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Texas Longhorns coaches on the road with end of dead period

Get ready folks -- the next three weeks are going to be a wild ride.

By Wescott Eberts
Shane Buechele (middle) with Texas coaches on Thursday
Shane Buechele (middle) with Texas coaches on Thursday
via @BGShaneBuechele

There are only 20 days left until National Signing Day 2016 and the Texas Longhorns coaches are out in force on Thursday with the end of the NCAA-mandated dead period.

Ahead of a massive visit weekend that will feature nearly 20 prospects making their way to Austin, tight ends coach Jeff Traylor kicked off the big day by announcing his first destination as Nacogdoches to meet with the nation's No. 15 prospect and No. 1 safety, Brandon Jones, the top target on the board at the need position.

Wide receivers coach Jay Norvell, who is still out recruiting for Texas despite declining to comment about his future in Austin, stopped by to visit with Southlake Carroll cornerback commit Obi Eboh and presumably also spoke with fellow Southlake Carroll target Lil'Jordan Humphrey. The versatile athlete is down to Texas and Cal and will commit on January 30.

Meanwhile, Texas head coach Charlie Strong, new offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert, and new offensive line coach/running game coordinator Matt Mattox headed to the Arlington area to meet with early enrollee quarterback Shane Buechele:

Those coaches may remain in the Metroplex to make other visits.

Mattox, for one, was excited about the opportunity for work for the state's flagship program:

One of his primary targets, Kansas State offensive line commit Zach Shackelford, will visit this weekend and hosted several important visitors of his own on Thursday morning:

Strong will reportedly have his in-home visit with Shackelford and his family on Thursday evening.

Priority targets typically receive visits on the first day after the dead period, so defensive line coach Brick Haley will reportedly be in his Louisiana stomping grounds pursuing key defensive tackle targets D'Andre Christmas-Giles and Stephon Taylor.

For running backs Tommie Robinson, that means a visit to Beaumont Central to see Arkansas running back commit Devwah Whaley, according to multiple reports. He'll likely meet with Katy running back Kyle Porter and George Ranch running back Darius Anderson in the near future as well, if he doesn't do so on Thursday.

And though it seemed as if Duncanville defensive tackle Marcel Southall fell off the radar after he declined to set up an official visit to Texas in January, the coaches will reportedly stop by to visit with him on Thursday as well. The secondary recruiter for Southall is linebackers coach/recruiting coordinator Brian Jean-Mary, who recruits that part of the Metroplex for the Horns.

[Update: 2:00 p.m. ET]: The Texas coaches also made a stop in Arlington to visit with Bowie offensive guard commit Tope Imade:

[Update: 2:00 p.m. ET]: Jean-Mary stopped by to see Stanford defensive tackle pledge Mike Williams, who is expected to take an official visit to Texas this month:

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