst college coaches. Yeah, I'll say that. He's a well respected guy in Florida is like Texas. They always have NFL talent on their roster. They always have a lot of talent because of the state in the region they're in.

[E]

I.

[D]

But I asked Keith Niebuhr from Gators Online. We'll have that interview coming up soon as well.

[B]

If they went.

[D]

If Florida went 8 and 4, would the fan base be happy? And it was kind of a mixed bag there, but I do think Florida is. Is potentially a dark horse if you consider a team that talented a dark horse.

[B]

Right. That is the issue. They have the talent. They just got to put it together. Yeah, that. That's my whole point. And I think unlike A M, which I think made a bad hire, an offensive coordinator, Florida killed it, but it's hired offense coordinator.

[D]

Buster fault and defensively coach White at Kentucky was under stoops.

[B]

Right.

[D]

Because they got talent. Yeah. Is there a South Carolina this year with South. Two years ago South Carolina was 9 and 3 and on the verge of making the playoff because the way they finished, you know there was some thought could they get in loss team wasn't going to get him. They were right there. I think they finished 14th. Is there a South Carolina in this conference this year? Is it South Carolina again? I don't think so. No, I don't think so. I think the league's change a little. They just can't put the parts around Lenora Sellers to make that run. Is that a real run game for him that first year? I don't think there is a South Carolina in the competition.

[B]

All right, we're going to get to a couple more questions but before we do we need to tell folks one last time but our friends over at Texas Road, Rick Bovro and his team, they are your full service solution for major road projects in and around Austin. With the full support of multiple crews performing utility dirt work, concrete and asphalt. Texas Road provides on site concrete through volumetric trucks for smaller volumes. They're able to complete road building in a high profile environment. Also check out their sister company Austin Underground. You need major work underground. All that on across the city. Make sure you reach out to the guys at Austin Underground and or Texas Road. Again, Rick, Bob Row, multiple degrees from the University of Texas. His team is it in the state of Texas for road projects and underground needs. All right, Matt, our producer's here with us. Jerry, you're with us. We've got C.J. vogel, we got Jeff House coming in today. He'll be here as well as Hank south that joined us earlier. Your overall take on SEC media days day two. Before we get to a final couple

[D]

of questions, I think Texas is an interesting topic because I think a lot of people are picking Texas to win the league this year. But it's at the same time, Bobby, a lot of people are like I'm not still not sure if they can get over the hump at the same time is there quietly picking Texas or talking about picking Texas to win league? It's interesting from that perspective. I will say this covering SEC media days being here is such, it's such a great event because the slogan it just means more shows up in media days. I mean the amount of people like I was just in there for Kirby's media session. It was Pat.

[B]

Yes.

[D]

I put a video up on ontexasfootball.com on our thread. That's as packed as you'll see a media session like this preseason. I mean, just, you know, the people that are walking around covering the SEC for espn, Damien Harris for cbs, former Alabama running back. You get a feel how special this conference is and how much it. And obviously ESPN has the contract with the sec, but still how revered it is from people used to Tim Tebow walking around yesterday. Right. I mean, most overrated quarterback in, but an SEC legend, but an SEC still

[B]

the most overrated quarterback in college football history.

[D]

But just how much it means in this conference to the guys who played in this conference. Chris Doring, you know, you talk to those guys, how much it meant to them to be part of this conference. It's pretty special. I mean, it's great.

[B]

Yeah, it is special. There's no doubt about that. Let's go to a couple more questions if we can.

[D]

This one fine bomb is here.

[B]

Somebody asked it's fine ball. Yeah.

[D]

Easier.

[B]

How many SEC teams make the F the College Football Playoff? Four or five. I'm thinking Georgia, Texas ou, LSU or Bama. I'm gonna go different than everybody here with the additional game. Nine games. I think only three teams are gonna make it. I'm. I'm the same as you, Jerry.

[D]

I mean, because just think about what we talked about the first two weeks of the football season. Louisville plays Ole Miss. LSU plays Clemson. Texas plays Ohio State. Oklahoma plays at Michigan. If two of those teams lose that game, I don't think they're making the playoffs. Look, I don't think. Because look at the nine game schedule and the schedules after that for those teams. I'm not sure you can drop one of those games early on like that and get through the first year of the nine game SEC schedule with two losses. It's going to be difficult. And that's the question. I mean, look, last year. I think there's another thing we have to add to the playoffs this year. Unless Notre Dame has a rash of injuries or collapses, they're going to be in the playoff.

[B]

Yes.

[D]

So that takes a spot that wasn't there last year. They're going to get in. Who is that gonna hit? Who is that gonna hurt? And will the sec have enough 10 win 2 loss teams is the question on the first year to 9 game schedule. I think it's going to be very interesting to see how it plays out. I had a tough time picking the playoff teams because I just think there's such an unknown with the nine game schedule in this league this year.

[B]

Looking at everybody. I, I would the three teams I have in the playoffs from the, from the SEC are Texas, OU and Georgia. I mean, I think we talked about the start of the show. OU should be a better team this year than they were last year. I mean, they should be better on defense. They should be better on offense. I think, I think, I think the

[D]

thing with Oklahoma, too, Bobby, they better win at Michigan. I, and I know everybody thinks they will, but, but it, but I'm just saying it's college football.

[B]

They're gonna suffocate Bryce Underwood. I mean, backfit Bryce. Yes, they're gonna suffer.

[D]

Backfit Bryce will suffer under that pressure. But let's just say Michigan upsets Oklahoma. They're not making the playoff. Look at the rest of their schedule. They go to Georgia two weeks later. They better be Michigan. I got Texas, Georgia, Alabama's got a playoff schedule. If they, if they're, if they can run the football, they have a playoff schedule. They have a schedule that's I think, on par with Georgia and on par with Tennessee.

[B]

They're also breaking in a new quarterback.

[D]

That's right.

[B]

Ole Miss made the playoffs last year, went to the semifinals. Yeah, we'll see. All right, Jerry, that's going to do it for this morning's coffee and football. Oh, Bobby didn't get beat up Friday from Juan Garza. Thanks, Matt, for pulling that up. Thursday. He, he goes to the mic on Thursday. We will have cuts of Sark. We also have from Sunday's Texas High School Coaches association meeting a full, full on video of his entire conversation with the Texas high school coaches. Make sure you guys check that out. But we'll have more from him on Thursday and it'll be more pointed towards the 2026 football season and the University of Texas. It'll be a little bit deeper conversation for sure. So make sure you tune in for that for later today. We've got a conversation coming up with the Senior bowl director that we're getting ready to host have right now. We'll have that up for you. Rusty Manzel from Georgia is going to be on as well later today. So we got a few other pieces coming to you from SEC Media Days Part 2. Thanks to our sponsors, Texas road prize pick Zen AI Ridge Von Lane for sponsoring us. Thanks to Matt, our producer behind the scenes, as well as Jerry Hamilton.

[D]

Bobby didn't get me in a fight with Clark Lee, so that was a good day for me.

[B]

I did. I did not. And I will add, I will add this. Don't worry about Blake Monroe. He's doing good. We just gotta do this here.

[D]

Blake's doing great. He got pulled over in College Station yesterday, but they gave him a warning. He didn't.

[B]

He obviously didn't know he was part of coffee and football.

[D]

If he had been wearing a Georgia hat, he'd have been in the slammer.

[B]

Or a Texas hat.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. All right, thanks. Thanks again, guys. We'll see y' all again tomorrow morning. Make sure you check out recruiting breakdown later today coming from Jerry and, folks, take care.

[E]

Welcome.