Cam Coleman is Already Causing BUZZ at Texas Longhorns Spring Practice

We react to the Cam Coleman spring clip that has everyone talking and explain why his contested-catch dominance changes how defenses have to play Texas. We also dig into how Ryan Wingo benefits, why the new running back rotation looks real, and what Ryan Nibblett and the offensive line tell us about where this roster is headed. 

• Cam Coleman’s highlight play and what it says about his contested-catch ceiling 
• Why great coverage can still lose against an NFL-level receiver 
• The PFF deep contested catch stat that frames Coleman as a true outlier 
• Ryan Wingo’s take on more one-on-one matchups across the receiver room 
• How Wingo and Emmett Mosley fit when defenses tilt coverage to Coleman 
• Ralique Brown and Hollywood Smothers looking like a 1A 1B backfield 
• Derek Cooper’s early praise and why Sark sees a bigger role coming 
• Ryan Nibblett describing a larger job as punt returner plus third-down back 
• Trevor Goosby’s reasons for returning and his championship-level goals 
• Brandon Baker’s guard transition and why it may stabilize the line 

Please make sure to like, subscribe, and rate our podcast and comment down below on YouTube to let us know your thoughts. 
But most importantly, be sure to tell somebody you love them. 

Transcript

Spring Buzz And Big Clip

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Good morning.

SPEAKER_03 0:41

Welcome into the Texas Longhorns on SI podcast. I'm your host, Matt Golatsen of Texas Longhorns on SI. Joining me today, as always, is my co-host, Zach Demont. And Zach, we have gotten a uh a lot of a lot of hype surrounding this Cam Coleman situation. And Texas Longhorns media just threw some gasoline on it. Uh, you know, one of the things that we've been wanting to see this entire spring, we saw a glimpse of in early media releases uh on social media from the from the school was you know, Cam Coleman making some Cam Coleman type plays, right? And uh it appears that we just got the best one of them all. And I'm gonna play that for you here today. I'm gonna uh we're also gonna talk about Ryan Wingo and what he has to say about the addition of Cam Coleman. We're gonna get into some interesting running back news, some Ryan Nibblet news, and a little bit of offensive line stuff as well that I thought was particularly interesting this week. But first, Zach, let's start off. Cam Coleman, what's the one thing that we have been wanting to see in spring football? We've wanted to see him jump up in the air and just absolutely moss a defensive back. And thanks to Texas Longhorns Media, we got just that. I'm gonna play it here for the YouTube crowd. Uh, I highly encourage you to go watch it on YouTube if you can. But this is uh vintage Cam Coleman type stuff here, Zach. Uh poor Samari Matthews. You know, he made a great play on the ball, by the way. Uh Din Matthews. He, you know, that that's really good contested stuff. That's really good uh good defense. But Cam Coleman is just Cam Coleman, and uh he's going to be making plays like this one here all season long.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Yeah, it's almost like the biggest takeaway from this was how good of coverage it was from Smoke Matthews because we know what Cam Coleman can do. Uh but a lot of people are like, what is what is Matt, what is Samari Matthews supposed to be doing different? I mean, that was great coverage. You're just going up against a future NFL receiver who's arguably the best contested catch guy in the country. Um, and so yeah, lots to lots to feel great about in that one clip. Um, because uh you hear the cliche all the time, iron sharpens iron. And uh if Samari Matthews is happening to go up against Cam Coleman in practice, uh just imagine what that'll do for him moving forward uh when it comes to uh you know his growth uh this upcoming season. But yeah, with Cam Coleman, we we know we already knew what he can do when it comes to contested catches. We saw him make some incredible catches last season in Auburn, um, you know, one-handed, uh, you know, contested double teams. I mean, the this guy he's he's got really strong hands, and then that first spring practice uh that they um let the media see in person, uh a lot of the receivers were having a little bit of trouble here and there. It was a little bit, it was a little bit wet and misty uh on the practice field. Um, and uh some of these receivers were dropping some balls, but uh Cam Coleman, he was very sure-handed, uh, never never had to double catch anything, was never used his chest. It was, you know, it was just routes on air, but it was still you could still see the talent and and you know uh how strong his hands are. So yeah, um contested catches aren't gonna be your best offense. I think uh Steve Sarkeesia and Arch Manning know that, but if you have you know nothing else to go to and you're just gonna make it simple and just tell Cam Coleman to go make a play, it's very obvious he can go do that. You don't want to rely on that all season long, um, because I think he's obviously much more uh than that as a receiver. But um when you can just say, hey, go get the ball, we're gonna throw it up to you, and Arch Manning's gonna put it in a spot where no one else can get it. Uh the defense is gonna have no answers for that. And so uh it's you know it's gonna be really exciting to see that this season.

