They say that players hold all the power in modern sports. Well, welcome to the new world order.
As noted in a 247 Sports article, the nation’s top-ranked rising senior defensive tackle, Marvin Wilson, is very interested in the University of Texas … but only if the Longhorns can win at least nine games in 2016.
“They have to win,” Wilson told 247 Sports. “That’s all they have to do. They have to win. I would say nine wins. If they can make it to nine wins, they would be in the discussion big time, especially as a kid that grew up watching Texas.”
That is one heck of a caveat. On a certain level, it’s understandable. The best prospects tend to flock to the top traditional programs where it is most likely that they’ll find success. That has always been Texas, until 2010, when the Horns followed a season that concluded with a BCS National Championship Game loss with a 5-7 campaign that spelled the end of the Garrett Gilbert era. Texas has won nine games just once since then, in 2012. A year later Mack Brown was walking away from the program, and Charlie Strong’s two teams have yet to put up a winning record.
Of course, the key phrase in that last sentence is “yet.” Strong has recruited well in both of his first two seasons, but particularly in 2016. There is talent to go around, and Texas has emerged as a dark horse bounce back candidate on the national scene, albeit one with a very tough schedule.
Then again, the most striking thing about Wilson’s demand isn’t the number of games he wants a team to win, it’s that he’s openly articulating a performance demand as a means of gaining his interest. That’s a move that screams of a very confident athlete who knows that he can make all the demands.
Kids demanding wins from grown men who coach them. What a time to be alive.