When Mikey Grandy picked Texas over UCLA last December, the College of San Mateo transfer was viewed as someone with the potential to make an impact along the offensive line.

Unfortunately, Grandy’s career with the Longhorns has ended before it ever officially began.

Tom Herman told Kevin Dunn and Chad Hastings during a Wednesday afternoon during an interview on Austin’s 104.9 FM The Horn that Grandy has been medically disqualified and will not play for the Longhorns. Grandy missed most of spring practice with a concussion, an injury that Herman said contributed to Grandy being forced to hang up his cleats.

“The doctor said it’s not smart for (Grandy) to try to continue to play football,” Herman said. “He’s going to continue here at the University of Texas on scholarship, get his degree and we wish him the best.”

Grandy, a sophomore who arrived on the Forty Acres with three seasons of eligibility remaining, entered spring practice as someone the Longhorns were counting on to help out right away. With only nine healthy scholarship linemen heading into spring practice, Herman viewed Grandy as someone who could immediately impact things up front upon arrival.

“He’s got to play right away,” Herman said after Grandy signed his National Letter of Intent.

With Patrick Hudson recovering from a knee injury and unable to get into the mix until the last week of spring practice, Grandy’s concussion forced the Longhorns to go through the bulk of spring practice with only eight able bodies. Now that Grandy’s fate is known, the Longhorns are back to where they would have been had Grandy never signed with the program.

That’s a shame considering Herman had high hopes for Grandy, a former mixed martial arts fighter who was a late bloomer in junior college.

“I think the future is bright, especially knowing we got Mikey,” Herman said of the offensive line last December.

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Texas has Hudson back and ready to roll for preseason practice. Along with getting Elijah Rodriguez back from an ankle injury that put him on the shelf for the entire 2017 regular season, the Longhorns are otherwise healthy up front with fall camp scheduled to begin Aug. 3.

Grandy’s departure could open the door for one of the other 2018 signees to earn snaps during camp. Of the four high school signees the Longhorns brought into the program, 2018 U.S. Army All-American Junior Angilau appears to be the most physically ready lineman to step in and give Herb Hand someone capable of being leaned on for depth purposes.

With the Longhorns having only one offensive lineman committed in the 2019 recruiting class, Grandy being forced to retire could open the door for Hand to be able to take an offensive line recruit he might otherwise not have had room to take before the dust settles on the current recruiting cycle.