Texas Longhorns News: WR coach frontrunner, Junior Day visitors added

On Jan. 16, we are starting a new daily Texas Longhorns news segment to cover some of the bigger topics across the entire athletic department. From the football program all the way to the No. 8 women’s golf team, we’ll have you covered for your fix of daily Longhorns news at Hook’em Headlines.

Starting off this week, we have plenty of news coming from football, basketball, and tennis. Men’s and women’s tennis and basketball are in for busy weeks, each at different points in their respective seasons.

And the football program is looking to put the finishing touches on the roster and coaching staff after the conclusion of the Alamo Bowl a few weeks ago.

Before we know it, spring ball will be here and the focus will be firmly on the 2023 season for the Longhorns.

Chris Jackson’s candidacy for the WR coach job headlines the Texas Longhorns news for Jan. 16

• Multiple reports coming out of the weekend (including from Inside Texas) are pointing to the Jacksonville Jaguars’ first-year wide receivers coach Chris Jackson as the leading candidate to replace Brennan Marion on Texas’ staff. Jackson reportedly has yet to interview officially for the position. But most of the buzz at the moment favors Jackson over the likes of Joel Filani, Ra’Shaad Samples, Holmon Wiggins, etc. as the top candidate for the job.

• Texas added quite a few visitors to the list for Junior Day on Jan. 21. Some of the top recruits on the visitor list for the Longhorns’ Junior Day next weekend are five-star running back Jerrick Gibson, five-star wide receiver Micah Hudson, and four-star edge rusher Zina Umeozulu.
• Yahoo Sports projects Texas men’s hoops to rank at No. 7 in this week’s AP Poll after going undefeated in two games last week.

https://twitter.com/TexasWBB/status/1614775328555024385

• Texas women’s hoops is starting to heat up, with two straight wins over top 25 opponents in the last week. On Jan. 15, the Longhorns pulled off the upset of the No. 15 Iowa State Cyclones by a comfortable 15-point margin.

https://twitter.com/TexasWTN/status/1614730625872965632

• Top-ranked Texas women’s tennis got the 2023 campaign underway over the weekend with a successful three-day run, including eight wins at the Miami Invitational on Jan. 15 alone. No. 8 Texas men’s tennis also scored a 5-2 match win over the No. 15 Florida Gators in its regular season opener over the weekend.

News around the Big 12

• There looks to be more drama revolving around the release of the Big 12 football schedule for the 2023 season. The UCF Knights athletic director reportedly said last week that Jan. 17 is when the Big 12 schedule will be released.

The TCU Horned Frogs are reportedly looking at Arkansas Razorbacks offensive coordinator Kendal Briles as a candidate to replace the reigning Broyles Award winner Garrett Riley. Last week, Riley took the offensive coordinator position with the Clemson Tigers.

The Oklahoma Sooners and Texas headline the top teams in the latest women’s college hoops weekly Big 12 power rankings

from Heartland College Sports.

What we’re interested in around FanSided

• The West Virginia Mountaineers continue to struggle to beat the Sooners in Norman. OU men’s hoops won a seventh straight contest over the Mountaineers last weekend.

https://twitter.com/MattVerderame/status/1615000521424740355

• FanSided’s Matt Verderame previews what will be a very emotional Divisional Round matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals for next weekend.