Major snafu with Scott, Texas

Darrell Scott, the nation's top-ranked running back recruit, eventually selected Colorado over Texas because of concerns about whether he would learn enough to maximize his abilities under Major Applewhite, the Longhorns' newly installed RBs coach. At least, that's the New York Times' take on the situation.

Scott shared his thoughts with a Times reporter, who was granted exclusive access to the player's final deliberations in the recruiting process earlier this week. The story appeared in Thursday's editions. During the talk with his mother, Alexis Scott, the running back quickly narrowed his list of finalists to Texas and Colorado. But he chose Colorado, where assistant coach Darian Hagan is heading into his third season in charge of the Buffs' RBs and oversaw the entire recruiting process involving Scott.

Applewhite, a former quarterback who will be a RBs coach for the first time in 2008, joined Texas' staff on Jan. 16. Applewhite, 29, replaced Ken Rucker, who had coached RBs for more than two decades at the college level.

Scott cited Applewhite's perceived unfamiliarity with the position on multiple occasions during the deliberations, according to the Times. Some excerpts:

-- In sharing his concerns about whether Applewhite could develop him as a running back, Scott said: "The more time I thought about it, the more it scared me."

-- "I do need to learn from somebody," Scott said, referring to the nuances of the position. "I do need to know how to actually do footwork and everything."

-- After calling coaches from both schools to inform them of his decision, Scott uttered these words to Texas assistant coach Bobby Kennedy, the Longhorns' primary contact in the recruiting process: "Texas isn't the spot for me because of that move. That's it."

During his Wednesday news conference to announce his signing class, Texas coach Mack Brown made it clear that he considers Applewhite a recruiting asset, not a liability. He said the same thing applies to new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, 36, who joined the staff on Jan. 4.

"Major had recruited this state for Rice, and some for Alabama. So he didn't really jump in late. He just came in and knew ... he was on the run when he got here," Brown said. "And Will is just a worker. He jumped right in and took off. So I don't think we lost anything in the recruiting process with the new coaches."

Based on Scott's comments, he clearly thought otherwise.

_ Jimmy Burch