Sam Khan Jr,  writing for ESPN:

But, still, it comes at a price. When tweets show a college coach’s interaction with a trainer or 7-on-7 coach, it validates them in the eyes of the players and raises eyebrows among high school coaches.

“In the state of Texas,” Hardeman said, “that’s a problem.”

It’s a reminder that Texas recruiting comes with some different unspoken rules than the primary grounds Fisher recruited at Florida State.

“That’s the way people operate in Florida,” Joseph said. “They don’t operate like that in Texas. I think he’s finding out more and more about that, too. You don’t necessarily have to meet with those people.”

Herman, with a few more years’ experience in the diplomacy of this Texas cold war — which he says helps him combat misperceptions — aims to educate the high school coaches who might have some hurt feelings.

“There is an element of ‘we’ve got to do business the way business is done,'” Herman said. “It’s not our job to change the way things are; it’s our job to find out who the influential people are in a young man’s life and make sure that we build relationships with them.”

This is a good dive into the intricacies of the recruiting game in this state. North Texas — for now? — does not seriously compete for the ESPN 300 guys. Still, keeping good relationships with coaches is an absolute must. Seth Littrell has a good reputation among coaches and Graham Harrell is the son of a long-time state HS coach so there is little danger of North Texas simply not knowing the hierarchy.

A little bird whispered into my ear that NT has a cool relationship with the 7v7 teams — this is simply a rumor and completely unverified, mind you — but that would make sense considering the staff’s respect for the way of doing business. Again, the rumor above is simply a rumor.