Texas Longhorns

AUSTIN, Texas -- Mack Brown refused to talk about the five recruits Texas didn't get on signing day.

But the Texas coach did have a message for players that might be interested in the Longhorns in the future.

"The thing that we will do is we have allowed the kids to commit and still look around the last couple of years -- we're not doing that anymore," Brown said on Wednesday. “If you are committed to us be committed. If you're going to go look, we're going to go look."

It was a strong message and it permeated a signing day that dripped with disappointment over who Texas didn't get -- A'Shawn Robinson (Alabama), Daeshon Hall (Texas A&M), Ricky Seals-Jones (Texas A&M), Durham Smythe (Notre Dame) and Kyle Hicks (TCU) -- as much as the day was held up and celebrated for the 15 players Texas did get.

"What we found is the 15 [recruits] that we got are very passionate about being at Texas and that is what we want," Brown said. "And very honestly if a young person tells you they're coming and their parents tell you they're coming and then they don't, you wouldn't want them to be here.

"You may be disappointed on the day it happened but you want people that will look you in the eye and tell you the truth and you want people who want to be at your school.”

This signing day Texas didn't need that many people at its school. It only had room for about 16. So the search was for quality over quantity. Brown, who because of all the decommitments and misses seemingly has gone from coach February to Father Time with this class, tried to hammer that point home repeatedly.

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DeSoto (Texas) High School coach Claude Mathis is one of the more popular names being tossed around as a potential candidate for Texas' vacant running backs coach position.

Whether or not he is a legitimate candidate, Mathis doesn’t have the time to concern himself with rumors right now. He has a state playoff game to win Saturday.

“I am not even thinking about it,” Mathis said. “The only thing I am thinking about is Allen. That’s it.”

DeSoto, the No. 5 team in the ESPN 25 Power Rankings, faces No. 15 Allen at 6 p.m. CT Saturday at SMU’s Ford Stadium. The winner will play for a Class 5A Division I state championship game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington at 8 p.m. Dec. 22.

“I can’t even think about Texas right now,” he said. “It’s not fair to my kids right now.”

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ESPN 300 running back Kyle Hicks (Arlington, Texas/Martin) can’t deny what his heart is feeling.

For the last few months he has contemplated the idea of playing football closer to home, closer to his mother and close to his good friend and former high school teammate Devonte Fields.

Today, his heart couldn’t take it any longer.

Hicks called Texas co-recruiting coordinator Bruce Chambers and told him he had decided to switch commitments from the Longhorns to TCU.

“One, I get to play for an outstanding football team,” Hicks said. “Two, I get a good education from a private school, and three, it is 15 minutes from home.”

Hicks was Texas’ lone running back recruit in the Class of 2013. He had been committed to the Longhorns since Feb. 18.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Hicks said. “Talking to Chambers on the phone, my body was shaking. I never thought I would decommit from Texas. I created a big bond with Chambers for nine months. Just to decommit was the hardest thing ever.

“Of course he was disappointed. He wanted to know why. It was just a decision I had to make.”

Martin coach Bob Wager was in his office with Hicks when Hicks made the call to Chambers.

“He’s been agonizing over it for months,” Wager said. “He just called Coach Chambers 15 minutes ago in my office. Torn up, distraught, very apologetic. But very sincere. It’s the hardest thing he’s ever had to do. I was there watching him, and pain was showing all over his face.”

Hicks (5-foot-11, 190 pounds) is rated at No. 20 among running backs and No. 219 overall in the country.

He had to step in at quarterback for Martin this season and fared well. He threw for 458 yards and six touchdowns without an interception. But his bread and butter was still the run, which he did 177 times to the tune of 1,113 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Hicks tore his left ACL and meniscus Oct. 26 and is scheduled to have surgery Tuesday. It was the second serious injury for him in the last two seasons.

Last year, during the third round of the playoffs, he broke his foot on the first play of Martin’s game against Euless Trinity. He continued to play and finished the game with 20 carries for 113 yards and a 19-yard, game-clinching touchdown.

Hicks is confident that he’ll be fully healthy in six months and ready for fall camp with the Frogs.

“It was where my heart is at,” Hicks said. “I feel at home with TCU. Whenever I got the chance to visit TCU I just knew that was where I wanted to be. Great football team and it’s close to my mom. I can’t pass that down.”