It's Official: John Brantley Decommits Texas, Now Headed To Florida

by Peter Bean on Dec 20, 2006 4:46 PM CST in Texas Longhorns Recruiting

Don't say I didn't warn you...

Just two days ago, I said the writing was on the wall. The talking points changed, we learned about the high school sweetheart was headed to Gainesville - everything but an official decommitment, at least if you were reading what I was reading between the lines.

And so it goes. It's not the first time a five star quarterback recruit has switched commitments on Texas, and if we're being honest, it probably won't be the last. These are 18 year old kids making the decisions here, and 18 year old kids change their minds every six and a half minutes.

At least Brantley's parents made him pull the switch in December rather than, say, signing day. Back when the pathetic Ryan Perrilloux saga unfolded, I wrote on our old site:

Ryan Perilloux, the prized quarterback recruit who made a soft (verbal) commitment to Texas, has signed with LSU. Yet another reason why it doesn?t pay off to spend much time and energy following the crazy recruiting world. The rumors and speculation are fun, but the players change their minds a hundred times and the only thing that counts is where they end up.

That's one of the (many) reasons why this site is not heavily focused on recruiting rumors. We do believe firmly that recruiting matters, but we're far more interested in who actually commits than in tracking the many back and forths that dominate the discussions of other Texas sites. We did our best to keep tabs on the Brantley situation, and even called this one right, but each time we insisted the same thing: don't panic needlessly. This, too, shall pass.

And so it shall. Brantley's not coming. Chiles is. Colt's already here. Sherrod Harris has impressed more than a few folks on the 40 Acres. There's no such thing as too much quarterback depth, but we'll live without Brantley. Really, we will.

So, good luck, Johnny boy. It's been real. It's been fun. It coulda been real fun.

--PB--

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Comments

No integrity?

If that's all the integrity he has then we don't want him anyway. Good luck Mr. Peril...oops I mean Brantley.

Hook Em!

by Margaritaking on Dec 20, 2006 4:54 PM CST reply actions

Mmphmmm mmmph mmmphmpfmmm

That's PHF, eating his words.

Shit.

Welcome to the 40 Acres, John Chiles.

Hello, my new favorite player, Sherrod Harris.

Starting in January 2007, just another Limey Longhorn

by patienthornsfan on Dec 20, 2006 4:58 PM CST reply actions

Colt and Sherrod combined...

...may not rank as high as Brantley, but at least they aren't pussy-whipped.

by Longhorn13 on Dec 20, 2006 5:05 PM CST reply actions

No need to slam the guy

As PB says, he's handled this with a lot more integrity than Perri-loser. I think he's made a bad decision, he would have been a much better fit here at Texas, and will likely not see playing time at Florida for years yet, but he may still end up being a star in the NFL in spite of the switch.

I for one am not going to bad-mouth him because he changed his mind. I think it's a bit hypocritical to call him the best thing ever when he's a Horn, then trash him when he decides to be a Reptile.

Starting in January 2007, just another Limey Longhorn

by patienthornsfan on Dec 20, 2006 5:09 PM CST reply actions

My only problem

Is that he committed early in the first place. That affects how Mack Brown recruits elsewhere (Ryan Mallet, anyone?). For all that we heard about the "Brantley word" being so solid, blah, blah, blah, to decommit is shameful. If you're not 100%, don't commit early.

I'm okay with these kids being unsure about what they want to do, but the early committing, then de-committing, is crap.

It raises a question about Mack's strategy, too. All this pressure to get kids to say "Yes, Texas" the second they're eligible means you're going to have situations like these from time to time. Or, frequently, even.

by Peter Bean on Dec 20, 2006 5:13 PM CST reply actions

Mallet's not the issue

Mack gave Mallet his shot, and he didn't pull the trigger. So Mack went to his 2nd option, Brantley. Now, if Brantley had said he wasn't sure, Mack might have gone to his 3rd option, but I don't really know who that would have been. Jarret Lee? GJ Kinne? Not really guys I would have been happy taking.

We GOT more guys than we lost by applying the deadline strategy. We lost Mallet, Creer and Richetti Jones, and now we've lost Brantley, tho not due to the deadline pressure. Frankly, I'm fine with losing the first three, and I'm not crushed to lose Brantley. Still one heckuva class, still definetly top 5.

I do agree, tho, that we need an early signing period like we have in basketball and volleyball. Commit, and move on.

