I didn’t realize Kyle Shanahan went to Texas. I remembered that Chris Simms had a funny tattoo, but I didn’t remember that Kyle Shanahan’s initials were that tattoo. I love that story. I love that Kyle Shanahan and Chris Simms are guys who got each other’s initials tattooed on themselves in college. I think I know a guy who got matching “friends forever” tattoos with three strangers he met on a bender after he dropped out of college, and that he never saw those strangers again. I’m not sure about all the details in that story, though, and it’s too cool for me to ask about unprompted. You can’t just go around asking people about the cool things they’ve done. They’ll know how much you admire them. I really need to drop out of college and go on a bender with strangers. I’m going to have an existential crisis now because I never got a matching tattoo with someone I never saw again.
First order of business: Was Kyle Shanahan any good?
I don’t think he was bad.
Shanahan started his college career at Duke, but he transferred to Texas after his freshman year. Great move. For one thing, would you rather be on the football team at Texas or at Duke, but also: Transfers had to sit out a year back then. Every college athlete who doesn’t have a professional athletic future should redshirt. Why make something fun only last four years?
Whether Shanahan was on scholarship or not at Texas is unclear, based on a quick internet search. He had 14 career catches, and by his senior year a few of them came in tighter games, implying he was at least trustworthy enough to see the field for a pretty good Texas team. From what we can tell, his dad might have gotten him on the team, but he wasn’t a total charity case. He graduated high school in 1998, so he was a little early for the 247 ratings era. His year at Duke predates the Sports Reference database, but this news release from August 2001 says he caught 13 passes as a freshman in Durham. That Duke team won a couple conference games. Shanahan had to at least be respectable to see the field as a freshman in the ACC.
Second order of business: That news release. Here’s the excerpt:
University of Texas junior wide receiver Kyle Shanahan suffered a major cut that required three layers of stitches in a freak accident at his family home last Saturday morning. Shanahan, who was retrieving the family dog from its fenced-in area in the backyard, was hopping a short fence when his hand slipped and a rod iron post speared his leg.
He can’t have been that much of an afterthought if him tearing his leg apart warranted a statement from Mack Brown. I want to see the chart delineating how good a player must have been and how serious a freak accident must have been for Mack Brown to comment on it. Is the line linear? Is freakishness more important than severity?
Third order of business: How hard does Shanahan rep Texas?
I mean, I didn’t realize he went there. But I also don’t follow Kyle Shanahan’s every movement. He’s not Shaka Smart. (Not that I follow every Shaka Smart movement. Often, I’m leading them. At least when they’re Movements!)
When you Google “Kyle Shanahan University of Texas Donation,” not a lot comes up. Mostly a story about him suffering a major cut that required three layers of stitches in a freak accident at his family home. But think of it this way: The point of donating to a university is to get better access to football tickets. Or to take that donation away if the university pisses you off by winking at Hitler. I bet Shanahan’s too busy to get into the culture war, and given the NFL schedule, the guy can’t go to college games anyway. Even if he did, I bet he could get his boss to pay for them.
Really, then, the test is whether Shanahan makes Dan Campbell look like a loser. Because for as awesome as Dan Campbell is, Dan Campbell very much went to A&M. And if there’s one thing Texas people do, it’s make A&M people look a little silly.
(Do you guys think the dog story is true? Or was Shanahan jumping fences on his way to a tattoo parlor late at night? Dogs are such willing accomplices. It’s hard to not ask them to vouch for you. This is why I always talk loudly about my dog’s IBS if we’re at a bar together and I’ve got gas. She readily takes the fall.)
No Spiral?
I’m going to give Rodney Terry the benefit of the doubt and offer a theory: Maybe in the wake of his cussing at the youth (and to be fair, we all want to cuss at youth now and then) he realized it might be motivational to his players to point out that UCF just punked them. Maybe the lightbulb went off.
Whether it did or didn’t, Tyrese Hunter carried Texas past Baylor on Saturday from beginning to triumphant end, and three days later, Max Abmas turned in his best game as a Longhorn, dropping 22 on 14 field goal attempts as the Horns did some road trip punking of their own up in Norman. Now, Hunter and Abmas are hot, Dylan Disu is a rock returning to full health, and this team is starting to look more like the good–not–great group the roster implied it would be. Is the roster what it could have been? Probably not. But the team is suddenly closer to what its roster allows it to become. It’s not a bad team, and the spiral was avoided. It is amazing what a road win can do.
