Colt McCoy – Quarterback for the Texas Longhorns

By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas

Lots of good stuff on the first day of practice down in Austin. I wasn't there, but I hear the No. 4 pre-season ranking for the Longhorns isn't to be ignored.

By the looks of this photo from mackbrown-texasfootball.com, Colt McCoy definitely has put on some muscle.

The entire photo gallery of the first day can be found HERE. Also, there is a rather lengthy transcript on Colt responding to questions. A few excerpts are below:

On working out this summer: I spent a lot of time in the weight room trying to put on some weight and get bigger so I can take a few more hits. You know you’re going to get rocked in the Big 12 so you have to be ready. I still feel comfortable and feel like I have the same speed.

On the team leadership: I feel like we have a lot of leaders on this team. We’re a team, everyone is going to speak up, everyone is going to play hard, there are definitely leaders on this team that people follow and look up to. They’re the older guys and when the older guys are doing right, the younger guys are going to follow them. We feel confident. We have made some mistakes, but we’re not focusing on that. We’re looking forward and staying positive and want to win games.

On comparing the first day this year versus last year: I’m definitely more comfortable. I’m excited because I know the potential that we have and the offensive line and receivers did great. I think overall for a first day we did really well. I definitely wasn’t as nervous as last year coming into this practice. I have the respect of my teammates and my coaches. It’s going to be a lot of fun this year.

You can see the entire transcript HERE on the official training camp site.

There's also a good article by Suzanne Halliburton at Statesman.com. She talks about Mack Brown making sure Colt's replacement (if needed) is ably prepared.

She quotes Brown as saying: "I want (the backup) to be playing in games that matter, when the game still is competitive, without it breaking our rhythm."

If you are from Arkansas State, read that as meaning you can put good money on Colt not taking a snap in the second half on Sept. 1 if there are at least 35 burnt orange points showing on the scoreboard.

I'll take that bet.