State of the Program: Lack of movement out to transfer portal a great sign
On the latest video episode of On Texas Football’s State of the Program, Inside Texas’ Bobby Burton and Eric Nahlin get us caught up on the happenings with the Longhorn football team, including the momentum gained by the lack of defections in the transfer portal.
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“We’ve said for a long time that (Texas coach Steve) Sarkisian has his house in order,” Nahlin said. “You know you can’t go conquer other lands before you have your own house in order. I think it’s a good sign that players want to stay at Texas.
“A lot of it has to do with the excitement around the program,” Nahlin continued. “Nobody wants to leave a winner unless they have to, and they feel like they’re gonna win. I think there’s a lot of confidence throughout the program and starting to seep out into the public.”
Burton said the reality of that situation is that it’s hard to keep that talent happy and satisfied.
“Especially when you’re trying to get these guys to the NFL,” Burton said. “And so you combine that. I felt like Texas did a good job, for example, at offensive line. They get a lot a lot of young offensive lineman, maybe a couple could have looked elsewhere, and they’ve got what looks like a log jam at corner in some respects. But they’re kind of spaced out in years.
“Texas just did a nice job of continuing to build the talent level. And I’ve got to be frank – I don’t know that Texas is gonna end up being the next Georgia or Alabama in the next decade. But this is what those early Alabama and Georgia seems to kind of look like for those schools they were building and not losing.”
A lot of the team’s position battles have not been decided, which allows Texas to keep numbers at each post as the players fight for playing time.
“That’s how they could have 14 offensive linemen on campus or whatever it is,” Nahlin explained. “That’s how they can have these all these corners and all four of the main guys are gonna play a lot. But those competitions haven’t truly, truly shook out so guys are not quick to leave that when they know that they still have a chance to start.”
Nahlin said the Longhorns should be a favorite to win the Big 12 Conference title, especially with the league down this season – which is Texas’ last in the conference.
“From a roster management standpoint, Texas looks somewhere between a conference winner and a playoff team to me,” Nahlin said. “I think everybody’s grabbing on to them being a conference championship team this season and with the conference being down like it is there’s no question that they should be the favorites. But you know, maybe if they catch lightning in a bottle, it could be more than that.”
Many of the players have finished finals and some have headed home. If they haven’t yet, many will work with the trainers they had while they were in high school but all leave with a plan formulated by the Texas strength and conditioning staff.
There’s plenty more to see in the video so go take a look at it in its entirety.
