Twitter Tuesday: Texas, Miami, Nebraska, Cade Mays, Chip Kelly

In this week's Twitter Tuesday mailbag, National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell answers six questions, including whether or not Texas is ready to overtake Oklahoma next season.

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The simple answer is no. The longer answer is not yet, but give it another year or two. Oklahoma still has a head start on Tom Herman’s Texas team when it comes to winning and knowing how to win. That will take some time to overcome. Plus, Sooners backup quarterback Kyler Murray is no slouch.

Both teams return a lot of talent but, in my mind, Oklahoma is still the king of the Big 12 and is at least a couple years away from being unseated. I said when Herman was hired that he could win a Big 12 title in year three and I still think that’s possible.

This season wasn’t a fluke and I think, relatively speaking, The U is back. The Hurricanes have now won their division for the first time since joining the ACC and they have a head coach in Mark Richt who can recruit and can coach.

The problem? Being “back” at Miami is winning a national title and the Hurricanes are still a couple years away from that. I don't view the losses down the stretch to Pitt and Clemson as a sign of what’s to come, rather just part of the maturation process of a young team that needs to learn how to finish.

With the Early Signing Period, I think we are looking at a near rebuild at many schools with coaching changes but I wouldn’t be worried about it too much. Transitional classes are important but great teams are made in transition in year one and two of full recruiting classes and that’s what Scott Frost should be judged on. He will recruit well but this year of all years is tough to make that transition because of the Early Signing Period.

It seems Tennessee is out of the race for Cade Mays as his final three is Clemson, Georgia and Ohio State. I honestly always thought he’d end up back in the fold once the Vols hired a coach because of his love for Tennessee, but most of what I am hearing is about Clemson and how much he likes the Tigers. Would it stun me if he re-committed and signed with Tennessee? Yes. I think he ends up as a Clemson Tiger.

With 12 current commitments and a 3.5 average star rating, you could certainly see Tennessee in the national top 15 if the Vols continue to add similar talent. A 3.5 average star ranking is tough to keep or improve upon, but if they do we’re looking at the top 15 range for sure depending on if they can land a five-star or not. I think the worst you will see the Vols finish is in the 15-20 range.

This is a tough question because we really don’t know how good Chip Kelly will be at UCLA, but we do know how good Clay Helton can be at USC. So do you side with the guy who just won the Pac-12 title or the guy who owned the Pac-12 a few years back? I’m going to say that Kelly is very successful at UCLA and that he puts a ton of pressure on Helton to take the next step with his program but it won’t be for a few years. I think eventually Helton folds, but it won’t be quick.