Feb. 6, 2013
• 2013 Signing Day announcement
• Meet the Texas' signing class of 2013
• Video: Coach Brown discusses the 2013 signees [Feb. 6]
• Coach Brown signing day press conference transcript [Feb. 6]
Chevoski Collins: He's played quarterback, wide receiver, defensive back, cornerback and he's played safety. Being an all-around athlete, he's very good on special teams. He is Cedric Reed's cousin. He can run and he's tough. He and I decided before he committed that what he will do is come in and look at both sides of the ball. He'll look at being a defensive back. [Assistant head coach/defensive backs coach] Duane [Akina] will try him at corner and safety. At the same time he can come and play offense because of what you see right here.
He's got great speed. He's been a young man we've had in camp three years. He really likes the University of Texas. He's always been excited about coming here. He was very highly recruited, but I don't think he ever wavered in what he really wanted to do. He's been a defensive back more in camp for us than receiver, so he probably knows Duane better than he would [co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach] Darrell Wyatt. But we're trying to upgrade our speed across the board and he helps us do that.
Antwuan Davis: He is one of the fastest young men in the country. He is great in track. He just wants to play football and he can play corner and safety. In high school, he was a running back and a kick returner. As I said, he's powerful, strong. He's another young man that has been in camp every year that we've been here that he was eligible to be in camp. Just love the kid, love the smile. He could have gone anywhere in America and he never questioned that he wanted to be at the University of Texas. But he's real fast and real strong. He works as hard in the weight room as anybody I've ever been around. He really is dedicated to being a great player. As I said, he'll win a lot of things in track this spring, but we're projecting him as a corner or safety. Duane has watched him for four years. So we've known a lot about Antwuan.
We're trying to talk to all of the guys about special teams. We just got to continue to get better. We talk about it all the time. He doesn't have good speed, he's got great speed. I think we timed him at 4.3 in our camp. He's big and physical, but he's fast. So he's a guy that can play safety or corner. In our league, you're getting so many five wideouts, you're going to have to play nickel and dime more and more.
Deoundrei Davis: We feel like he is a big-time player. He's tall and he can run. He's another guy, his mother said he was talking about the Longhorns when he was 3-years old. One of the first words he [said]. He's really physical and rangy. He's the type of linebacker you want in this league because he can play Sam [strongside linebacker], Mike [middle linebacker], play in space, cover backs and he probably can cover receivers. We feel like he has a chance to be really good. Right now in the Big 12, it is a speed game, as we all know.
Rami Hammad: He is 6-5 and he was 320 when he came in to visit. He's very, very physical. Alex De La Torre's dad coached him. He saw him last spring. Coach De La Torre didn't get in there until late. He was 270 pounds when he first saw him. He did everything Coach De La Torre told him to do. He got stronger, bigger and is in great shape. You can see here he's really, really powerful. We were very, very fortunate to find him and find him late and follow his progress. He wanted to come to Texas very badly. Actually recruited us and talked to us. We've been so impressed with him on his visit because he's just so physical. He reminds me a lot of [former Longhorn offensive lineman] Kasey Studdard. He's a guy that is going to take you and be physical.
Desmond Harrison: He is from the Houston area. He's so athletic and big with long arms. We think he has a chance to be a great tackle at this level, not a good tackle. You see he's got so much athletic ability. He knocks one down, but he can run downfield and knock another one down. We feel like he can come in and help us immediately. A lot of his family is in Houston. His mom lives in Greensboro, North Carolina. For a big man, he's got great feet and he can really run. He will be here in June with the other high school guys. They pulled him so much [in high school], it's unique to have a guy so much pulling on the corner.
Naashon Hughes: His brother [Camrhon Hughes] plays for us. [He is] 6’4", 250 lbs. He can play inside or outside, because of his length with his arms and his speed and the ability to play some safety. He can be in there, instead of your nickel back, because he plays so well in space. There's no telling how big he can get. He's a guy that's got long arms and can really run, very quick. We knew a lot about him because of the family and his brother. We feel like the upside with him is very good. He's been around us all the time with his brother here. Hopefully his brother's knee will be well so he can play in spring as well. Here is an example of how he can cover because of his experience in the secondary and still get around the ball.
Erik Huhn: He is another guy that's probably taller than 6'2". He played with [current Longhorn running back] Malcolm Brown. He's a guy that's very, very physical. Has a physical presence in the secondary. He can play up around the line of scrimmage, but he can cover. He's just a guy that makes some great plays in this video. We didn't jump on him as early as some others. He was recruited by everybody in the country. He really wanted to be here. He kept talking to us about it. He did come to our camp. Because they played so much zone, Duane wanted to lock him up man-to-man. He covered some of the best receivers in camp. You can see he's a real big hitter. His brother plays at Texas-El Paso. He's got good hands and is tall with length and range. He can really run and is a big hitter in the middle, which is what we're looking for at safety.
