By nature, football coaches are a nervous bunch. Good times — heck, good jobs — never last. Mistakes happen despite endless preparation, and the best-laid plans can come apart with the quickness of a turned ankle or twisted knee.
So why was Texas offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Kyle Flood in such a good mood during his annual preseason meeting with the media on Tuesday? Well, why not, especially since a dynamic offense welcomes back a three-year starting quarterback in Quinn Ewers, four starters from one of the nation’s top offensive lines in 2023 and a collection of talented skill players?
More: Even without complete continuity on defense, Pete Kwiatkowski ready for Texas’ 2024 season
“It’s a really enjoyable situation to be in now, going into my fourth year here, working with these players, the number of starters returning,” Flood said. “I think all those things raise the bar and raise the expectations to play at a really high level.”
Flood praised Ewers and all of the running backs and receivers, saying “we want to be the most explosive offense in the country.” But if you really want to get Flood gushing, bring up this year’s offensive line.
More: Key dates and what to know as Texas Longhorns football begin summer practices
Texas returns a deep, experienced line
Every starter returns except for right tackle Christian Jones, who’s now with the Arizona Cardinals. The front includes All-American candidate Kelvin Banks Jr. at left tackle, three-year starter Hayden Conner at left guard, four-year starter Jake Majors at center and two-year starter DJ Campbell at right guard. New right tackle Cam Williams, a 6-foot-5, 340-pound mauler from Duncanville, takes over for Jones.
Better yet for Flood, he finally feels comfortable with his depth after four recruiting cycles accumulating what head coach Steve Sarkisian lovingly refers to as “big humans.”
“We’ve got seven or eight guys, maybe nine, who’ve played competitively in games for us,” Flood said. “So does that mean I’m comfortable with those guys? Well, yeah, I guess to some degree, but I’ve got really high expectation for those players that we’ll play at a higher level this year than we did last year.”
More: What are the key position battles for Texas Longhorns football as summer practices begin?
For Texas, the present and future look bright
A year ago, Flood admitted that the offensive front lacked the ideal depth, saying “we have eight guys right now who can win football games. You’d love to get to 10. It’s not very often you can do that. Is it close? No, we’re not that close.”
But the Longhorns closed that gap in the offseason, said Flood. Junior Cole Hutson, a former starter, provides invaluable experience at the guard spots and can also play some center. Redshirt sophomores Neto Umeozulu and Connor Robertson both played plenty of snaps inside last season, and redshirt freshmen tackles Trevor Goosby and Jayden Chapman may emerge as swing tackles who can play either side. Andre Cojoe is another redshirt freshman whom Flood cited for his offseason development.
Oh, and the future looks bright, too. Texas signed three more offensive linemen in the 2024 recruiting class. Five-star tackle prospect Brandon Baker may not be the next Banks and start as a freshman, but the Longhorns don’t need that at this point in Sarkisian’s tenure.
“These guys, they’ve got high expectations of themselves,” Flood said, referring to his deep set of offensive linemen. “We’ve got high standards in that room as a position group, and we’re looking forward to the next month of trying to make sure that we do everything we need to do to get ready for the season.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Kyle Flood: Coaching Tecas offensive line ‘enjoyable situation to be in.’
Austin American-Statesman