Starting in January 2007, just another Limey Longhorn

by patienthornsfan on Dec 20, 2006 5:22 PM CST up reply actions

I agree

It is a one sided thing, because schools can't decommit from players, but players can decommit from schools. I think a Summer signing period would help this problem.

by Wells on Dec 21, 2006 12:05 PM CST up reply actions

myspace

Johnnie's MySpace page is EXPLODING with pissed off Texas fans and happy gator fans. note the texas background is still up and he's got a million pictures of himself in a UT hat.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=48357512

by billyzane on Dec 20, 2006 5:43 PM CST reply actions

Take a look at that girlfriend

By no means ugly, but she pales in comparison to the ten tons of twang waiting at Texas for him. Lame sauce, good luck backing up Tebow like Perriloux is for Russel.

Know why the OU kid was crying? Brian Van Gorder had just eaten his family.

by SuperBentley on Dec 20, 2006 11:21 PM CST up reply actions

He Has Set

His profile as private so you can't view his profile without being added by him as a friend; I guess this is because of all the Texas fans sending their warmest sentiments to him.

by Top Jimmy on Dec 20, 2006 11:54 PM CST up reply actions

Yep

Deleted his facebook account.

by whoopspat on Dec 21, 2006 2:57 AM CST up reply actions

Not a shocker

hopefully Mack can steal someone from another school.

It seems like Mack is always the one getting his kids picked off.
I'd like to see him target some Aggie and OU recruits.

Cats and dogs sleeping together.

by EYESofBEVO on Dec 20, 2006 6:28 PM CST reply actions

QB's

Is there anyone at all we could go after at this point?

Texas '11

by rutaj04 on Dec 20, 2006 6:49 PM CST reply actions

no need to

you only take another QB if you can get someone on the talent level of Brantley. You've got Colt for 3 more years, plus Sherrod and Chiles.

Get a QB next year.

by billyzane on Dec 20, 2006 6:53 PM CST up reply actions

You beat me!

by boomhauer25 on Dec 20, 2006 6:54 PM CST up reply actions

Well, Colt, for one

He might turn out okay. There's also Sherrod Harris redshirting this year and we have a verbal from John Chiles. We're still in great shape at QB.

by boomhauer25 on Dec 20, 2006 6:54 PM CST up reply actions

I'll admit it

I was totally naive about the entire situation.

But now that it's history, I think it might actually be a blessing in disguise. Mack can have an openly honest QB competition between Colt, Chiles, Harris, and any other QBs that come along without having to worry about playing his 5-star stud (ala Chris Simms).

by orangeblood1 on Dec 20, 2006 7:16 PM CST reply actions

No more one dimensional qb's for zone read offens

After watching our offense the last of couple of years and watching it this year, I am ok with losing this guy. We do not need another one dimensional qb. Our current offensive strategy and personnel is based around the zone read play and a qb that can run it effectively. Brantley and Colt can not do that. I can stomach Colt being back there, but as long as he is at qb the smaller running backs like J Charles and selvin young will suffer.

So either we stick with Colt, which I recommend, or we get bigger stronger runners who can break tackles and run effectively when the defense keys on them ie Chris Ogb.

If by chance Colt gets hurt again and Sherrod or John Chiles comes in we will once again see a true 2 dimension qb and J Charles will flourish.

This is just one man's opinion.

by BigTex on Dec 20, 2006 9:09 PM CST reply actions

Disappointment Indeed

It stinks that Brantley has decided to go to Florida. I am truly disappointed in his decision. However, could the final issue have been the offensive scheme. If you were honest with yourself and considered the choice, he had, of playing in Urban Meyers scheme versus Greg Davis'. His decision seems like a no brainer.....head to Gainesville.

by utfan1970 on Dec 20, 2006 9:19 PM CST reply actions

Just more of the same......

Chris Leak
Kyle Wright
Kirby Freeman
Rhett Bomar
Bobby Reid
Chase Daniel
Mark Sanchez
Ryan Perrilloux
Jevan Snead
Matthew Stafford
Mitch Mustain
Ryan Mallett
and now John Brantley

ALL told Mack that Greg Davis is the wrong man for them to entrust their college/pro careers. How many marqueee QB's have to thumb their noses at Mack before he admits he needs someone new to recruit and develop our quarterbacks?

--- We have pansies scheduling our patsies. ---

by HornChamps on Dec 20, 2006 9:34 PM CST reply actions

Where you there when they said that to Mac?