SPEAKER_03 4:33

Yeah, you want to talk about an eye-popping stat, by the way, Zach? Uh, this is one that Rod Baber, his former standout Texas Longhorns defensive back, posted on X, and I thought it was incredibly interesting. I did not know this stat. Uh, according to ProFootball Focus, Cam Coleman had had an 81.8% catch rate on deep passes uh of you know 20 plus more yards that were contested last season, which was the highest catch rate of any player with double-digit deep contested targets in a season since PFF started keeping track of it in 2017. So he is basically the best there has ever been in the PFF era uh in the last decade at deep contested catches. That is something that Arch Manning is going to be able to take advantage of. I agree with you, Zach. I don't think that that is the best uh you know recipe for offense necessarily. You would like to have wide open uh downfield targets, but if you're gonna throw it up to anybody in the country, it is Cam Coleman, and I love to hear that. Uh also Ryan Wingo had something really interesting to say about Cam Coleman as well. Uh, you know, he was asked this week during player uh media availability, which was yesterday, uh, about how Cam Coleman is going to affect him and affect this offense overall. And he said uh Coleman is just another great playmaker on the other side, so there's going to be more one-on-one matchups. Uh, it's going to be a good season, and we're going to be able to showcase our abilities. Short quote there, but it it really does lend to the idea that we've been talking about a lot this offseason of with Cam Coleman on one side, you know, probably carrying a safety a lot of the time. Uh, it's going to leave a lot of one-on-one opportunities open for guys like Emmett Mosley and Ryan Wingo to really cook because last year Wingo was rarely in single coverage. And when he was, uh, you know, he he did have a few drops here and there, but he was overwhelmingly, overwhelmingly the most targeted wide receiver in the Texas offense. The opposing offense knew they were trying to go to him in the passing game, and I think that it affected the Longhorns offense in that way. And now with Cam Coleman involved, uh, if the defense decides to, you know, carry a safety over with him and kind of bracket him in coverage, then everybody else is going to be wide open. So it's it's gonna be a it's gonna be a kind of pick your poison thing at wide receiver for Texas, and that's something that they haven't really had since the Adonai Mitchell, Xavier Worthy, um, Jordan Whittington. And and even then, I don't think it was as much of a dynamic tandem with with with Worthy and A.D. Mitchell as it will be with Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo. But that's that's another conversation for another day. Just really interesting to think about there from the perspective of Ryan Williams.

SPEAKER_02 7:18

Yeah, you know, Ryan Wingo, he there was a few there was a few moments last season. Yeah, you Ryan, I I got you there. Uh, you know, there was a few moments last season where there were some drops, but overall, it was a great season for Ryan Wingo. Uh, I think he really thrives in that run after catch role. Um, you know, a few deep passes here and there, but that's not really his his strength. Um, I, you know, I just think that Cam, you got to lean on Cam Coleman in that regard. And so uh while Cam Coleman's going deep, uh Ryan Wingo maybe is your as your uh second or third option going across the middle. Um and he can and once he turns on the Jets, he's really hard, he's really hard to tackle, he's really hard to um you know catch up to because he's he's got really long legs, he's a big guy. Um, and then yeah, I feel like we don't talk about Emmett Mosley enough sometimes, but I was so impressed with him last season. He's got really strong hands as well. Um, he kind of gives you a little bit of everything, he's a great blocker. Um, so I it's it's really exciting to see what you know Wingo and Mosley can do uh one in one-on-one because you who knows what the defense will do with Cam Coleman. Will they put their second best cornerback on him and then uh double with him with the safety and then put the best cornerback on Wingo or Mosley? Uh, you know, we'll have to wait and see. Every team's gonna be different with their approach, but um, it's gonna be really exciting to see what Wingo and Mosley can do because there's gonna be games where Coleman is just the defense is gonna have him as their number one priority, and so he may have a quiet game. So Wingo and Mosley will need to step up. And I think that you know, seeing what they can do next season, a little bit pressure, a little bit of uh pressure off their shoulders a little bit, because Sark even said after that Ohio State game last year that uh we're putting a lot of pressure on Ryan Wingo and we need to take some of that pressure off of him. And I think they kind of did that as the season went on because Mosley obviously was injured at the start of non-conference play. So um it's really exciting to see what these guys can do. Uh I know Wingo and Mosley have been dealing with injuries, but it's just spring ball. They'll be healthy in time for the for fall camp and everything. So um once those guys really start building some chemistry together on the field with Arch Manning, all three of them together, all three of those receivers, um, I think I think the offense is gonna do some great things.

