Texas Longhorns

IRVING, Texas -- Rami Hammad didn’t have to say much.

“It’s my dream school,” he said. And that pretty much told the story.

The moment Texas first offered last week, Hammad knew in his heart that playing in burnt orange was what he wanted. On Wednesday, the 6-foot-5, 314-pound Irving (Texas) High offensive lineman made it official with a verbal commitment, a tip of a fresh baseball cap and the traditional “Hook'Em” sign with his right hand.

Hammad's pledge gives the Longhorns 15 commits for the Class of 2013. A three-star recruit, Hammad is considered the No. 31 offensive guard in the country, but his size, footwork and overall versatility make him a legitimate candidate to play either guard or tackle at the next level.

“It’s just a great opportunity, a school with a lot of tradition and great academics,” Hammad said. “They’re ranked in the nation for their academics, and with my commit to them, I’m going to work to make sure we’re the best O-line in the nation. I believe in the setting there.”

Recruited by offensive line coach Stacy Searels, Hammad's stock has skyrocketed in the last two months. He originally committed to Oklahoma State in June, but he decommitted to explore his options. He then committed to Baylor in November -- before putting on an outstanding performance at the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl in Carson, Calif., to start 2013.

Since that game, Hammad has been one of the nation’s hottest targets. Next, he was contacted by Texas, and promptly set up an official visit.

Things seemed to fit even better when Hammad’s assigned player host was freshman fullback Alex De La Torre, the son of Irving head coach Aaron De La Torre.

“It was crazy when I got [the offer],” Hammad said. “Once I got it, I had to take a step back. I feel like I’ve found a school that really has good football and good academics.

“Austin is like New York to me. I’m excited about Coach Searels and learning under him. I’m also excited about living in Austin. I’m ready.”

AUSTIN, Texas -- The last time Texas football coach Mack Brown walked into the Southern Flyer alongside the Brenham Municipal Airport, Jack Hess, who doesn’t know much about football but more than enough of about character, wanted to know when Ryan Roberson was going to start.

Roberson had been Hess’ line cook five years while he was a high school football star for Brenham High and now Hess was looking out for one of his own.

This is his year, Brown told Hess. He is the starter.

What Brown neglected to elaborate on was that Roberson would not only be the starter, but the backup and even the third string. The former burger flipper was the only fullback the Longhorns had.

Cody Johnson is gone. Jamison Berryhill, the heir apparent, said his body couldn’t take it anymore. That has left Roberson and Texas staring a huge hole it had to fill.
Texas did make a move Tuesday to help Roberson. Alex De La Torre has switched from linebacker to backup fullback for the remaining spring practices.

“Sometimes you always look at trying to look at a guy on the other side of the ball,” Brown said. “We'll look at Alex De La Torre at fullback the second seven days, because we've seen him for eight days at linebacker. That doesn't mean he'll be a fullback in the fall, but that means we'll have a fair evaluation on both sides of the ball of where he fits.”

Texas had already moved linebacker Chet Moss to fullback prior to the start of spring But Moss has run into academic trouble and as such cannot be a reliable option for Texas.

As a just-in-case measure Texas is also looking at Barrett Matthews as a possible fullback. Matthews is also playing tight end, but has seen his stock drop in at that position because of the emergence of M.J. McFarland.

Of course there was a pervasive school of thought that Joe Bergeron, because of his size and because of the crowd at running back, might get moved to fullback. Texas has repeatedly squashed that notion by bringing up the scenario from last season at Missouri when Texas had to play its fourth string back for most of the game.

“If we've committed to being a physical football, you better be really good at tailback, you can't be average,” Brown said.

To do that, he feels Texas has to have three fresh, strong tailbacks and a strong presence at fullback. Roberson, who has primarily played on special teams his first three seasons, should be the player to fill that role.

What Roberson, or any fullback, should be able to provide for this offense is that one extra block to turn the ordinary into explosive. Texas has failed to produce explosive runs over the past two seasons, partly because the lack of backs, but also because of the inability of the offensive line.