You forgot to add Major Applewhite, Chris Simms and VINCE YOUNG to that list.

by Wells on Dec 21, 2006 12:03 PM CST up reply actions

QB's

3 out of 13...don't really like the odds. I'm not saying its Mack. But Greg Davis' inability to call a game is what is killing us. I know the offense was loaded with VY, but come on I could call that game.

by utfan1970 on Dec 21, 2006 3:49 PM CST up reply actions

You are a moron

no team gets all of those those players, that is the way it is. 3 of 13 means that we have had great QBs during the entire time Mac has been here, which is something that only about 1 or 2 schools can say.

by Wells on Dec 23, 2006 1:42 PM CST up reply actions

Rumor has it

that Mitch Mustain may still consider a transfer. His mother wanted him to attend Texas. He as been in Nutt's dog house and yanked as a starter since some comments he made negative to Nutt were published in a book. He would have to sit a year (red shirt) but still have 3 years left.

by texas2ark on Dec 20, 2006 10:32 PM CST reply actions

distance?

all of a sudden distance became the reason he changed his mind. come on, the distance stayed
the same.
these big -headed teenagers need to act more
responsibly than this. you can't believe a word
they say until signing day. i hope he gets his
redshirt year which was important before.
oh well, i thought i did not need another reason
to hate the florida schools (Univ of Florida, Florida State, and the jail and bailbondsmen's
favorite Miami.) I predict Jonnyboi will never
come close to winning a national championship.
I hope his girlfriend has lots of kleenex!!

i still can't believe we won!!

by ut1ou2 on Dec 20, 2006 11:29 PM CST reply actions

What's Changed

My initial reaction was to be ticked off at Brantley. As I think about it more, I think about what new information Brantley has and I don't blame Brantley so much for his decision:

a. The Horns, who had previously tended to adjust their offense to fit their personnel, pretty much kept with the zone read offense. This is an offense where the QB is going to get hit. It is one thing for a big, strong, durable QB like Vince Young to run this offense; it is another for guys that are more like McCoy's and Brantley's size. Further, instead of handing the ball off to running backs in a power running game, we had the QB run the ball a fair number of times in a red zone situation because we don't usually use a power running game. Accordingly, the probability of a QB getting hurt or having a career ending injury in the current Texas offense is higher than I would have estimated at the beginning of the year.

Colt McCoy had a better year than was expected. Accordingly, the probability of being a 2 year or less starter is higher was expected.
A lot of freshmen QBs started a lot of games in fairly high profile schools like Georgia and Arkansas. Accordingly, the prospect of not playing for a while probably seems worse than it did at the beginning of the year.
UT's pass defense was worse than expected. As a QB recruit, I would want to practice against the best pass defense I could find. UT was unexpectedly poor statistically in pass defense. That's a negative.

Finally, while I like Mack Brown getting people to commit early, I think it does increase the probability of people changing their mind because of new information or otherwise. I would take this trade-off, but sometimes we are going to be disappointed.

Anyway, I wish Brantley well and hope everything works out well for him.

And I hope the Longhorns give a lot of thought in the off season to migrating to a more pro-style offense with a more power-focused rushing game.

by JM @ Burnt Orange Nation on Dec 21, 2006 7:03 AM CST reply actions

Oh well

You win some, you lose some. I honestly thought that of all the people in this class, Brantley would honor his word and end up at Texas.

My thoughts:
It's a hit that we lose Brantley. Dude is a good QB and his talent is going to shine in Urban Meyer's offense.
JM hit the nail on the head. Brantley probably saw that Colt was hurt due to the scheme and didn't want to follow that same career path. Can't blame him, though I think that might be a little naive.
I can't say that I am upset with John because he chose to change and was at least forthcoming with his decision. I agree with PB on that if he commits he should honor, but at the same time, he's still in high school. My Sr. year I was still trying to figure out how I wanted to style my hair. It changed every week. This is a much more important decision.

PHF, we stood tall amongst all the negativity saying that John would come to the 40 acres. Oh well. But I am with you, Sherrod Harris: my new Favorite Longhorn. I was SERIOUSLY hoping he would get a chance anyway. Now it looks like he's going to have a better shot.

If it weren't for physics and law enforcement, I'd be unstoppable.

by GoHorns on Dec 21, 2006 7:28 AM CST reply actions

On another note

John Chiles, the other QB Texas recruited had this to say:

""It's not even really a commitment anymore," he said. "It's more of a countdown to the next national championship."