SPEAKER_03 9:27

Yeah, it absolutely is gonna do some great

New Running Back Tandem Takes Shape

SPEAKER_03 9:29

things. And another reason it's gonna do great things, Zach, is because of the new running back tandem. Uh Raleigh Brown and Hollywood Smothers are both uh really impressing people, to say the least, so far in spring football. And that's not much of a surprise. Both of these guys came in very, very, very highly touted. They're both excellent fits for what Texas is going to want to do running the football with the outside zone run scheme, their ability to break big plays, make people miss, and those kinds of things. And, you know, a lot of people were wondering who's going to start, who is going to get the majority of the carries. This is is this going to be a committee approach with the two of them, and then maybe a third back like Derek Cooper or Michael Terry or James Simon or whatever. Uh, we got our first little glimpse of to into what that is starting to look like so far. And it's not really too much of a surprise, Zach. Uh, so far, right now, according to uh reports from Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods, both Brown and Smothers will share opportunities in the Longhorns backfield. It seems like almost 50-50. Uh, each running back is taking turns as the lead, and they are essentially 1A and 1B. Uh, the source told told uh Anvar Richardson. Um, you know, I like the this is going to be a very dangerous thing for opposing defenses. Like most of the time, and there are a few exceptions to this around college football, obviously. Uh, you could look at Georgia, for example, who had a plethora of backs last year and were really good at running the football, and they just kind of ran it down your throat consistently because they were always fresh back there. That's the kind of thing Texas is going to be able to do with these two running backs. And I and, you know, I I assume that, you know, he's it's probably not going to be a 50-50 split in terms of like, you know, we got to make sure we get Hollywood uh, you know, 12 to 13 carries and Relique 12 to 13 carries. I think it's gonna be, you know, both of these guys are going to be fully a part of the game plan. And then, you know, whichever one is is is hotter in that game, we're gonna ride the hotter hand, and they're probably gonna get the majority of the carries in that game while the other one kind of supplements them uh you know when they get their opportunities. But I kind of love to hear it, Zach. I love to hear that both of these guys are performing really well because that's what you really need to hear uh when you bring in turns for running backs. I mean, look at look at Oklahoma. They brought in Jaden Knott last offseason, and that ended up being a big fat nothing. So it seems, at least so far through the through the first couple of weeks of spring, that Texas has a lot to be excited about about these two running backs.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

