Texas Football: 3 notable nuggets from first day of spring practice

Sydir Mitchell moving well at his size

One of the most highly-anticipated new arrivals to the program for the Longhorns this spring is the former highly touted four-star recruit and true freshman defensive lineman Sydir Mitchell. The towering 6-foot-6 and 360-pound interior defensive lineman was someone that a lot of fans and media had their eye on during the winter conditioning program.

And while it sounded like Mitchell made some necessary strides to get his body right and ultimately start getting in good enough shape to compete in the defensive line rotation against Power Five competition week in and week out, he still had some improvement to make. That still seems to be the case early in spring practice.

A practice report from Joe Cook of Inside Texas on March 6 (paid content) mentioned that Mitchell “looked like a player who was already carrying” his weight well in the first spring practice. We heard a similar sentiment echoed during the latter stages of the winter strength and conditioning program in the last month or so.

Another practice report from Jeff Howe of Horns247 on March 6 (paid content) noted that Mitchell was moving well for his size. He was getting second-team reps along the interior defensive line such as rising junior Byron Murphy II and super senior T’Vondre Sweat on the first day of spring practice.

Mitchell will continue to be one of the early enrollees to watch in spring ball as he is one of the true freshman that is expected to contribute the most right away this fall.