The Short Cougar Life Of Colton Valencia

Near the beginning of camp, the Houston Cougar football program received a transfer from Texas A&M - a sophomore defensive back by the name of Colton Valencia. Valencia had played in all 12 games for the Aggies as a true freshman, and was petitioning the NCAA to allow him to play immediately without sitting out his transfer year. Houston's coaches reportedly liked his chances.

But before his appeal could even be settled, Valencia left the Cougars, according to Steve Campbell's twitter on Friday evening.

Four of Houston's top six defensive backs heading into the season are seniors (the other two are juniors), so Valencia certainly could have been a significant contributor down the road. But players that are choosing to transfer are usually doing so for a reason. It looks like maybe Valencia (who didn't even provide a reason  for his departure to head coach Kevin Sumlin) has some problems with commitment.

Houston Adds Hayes To Stable Of Running Backs

The running back spot for UH is quickly turning from a position of worry to a position of exceptional depth. Monday evening, the Cougars picked up a commitment from Blinn JC transfer Michael Hayes. Hayes had previously been committed to the University of South Florida, but didn't make it into school there, despite, in his words, "meeting the requirements".  So he re-opened his recruitment, expressing a desire to play in "a pro-style offense...an I-set". And while this is exactly the opposite of the offense Houston runs, Hayes ultimately chose to become a Cougar anyway.

Junior Bryce Beall is expected to be the starter at running back for Houston, while true freshman Xavier Brown was expected to be the primary backup. Hayes will likely push Brown for playing time, as will sophomore Chris Wilson and junior Justin Johnson.

Keenum Makes 2010 Walter Camp Watch List

To nobody’s surprise, Houston Cougars quarterback Case Keenum has been placed on watch for the Walter Camp Award, given to whomever is deemed to be the college football player of the year. Keenum is one of thirty athletes to be placed on the watch list, which includes both offensive and defensive players.

As this is the ‘Year of the Case’ already, expect plenty more awards/preseason honors to come.

Start Of Something Special? Coogs Open Fall Camp

The Houston Cougar football team opened camp on Friday, with the season opener against Texas State now less than a month away, and expectations on Cullen Boulevard higher than they've been in many, many years.

Andrea Adelson of ESPN had a write-up to mark the occasion, with some nuggets on the upcoming season. Adelson mentions Isaiah Thompson's switch from the defensive to the offensive line, the possible impact of newcomers Sammy Brown and Matangi Tonga, and the changes at the coordinators.

The highlight of Adelson's article, however, is coach Kevin Sumlin's quote on expectations.

Our guys know what the expectations are. We've expected to compete for the conference championship from the first day I got here. Hopefully, that conversation will continue every year. We're not running from that. Our guys have been in big games and realize that. We're not going to approach it much differently than we have since we first got here.

Steve Campbell of the Chron also has an article on the opening of camp, chipping in with some notes on personnel moves.

Highly-touted wide receiver recruit Jordan Jolly has apparently become an academic casualty, as has been rumored, and will be attending Navarro College. Even with the premature departures of L.J. Castile and A.J. Dugat, and now the loss of Jolly, the Cougars remain loaded at wide receiver both in the short- and long-term. Houston returns three receivers who topped 1,000 yards a year ago, and incoming freshmen DeAndre Perry and Darian Lazard look like future stars.

Sophomore safety Jeffery Lewis will be moving to running back, where he will provide some depth after the loss of Charles Sims for the year. Junior Bryce Beall will be the starter, true freshman Xavier Brown has drawn rave reviews from teammates and is expected to be the primary backup, and Lewis will split the remainder of the reps with sophomore Chris Wilson and junior utilityman Justin Johnson.

Campbell also quotes strength and conditioning coach Larry Jackson, who leads the team's summer workouts, and likes what he has seen so far.

We have more team chemistry than we've have since I've been here. We have more leadership than we've had since I've been here. I see some guys who are realizing how special we can be.

The expectations of a 'special' season abound. Last year, the Cougars built up expectations by beating the likes of Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, but couldn't always handle the added pressure that came along with those expectations, suffering unlikely losses at the hands of UTEP and Central Florida. This year, that pressure will be there from day one. How will this version of the Cougars handle the pressure? We're about to find out.