The attention at Big 12 media days is a sign of Texas' slide, writes Mike Finger of the Houston Chronicle.

The Longhorns used to draw the most attention at the annual event but others, such as TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin, garnered most of the attention this year. The key to changing that trend could be found in some of the young players on Charlie Strong's roster.

"Given that former coach Mack Brown's final couple of recruiting classes failed to reach his previous standards, UT's best hope for rediscovering its star power lies in its youth," Finger wrote. "If the next All-American isn't [Malik] Jefferson, it could be a freshman cornerback like Kris Boyd or Holton Hill, or a receiver like John Burt, or maybe even someone like redshirt freshman quarterback Jerrod Heard."

I couldn't agree more with Finger.

I like what Strong is doing at Texas, but the Longhorns are still at least a year away. The former Louisville coach made some foundational changes in Austin and is just starting to get his guys in the program. Once those guys mature and get older, UT will be on the road back to the top of the conference. But it is going to take some time, some bumps in the road and plenty of patience, particularly in 2015.