Read the entire article over at Rivals.com. Good stuff.

If it weren't for physics and law enforcement, I'd be unstoppable.

by GoHorns on Dec 21, 2006 7:49 AM CST up reply actions

How was Colt hurt due to the scheme?

What offense does not run a QB sneak on very short yardage?
Florida runs a lot with their QBs. Myers offense is based on short passes and option runs.

by Wells on Dec 21, 2006 12:02 PM CST up reply actions

You're right

I didn't represent my comments the best way that I meant them. Focus on the later comment: "though I think that might be a little naive"

To the point, I think that he might have seen McCoy running a bit more than he wanted and might have thought that could lead to injury on his part, too. Pure conjecture.

For the record, I like the spread offense scheme that Greg Davis uses. I just wish he were a little more flexible with it at times.

If it weren't for physics and law enforcement, I'd be unstoppable.

by GoHorns on Dec 21, 2006 12:28 PM CST up reply actions

I agree about GD

His lack of flexibility is trying at times.

I think Brantly saw the QB at UT win Freshman of the year and the QB at Florida be a glorified RB and decided he had a better chance at Florida. Both offenses run more than Brantly probably wants to.

by Wells on Dec 21, 2006 2:48 PM CST up reply actions

Florida recruits

don't come to Texas. They say they'd like to, but in the end, they always end up in Gainesville or Tallahassee.

by BrooklynHorn on Dec 21, 2006 11:26 AM CST reply actions

Dont need any more QBs right now anyway

With Colt around for 3 more years and Harris and Chiles, UT has all the QBs it needs right now. You really cant expect to be 4 deep in top QBs - if they have the talent, they are going to go somewhere they can start for at least 2 years (as Snead saw the writing on the wall). Hopefully, we can use the scholarships we have to attract some other 4/5 star athletes but the 2007 commits UT has now are impressive. My concern is who will be our defensive coordinator. Anybody here anything?

by centexhornsfan on Dec 21, 2006 1:38 PM CST reply actions

"Colt was hurt due to the scheme "

Excuse me, but what a load of crap. Colt was hurt on a spear while executing a QB sneak, if I recall correctly. What does that have to do with the offensive scheme? I see drop back, pro-style QB's taking a lot more vicious hits on blitzes than Vince ever took running the zone read.

Face it, getting a kid from Ocala to come to Texas was a long shot. He was probably just caught up in all of the national championship euphoria and made an initial decision that became unwise, due to geography.

And as for the list of QB's who passed on Texas because of our offense, that is a bunch of bunk as well. I am sure the presence of a Vince Young, who was expected to be QB last year as well, had a lot to do with many of the QB's looking elsewhere over the past few years, i.e., Bomar, Perriloux, etc.

by jwill on Dec 21, 2006 2:51 PM CST reply actions

Reply

If we had a pro-style power rushing game, instead of the zone read, then in the red zone I would expect our running backs to be more productive. This year we were great at moving the chains but in the red zone our running game wasn't particularly effective and we ran more QB sneaks than I would like. Maybe Lokey being hurt didn't help. But if you can give the ball to your 260 pound 3rd string tailback why not let him bang heads on the goal line rather than risking your QB being hurt when you know depth at QB is an issue? If your 260 pounder isn't good at short yardage then he needs to move to defensive end; if he is good then give him the ball.

I liked the power rushing tandem of Benson and Matthews. I think we would be better off going in that direction compared to a one back set. People who are much more knowledgable than I am, like Dan Neil, seem to think we are making a mistake by not having a more power oriented rushing game as well.

I agree that drop back, pro-style QBs take a lot more vicious hits on blitzes than Vince Young took running the zone read. Vince was incredibly good at making people miss and not taking direct hits. That isn't my point. All things being equal, I equal I think QB's are likely to take more hits running our current offense than running a pro style offense.

I think if we don't have depth at QB then exposing the QB as much as we do is a mistake. And given normal college turnover and our lack of substitution at QB since the Simms-Applewhite days I expect we will generally tend to have a lack of experienced, proven depth at QB.

I agree that most big name QBs who passed on Texas recently did so because of Vince Young as well. I never argued to the contrary. My speculation was specificly related to why maybe we ought to cut Brantley some slack.

by JM @ Burnt Orange Nation on Dec 21, 2006 5:55 PM CST up reply actions