Darius James: Some had him rated the number one center in the country. He'll probably play guard for us, but he can play all five spots. He is 6'5", 350 lbs. He can just run and he's so athletic. I think this is the best group of offensive linemen from top to bottom we've ever signed. Give [assistant head coach/ offensive line coach] Stacy [Searels] and the staff credit because they worked hard. We want to continue to get big guys but did continue to move their feet. Darius can really run and could have gone anywhere in America he really wanted to. We've got to get [these guys] so we can run the ball against the tough defenses. We feel with last year's group and this year's group we're getting closer to making that happen. I think some of these guys will mix in there next year.
Montrel Meander: He is a guy we saw from the spring. He was under the radar being from Amarillo. He improved so much from spring until now. He's one of the faster kids in the state. He is 6'3" and plays basketball and runs track. We liked the young man when we got him on campus. He is a guy that likes the University of Texas and wants to be here. He played safety. He's listed for us as an athlete. We feel like he can give you plays like this in space. He can run the speed sweeps, big enough to block. He's a guy that can gain so much more strength in the weight room, but he's tall and fast. We feel like with the three we brought in last year and the three we brought in this year, we really upgraded our speed. He’s hard to tackle. It's funny, he was kind of under the radar and he ends up being one of the best players we've got coming in. Likes to play on special teams. Loves to play. We're happy we got him.
Jake Oliver: It’s unique that Jake's dad was a football player at Texas A&M, his mom was there also, his sister is at A&M and his brother is at Oklahoma. He's a big, strong receiver, great blocker. He broke [former Longhorn and current NFL Tampa WR] Jordan Shipley's national catching record. He has excellent hands, but also really, really fast. He runs great routes. You can tell he's a coach's son. He's a guy that you can move around as a blocker, especially a great catcher in the red zone with his height because he's really tall. From Jesuit High School. He's a fun kid. Enjoyed being around him throughout the entire process.
We talk about some of the ones that change their minds, flip-flop. Most of these kids didn't take another visit; they wanted to come to Texas. That's where we had our most success. Jake has really good body control in a crowd.
Kent Perkins: He didn’t take any other visits, just wanted to come to Texas. He’s 6'5", 310 lbs. now. Looks like the other guys now. He has great feet, good package and he blocks with good leverage. We feel like he has a chance to be a special player. He will be a tackle for us and can really run. None of these kids you have to worry about in recruiting, because they want to be here.
Jake Raulerson: He is a guy that played everywhere in high school. I talked to him a few minutes ago at our team meeting. He's already up to about 268 lbs. We look at him at both places, but right now in the offensive line first. He can really run, and he’s very aggressive as you'll watch him throughout this video. He’s a very bright young man, very driven. He's done an outstanding job in our off-season program. He and I really haven't sat down to talk about it. He played offensive line in the All-American All-Star Game. I think that's what he liked.
Geoff Swaim: We wanted a stronger presence at tight end with our blocking. He is 6'4", probably 256 [pounds]. He can run. He played fullback and [halfback]. [Former co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach and current Arkansas State head coach] Bryan Harsin knew those coaches very well. [Swaim] did not get offered great scholarships out of high school. As we watched him, he's exactly what we're looking for to be more physical at the line of scrimmage. He's working really well in the offseason program. We can't wait to get him out there and watch him work. I think he's gotten the other tight ends' attention with how physical he's been in this video.
Tyrone Swoopes: He is in camp. He's already up to 250 [pounds]. His body fat is very little, so he's in great shape. But he's big at about 6'5", 250. He can run. Guys have been impressed with him in the workouts. He can't use the ball around us, so we haven't seen him throw or do any of those things yet. But he and [freshman QB] Connor Brewer and [freshman QB] Jalen Overstreet, should be interesting watching them compete this spring. Tyrone seems to be fitting in very well.
Jacorey Warrick: He is a great student. His stepdad was in our band. He is another guy who wanted to come to Texas his whole life. He’s got good speed and good hands. A special teams guy.
I know I've said “speed” a lot in here, but that's what we're looking for. Our game has become speed in this league. Somebody asked me if these offensive linemen would fit in our scheme. I think they'd fit in any scheme. They’re big, fast, and strong – not bad. Jacorey had a lot of offers. Again, he wanted to come to Texas. He didn't really want to look around.
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