When Texas junior safety Kenny Vaccaro announced on Twitter following the Holiday Bowl that he was planning on returning for his senior season without seriously exploring his draft possibilities, it seemed like an interminable wait for January 15th to see if he would indeed make good on his promise.
To a much lesser extent, the same was true for fellow junior Alex Okafor, the Pflugerville product who significantly raised his level of play during the second half of the season.
For Texas fans, then, no news was good news on Sunday night, the deadline for underclassmen to declare their intentions to enter the NFL Draft. It passed with no declarations from either, so both players will return to help bolster a defense that loses only Kheeston Randall, Keenan Robinson, Emmanuel Acho, and Blake Gideon, and was among the best in the country near the end of the season.
For the artist formerly known as Machete, his desire to compete for a national championship and a Thorpe Award helped keep him at Texas. The presence of his younger brother Kevin, a recent commit in the 2012 class, no doubt played at least a small role. He will return as the leader of a secondary with tremendous upside and should continue to build on a junior campaign that saw him improve in coverage and continue to deliver the vicious hits that have defined his career, all with fewer of the mental mistakes that plagued him in the past. Version 4.0 should be a bona fide monster and one of the top safeties in the country.
And unlike with Vaccaro, who had rumors circling for months about a possible departure, there was never much indication that Okafor was even remotely interested in pursuing his NFL options at this time, likely a good decision for a player who only has one year of extensive experience after playing sparingly his freshman season and spending most of his sophomore campaign out of position at defensive tackle. Another season should increase his draft stock considerably, especially if he can continue the trend of improvement he demonstrated throughout the bulk of Big 12 play.
Even though it was expected, the return of both keeps expectations at an extremely high level for Manny Diaz and his defense entering the 2012 season. Consider it a dark day for Big 12 offenses.
0 recs | 33 comments
Vaccaro and Okafor
Excellent news. Thanks Ghostwriter.
rickchampion - January 16, 2012
Great news!!!
Next year this will be the best defense in the Big 12 by far…
TowerPower - January 16, 2012
has anyone found Ryan Swope yet?
#APB
CMDR - January 16, 2012
Nope,
MIA and believed dead from major slice wounds. The type of wounds that could be caused by a [weapon redacted].
Wescott Eberts (GoBR) - January 16, 2012
I think I saw his face on some College Station milk cartons
that were being handed out by those milkmen they have at the games.
CMDR - January 16, 2012
I was thinking recently
Future NFL guys who figure to start on defense for us
DE Okafor
DE Jeffcoat
S Vaccaro
CB Byndom
S Phillips
Definite NFL prospects who figure to start/play a lot
DT Dorsey
CB Diggs (size issue)
DT Dez Jackson (just needs time)
LB Edmond (has the skills and the body)
LB Hicks (maybe should be listed in the first group)
Unknown, but NFL potential
DT Moore (certainly has the size; hasn’t played yet for us)
DT Whaley (has the skill, is beginning to develop the body)
OLB Cobbs (has the speed; needs to play; might be an NFL safety)
Manny can hardly sleep nights thinking about the possibilities
edsp - January 16, 2012
Good list
I think Whaley cements himself into the first group in 2012
Horncasting - January 16, 2012
DeMarco Cobbs makes me think of Thomas Davis
What’s funny is that Davis played safety in college, but transitioned to linebacker in the NFL. Very uncommon. Anyway, he came to mind when I saw what you said about Cobbs.
burntorangehorn - January 17, 2012
BOOM!
Can’t wait to see these guys unload on Landry and friends in October.
horndude - January 16, 2012
I wanna see them
get some frickin’ revenge.
Darklust - January 16, 2012
wish Landry Would Have Left
Did lit us up for 300 – in the first half. I would have like to beat up on Bell
realmccoy - January 16, 2012 via mobile
I'm not so eager to see them play Bell
He was a top QB recruit based on his abilities as a pocket passer. Considering his other skills, that should speak to his potential when he drops back.
burntorangehorn - January 17, 2012
I'm not so sure.
I went to college in Kansas and saw him play at Bishop Carroll quite frequently. They were an option team and he ran the ball about 80% of the time.
40A - January 17, 2012
I actually played at Derby HS, if you know it
Did you go to Newman, Friends, or something like that? WSU?
burntorangehorn - January 17, 2012
Actually,
I got into UT and most big 12 schools, but I went to Central Christian in McPherson. Small NAIA D1 school but I wanted to play sports in college(soccer) and get paid for it. We played Newman for two years if I remember correctly right up until they went NCAA D2. Friends is in KCAC which we are not but we played them in outdoor tournaments and sometimes in friendlies. My good friend goes to Wichita State so we visit him quite often. I’m somewhat familiar with Derby as my friend currently lives off Rock RD there in east Wichita.
40A - January 17, 2012
McPherson HS was in the same league as Derby back then (Ark Valley League)
I believe there have been some major changes in the leagues, though, including a merger between the AVL and Chisholm Trail League.
Yep, Rock Rd was my usual path to work in Wichita. Did you just live in the area during undergrad, or are you still there?
burntorangehorn - January 17, 2012
I lived there during undergrad
but I have a few friends that live up there so I get up there pretty often.
I caught quite a few Mac High games along with Hutch games and plenty in Wichita. That’s what happens when you have nothing to do in a small town on Friday nights. You can’t get away from it.
