Physical transformations from Ty’Anthony Smith, Brandon Baker catch Steve Sarkisian’s eye

It’s a typical question posed to coaches during preseason camp: who are some of the guys who have benefitted from summer strength and conditioning ahead of real football practices? For Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian on Wednesday, two players quickly came to mind.

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“Two guys that I just saw right now and I just mentioned this to them coming off the field that come to mind because I just said it to them is Brandon Baker and Ty’Anthony Smith ,” Sarkisian said.

Baker, a true freshman early enrollee from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei, was ranked as the No. 34 overall prospect in the 2024 On3 Industry Ranking. When he signed with Texas, the Longhorn football program announced Baker as 6-foot-4, 288 pounds. Texas now lists him at 6-foot-4, 315 pounds.

Smith, also a true freshman early enrollee, comes from Jasper (Texas). Texas flipped Smith, the No. 375 overall prospect in the 2024 On3 Industry Ranking, from Texas A&M late in the 2024 recruiting cycle.

On3 has Smith at 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds on his recruiting profile. Texas called Smith 215 pounds at his signing and now notes him at 6-foot-1, 220 pounds.

Smith earned praise from Tashard Choice during the course of Thursday’s practice and from Sarkisian himself on Wednesday for his on-field effort and his off-field work.

“I asked Ty’Anthony how much weight have you put on since you’ve got here and he said a little over 20 pounds,” Sarkisian said. “He looks really, really good for a guy coming in from Jasper mid-year to where he is now. It shows. He’s playing really good football.”

Those were the first two that came to mind, but Sarkisian mentioned others have worked to get into great physical shape. While two freshmen were the first to be mentioned by Sarkisian, a fifth-year senior was also brought up.

“There’s a bunch of guys I could touch on, but those two guys stood out to me most notably because I saw them right there coming off the field,” Sarkisian said. “I think Jahdae (Barron) looks really good too. He’s put on good weight. He looks physical. His is definitely noticeable as well.”

With a roster of 100-plus players, Sarkisian doesn’t always like to play the “who looks good” game so as not to leave anyone worthy of mention left out. However, when asked for a few more on Wednesday, some of Texas’ second-year skill position players were brought up by Sarkisian as having made physical advancements.

“( DeAndre Moore ), Johntay (Cook) , (Ryan) Niblett , all those guys in year two always look a little bit better,” Sarkisian said. “ Manny Muhammad , for sure.”

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The Horns continue their preseason training camp on Friday night as they look to build off summer physical development and parlay it into football success.

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