Texas Longhorns WR DeAndre McNeal suspended indefinitely

A little more two years after head coach Charlie Strong purged his program of numerous players who couldn’t follow his five core values, sophomore wide receiver DeAndre McNeal has been suspended indefinitely for violating team rules, according to Orangebloods.

The school confirmed the news with Horns247 shortly thereafter.

McNeal is not expected to be with the team when it begins practice this week and is back home in the Dallas area, which is not a positive sign for his long-term future with the program.

Strong took a similar tack with several other players during the 2014 season, suspending safety Josh Turner, wide receiver Daje Johnson, and offensive tackle Desmond Harrison.

Turner missed two games and Johnson missed four, but Harrison never returned to the team after he was forced to sit out the entire season.

A 6’2, 234-pounder from Mesquite, McNeal was a teammate of rising sophomore linebacker Malik Jefferson and committed to Texas on the same day. By the end of the process, McNeal was a consensus four-star prospect in the 2015 class and was ranked as the No. 20 athlete nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite.

After gaining a significant amount of weight upon his arrival, he was briefly moved from wide receiver to tight end during fall camp, but ended up back at wide receiver before appearing in 10 games on offense and special teams.

Against Oklahoma State, McNeal received one carry that went for nine yards. He also made a special teams tackle against Kansas State, but did not record a catch.

In the Orange and White game this spring, McNeal was targeted several times, but was unable to come up with any catches, as he was unable to control multiple passes that hit his hands.

This fall, McNeal was expected to compete with other big pass catchers like juniors Dorian Leonard, Lorenzo Joe, and Jake Oliver for a spot at inside receiver in Sterlin Gilbert’s offense.