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Steve Sarkisian Compares Cam Coleman to JULIO JONES | EVERYTHING You NEED to Know from Steve Sarkisian's Presser! | Texas Football
00:25:55
Jeff Howe, CJ Vogel and Hank South break down everything Steve Sarkisian revealed following Texas’ latest fall camp practice. Sark compared Cam Coleman’s rare combination of size, catch radius and long speed to Julio Jones, while also revealing that...
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- [00:02]
Jeff Howe
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Hank
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- [00:29]
C.J. Vogel
Sam.
- [00:55]
Jeff Howe
All right, everybody. Welcome to On TEXAS Football special midday live edition of On Texas Football. Met with Steve Sarkeesian after practice today. The Longhorns had their latest camp practice this morning with some details on that here in just a second. I am Jeff Howe, joined by Hank south and CJ Vogel. All three of us were at the press conference. We'll talk about it here on this edition of On Tackle Football, which is brought to you by prize picks. C.J. i'll start with you. You're still down on the 40 acres. What was your biggest takeaway from today?
- [01:21]
C.J. Vogel
Yeah, a lot of competition and then some John, a little bit of John today as well. That's great. We hear about it from the defensive side of the ball with Colin Simmons, Jelani McDonald Bomasco, guys that like to talk. And then on the offensive side of the football, Sark had a pretty blunt quote saying, I think Arch Manning talks a little bit more mess in practice than what the public, national media, folks outside of the building will give him credit for. We've heard about Raleigh Brown. I think Cam Coleman's a guy that does this as well. Jermaine Bish, Ryan Wingo, and of course, we heard about the meanness that was Melvin Ciani earlier this past weekend. So a lot of competition, but it's the back and forth jawing between the offense and the defense that I think drives competition to its highest peak. And that is fantastic to hear right now. What about five or six practices into to fall camp? Hearing about that dayto day, really encouraging for me.
- [02:17]
Hank
Yeah.
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Jeff Howe
I'll. Let's go ahead and address. CB says Arts and Simmons got into it. They didn't get into it like you would think got into it. It's, it's competitive. Banner and Hank, that's the kind of stuff that happens during camp. And quite honestly, that's the stuff I like hearing about during camp. It's not that guys are at each other's throats or they're mad at each other. When you've got guys that are highly competitive and you put them in competitive situations, that's how you hope guys respond.
- [02:44]
Hank
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And Sark noted, you know, it wasn't anything, you know, mean or vicious or anything. It was, you know, it was banter between two teammates head to head. And you obviously, like you said you like to hear that. My biggest takeaway and start kind of opened with it was how physical they've been through five practices. And obviously, you know, they haven't gone full pads yet. They're going to go full pads tomorrow night for the first time. But to the extent they can be, he's, he's really doted on the, the physicality of the practices so far. And another point I really liked to hear was Sark. I think he said it twice, that this team has been better than teams he's had in the past in terms of player led, you know, player led drill or, you know, leadership and guys kind of taking other guys under their wing and, you know, helping them along. Even with the transfers and new guys that, you know, know this is their first time going through that, they're actually, you know, taking the bull by the horns and, and being the leaders. He's, he's. He said it twice. I think that that was, it's, it's better than what he's had in the past. So I thought that was really encouraging as well.
- [03:48]
C.J. Vogel
There were a number of names that he mentioned, Hank, that I think everybody would have. Would basically guess right. If you were given five or six guesses, you probably got five for five with Colin Simmons, Arch Manning, Trevor Goosby, the guys that he brought to SEC media days. But then he mentioned Jelana McDonald and then he mentioned Connor Robertson. But the one name that kind of caught my attention was Derrick Williams. Right. Because we've been kind of waiting and hearing who will step up and. And be that guy next to Jelani McDonald at safety. To hear that he was mentioned as a leader of this group in that same conversation, as an Arch Colin, a Trevor, I think was one of the biggest takeaways that we'll certainly start talking about more of if that is a continual theme moving forward.
- [04:32]
Jeff Howe
No doubt. Hank Sarka is always fond of saying you get what you emphasize. And I think Bobby actually asked him the question, you know, what are you emphasizing in this camp that maybe he didn't last year something you're emphasizing more. And he said not much usual. But I, I think there's two things that really came up. He emphasized especially when guys are flying around and they'll be in full pads tomorrow night and when half past the day, me in full pass tomorrow. Anytime you're flying around like that, you're going to value the Ball because you got to protect the ball. Everybody's hyped up a little bit of sense of urgency. But Hank, physicality. I lost track of how many times today Sark mentioned physicality. And he talked about running the football and stopping the run and just saying point blank, hey, we weren't good where we needed to be in either of those areas last year. So anybody that's been looking for Sark to hammer home physicality, he. That was probably the main thing I took away from what he said today.