Yeah, and this is kind of what we expected, uh, that it was gonna be a 1A, 1B between these two guys. Um, I I honestly have no idea who will finish with more carries at the end of the season. It might come down to who misses a game or two due to injury. Um that that might be what it comes down to because I think both these guys, Hollywood Smithers, Relique Brown, are gonna are gonna be uh, you know, right there uh next to each other, uh taking, you know, taking turns um because uh they're both talented. Uh, you know, Ryan Niblet, who we'll get to in a second, he said he said yesterday when speaking to the media that uh Relique Brown's a little bit smaller, but he just is so uh squirmy and and gets in and out of those holes super quickly and has lots of lots lots of lots of speed, lots of burst uh to his game. And so um, you know, I think there's gonna be some home run hitting ability there. But same with Hollywood Smothers. I mean, we've talked about it on this on this show a little bit, but um, you know, he's he's gonna be very uh very productive between the tackles as well, but both of them have that have that speed ability. I think I think maybe Relique Brown has the edge there, but um, you know, they both kind of give you a little bit of everything, both have pass catching ability as well. Um, so it's hard to just really lean on one guy or the other. Uh, you know, it just like you said, depends on who's gonna be hot. So uh yeah, definitely expect an upgrade from last year's running back room. You know, I loved Quintravier on Wisner. A lot of that was also to the O-line not being at its best for you know at multiple points of the season. They got better as the season went on, but um I I you know I don't I don't think that uh yeah Quintravier on Wisner was gonna have a role on this team uh when you factor in Ralique Brown and and Hollywood Smothers, obviously. So I think, yeah, and so it's just uh you know he he did great things, but these guys are definitely an upgrade. Um and I'm really excited to see, especially with when you added Derek Cooper into the mix. I mean, your number three running back is very, very important when you factor in injuries. But I think in non-conference play, when some of these uh games turn into kind of a blowout, uh Derek Cooper, he could have one of those you know 100-yard games because he may break off like a 70-yarder late in the fourth quarter when the game's already out of hand, and he he may have some um early season touchdowns, and then you never know late in the season, uh put him in a goal line situation, he'll have a touchdown as well there. So you never know what can happen. Uh overall, the running back room. Uh yeah, I'm I'm really excited to see what can happen there uh with all these new faces. Um but yeah, Sark Stark even said uh, like when it we was talking about the quarterback battle, uh, for the for the backup role at least, you know, he was asked, oh, can Diabelle potentially be a backup quarterback? And Stark was like, you know, listen, every position is undecided, essentially. You know, obviously Arch Main is your starting quarterback and so on and so forth. But all these uh most of these positions, uh, at least for the backup roles, are undecided. We're only in spring. And so uh will there eventually be a starting running back that that could be named in fall camp? Of course, someone has to start the first game of the season against Texas State, someone has to be officially listed as a starter. Um, so we'll see if uh Hollywood Smithers or Relique Brown can kind of break away from each other in that regard. But I truly think this is gonna be one of those things where while other backup positions and other positions uh figure out who's gonna be starting, Relique Brown and Hollywood Smithers are gonna be neck and neck all the way to the season opener. I truly don't know who's gonna be the starting running back uh against Texas State. We'll have to just wait and see, but that's that's quite a while from now.

SPEAKER_03 15:31

And there's a couple interesting notes about Derek Cooper as well. I'm glad you brought him up. Um number one, Sark said this week when speaking to the media that Derek Cooper is farther along than I'm paraphrasing here, but Derek Cooper is farther along than any other true freshman running back that they've really had since uh since he's been in Austin. And that includes CJ Baxter, who won the starting job by the way, in 2023 before the season started, just ended up getting injured, uh, which led which led to the emergence of Jonathan Brooks. But that is particularly exciting, uh, if I do say so myself, because I'm really high on this kid. I mean, we we showed a picture of him in spring practice uh a couple weeks ago on this show. Uh he looks like an absolute dude. Like he he he is he is a big guy, he's going to be really difficult to handle. He's gonna be your power back if you need one, I believe, uh just based on what I've seen so far in the spring. But here's another interesting thing. Uh apparently, and I I hadn't seen this, uh, so I just sent it over to uh apparently they see Texas sees Bijan sees Derek Cooper in a similar vein to a guy named B. John Robinson. Uh according to Corey Cooper, Derek Cooper's dad, uh in an interview with ESPN, he says they talked about his skill set and compared his build to B. John Robinson. They don't have a running back like Derek right now. They feel like they can do a lot with him. He wants to run, he wants to be able to catch the ball out of the backfield, he wants to line up at receiver, he wants to show he has the skills to play at the next level, and they're going to let him do that at Texas. Uh okay. Like if we're gonna if we're gonna sit here and say that this guy could have a B. John Robinson type role. I mean, I know that that's extremely lofty, if I do say so myself, because Bijan is one of the best that's ever done it in Texas, period. Uh, but interesting stuff to think about with with Derek Cooper. It seems like he's gonna be a much bigger part of the offense than people give him credit for um in 2026. Because I mean, I remember sitting here talking with with you about it, Zach, and on my old show on Open Gym, like how much can a true freshman running back really impact a team? It's very rare. It it feels like Sark thinks that Derek Cooper could have a legitimate role on this team and be an impactful player in the offense, which would be really exciting. Um, all right, Zach, let's uh let's let's take a break. We're at our midway point here. We're gonna come back and we're gonna talk about Ryan Nibblett, who appears to be having uh appears to have a new role on this offense. Uh, and then we're gonna talk some offensive line as well. So stick with us after this break, and we'll be right back.