All that said, it is very early, and the next, well, the rest of the schedule is very tough. As of now, it’s looking like Texas will only be favored in five of their games before the Big 12 Tournament. The Oklahoma win should be helpful in the committee room, but the Horns need one more like that if they aren’t going to party in the Nuts’ preferred postseason tournament. If they don’t get it, 19–13 might not be enough to evade our grasp.
Worse than the raw favorite/underdog split for Texas is how the strings of tough games align. Take these next four: BYU (A), Houston (H), TCU (A), Iowa State (H). Then they get one layup against West Virginia, their weeknight bye, and Houston on the road to welcome them back. A three-game losing streak right away here looks decently likely, and as a member of the Texas media, I can promise you that we will again start asking whether a spiral is on its way. It is our nature. When you are Texas, you are either Back, Almost Back, or Spiraling.
And so it is that we stay tuned. Big one tomorrow, Texas. BYU has guys who can score. You rely pretty heavily on a veteran gunner who can’t stop scorers.
Quick(er) Hitters
In the football corner of the transfer portal (it’s a big corner), Texas added Tiaoalii Savea, who was in Arizona’s rotation at defensive end (or edge rusher, or whatever you want to call it). He’s a three-star guy but adds depth and comes with upside.
In the football corner of the recruiting world (again, large), Texas picked up commitments from Lance Jackson, a defensive lineman from Texarkana in the Class of 2025, and Raycine Guillory, a 2026 running back out of Aledo. Jackson’s a four-star on the 247 Composite.
I could have sworn I saw something about a women’s soccer transfer, but I also know the program was pumped about bringing back its whole starting lineup (sorry, starting XI, soccer is still played in Ancient Rome), and I’m not seeing anything about the transfer even after searching two different ways. Maybe I dreamt it. Maybe I’m dreaming about the women’s soccer transfer portal. I don’t know how to feel about that.
The Roundup
The BYU game tomorrow’s at 1:00 PM Texas Time. BYU doesn’t have any spectacular wins yet, and they’re just 2–4 in Big 12 play, but they have the opposite phenomenon going on from what Texas is dealing with: BYU is favored in a bunch of games coming up. If Texas can win, then, it should age well.
After BYU, it’s a quick turnaround before the Horns host Houston, who’ll be coming off a home game against Kansas State. Houston, as has often been the case in recent years, might be the best team in the country. Also: Very physical. Very, very physical. Could be a little tense on Big Monday. I’d imagine Fran Fraschilla will be on the call.
In women’s basketball, the Longhorns lost one they shouldn’t have against Oklahoma after beating Oklahoma State last weekend. Oklahoma’s got a good conference record, but they’re currently rated as a bubble team. The Longhorns play Cincinnati tomorrow at home before a big one on the road against Baylor. The regular season conference title might be out of reach (K-State’s three games up heading into Game 9 out of 18), but always plenty to play for.
The women’s tennis team lost its season opener on the road against UCLA. It’s unclear how expected that was or wasn’t. The second leg of the trip—a visit to USC—was postponed by weather. The women are hosting Baylor today in the ITA Kickoff Weekend. If they win, they’ll face the winner of Florida State vs. SMU.
Men’s tennis is also hosting its ITA Kickoff pod, squaring up with UTSA tomorrow and then, should they win, the winner of Utah and Oklahoma State on Sunday. It’s possible there’s a loser’s bracket for this as well, but both the men and women should win their openers. It’s possible the women already have (computer’s dying, forgot the charger, hope I can click publish before it takes its nap).
The swimming and diving teams are in North Carolina, visiting NC State today and Duke tomorrow. NC State’s men are ranked third in the country in the latest Coaches Poll, but Texas is favored by ranking in every other matchup.
We aren’t sure how to track the qualifying lists for Indoor Nationals with track & field (here’s the men’s list, here’s the women’s, we don’t know if once someone appears on it they’ve qualified or if there’s a cutoff that will materialize down the line). But! We do know that Ackelia Smith and Yusuf Bizimana posting NCAA bests in long jump and the 800M, respectively, is a good thing. That’s what they did in Albuquerque last weekend. The program’s in Boston today and tomorrow for a meet hosted by Boston U. Next weekend, they go back to Albuquerque. Then? Back to Boston. I have questions about the Indoor Track & Field industry. Albuquerque and Boston, eh? Those are the cities? Is it some high-altitude/low-altitude approach?