- [05:28]
Hank
Yeah, he talked about playing physical, playing fast, but still playing smart, and kind of all those things coinciding with each other for them to have success. But, yeah, I mean, he was asked. He's been asked about penalties every time we've heard from him. I asked him a question about penalties at SEC media days, but he, the stat, and obviously that's something they're emphasizing, and he's kind of taken that, that group consequence approach where, you know, know if somebody commits a penalty, the team pays for it because in a game, you pay for it. But today he really harped on, I think it was after Bobby's question, the turnovers are the number one indicator of men's losses, turnover margin and how important that is and how to create turnovers and also protect the ball on offense. And so he brought that up when Bobby asked him about anything different they might be doing outside of just addressing penalties in practice. But yeah, again, I think I'm sure he brought up physicality in that response as well, because I feel like the majority of his responses included that
- [06:22]
C.J. Vogel
he said a large part of that is actually just Will Muschamp.
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Jeff Howe
Right.
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C.J. Vogel
Being around, you just hear his voice, the. You command a very high level. Right. That standard of the defense will mushroom. Is someone that is certainly instilling that discipline that I think Texas certainly needs going into this year as well.
- [06:41]
Jeff Howe
All right, get your questions lined up. We'll be here for a little bit. We'll take your questions, anything you've got as far as that goes. CJ One thing that I did want to mention, and I might as well because Nil and Rapture are points. I said Ohio State is not sold on bo Jackson as RB1. Sark talked about the Texas running backs today and not just what he's getting so far in camp from Hollywood, Hollywood Smothers and Relief Brown. But he mentioned that he and Jabar Luke watch some practice tape recently and they felt like all the returning backs, you know, Michael, Terry, James, Simon, Ryan, Niblet, I think it says a Lot CJ That Sark notices all those guys are much better now than where they were in December when that position coach change was made.
- [07:25]
C.J. Vogel
Look, and I think that's what you would hope, right, is a continual progression with a new coach bringing in new juice to that room, finding way to, to really just increase the level of competition and what is already a very deep, very talented room. But we've now heard about Michael Terry twice from Steve Sarkeesian this year. And I know he was asked specifically about the running back position, but earlier he said, look, I thought he ran well, right? He's taken in some of that coaching from the summer, from spring camp. To hear that James Simon is someone that has taken a step. Ryan Niblett, of course, we talked to him last Thursday. He said, yeah, the offense wants to get me involved. They want to find ways to get the football in my hands. Look, that's a versatile bunch and we've not yet talked about the two first team all conference running backs from a year ago and a five star freshman who's already making waves. But Sark did say Derek Cooper is someone that runs physical. Right. And with those two first team backs that I mentioned, the physical side of things right now, you know, of course they're, they're trying to make sure that everybody stays healthy. But he says you can really tell there's physicality and pass protection and that's where you're starting to see a lot of these guys make steps forward that will pay off with the ball in their hands, running between the tackles in those short distance situations that of course we talked about for the last seven months.
- [08:38]
Hank
I thought it was interesting running backs, sorry, Jeff. More comfortable. Sark said, we're more comfortable today with that entire room than probably we've been in years past. And obviously, you know, the injuries in 2024 and whatnot. But I thought that was pretty telling about how he feels about this, this current running back core.
- [08:56]
Jeff Howe
Let's stick with the run game because Crystal and C.J. robinson 7727 has a question. Guys, with the concern we talk about with Texas safety and offensive line, what are some of the other teams around the top 10 that have the same or similar worries? I think it's fair to say, guys, everybody's concerned about their offensive line. Offensive lines are concerned for everybody. Until it's not just because you can't put, you know, Pete Golding mentioned this and a lot of coaches talked about it in SEC media days. With the resources everybody has in the portal, you can't Devote all your resources, make sure every position is just stocked with blue chip talent. You're going to be naturally deficient somewhere. And for a lot of teams, it ends up being on the interior of the offensive line. I think that's why it's important to get Cole Hudson back from a depth standpoint. But I also like cj. The fact that Sark was talking about, you know, the offensive line, he felt like. And again, they're in, they've been in half pads the last two practices. They'll be in full pads tomorrow. But I think it stands out that he said that he likes the physicality the offensive line is showing so far. And I think you combine that with the fact that we know right now Kyle Floods cross training a ton of guys like we've heard Jordan Coleman. We're going to have three different spots. They're rotating guards and centers. This is kind of the time of camp where you figure that out. It's still a process of. We get, we're fixated right now and Everybody, rightfully so. CJ's fixated on left guard. But you still, everybody would love to go into a season where you've got at least like eight guys that you feel really good if they had to play. You feel like there would be minimal drop off. You're still, if you're Kyle Flood and Sark, you're still trying to figure out who those eight or so guys are.
