Inside the Program: Team Leadership, Locker Room Vibe, Better Overall Squad Than Last Season

Team Leadership and welcome to inside the program brought to you on the inside Texas football YouTube channel powered by insidetexas.com I'm your host Justin Wells with me as always is Eric Nene but before you hear anything join inside Texas today we have a fantastic promo going on right now the kickoff sale you get 50% off of annual memberships and all you got to do is use that promo code kickoff 24 it's the last day for this flash sale that's 50% off of a yearly subscription to the insidetexas.com you'll get all the team reports opponent analysis the latest recruiting news and more all for just 50% off it's our best membership value at just $4.99 per month build annually sign up today use that promo code kickoff 24 and save instantly on the best Texas Longhorn site out there L link to the uh to join in the description it's there for you guys come see us one day until Texas football and Eric we we've got here it's been a long nine months man hey I think it went by fast uh you know it goes faster and faster I guess because life goes faster once you have a kid but I it kind of went by for me it wasn't it wasn't so bad other than July you know July was a drag yeah I don't think it went by for for for for fans I think that momentum from last year they wanted to bottle that up and keep it going yeah that can work too hey let's just jump right into it we got some team stuff to talk about we got some recruiting stuff to talk about and we ain't got nothing but time team leadership there's no rwn Johnson there's no bejon Robinson there's no Byron Murphy and Sark talked about it I think a little bit during this week in in his presser about how it's more of a a group of guys that are doing it now I know Quinn ERS we've heard you know him speak speaking up a little bit more and a few other players Jay Baron another one but talk a little bit about team leadership and sources are letting you know 24 hours before kickoff yeah well first you know it's that time of year where we check under the hood and see what we're missing you know we we do a final inspection go there's got to be something we're missing about this team that's going to come out uh you know on our TV screens and and and on the field this year that we're like hey how did we miss that during fall Camp could be good it could be bad uh but we're trying to check every last thing we can see what we're missing uh so we been on the phone a lot the last 18 hours was on the phone even at you know one o00 last night and um you know we're just trying to figure out what we're missing what could possibly be out there so that that that comment that Sark made was mildly concerning just because you know the old saying if you have a lot of leaders you don't have any yeah I think what he was talking about was he had a lot of guys that he he trusts to really carry the uh program culture forward um guys that are good examples for the younger players uh but there's still plenty of actual leaders you know Quinn yers is one Jake major is one uh Baron cell of course Jay Baron Michael Taff I think those would be the foundation of your team leaders and you have plenty of guys that are within their position group are considered leaders Gunnar Helm is the leader of the tight end room alred Collins and Vernard Bron are the leaders in that in that defensive tackle room and then you got the linebackers which you know they kind of they're kind of considered team leaders position group leaders but there's three of them Maurice Blackwell of course David Benda and and Anthony Hill uh going to be on the helmet Communications we knew that was going to happen uh he he's going to be your deao leader of the team on defense he's still a little young and growing into that leadership role but I don't think it lacks for team leaders U but you know when when you're trying to figure out what could go wrong leadership is is one of them because the second adversity hits they get down by a touchdown against Michigan and they're in the third quarter uh you know you need your leaders to step up refocus everybody start making plays um but you're gonna have you're gonna see more leaders emerge over the course of the Season what I mentioned is the you know the portal guys that they're not you wouldn't necessarily call any of the portal guys leaders yet uh just because they're so new to the program uh but they have some of those leadership intangibles trymore uh of course Andrew makuba is part of that sentex defensive secondary he knows those guys well does the right things so I don't think it lacks for team leadership I don't think it lacks for individual leadership that's a concern that I don't have and once the game start playing you know when you're better players are your leaders that's when you're headed in the right direction I think that's why you're going to see more a treymore kind of take on that because he was the leader at UTSA he has those kind of qualities and I think that's gonna wind up coming out once the season starts to happen talk about the locker room you Locker Room Vibe know we we've talked about the depth we've talked about our we give give it a pretty good injury report we've talked about the depbt chart but what is that Vibe going on in the locker room because we remember what it was like this year before the season started last year we remember exactly kind of what how everyone was lining up kind of how people felt about what the season could potentially bring what is the vibe this year when they've had so many guys returning despite the fact they lost 11 guys to the NFL draft what's that locker room Vibe right now yeah locker room is is sort of tangential to leadership but I think the Locker Room's in good place that's something you always have to monitor especially in the nil age yes you know there's a bunch of human beings in that room um and and you know people can be jealous of one another I'm not saying they are at Texas that's just kind of human nature um and so you know you got the potential of nil and then playing time uh is always something to watch uh there's a lot of guys when you talk about depth and talent the problem is those guys want to play immediately they want to play a lot uh and you can't play