Sponsor Break

SPEAKER_00 18:02

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SPEAKER_03 18:53

Welcome back to the Texas Longhorns on SI podcast. I'm your host, Matt Golatson, joined as always by my co-host, Zach Dimmitt.

Ryan Nibblett’s Expanded Offensive Role

SPEAKER_03 19:01

Uh, Zach, we teased this before the break, but it appears that Ryan Midlett, the uh arguably the best return man in college football last season. I mean, I don't think it's very arguable, I think he was, uh, appears to have a new role on this team next year, at least according to him, uh, during the player media availability this week. He said, I think I'm gonna have a pretty big role on this team. The same as last year, doing what I do as a punt returner, uh, and also more of a third down running back, just being there when the guys get tired, just be there, show up, make plays uh when they're down. So I think I'm gonna have a really good role this year. Um, I feel like I'm very smart, I feel like I'm very fast, and just being able to slow the game down, knowing my reads, uh, knowing you know who I got in Pass Pro, understanding everything that's going on around me. So like it doesn't sound like there's a whole lot there, but if you kind of read between the lines of what he was trying to say and the way that he said it, and I know that that's you know, I'm getting kind of into the semantics here a little bit, Zach, but it feels like they're going to try to work him into this offense a lot more this year, uh, based on what by based on what I understand about this quote. Because, you know, last year it was like, okay, when Ryan Nibblet's in the game, he's probably getting the ball in a jet sweep, or he's returning a punter, or he's returning a kick. This year it feels like he's going to be, he's like, I mean, I know he's been working out with the running backs a lot during spring practice, but it feels like he's going to be more uh involved and down to down uh on this offense wherever he lines up on the field. I think they're gonna try to get him to get the ball into his hands. I think they're gonna try to use him as a decoy. Obviously, they're still going to use him in the return game a ton, but it's nice to hear that he's getting a little bit more involved in this stuff because I mean he's electric when he has the ball on his hands.

SPEAKER_02 20:43

For sure. You it's kind of like with Jermaine Bishop a little bit. We haven't seen him obviously yet, but you just want to get the ball in his hands next season, despite how deep the receiving room is, and I think they will. And with Ryan Nibblett, he's already proven what he can do when he has the ball in his hands. So I think you you got to find a way to do that. Uh listen, he's not gonna come out there and have you know 25 carries for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Um, but I think if you can use him as sort of a gadget piece, you know, motion he starts out in the backfield, you motion him out to wide receiver, um, you know, things like that. And you know, may or maybe you even run some two running back sets. I mean, it's not really something that Texas has done a whole lot of. Um, but you never know. There, they're they may throw a few things at the defense that you may not see coming. Uh I don't know, throw him in the Wildcat as well. I mean, he's just he's just yeah, he's not like super big or anything, but the speed is there. Um, uh teams are gonna have to pay attention to him, knowing what he what he is as a punt returner. And so you you know, yeah, it's on offense, but okay, he has that ability, and you have to kind of game plan for that. And so you may have uh Stark may have some you know packages for him, but at the end of the day, it's all about. Hollywood, some others or leak brown and uh and Derek Cooper as well. I mean, I I I love Ryan Nibblett, but Derek Cooper, I feel like he's just at a different level when talent-wise and at the running back position where Ryan Nibblett kind of gives you a little bit of everything. Um, you know, obviously he's one of the best punt returners in the in the country. So um that his role there won't change. Uh they you know, the coaching staff would be silly to not have him still be the primary punt returner. I know a few weeks ago when they started practice, you know, it was Relique Brown and Dalen McKetcheon taking punt returns, but let's be honest, Ryan Nibblet is your top punt returner. Uh, there's no secret about that. I think they're just trying to figure out who can return punts if he has the missing time for some reason. So um yeah, I'm excited to see uh what what his role could be because Ryan Nibblett uh he didn't have to stick it, stick with Texas, he didn't have to uh continue to jump between receiver, running back, and he was even at defensive back. I mean, he could have transferred a long time ago and you know gone to a team that gives him a solid role, but he's really has has stuck, uh, stuck with the Longhorns and he deserves a lot of credit for that because a lot of guys wouldn't do that. And I think because of that, um you know he's he's seen uh his hard work pay off and his dedication payoff because he's gonna have I think a solid role in this team. Um, the numbers for him on offense aren't gonna like blow anyone out of the water or anything like that, but I think you'll see him make a lot of impact plays, and of course, you when you add in that special team's impact, um he's gonna be one of the more underrated guys in this team next year.