In 2012 the offensive line is poised to be as good as it has been in several years. That means the defensive line and quite possibly a few linebackers should be taken care of by that group on run plays. Roberson, or whoever the fullback might be, will be responsible for picking up that one extra block that allows the running back to see daylight. And then, as always, the running back has to make one person miss for the play to work.

Then there is the extra touch co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin can add to the run game if that run game has a solid tailback/fullback combination.

“We can add toys,” Brown said.

That should be much more entertaining for Roberson than flipping burgers in Brenham.

1. Shaking up spring football: Mack Brown wasted little time shaking things up when the Longhorns returned to spring practice yesterday. While the players were on spring break, the Texas coaches were busy evaluating the practices they had seen.

“Now you reset your goals. If you didn't get something accomplished, you go back and try and work on it,” Brown said.

Among the things the Texas coaches are trying to do is build depth and find roles for players where they will be more successful. With that, D.J. Monroe will move from running back to wide receiver and Alex De La Torre will move from linebacker to fullback.

Depth is certainly an issue at fullback with Jamison Berryhill and Cody Johnson graduating. Brown did say that he didn’t know if the move would be permanent for De La Torre who was a four-star prospect and the nation’s No. 11 inside linebacker according to ESPNU.

As for Monroe, he needs the ball in his hands and that’s more the goal than anything else. There is a shortage at receivers, but Monroe should still see work catching, running fly sweeps and probably lining up in the backfield.

“If [Monroe is] going to play more, he needs to expand his package. And we need to expand his package. And to do that, there are places at tailback right now that we need him in there (at receiver). He needs to be outside. That's who he is. And to do that he's got to catch better.”

John Harris is back from injury and working with the receivers. Demarco Cobbs is also back working with the linebackers.

2. Six in a row on the diamond: It appears as if maybe the Texas baseball team has righted the ship. And it couldn’t come at a better time.

The Longhorns started slow, at one point losing five straight games. With Texas’ 9-1 win over Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday, Augie Garrido’s team has now won six straight.

The bigger wins certainly came in a sweep of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., over the weekend. That’s a good way to kick off Big 12 play.

Against the Lumberjacks Tuesday, Jordan Etier had a big game with two RBI and a stolen base. Dillon Baker got the win and struck out four. He was among five Texas pitchers who combined to allow only five hits.

3. UT still making money: In a very comprehensive piece on the financial landscape of college sports, Alecia Jessop is taking a look at the most profitable athletics programs in each conference.

No surprise that Texas had the biggest expense or the largest amount of revenue. The Longhorns again made money in 2010-11. The Texas athletic program made just over $24 million in that time frame, but surprisingly, Kansas State was second with a little more than $23 million made.

She notes another interesting point about the two schools:

Kansas State achieved profits of $23,395,408.00, while Texas had profits of $24,317,815.00. Interestingly, though, is the fact that Kansas State’s revenues in that same year were $68,875,266.00, while Texas’ were $150,295,932.00. Texas’ expenditures, on the other hand, were nearly three-times that of Kansas State’s.

Read the full breakdown here.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Forget about the Texas quarterbacks for just a second.

OK, so it is nearly impossible. But just try. Because for all those sky-is-falling fans out there -- you know who you are and there are more of you than you might think -- the thing that needs to worry you, wait, check that, send you into a panic, wait, cause cold sweats at 3 a.m., is the kicking game.

That’s right, it’s no longer about arms at Texas. It’s all about the legs. Or the lack thereof. The latter was clearly evident in the second spring practice open to the public. Ben Pruitt missed a 32 and a 37-yarder. William Russ missed a 32-yarder as well.

"That’s not my area,’’ said a relieved Bryan Harsin when asked about the kickers.

"That’s not my area,’’ the co-offensive coordinator said a second time.

Whether that second utterance was to drive the point home or just Harsin relishing for one second that he was not at the crux of the biggest flaw in the Longhorns is unclear.

What is clear is that Nick Jordan, the high school all-American from Coppell, is still in high school but will be welcomed with open arms when he does arrive in June. Until that time Texas will have to continue to work with Pruitt and Russ.

Here are a few other observations from the open practice:

(Read full post)