everyone at once so that will be something to monitor going forward depending on how the season uh progresses you know guys not getting their the Reps that they hope to um but going into the season right now I feel good about it as good as I can in this day and age where nil does play a factor you know the guy sitting next to you might have more than you from you know nil deals or whatever um but I think right now the Locker Room's in a really good spot um you know uh that's another concern that I don't really have but it is something to monitor if if guys aren't getting their reps throughout the season yeah yeah and like you said in the nil era that is always something to check on because I've actually heard negative from other programs over the last few years about how that can that can twist the locker room when it when it goes in that direction team Team Conditioning conditioning you know this group's going to have to be in shape they've got a long season ahead and depth is going to be one reason staying healthy is going to be one reason but tell us a little bit about what the sources are telling you right before we go into the Colorado State game what's this team conditioning looking like good as ever you know I heard actually it's empirically proven that it's it's in better shape than it was a year ago through testing metrics and and whatnot uh so I'm not I'm not concerned about that you know we talk about that that test they do every August that that's sort of foreshadows how the season's going to go it's a test that beckon had uh going back to previous stops and it's it's usually it's eerily accurate uh last year in fact it predicted 12 wins this year I'm not going to say what it predicted but it predicted more than 12 wins I'm cautiously optimistic because you know I don't know enough of the details of the test I know it tests them as far as U you know conditioning and uh uh you know keeping Focus they test them when they're tired uh but you I'm I'm optimistic I think you know look at even look at Steve sarkeesian you know he looks different than he did in May you know we were sitting there going oh he's on the he's on the carb diet um he's leaned up a lot through the summer I think he's getting ready to to lead him down the tunnel uh I think they're I think they're in great shape um you know we'll see the season that's another thing the season might expose if uh if they're you know if they're tired in the fourth quarter but another thing you like you mentioned depth you know when your defensive tackles are only playing 40 snaps instead of 60 or 70 uh that's a big advantage that Texas is going to have over over a lot of schools that's a big Advantage Texas is going to have even in the SEC not just over Big 12 schools last the last couple years yeah and that's that's that to me has been such a vital part of their fourth quarter in the last two years those guys being able to do that I'll tell you somebody else that's in good condition and he's in condition to help you guys anytime you're in trouble anytime you're in in need he's Andre the lawyer this video is brought to you by the man Andre the laer if you have been injured trust the team that has secured Millions for their clients and helped thousands of Texans with their injury cases you know car wrecks slip and Falls 18wheeler accidents on the job injuries 18 you know wrongful deaths do not let that insurance company tell you what your claims worth that's what Andre the lawyer's for he's based out of Dallas but he will help Texans throughout the state please give him a call at 24444 18808 that's Andre the lawyer if you get in trouble he's the guy to hang hang on to he's the guy in the team he's conditioned to help you out two 444 8808 sorry I thought you done he is in good condition right now he yo-yo diets you know he could be an embarrassing sight to see some points but right now uh he is on his note counting his calories and all that I'm going to sit next to him in Michigan and try to get him eating some bad food see if I can do it there's plenty of options up there but yeah he is in good condition right now I'm proud of him and I love how you you tell him his picture was an AI generated oh yeah that's not that's only Port partially him that's why we love Andre the lawyer Better Than Last Season? give that guy a call if you ever need to all right man here's a question I get this I've had this in the off season quite a bit I know you have is this team gonna be better than last season just cut to the chase Eric yeah well that's how I finished up one of my calls and people are GNA want to use that promo because the uh the article we wrote this morning is just the macro overview uh we're going to have another post today that goes into much uh much more detail um but one of the calls ended I'm like hey look you know just shoot me straight do you feel like it's better than last year and uh he goes yeah and then he paused for a minute he goes a lot better um you know there's emphasis on the way he said it um you know I think he started thinking about to last season how they had so many close calls against teams that weren't all that great yeah um you know TCU and U ofh come to mind Kansas state was pretty good and you know he's like yeah we're a lot better uh so you know talk about all the things we've talked about uh throughout the offseason it's not just fanfiction you can see it coming alive it's the the pro the roster gets more talented every year um more experienced every year uh there's more depth they've done a wonderful job with the portal to to fill the the blind spots created by the NFL draft and so yeah I think they are better now that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be uh 11 And1 in the regular season they're playing a more difficult schedule uh but I do think you're going to see a better brand of football I think you will be see a more see a more dominating team uh more consistently against the the weaker opponents you know I don't think they're going to be giving up 20po leads uh to the to the likes of U ofh and so you know they're confident so I might as well be confident but I got one more call today and I'm going to poke even harder uh like a mechanic I'm going to take out that dentist mirror and go getting it get down underneath the the