SPEAKER_03 23:29

Yeah, absolutely. I I I couldn't agree more.

Offensive Line Goals And Position Changes

SPEAKER_03 23:32

Um, let's get into some offensive line stuff real quick, real quick, Zach, before we get out of here. Because uh Trevor Goosby spoke to the media, Brandon Baker spoke to the media. Uh both of those guys gave a lot of interesting info. And we'll start with crep with uh with Trevor Goosby. Uh he talked about why he wanted to come back to Texas. I mean, a lot of people had him in first round conversation as an offensive tackle. Uh, he was he was going to be in the conversation for like all you know a top five position grade uh in the NFL draft. And he elected to come back and he he listed three week three reasons why. And I thought this this first one is particularly interesting. First and foremost, I just had some unfinished business. You love to hear that. He said, you know, just being able to go out and protect myself even for uh and project myself even further up draft boards. Uh, I also want to win a national championship, you know, with uh with with the guys. I feel like we're we have a team that can do that this year, um, as well as win the Joe Moore Award, and you know, I'm headed for the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi trophy, just like Kelvin Banks did. So he wants to be Calvin Banks, he wants to be a top 10 draft pick, he wants to win a national championship, he's got unfinished business. Sounds like he's got a lot of goals ahead of him. And a lot of times when a guy comes back uh after foregoing the NFL draft to return to college for a year, it you know, uh there are a lot of different things that can be involved in that, but it sounds like this guy is just all about you know getting his goals accomplished, which I just I just love to hear that.

SPEAKER_02 25:06

Yeah, it's you know, it's about leaving a legacy at Texas, and uh, I think Trevor Goosebey wants to do that. Uh, you know, let's be honest, he's not gonna go out and just admit it, you know. But NIL money certainly probably played a little bit of a role for him staying, of course. But NIL, what are you talking about? Yeah, uh yeah, I mean, come on. But uh, you know, there's obviously bigger things than money. Money is a factor, but if he's gonna if he's has a chance to boost his draft stock, um, he'll he'll make even more money than he than he would have if he entered uh the draft this uh this this year. So um, you know, by this time next season or you know, next offseason, he could be um a potential top 15, top 10 guy, and he just made himself more money by staying another year at Texas. And so while while adding on uh a potential outland trophy, um, you know, Texas could have won the Joe Moore award uh with him at the forefront. Um we'll see about that, though. We're gonna see how this offensive line uh you know meshes together. But um, and then of course competing for national championship, those things are bigger than just a few extra bucks. I know it's not a few bucks, you know what I'm saying. But um it's you know, it's important to establish your legacy. And I think he's uh he's dedicated to being a longhorn. And so you love to you love to hear those things from Trevor Goosby. He's obviously one of the most important guys on the on the team next year. Um and uh taking after a guy like Kelvin Banks isn't isn't uh isn't exactly um you know the worst thing in the world, uh, because Kelvin Banks was uh was an an elite player at Texas. He had a great rookie season with the New Orleans Saints. And so uh if Trevor Gooseby can follow in his footsteps even a little bit, he's gonna be headed for really, really great things. Um so yeah, excited to see what he can do uh this fall.

