With three consecutive offensive line classes that figure
to inject the Texas football program with talent and depth over the next few
seasons, it would be easy to say the 2012 offensive line class won’t need to be
a huge priority. In college football however, a team can never be too deep
along the offensive line and thus the Longhorns have already started to
evaluate some of the state’s top 2012 line prospects, including a sure-fire
Division I prospect in Edna’s Mac Long.
Early recruiting starts for the best of the best in
Texas, but when you’re a top prospect on the offensive line things can get
started even earlier. That’s the boat Long is in right now as the 6-foot-4,
275-pounder already has verbal offers in tow from Houston and Texas Tech with
interest from several of the region’s top schools, including Texas.
Long, who measured at 6-4.5 at a recent Houston camp,
said getting the verbal offers has been a nice surprise this summer. Edna head
coach Mike Pierce told Long he had something in store for him prior to his
recent visit to Houston, and his head coach was right.
“I went up there and Coach Pierce said the coaches had
told him they had a few surprises for me and it was a big surprise,” Long said.
“When I got home I called them and they verbally offered.”
It wasn’t too long after that when Long, who had 37
pancake blocks and didn’t allow a sack as a sophomore starter, picked up his
first Big 12 offer as Texas Tech came calling. Long said he was certainly
surprised to hear from the Red Raiders, let alone get an offer that will become
a written offer when Long and the rest of the 2012 class can begin receiving
official, written offers on Sept. 1.
“About four days later I got in contact with the Tech
coaches,” Long said. “I called them and they had an offer for me. It’s been an
amazing experience so far.”
One school that hasn’t verbally offered Long to this
point is Texas, but the Longhorns are certainly interested at this stage of the
game. Long’s coaches got a visit this spring from Texas assistant coach Oscar
Giles, who invited Long to camp this summer.
Long accepted the invitation and attended Texas’ June 13
minicamp. He isn’t getting overexcited about the interest from Texas, but Long
said it’s good to know that he’s on the radar.
“Coach Giles came down to the school in the spring and
invited me to the camp,” Long said. “I went and it was a great experience. To
even get interest from a place like Texas lets me know that I can play at that
level. It’s going to be fun to see what kind of interest they have going
forward.”
Long said at this point in the process he’s wide open
when it comes to naming favorites, but he does have three that standout. In
addition to the Longhorns, Long also favors Texas A&M and Texas Tech.
As far the Longhorns go, Long said he likes the fact that
Texas is as much of a consistent winner as you’ll find in the country.
“Texas plays great ball,” Long said. “They’re good all
the time.”
Long also likes what he’s seen from the Aggies and the
Red Raiders as well. He’s visited Tech for a camp and he took a visit to
College Station for the Aggies’ linemen camp the weekend of the 7-on-7 state
tournament.
“Texas A&M is a college town,” Long said. “That’s a
town I like. Texas Tech plays good ball and they run a good offense – I like
the spread.”
A physical lineman with good feet, Long said he’s
comfortable playing in the spread just as much as he is playing in a downhill
running scheme. Long said he doesn’t have a preference as to what scheme he
blocks in at the next level because he said the Edna coaches do a good job of
teaching their linemen how to block a variety of different schemes.
He also continues to work on his versatility, which could
up his value tremendously as a prospect.
“I like to do both because my team, we run the spread and
we pound the ball,” Long said. “I’m working on my technique and my flexibility
right now.”
This fall Edna will make be moving into a new district as
they will play in District 14-2A Division I in the new split division alignment
in Class 2A. Long said he and his teammates have their sights set high and
despite having to potentially face Class 2A heavyweights like Daingerfield and
Newton in the postseason, the Cowboys’ goals for 2010 are crystal clear.
“I really hope we make it state – I think that’s
everybody’s goal,” Long said. “We want to make the playoffs, for sure, and we
want to demoralize people – not just beat them.”
