On Texas Football: Wide Receiver Coach Options, Transfer Portal Targets, Trey Owens Commits

On the latest edition of On Texas Football’s State of the Program, Inside Texas’ Bobby Burton and Eric Nahlin give us an update on the happenings going on around the 40 Acres, with today’s focus on the Longhorns’ newest commitment, the search for a new wide receiver coach, and some of the players Texas is targeting in the transfer portal.

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Texas got a commitment from Houston Cy-Fair quarterback Trey Owens on Wednesday for the class of 2024. Owens is a 6-foot-4, 195-pound On3 Consensus 3-star who committed to the Longhorns over offers from Baylor, Texas Tech, Washington State, and Houston.

“Texas was treating Owens like they knew that it would have to have to go in his direction,” said Nahlin. “I think Texas played this perfectly. Owens is a high upside passing prospect and might take a little while to get to where it needs to go. But clearly with the quarterback room stacked in front of him, he’s gonna have plenty of time to develop.”

Nahlin said that one of the coaches Texas is looking at to take over the wideout room is Justin Johnson, the current running back coach at Baylor. Johnson played wide receiver at Houston, and he coached the position at Kansas for three years.

“Johnson has coached wide receivers in the past you know and he’s another guy’s got a ties to [Texas assistant head coach, tight ends and special teams coach] Jeff Banks from his time at Texas A&M,” Nahlin said.

Nahlin also listed Alabama’s Holman Wiggins and Arizona State’s Ra’Shaad Samples as coaches that have been discussed to fill the shoes of Brennan Marion, who coached wide receivers for Texas in 2022 but left to be the offensive coordinator at UNLV.

Burton said that he wouldn’t be surprised if there may be a candidate for the wide receiver coach opening that has not yet emerged. “To be fair, Eric, there could be a name out there that we’re just unaware of right now,” he said. “We don’t think coach Sark is necessarily focused in on any one guy quite yet.”

The two discussed the commitment of former Arkansas safety Jalon Catalon, who has been a force when healthy. Catalon has suffered through injuries the past two seasons.

“Catalon’s a ballhawk, but he’s also like a running back after the interception – he really truly flips the field,” Nahlin said. “He’s not usually just catching the ball and falling to the ground. He’s also he’s also a bowling ball downhill as a tackler. He’s quite physical. I think he’s going to be perfect for the boundary, assuming he can stay healthy. He will be able to freelance a little bit. He’s got tremendous instincts.”

Burton said Catalon’s signing adds a great player, when healthy, to an already stocked secondary group.

“Right now the Texas secondary looks pretty salty heading into next year, Burton said. “With the addition of not only Catalon, but also Gavin Holmes, the transfer from Wake Forest. Add that to what you have coming back. There’s a lot of experience and a lot of potential starters in the secondary.”

Nahlin said he believes Texas is going to land a “good” wide receiver in January, but is not so bullish on it signing an edge, a position in which the Longhorns have some depth

Fourteen new players enrolled in school this week, and immediately went to work to prepare for the team’s upcoming spring drills, which begins March 6.

“First of all, before this group even arrived, the coaches were very excited about them,” Nahlin said. “They felt that they had good success last year with early enrollees but this class is entirely different. You know, there’s more of them, and they’re elite. They think that these guys are much closer to being ready to play than your typical group of freshmen that that arrive.

“These guys are ready to go. I think eager and enthusiastic are the words. You know, they’re sponges. They’re trying to learn everything they can. These 14 enrollees would be ranked as the top 15 class on their own,” Nahlin said.