- [10:33]
C.J. Vogel
Eight, probably the dream, especially in today's current landscape of college football that you laid out, Jeff, where offensive line just getting five or six is, is difficult to do. But Texas right now feels like they have a deeper stable of bodies than a year ago. Now again, let's see how that, that pays off here in about a month when Texas takes the field against Texas State and Ohio State. But what was really interesting today is he's like Sarkeesian said, yes, we have a good nucleus of returns. Trevor Goosby, Brandon Baker, Connor Robertson. He said that again, that infiltration, if you will, of Melvin Ciani at right tackle has brought some meanness, right, some highly spirited competitiveness that is in turn has really kind of stepped into that Texas offensive line. Now let's see how that left guard spot kind of takes or reacts to it because again, that's a lot of in and out of bodies. That's a lot of people trying to prove that they are the, the guy for the job who kind of adopts that meanness, that mean streak, that physical edge. That's something that Sark mentioned as some, you know, Just keep an eye on it, because right now it's sounding like the rest of the offensive line has it. And I'll also mention on Cole Hudson, he's in his acclimation period at the moment. That's what Sarkeesian mentioned it as. So he's a little bit behind where the team is in terms of getting fully padded up for the next practice tomorrow night. He will be eventually, obviously, in full patch, just not yet.
- [11:57]
Jeff Howe
Yeah, I think the other part, too, Hank, when we talk about the offensive line, you know, C.J. was talking about guys that are extra physical, that bring in, like Jackson Christian is one of those guys that we've talked about early on. I think when you look at that group, though, part of the old line being physical is that we talk about the give and take with camp, and we're going against a defensive line that's as deep as this one is with quality guys. Man, your ones, your twos, even your threes are gonna get a really good look in practice. So, man, I don't expect, well, much chance to take it easy in any live period. So you're gonna have a really good idea, at least you should, of what you've got on the offensive line from a depth standpoint by the time you get done with these next couple of weeks in these big camp scrimmages.
- [12:43]
Hank
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I feel like every time, you know, with C.J. and Bobby and Jerry's reporting on. On Texas football, you hear about the defensive line and just. Just creating disruption, justice. Terry being one of the standouts of camp, this. Just this front seven being a problem. And so there's really nowhere to go but up there if you're. If you're developing or you're trying to, you know, figure out your offensive line or get those guys better. And yeah, it's. It's a unique situation to where, you know, you have a guy coming back on an injunction in Cole Hudson, you got a guy that needed a waiver to play this year, and Lawrence Seymour, Jaden Chapman, who's been around. I mean, there's so many guys you can go through in this cross training and everything. I think they're better position this year than they were last year just in. They're going to have a much more feasible path to find eight just based off who they're playing against in practice and who they have on the roster on this depth chart. They're in a lot better position this season. And Sark mentioned today, too, you know, there's days where there's. There's periods in practice where the offense will get the best of the defense and then the defense will come roaring back. And as a coach, you got to that's probably the best case scenario. You don't want just one defense or one unit constantly, you know, dictating what's happening. You want to see some give and take. And it looks like that's what what they're getting in practice so far. Five.
- [13:51]
Jeff Howe
Five in. No doubt. All right, let's take a little pause, get your questions lined up. We'll get to them if you got them. Super chats, as always, jump up front of the line. But right now, let's thank our sponsor for this edition of On Texas Football and give a shout out to Prize Picks.
- [14:05]
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- [15:14]
Jeff Howe
All right, thank you Prize Picks, for sponsoring this edition of On Texas Football. Guys, let's go ahead and get to a couple of questions. Shy baby says pads popping again. Half pads these last couple of practices as you get through your acclimation period. Full pads for practice tomorrow afternoon evening when the Longhorns are on the practice field, one of the guys that's been kind of gotten some nice buzz CJ during campus Cohen Brown. So Daniel asked it, is Cohen Brown working solely outside receiver or is it getting looks in the slot? I think it's key to remember in Sark's offense receiver. The receiver position is taught conceptually so you learn everything. But typically early on CJ and when we were out at practice I didn't see him running with the slot guys. I saw him exclusively with the outside group. Typically early on you'll focus on one position while learning the route tree and learning everything. But, but man, I, I it'd be, it'd be an understatement CJ to say early on this staff and everybody internally really intrigued with towing Brown's speed.
