Observations from the spring-ending Texas practice

AUSTIN, Texas — The 15th and final spring practice for the Texas Longhorns took place on Saturday in front of fans at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium as head coach Steve Sarkisian opted against an Orange-White game for the second straight year due to depth issues along the offensive line, but the Longhorns did have a scrimmage portion of the open practice. hear it straight from the source at Texas Football Fan Day… got @CoachSark on the show 🤘🎙️ #HookEm pic. twitter.

com/xzZObYUGhx — LHN (Longhorn Network App) (@LonghornNetwork) April 18, 2026 Along the offensive line, Jackson Christian and Kaden Scherer were both out due to injuries as Trevor Goosby and Andre Cojoe dressed but did not participate as they continue their rehab from surgeries. Transfer Melvin Siani also dressed but did not participate. The theme continued across the team as Sarkisian and his staff took a cautious approach with other players returning from offseason surgeries, including quarterback Arch Manning, wide receivers Emmett Mosley V and Ryan Wingo, linebacker Ty’Anthony Smith, and safety Xavier Filsaime.

Quarterback Dia Bell only threw a few passes during routes against air, but didn’t participate in 7-on-7 or the full team periods, and Cam Coleman wasn’t on the scrimmage portion of practice, either. With the absences along the offensive line and some team work in thud tempo, evaluating the running game was difficult, especially because the defense generally tackled effectively in live play and populated the football well. Early enrollee linebacker Kosi Okpala was particularly impressive against the run as a sure tackler until redshirt freshman running back Michael Terry III broke a tackle.

With questions continuing to swirl about Terry’s best position, the San Antonio product took fifth-team reps during drills and generally struggled breaking ankle tackles with his high center of gravity. Early enrollee Derek Cooper scored one of the few touchdowns during the scrimmage portion on a short-yardage run. Texas freshman RB Derrek Cooper with a short TD run on Saturday pic.