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Frenzied Day on Campus: Texas Starts Spring Ball, Introduces Sean Miller, Holds NFL Pro Day

Eric Nahlinby:Eric Nahlin•03/25/25
Steve Sarkisian, Daylan McCutcheon
Steve Sarkisian, Daylan McCutcheon (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

Those in Texas media have great jobs but some days require a bit more planning ahead of time than others. Just as we anticipated the start of spring ball, the school elected to hold the introductory press conference for Sean Miller. In addition, the school hosted countless NFL GM’s and scouts for its Pro Day.

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Don’t cry for us, Argentina, we love the activity. Our Joe Cook, who attended all three events, was last seen recuperating at an area Chilis.

The day started with one of the highlights of the offseason—the first practice of spring ball.

Spring Ball Off and Running

When you arrive to Denius Field, a Texas staffer typically hands you a roster. Here’s yours.

A number of those listings are dubious but it’s always fun to parse. If you don’t feel like expanding those pics, here’s an article from our Justin Wells on new numbers (FREE).

Just as dubious, the first “depth chart” gleaned from pursuit drills. Cook provided IT readers with his observations (On3+):

First was pursuit drills. The ostensible first-team was…

EDGE: Zina Umeozulu, Ethan Burke
DT: Hero Kanu, Alex January
LB: Anthony Hill, Liona Lefau
CB: Jaylon Guilbeau, Malik Muhammad
Star: Wardell Mack
S: Michael Taaffe (Boundary), Jelani McDonald (Field)

The first team had to go twice after not putting through the requisite amount of hustle. Mack would move around depending on the “offense’s” alignment, while Guilbeau and Muhammad stayed at their respective corner spots.

Further drills solidified that grouping in the secondary, though Kobe Black did rotate in often at first corner..

Second team…

EDGE: Colin Simmons, Lance Jackson
DT: Cole Brevard, Melvin Hills
LB: Trey Moore, Ty’Anthony Smith
CB: Warren Roberson, Kobe Black
Star: Ryan Niblett
S: Jordon Johnson-Rubell, Xavier Filsaime

Simmons may be a player that Texas knows what they have with him, as he wasn’t participating in a lot of drills but he did take part in a handful. We’ll dig for the answer.

Cook offered much more, but let’s scan what IT’s Evan Vieth came up with in his article.

Evan sought out the offense:

Arch Manning looked as savvy as ever. QB drills weren’t particularly challenging, but his arm was clearly ahead of backups Trey Owens, KJ Lacey, and Joe Tatum. Manning was one of the loudest players on the field. Every missed throw was followed by an audible expletive or sound, easily heard from the sideline. His attention to detail in honing his craft is evident. Manning dropped one deep ball in perfectly, right into the hands of a receiver. Steve Sarkisian loved it—he dapped up Manning immediately and let the field know how impressed he was.

Christian Clark didn’t look like a player recovering from a season-ending injury. He wasn’t wearing any protective gear on his leg and looked sharp in his cuts. As Inside Texas’ Eric Nahlin has reported, Clark may be healthy enough to be a home-run threat by Week 1 in Columbus. CJ Baxter didn’t participate much in practice, while Tre Wisner—sporting a new number—was everywhere: gunner, tackling drills, RB work. You name it.

The current depth chart at outside receiver looks like this: Wingo : Livingstone / Butler : Ffrench / Lockett : Terry III. 

Daylan McCutcheon worked exclusively inside, while DeAndre Moore was not practicing. Notably, Freddie Dubose is not on the current roster. IT thought Parker Livingstone stood out most in this practice—even more than Wingo. His cone drills were smooth, and at times, his feet looked faster than Wingo’s. Jaime Ffrench already looks polished in his routes. This competition will be fierce. Chris Jackson was vocal throughout practice.

Like Cook, Vieth offered much more insight (On3+).

Here is a third recap from the spring opener, this one from IT’s RT Young (FREE).

Texas Introduces Sean Miller

Sean Miller, formerly of Arizona and Xavier, demonstrated the polish, command, and confidence you’d expect from a coach who has made eight Sweet 16s and four Elite 8s.

Our Keegan Womack covered Miller’s press conference, with his main takeaway being four key words (FREE):

When asked about his system, he boiled it down to four words in particular: “Pace, Movement, Togetherness, Toughness.” This simple breakdown provides a lot of insight into what Miller thinks is important in his program. 

Pace is a word to which Texas fans are unaccustomed – the last several coaches for the Longhorns emphasized defensive intensity over high-octane offense. Miller wants to push the pace and get into transition. 

Movement is another foreign phrase for Longhorn faithful, as Rodney Terry’s offenses focused on isolations and lacked off-ball movement or action almost entirely. This simple adjustment, though more complex in practice, is one way to kill the stagnation of dribbling out the clock and firing up a prayer at the end of the possession. They will be as active on offense as they have been on defense, which will open up so many opportunities for drives and clean looks. 

Togetherness may seem like a buzz word, but on both sides of the ball, it is imperative. Offensively, knowing each other’s movements obviously dictates execution, while defensively, the guards have to know when and where to switch. The bigs, who typically drop or hedge, will also have to be in line with these switches. So much of defensive awareness is knowing how teammates will move.  

Toughness is the last phrase, but in the Southeastern Conference, it may be the most important. Texas played several games this season that came down to physicality, from some of which they emerged victorious. They also lost games this way, however, when they played bully-ball teams like Tennessee. 

Most people came away from that announcement with more excitement over the hire.

NFL Pro Day Was Jam Packed

The more NFL prospects a school has the more NFL representatives show up. There were a lot of each in Austin.

Texas’ participants included:

Most of the intrigue centered around quarterback Quinn Ewers and he didn’t disappoint. A fully healthy Ewers moved much more effortlessly in his drops than we saw during much of the 2024 season.

Inside Texas will have much more on Pro Day on Tuesday.

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