transmission and all that and look for any leaks uh we got to keep prodding and figuring out what's up and I'll take another look uh in the next article about you know any any potential last minute changes on depth chart they did have a week of practice this week um so maybe maybe something changed in our projections there but yeah inside Texas is on fire right now go check out that promo code kickoff 24 we're also going to check for sludge in the ice machine oh man slime in the ice machine man you're not a houstonian i Marvin zindler it slime in the ice oh my God slime sludge I've been watching Bar Rescue and they call it sludge the bottom of that you don't want to know the details in those dirty ass bars yeah no no those days are long gone that that'll keep me from going to them I don't want to know anything hey I I'm telling you I I I saw I never mind but just that's what that's where that came from because I've been watching a little bit too much Bar Rescue but truth be known that was just a quick kind of recap of of our team stuff there's so much more inside texas.com like Eric said there's there is actually there we're gonna have another volume uh of Team notes coming up later today so please come to inside Texas and use that promo code kickoff 24 let's finish up More 5-stars on the Way? with some recruiting Because I gotta tell you buddy I've enjoyed August a lot more than we did July uh pretty good little week two five stars and a big four star out of Georgia in the last seven days potentially another five star on the way um let's just cut to the chase Jamie French hey it's a revolution he's headed to Austin he is the second five star in the class of 2025 out of Jacksonville Florida in Mandarin High School that and big him and khik Lockett I think are very complimentary something Joe Cook and I T touched on in the commitment video but there's another guy on the hook that people need to know about and he doesn't necessarily have a decision date Eric but source are leading us to believe this one's not going to take very much longer you want to go ahead and unveil it for the the fans well yeah I mean we've been talking about Michael Terry I don't yeah I don't know when he's going to decide it could happen tomorrow or you know you know a month from now um right now Texas feels good and you know what if they get them I really like the parts how they fit uh Jamie French click Lockett perfect outside receivers I'll be curious to see who plays the boundary who plays the field long term I don't think it truly matters uh they they're kind of both have uh deceptive length um you know Big Catch radius great hands really good hands I don't think we're ever going to hear about drops when those guys are out on the field uh and then Michael Terry has a big slot machine sort of like little Jordan Humphrey with his change of Direction his running back ability after the catch I think it's a match made in heaven it's not necessarily exactly the burner that Sark uses but he can use a little He he'll adapt to whatever player he has uh I think Texas is in a good spot for him that would what make four four five stars in the class uh still plenty work to do on defense but look this this month is a good example of why you don't get too low during July and you don't get too high during August uh you just put your faith in the staff uh understand that they they know what it takes to uh to fill out the roster look at how they rebuilt the roster in the last couple years uh why would they stop now uh and so you know we're going to focus on defensive tackle now offense is pretty much done outside of Terry maybe they take a late wide receiver or a late offensive lineman you never know um but you know now our Focus outside of Terry switches to defense I can't wait to cover or a late corner corner corner is on defense so no no no you saying with defensive tackles I was like d tackles and I think there could be a late Corner thrown into that mix as well yeah they're still they're still pushing for Corners I bet they would take another safety and if anybody watched Jonah Williams last night that guy can play wherever the hell he wants um I've got my guy deay Milburn uh down in galeston County uh comparing him he said he's a a combination of Noah Thomas a long lean receiver out of clear whatever one of those I always get the clears mixed up Clear Springs I think that went to A&M yeah yeah he's a long bendy guy and then combination of Noah and Evan Stewart so that's a pretty impressive combination uh so I I'll be curious to see how it all unfolds with janah you know Chris Jackson was in that recruitment a little bit of course he's going to start off on safety but uh wouldn't rule it out just an amazing talent what did he have four touchdowns or five touchdowns last night I think it was five um he had five in like three different ways two three different ways he slacked off and didn't get a touchdown on defense but he had a kickoff return uh two receptions and Two Carries at of Wildcat quarterback so I don't know he must he only had pass breakups on defense no uh no pick sixes but he did have a blocked extra point just for good measure and so I I think it was easy to see why Jonah Williams is number 10 player in the country and the number one safety in the United States according to the on three industry rankings Eric it's been a pleasure this off season it's been fun but buddy it gets real tomorrow and I got to be honest with you I'm ready I've been ready I've been playing college football 25 with the little kid I'm I'm focused like this video subscribe to the inside Texas YouTube channel help us climb to this 10,000 subscriber Mark we are coming up each time help us get to that Mark also remember last day for the flash sale use the promo code kickoff 24 for 50% off an annual subscription of insidetexas.com it really is the best time we are having a blast it it might be craziness in the background but in the front seat we are we we got a big windshield and and we're having a good time Colorado state in the fighting J Norville come to Austin on Saturday be at insidetexas.com that's where you're going to see it Eric thank you as always fans thank you for making us a part of your day and joining us on the inside Texas football YouTube channel powered by insidetexas.com