ESPN just made Stoops' job a little tougher
Published: 1/20/2011 10:05 AM
Last Modified: 1/20/2011 10:05 AM
You see the headline in today's World? "OU hopes to create TV channel this year." It isn't just because Texas has a new toy and the Sooners want one, too. It isn't just because the money is nice, although it's really, really nice.
Read what Kirk Bohls wrote in today's Austin American-Statesman about what ESPN Bevo will do for Longhorn coaches:
It will "give them an unspeakable recruiting advantage. Starting this fall, a budding soccer star in San Diego or the next Canadian basketball forward at Findlay Prep can turn on the Texas network every day and watch the prettiest coeds in the nation and see that the sun shines 364 days in Austin…
"And when Texas adds a slew of attractive high school football games like Lake Travis-Westlake and others on its network to feed the football-crazy subscribers, Bob Stoops and Mike Sherman will raise a ruckus over the Longhorns' unfair recruiting advantage."
That advantage existed even before yesterday's bombshell.
The Sooners have worked recruiting wonders under Stoops, annually raiding Texas for extremely helpful talent. But ask the coach how what kind of grind that is.
Beating Mack Brown down in the Cotton Bowl? Doable, obviously.
Beating Brown (not to mention the Austin-centric attractions Bohls referenced) in the living room of some Texas 5-star? One of the toughest chores in college football.
FanHouse recently gave OU an A for its current recruiting class. Texas received an A+, along with the comment: "Despite a lackluster effort on the field in 2010 and the loss of Will Muschamp to Florida, the Longhorns have arguably the best recruiting class in the country."
Scout.com ranks OU No. 10 nationally for its class. Texas is No. 1.
ESPN.com ranks OU No. 6. Texas, again, is No. 1.
Get the picture? Longhorn football targets will, starting next fall, courtesy of ESPN. They'll like what they'll see, not that they didn't already.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