- [16:13]
C.J. Vogel
Well of course you know you top 23 miles per hour in a summer conditioning workout that's faster than any speed Xavier Worthy. Oh that's a tough, tough angle there. That's faster than any speed Xavier Worthy put up while summer conditioning was going on during his time on on the 40 acres. So the speed is there. Now it's about consistency of course, the hands making sure that the routes are there, concepts etc. But Jeff, I'm with you. Everything I've seen so far from Cohen Brown has been on the outside. It's going to be interesting though if he's a guy that they deem as someone they can move around that speed from the slot lined up on someone that's not, you know, SEC level cornerback, you know, outside starting cornerback. That's a mismatch potentially. We'll see how exotic they get with Cohen Brown in his first fall camp.
- [17:03]
Jeff Howe
Yeah we talked about safety earlier. Sports talk Jay with a good one. Hank said some forget how nasty Raptor talking about Derrick Williams was his first year if he can get back to 100 and play at that level but now more season he's a dog. I I think Hank when we saw him in the media windows last week that's the closest obviously I've seen him to being back to that pre injury form he had in early 2024 where again I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this. He was starting over Andrew Makuba early in that season. Obviously once he got hurt Makuba took that job over. But Derrick Williams, yeah, he was on an upward trajectory in this program before the injury.
- [17:41]
Hank
Yeah, absolutely. And I think having Blake Gideon back coach that recruited him will certainly help his confidence even more. So just from a mental standpoint as opposed you know now a year removed over almost two seasons removed from that injury back in 2024. But again it goes back to Sark. I mean Stark singled him out as being a voice in that and that as leadership in in that room in in alongside Jelani McDonald. So you know, we've seen, we've seen Kobe Black get reps at one, we've seen Derrick Williams. But if they can get that version of Derrick Williams that, you know, 2024 Michigan, Derrick Williams, I mean, that they're going to, they're going to have success and that room is going to get figured out because obviously we've seen him play at a high level. Can he get back to that? And maybe it's just a full season remove from trusting that knee, trusting, you know, your rehab and everything and going back to that, that pre injury play.
- [18:34]
Jeff Howe
Got a super chat. Rocky P. Thank you for the super chat. Said from the rooftops, Michael Terry III will be an X factor by the end of the year. Buy stock now. Bought my stock at its lowest. Gonna make out like a bandit. CJ it's really hard to, to see anybody kind of breaking through that top three group in the running back room, especially because you've got the two veterans that they brought in from the Portal, which those guys have been as advertising camp. And Sark talked up Derek Cooper again, you're gonna find snaps for him. If Michael Terry does end up being a factor in any way, shape or form, it'll be because he not only had a heck of a camp, but keeps getting better. I think that's the thing to remember with him, C.J. he's still settling into this position full time, so there's still a learning curve. But, you know, once camp is over, the developmental process for him does not stop.
- [19:25]
C.J. Vogel
No, absolutely. And we heard a little bit about Michael Terry being used as a second back on the field when Texas was implementing its pony package over the weekend. Now, we've seen that at times with Ryan nible, especially in 20, 25, ways to get him on the field and acclimated or at least involved with the offense, how can they get the football in his hands? And of course, kind of the big thing that offset that was it was a very predictable. With Michael Terry At 6 foot 3, 227, 228 pounds, I think you can add some versatility. He can run between the tackles if that physicality is present. And of course, he was a guy that was recruited as a receiver across the country coming out of Alamo Heights. So a lot that you can work with if he's someone the staff looks at and says, all right, the physicality, the toughness is there because we see the size, we see the speed and the hands will follow. But the, the, the ability to be a second back on the field is someone, something that I I kind of ponder at the moment Jeff and say all right, that that feels like a path for Michael Terry to really open up the playbook. When Texas goes into its pony package
- [20:29]
Jeff Howe
and that kind of dovetails, Rocky Super Chat dovetails into something. Certified Realtor one post said if any of you ask Sark why he doesn't go 5 why questions that need answers. Look, I don't know anybody other than old school Mike Leach aid where you're going 5 why? But hey, to to piggyback up what CJ said Sar does run empty quite a bit. And when you've got the mix at running back that you do and we'll see how tight end evolves, you can be in 11 personnel, 10 personnel, 12, 21, 22, whatever you want. Maybe not 22 personnel, but I think you guys get the picture. You can run a lot of different personnel groupings Hank and attack people with empty formation. And if you want to take some pressure off the offensive line, we saw this with Joe Burrow and that Joe Brady offense in 2019. If you want to take pressure off the offensive line, empty formations are really good way to make sure you're getting the ball out quick.
