Let’s take a quick walk down memory lane from 2024, Texas’s inaugural year in the SEC.
- Boasts the best NIL packages in the SEC, complete with a fleet of Lamborghinis
- Has the supposed two best QBs in the conference
- Opens the season by trouncing the defending National Champion* Wolverines
- Coasts through easy competition, but loses Quinn Ewers to injury allowing Arch Manning to start showing his chops, hysteria ensues
- Longhorn fanbase proclaims theybownnthebSEC, this is too easy
- Loses to Georgia, both quarterbacks look like average Tennessee signal callers
- Coasts through rest of season unscathed
- Enters SEC championship, fans again boasting they are about to own the conference…again
- Loses to Georgia, to backup quarterback Georgia, while watching a one-armed quarterback hand the ball to a Florida transfer acquired by Georgia’s pitiful NIL coffers
- Sees Ewers play for Ohio State again by gifting Jack Sawyer a turnover and game-clinching touchdown
- Watches former five star everything Ewers fall to the last rounds of the draft
Quite a year. Undoubtedly, not enough for the Longhorns, who are now doubling down for success:
Interesting footnote from the article:
Head coach Steve Sarkisian applauded quarterback Quinn Ewers for not taking money from the Texas One Fund although the Texas source said he got some but was paid the bulk of his money by corporations “so Texas could have more good players around him.” … Quarterback Arch Manning is “by far the highest-paid Texas player,” as expected, but doesn’t take a dime from the school. He and his family acquired all his deals on their own “with no help from the school.”
Well, then, who and why are they paying that much money to? As the article states, this amount won’t last long as the House Settlement will likely cap NIL at 20.5 million after the 2025 season, so it seems the Texas program and their donors are throwing a Hail Mary and hoping the relevance and dominance they hooted about last year comes to fruition this year.
I still want more than anything else to beat Alabama in Sanford and snap that curse. But beating Texas the Kirby Way might be just as sweet should that turn out to be the case.
One things for sure…Ewers should’ve reconsidered his draft decision and maybe asked for the same NIL valuation to be Arch’s backup this year.
Everything’s bigger in Texas, especially the bullshit.
They used little Archie similar to how we used Fields, mostly to come in and run to keep him ‘engaged’.
Something tells me that he isn’t going to be the savior they envision. Press clippings ain’t gonna help when he’s in the line of fire, and guys will be licking their chops to shut him down.
Saw a thing yesterday that said “Sark saw enough of Manning to where as soon as Ewers was healthy enough but not 100% that he inserted Ewers back in as a starter”. Aside from Manning’s one big running gain in the first Georgia matchup, I didn’t see a lot that wowed me. He looked overwhelmed…they open at Ohio State, travel to the Swamp a few weeks later, but don’t get us until late in the year. Kirby will have lots of film on him by that point, so whatever he can do I’m confident our D will have an answer. Sanford will be lit, but he should know that by now after we hosted him so many times.
They open at tOSU? Instant meteor game for me.
I think “lit” might be an understatement. Those kids that cheered for him so hard a few years ago as a recruit are going to bring a next level of hate for him to the stadium. If Texas comes in riding high, there’s gonna be an angry crowd! Hope it’s a late game.
Capped at 20.5 million. The absurdity of that statement is almost too much for me. Average of $240,000+ for your 85 scholarship players, though of course it will be doled out in a much different manner. NIL went from giving these players some well deserved compensation to F#CK EVERYTHING, MAKE EM RICH! in about two seconds. 18 year olds walking around campus with millions in the bank, having never played a down of college ball. This feels really unsustainable, IMHO, which I know is completely irrelevant. I’m old, and I’m old fashioned, and I mourn the loss of the game that was. The passion and the absolute love of the game and especially love of the school gets lost by so many because of the massive amount of money raining down on these kids. Kirby is amazing at finding those guys that love the game & the school more than the money. I am so grateful he’s the coach of the team I’ve loved since childhood. He’s the exception to the rule now. It’s a professional game now at the college level, and I’m not a fan of the NFL. Not sure how long I’ll be loving NFL junior. If the powers that be don’t completely destroy it, probably as long as Kirby coaches my beloved Dawgs. I normally don’t rant on here. Maybe it’s because I’ve had to be at work at 4am all week and I’m majorly sleep deprived, which is not normal for me. Anyway, get the hell off my lawn!! And leave my favorite sport alone!
I realize this is not really on point, just struck me as I read this article.
They are easy to hate.
Sark trying to $Buy him one like Justformen Day did.
#1 on my obnoxious fans list
I have still not met a single serious SEC fan who wanted these entitled clowns (or OU) in the conference.
I’d love to see the SEC East Schools with ACC in state rival break away to form a new conference. To hell with these Big12 schools and SEC office in B’ham.
Curious about your thoughts here, are your proposing a league adding FSU, Clemson and Ga. Tech and possibly moving MO. to the west?
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I was under the impression that that the proposed $20.5 million “salary cap” will just be for money directly paid from the university to the players, and it will not affect NIL money which will still be separate.
Also, I’vereas that the $20.5 million cap for all sports on campus rather than just football.
Arch is going to be the number 1 pick in 26 or 27 according to all the mock drafts, this is despite being the Great Value version of Sam Ehlinger if we judge him off playing college competition and not private school New Orleans football. If Texas is a serious SEC competitor this year I will be shocked. I think 8-4 is 3x more likely than 10-2 or better.
unless the settlement by congress includes a provision that makes it a criminal/felony offense for boosters, if caught, to give money under the table(if there is a cap), then the cap won’t be worth shit and it will just go back to the old days but with more folks getting paid over the table…it won’t stop IPTAY or the REC unless there is jail time for it.
forgot to add horns down and it is always 10-9
Texas is the LIV Golf of the SEC. They have shit-tons of oil money, but nobody outside of their circle cares; and nobody watches except those paid to do so.
Also, they may or may not have had a few people murdered…
Its gonna suck for them after they go to 0-3 vs. Dawgs in conference. Can’t stand ’em. My disdain reaching FU levels