Bevo’s Daily Roundup: Texas governor confirms meeting with ADs, will move forward with 50 percent stadium capacity

Last week, we noted how multiple outlets reported on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s meeting with the state’s 12 FBS athletic directors on potential stadium capacity limits this season.

The second-term Republican governor confirmed that meeting on Tuesday, the Austin American-Statesman reports. But the meeting was more than that, Abbott also said. “It includes more than just the seating strategy,” Abbott said, per the Statesman’s report. “It includes the way people will go about the process of entering stadiums. They’ll include things such as avoiding large gathering areas within stadiums and certain other strategies.”

That’s certainly good news. Football, it seems, is almost upon us.

WHAT THE WISE MEN ARE SAYING ABOUT THE LONGHORNS

Austin American-Statesman: #WeAreOne: All kinds of Texas exes show support for current players pushing for change

Austin American-Statesman: The Dotted Line: Three questions facing Texas in the 2021 recruiting cycle

Dallas Morning News: Who’s looking out for college athletes during the coronavirus pandemic? Certainly not the NCAA

247Sports: Chris Simms rips Mike Gundy for ‘clueless’ behavior

247Sports: Texas Morning Brew: Preparing for USF (without Charlie Strong)

247Sports: Thoughts on Texas commits and targets in Top247 update

247Sports: Tom Herman, Texas refuse to stop stockpiling quarterback talent

247Sports: Texas aims to maintain a physical edge by maximizing practice time

247Sports: Tom Herman hopes presence of Mike Yurcich helps time management

247Sports: Tom Herman counting on culture to carry Texas through offseason

ICYMI IN BURNT ORANGE NATION

The Longhorn Republic discusses the proposed changes

Oklahoma State RB Chuba Hubbard threatens to sit out due to Mike Gundy’s OAN shirt

Interim Texas president pledges to listen to requests from students and athletes, devise plan

WHAT WE’RE READING

Banner Society: The secrecy surrounding Baylor’s 2016 investigation may be over

SBNation: Every Disney hotel NBA teams are staying in, explained

SBNation: Silver says players who don’t return for restart face no penalty

NEWS ACROSS THE LONGHORN REPUBLIC AND BEYOND

• OrangeBloods reports that the number of positive COVID-19 cases among the Texas Longhorns locker room has increased to nine. From Sports Illustrated’s subsequent report: “It is worth noting that underclassmen are currently going through the same “onboarding” process that the upperclassmen went through last week and the university expected to see some positive test results. Last week two players tested positive for the novel coronavirus, with a third testing positive for antibodies indicating a previous infection.”

• Texas football alumni Dan Neil, a former offensive lineman, and Kenneth Sims, a defensive lineman, are both included on the 2021 College Football Hall of Fame ballot, the Austin American-Statesman reports. From the Statesman: “Neil was a four-year starter on the offensive line from 1993-96. A finalist for the Outland Trophy, Neil started 49 games and became a first-team All-American as a junior and senior. He was part of UT’s Southwest Conference title team in 1995 and the first Big 12 championship squad in 1996. Neil was a third-round pick by the Denver Broncos and won back-to-back Super Bowls in 1998 and ’99. Sims was a two-time consensus All-American and won the 1981 Lombardi Trophy, awarded annually to the nation’s best lineman. Sims was named the Longhorns’ team MVP in 1980 and ’81, becoming the first UT player to earn that distinction in back to back years since Chris Gilbert (1966-68). Sims set a then-school record with 23 tackles for loss in 1981 and holds the school career record for most forced fumbles (15). He was selected first overall by the New England Patriots in the 1982 draft and played eight seasons in the NFL.”

• 247Sports reports that redshirt freshman receiver Kennedy Lewis is back on the Forty Acres after he was suspended for the spring semester. From 247Sports: “A source confirmed to Horns247 that Lewis, a redshirt freshman, is back with the Longhorns after serving a suspension during the spring semester. Lewis is listed on the school’s official online roster after being removed for the spring and the source said Lewis was expected to arrive in town by Monday to go through the on-boarding process before beginning voluntary on-campus workouts on June 22. Horns247’s Chip Brown reported in the March 5 edition of The Eyes of Texas that Lewis was suspended ‘not only from the football team but from school.’”