- [21:22]
Hank
Yeah, absolutely. I mean they have, they have the personnel to do it. I mean I feel like every day we're hearing about something different. You kind of had you went into camp with your guys you knew that were probably going to start at receiver and Wingo Coleman and Mosley. And then we just hear we see Klee Clockett. It's looking back to, you know, prime Kali Glockett form Jermaine Bishop. We have high expectations for Cohen. Brown is now getting Sark shout outs during during presser so certainly have the personnel. I think Sark's pretty I get the vibe that Sark's pretty excited about how creative he can be especially now if you factor in the the idea that he doesn't even have to he doesn't really have to focus on defense in game at all anymore. You know, assuming Will Muschamp can take over that role as the head coach of defense.
- [22:02]
Jeff Howe
Yeah, no doubt. I I want maybe the last thing we'll get to here unless something else pops up. But CB mentioned this CJ he said thoughts on the who Cam Sark comparing Cam Coleman to Julio Jones. He was asked if he's got had anybody before C.J. you might have asked him this. I don't remember if he's had anybody with the kind of catch radius that Cam Coleman has. And Stark said really the only guy he can compare him to is Julio Jones because Julio not only had the catch ratings, who's a big guy that can high point the ball and win contested catches, but he also had the long speed. Like let's not forget Cam Coleman's not a slug. He's not slow of foot. Like he can actually run. I said it the other day like when I saw the catch, the only guy I've seen at Texas that could probably do that was Roy Williams. I'm not saying Cam Coleman is Roy Williams, but like you're talking about guys with special, special traits. That's the kind of just raw tools. Cam Coleman.
- [22:53]
C.J. Vogel
Yeah, our good friend Cam Parker asked that question. He that was a great answer from Sarkeesian as well. Just getting the full broad picture of what he can do as a wide receiver in this offense because I'm sure a lot of folks sitting there watch what Cam Coleman did or was limited in doing at Auburn saying, okay, he's a big catch wide receiver vertically down the field and that ends the conversation. What we're obviously seeing right now is ways for Cam Coleman to be schemed open in this offense and in turn you'll see him with the ball in his hands after the catch a little bit more. And he didn't have a lot of after the catch receiving yards last year or really his two years at Auburn. So that's something that Sarkeesian at least reminded us that hey, this kid is a true threat with the ball in his hands. Of course, catching the football, the catch radius is unbelievable. But that is some lofty praise to be mentioned in the same breath as Julio Jones because I would say he is one of the top three or four wide receivers of our generation. When you talk about Calvin Johnson, a few others that come to mind. There was a while that Julio was the best wide receiver in the NFL for a good bit and Sark was right there on the sidelines to see
- [23:57]
Jeff Howe
him every day, no doubt. Yeah. So it just shows you the special tools Cam Coleman has if he can put it all together. I think obviously we're talking about a guy that can be a complete game changer for Texas. That's why you made him a priority out of the portal and put in the resources of getting in that you do. All right, that's going to do it. For this special live edition, this Post Steve Post Steve Sarkeesian press conference edition of On Texas Football. We will be back live. As a matter of fact, CJ will be back live tonight with the normal Monday night live stream that'll be that winning drive crew. It'll be C.J. it'll be the coach, Bob Shipley, and it'll be Rod Babers taking your questions. Comments we'll have more from the START press conference tonight. We'll have some cuts for you. Everything else going on on the show, Always taking your super Chats questions. Thanks everybody for keeping it lively in the chat. Thank you as always for the super chat. CJ Hank, thank you guys for the time, the knowledge, the intel, the expertise. As always, big thank you to Matthew behind the scenes for producing it, doing the great job that he does for us here at On Texas Football. Thank you to Prize Picks for sponsoring this edition of On Texas Football. If you're not a member over on texas football.com you want the latest intel coming out of Camp on Texas Football.com is where you're going to get it. If you're not a member. New members, you can get over the site right now. $3 for your first three months of access over to ontexasfootball.com As I said, we've got practice coverage, we've got breaking news, recruiting intel, anything that's coming that's going on on the 40 acres. We're talking about it over on Texas Football.com so make sure you get over the site and check it out. $3 is all it's going to take for new members to get your first 3 months of access@ontexasfootball.com so take advantage of this limited time offer. It will not last forever. Hey, make sure that you hit that like button before we're done. Make sure you're subscribed to the on Texas Football YouTube channel and make sure you've got your notifications set up. That way, anytime we go live like we did today or we drop a new video, you're not going to miss any of our Longhorn coverage or breaking news. C.J. for Hank for Matthew, for the entire On Texas Football staff, I'm Jeff Howe. Thank you so much for watching and listening. And until next time,