SPEAKER_03 26:50

Yeah, good player to kind of uh idolize and and and drive yourself and strive to be. You know what I mean? Like the bet arguably the best left tackle that's ever done in the history of of the University of Texas and Kelvin Banks. I'd want to be that guy too. Uh so I don't blame him at all. And then uh a little update from uh from Brandon Baker. He opened up a little bit about his his uh his his you know transition to guard uh within this offense. I mean, a lot of times, Zach, it's gonna be real hard to talk a you know former really high four-star, uh five-star type talent into moving from his position at tackle into the interior just for the betterment of the team. Like a lot of times it can be really hard to do that. Uh, it doesn't really sound like that's been an issue for Baker so far. In fact, it seems like he's really enjoying the the switch to Gar. Uh, he told the media it's just been a great adjustment so far. There's a lot of terminology, different sound bites that that takes a little bit of time to get used to, but for the most part, everything's been smooth. Um and you'd love to hear that. Uh it's, you know, it and there's more to it as well, but that I'll get into here in a minute, Zach. But um you love to hear that the transition is smooth. You love to hear that he is excelling so far at that spot. I know Trevor Goosby talked about him as well and and said that, like, hey, this guy is, you know, this is a natural fit for him. Like he's he's got the athletic ability, but he's also got he's got a the guard build that that you need to play the position. So he's really a great fit. He also played some guard at high school, uh, which has made this transition for him easier as well. So it's really nice to hear that this, you know, this idea that a lot of Texas fans, um, when you when you originally proposed this idea of Brandon Baker moving inside the guard, a lot of Texas fans were like, oh, that must mean our offensive line is gonna suck next year if we have to do something like that. But no, it really seems like this is going to be where Brandon Baker is better, at least in the short term, for both him and for this program.

SPEAKER_02 28:49

Yeah, I I don't know if we had ever really spoken to Brandon Baker last season. And I was impressed by just the way uh just how mature he sounded. Um, he he really sounds like a guy that uh is all about is all about this program, is all about this team. Um, you know, just I I just I really like the way that he presented himself. Uh, because some guys, when it comes to the media, uh, they may not want to talk to them the media, uh, who are these reporters? But he he was like, you know, really, really loving, you know, talking about the you know, this year's team. And um, I I just I I appreciate that from him. And so uh I think he's a guy that here's gonna see grow uh as the season goes on and then uh even beyond that. So uh yeah, there's a this offensive line. It's crazy, you know, how uh worried many Texas fans were heading to the offseason, um, and just the changes that they made. Uh Brandon Baker being kind of at the center of that with his position change. And so uh I think there's a lot of reasons to feel confident. And um, you know, of course, Melvin Ciani, Lawrence Seymour, those guys interested to see what they can do. But I think uh Brandon Baker uh might be one of the more interesting guys uh to see how he produces just because of uh kind of what he showed a little bit last season and how he'll make that position change. So interesting guy to watch for sure.

SPEAKER_03 30:07

Yeah, and you know, when you think about it, Zach, um if he can be equal to or better than DJ Campbell was this past year for the Longhorns, which might be tough because you know DJ was pretty good last year. He struggled with his consistency a little bit, but he was arguably the Longhorn's best offensive lineman, not named Trevor Goosby all season long. If he can be equal to or greater than Trevor Gooseby or than uh than DJ Campbell, I mean Trevor Gooseby in 2026 is gonna be better than Trevor Goosby in 2025. And Lawrence Seymour is gonna be better than Cole Hudson. 2026 Connor Robertson is gonna be better than 2025 Connor Robertson. I mean, Melvin Ciani is going to be a better right tackle next year than Brandon Baker was last year. So at the very least, this offensive line is improved across the board, uh, regardless of whether or not, you know, uh the Baker and DJ Campbell conversation happens. If it does, then that's incredibly interesting. And this offensive line is going to be in a much better spot, which will in turn make the offense uh a lot more efficient and put them in a much better spot as well.

Monday Preview And Final Requests

SPEAKER_03 31:07

Um all right, Zach, let's let's close it out there. We will be back on Monday. We will talk more spring football. We will talk uh a little bit more Texas basketball because the transfer portal opens here very, very soon. I believe it's on Sunday. Am I right about that, Zach? Uh Tuesday. Oh, it's on Tuesday? Okay. So the transfer portal opens up on Tuesday. Uh, and then uh we also see what happens with the Lady Longhorns, because you know they're they got a big one coming up against South Carolina as well. So stick with us uh to hear more about all that stuff on Monday. Uh, but thank you so much for tuning into this edition of the Texas Longhorns on SIP podcast. Please make sure to like, subscribe, and rate our podcast and comment down below on YouTube to let us know your thoughts. It really helps us out in the algorithm and helps us grow and pay the bills, so we really appreciate that. But most importantly, be sure to tell somebody you love them. We'll catch you in the next one.