40A - January 17, 2012
Derby was like that
When I was in HS, the town was only about 15K, although we also had McConnell AFB and some other areas contributing to our 1800+ high school population. Anyway, on Friday nights, it was said you could rob pretty much any home in the town blind, because the population at the games often outpaced the population of the city. Not sure that’s the case anymore, because back then we were in the middle of three consecutive trips to the 6A state championship game, but it was what people did on Friday nights. Kind of reminded me of football programs in Texas, although certainly a little less intense than at the premiere HS programs there.
burntorangehorn - January 17, 2012
Yep.
Kansas high school football reminded me of Texas a lot, and where I live now (Oklahoma) is very similar as well. Everybody in town out there, all radio stations have different games, it’s pretty surreal. I love Midwestern high school football. Now the competition level in Kansas wasn’t much compared to Texas or Oklahoma, but I saw Blake Bell and his Bishop Carroll team play against Hutch, and that was a heavyweight battle. I also got to see Bryce Brown play a couple times.
40A - January 17, 2012
By the way, have you heard of Tom Young, McPherson's HC?
He was our HC at Derby, which is actually where he won the majority of his games. He’s pretty legendary in the state, and is one of only five guys to win 300 games. I believe he’s third in state history in wins, and the only one with over 300 wins to ever coach at the 5A or 6A level, while the others were all at fairly small programs with an extra round of playoffs to add to their win totals.
Unfortunately the way pensions work meant that it was financially best for him to retire from the Derby school system and take a job elsewhere, so he did that and ended up at McPherson.
I’m sure you’re not really tracking McPherson HS football right now, of course, but their star player is Tyler Jennings, who is a four-star QB (#1 in Kansas, #7 nationally) committed to TCU.
burntorangehorn - January 17, 2012
Sorry, Tyler Matthews
Got my signals crossed with a work email…
burntorangehorn - January 17, 2012
Yeah Tom Young
gained instant notoriety in McPherson. People in McPherson are generally sports people, and even more than that, high school sports people. So people knew of him. My graduate year they won the divsion (ark valley chisolm trail blah blah) and were pretty good. They’ve always been pretty solid and they had Tyler Matthews there if I remember correctly.
40A - January 17, 2012
A little of topic but
Why do we seem to be so stacked on the defensive side if the ball, but so thin talent wise on the offense? It seems Manny inherited the kind of talent expected at Texaa, but Harsin got a mostly empty cupboard. Why is that?
horninraidercountry - January 16, 2012 via mobile
Holy crap….epic fail at typing on a phone.
Of and Texas
horninraidercountry - January 16, 2012 via mobile
I think it mostly has to do with
failed prospects, due to failed evaluations. Gilbert, White, Hales, Hills, Whaley, etc are all failed evaluations. Now people might say they aren’t and there are other reasons they didn’t succeed, and that’s fine, but I think it comes down to improper evaluations from the previous coaching staff.
40A - January 17, 2012
Agreed on improper evals
I can understand a miss here and there, but I’m hoping we may have weathered that epic storm.
Burnedsince61 - January 17, 2012
Yeah, a miss here or there would indicate poor evaluations
But when so many other big programs were also chasing almost all of these guys, and the scouting services rated them very highly as well, it seems reasonable to think that the failure wasn’t entirely in the evaluations.
burntorangehorn - January 17, 2012
Failed prospects due to failed evaluations, but also failed coaching
burntorangehorn - January 17, 2012
Yes,
failed coaching definitely is a factor as well.
40A - January 17, 2012
If Manny can ?
Do what I think he can with his stocked cupboard, it should only gety better as long as we can keep him on the 40 acres. IF the defense gets as good as it looks like it could, what recruit wouldn’t want to come and play for Manny? Yes I am in the corner of defense wins championships.
Burnedsince61 - January 17, 2012
We needed that!
Losing Acho, Randall, and Robinson is going to be tough. Real tough. Acho, I would argue, was our most versatile defender and also great at calling adjustments on the field. Probably the best all around player on the team, in my humble opinion. Randall was obviously our best inside man, and right now we have more potential than anything. Robinson…hell, is he really graduated already?…never really poped as much as expected, but a very solid LB. I think he was really learning (as both the Achos did much earlier) to not over run plays. If he can get in with a deep D I think he can develop into something special. For some reason he reminds me of a very raw version of Ray Lewis.
As per Gideon, well, I applaud his effort, I thank him for his work, but it won’t be hard to upgrade his spot on the depth chart. Same goes for Scott. I know that sounds harsh, I know we’re a pass crazy league, but those guys were just too inconsistent…always sacrificing the right covetage for wanting to make a bit hit…and often just flat put not undstanding that a safety can never ever let a receiver get between him and the endzone.
Speaking of which, I love Vaccaro’s style, but I think this is going to be a surprisingly tough season for him. I’m probably alone on that here, but with what will probably be less of a pass rush, and with no more Gideon to pick on, I think he is going to have a much harder true coverage role he hasn’t really played. I love his versatiliy in acting like a linebacker in run support, but he hasn’t exactly been in the thick of breaking up many passes so much as he is just a helper in making tackles afted the offense is moving up field. (Dear Earl Thomas, I miss you and your pick sixes).
As per Okafor, he really came on late last year…so here’s hoping he can take another leap….and that MEJ is challenging him for reps!
KevinJ - January 17, 2012
So here's another hoping
That we can keep everyone healthy, and that Jeffcoat , and Phillips can come back good as new.
Burnedsince61 - January 17, 2012
? GoBR
Is it too early to start asking for Mack to get the word out to the Big 12 refs that we are bringing smash mouth defense back to the party . Leave the yellow flags in their lockers. Artist formerly known as Machette can’t perform under those conditions.
Burnedsince61 - January 17, 2012
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Burnt Orange Nation to post a comment.