Permission to have my confidence very, very high?
Always! Seriously, I would caution you to exercise cautious optimism because recruiting is tougher to predict than it’s ever been before. While I feel good about UT’s chances with some guys (and so do sources in Austin), some of these upcoming commitments haven’t even told the coaching staffs that are recruiting them what they’re planning on doing, and we’ve seen misguided confidence from sources before.
How many commitment stories do you have written up?
As I type up this Q&A, zero. By the time many people read this tonight, one for sure and likely a second at some point in the very near future.
Are you as bullish as @Ketchum and his sources?
In a word, no. I think Ketch and I are in lockstep right now on which guys Texas is going to land, but I don’t have quite as high of a confidence level as some people in Austin. As I said above, guys like Michael Fasusi, Jonah Williams and others haven’t told any coaches of their upcoming decisions that I’m aware of, so it’s hard for me to be extremely confident on them being a part of UT’s class. Do I like Texas’ chances to win out with several of these upcoming August announcements? Yes, I do. Do I consider most of them near locks? Absolutely not.
Obligatory how many DT?
Over under on portal players?
What are some under the radar players you covered in your career that you thought would and did become highly successful college players?
Thanks!
I’d expect Texas to add one more defensive tackle. I’m sure that number could go up, but there really aren’t a ton of viable options right now. There are some players that Texas cooled on that I think the Longhorns could easily flip if those players were to come out and play at a high level this fall.
I have no clue on portal player numbers right now. Rosters are extremely volatile and unpredictable so it’s almost impossible to put a number on transfers at this point. I do expect Texas to be fairly active though.
Good question on under-the-radar players that I liked that went on to be successful. Rondale Moore would be one that immediately comes to mind but let’s focus on guys who actually went to Texas. I remember liking Brian Orakpo quite a bit when it was his high school teammate, Drew Kelson, who got most of the spotlight. Sam Acho was another one. When Texas offered him, nobody had heard of him and he was a 3-star but that guy sure looked the part to me. I thought David Ash had all the tools of a potential NFL quarterback when watching him in an epic game against Cayleb Jones but we never really got to see his career materialize due to injuries. I thought wide receiver Marcus Johnson was a definite steak dinner … I kid, I kid, although I did love Marcus as a person. JUCO OL Desmond Harrison looked like a stud to me and it turned out to be true, even if it never happened at Texas. Poonah Ford was a guy I really liked as a prospect mostly because his coach would constantly call me and tell me all the specifics about his freakish athleticism, arm length, etc. I always felt Roschon Johnson was underrated but I’d be lying if I said I thought he’d become a bad-ass running back. I was a big Jared Wiley fan due to his size, versatility, athleticism and ability to be a two-sport standout. T’Vondre Sweat being a three-star never made sense to me. Trevor Goosby is a guy I always thought intriguing upside and we’re starting to see that come to fruition. Those are some of the names that jump out after going over the UT commitment lists. To be clear though, there are also a lot of guys I thought would be studs who wound up flaming out.
Who are some of the top 2026 in state CB prospects and does Texas have the best shot at?
Weirdly, cornerback recruiting in the 2026 class is pretty slow right now. Texas has extended only a handful of offers to in-state guys so I don’t really have a great feel on which guys might wind up being in the class. If you look at the Rivals.com in-state rankings, it’s definitely a down year for cornerback talent in 2026. That might be a year where the staff has to recruit nationally. Jermaine Bishop Jr. would be a name to know early on.
Are there any OL we could look to flip?
What is better, last year’s WR class or Terry, Ffrench, and Lockett?
Who is the most likely to flip?
I’m not really expecting any OL flips, but Lamont Rogers is a guy that many feel will keep an open mind despite his commitment to Missouri. Right now, the focus is on landing one (or both) of Michael Fasusi and Nick Brooks.
Last year’s wide receiver class or a grouping of Michael Terry, Jaime Ffrench and Kaliq Lockett is tough to compare because I don’t consider Terry a true receiver. Ryan Wingo has the looks of a future star, but I’d probably favor this year’s group just because of the top-heavy talent.
I know everyone has their eyes on guys like Dakorien Moore or Riley Pettijohn for potential flips, but those guys feel like they’re very happy with their decisions right now. Defensive tackle Zion Williams could be a possibility if he visits in the fall, as could defensive lineman Myron Charles if the Longhorns are able to get him back on campus.
What does an EVERYBODY scenario look like, names and stars included ?
Without just going down and listing a ton of flips, let’s say for fun that the Longhorns add the following players. Realistic? Absolutely not. Out of the realm of possibility? Pretty close but not quite …
WR Jaime Ffrench
WR Kaliq Lockett
WR Andrew Marsh
WR Dakorien Moore (flip)
OL Michael Fasusi
OL Nicolai Brooks
DT D.J. Sanders
DT Zion Williams (flip)
LB Madden Faraimo
LB Riley Pettijohn (flip)
DB Jonah Williams
CB Devin Sanchez (pipe dream flip but why not?)
Is “let the five stars commit elsewhere and then try to win the bidding war to flip them close to signing day” going to be a successful strategy for us in general?
A lot of people are expecting this year to be crazy in terms of flips in the fall. I expect there will be quite a bit of action, but I don’t necessarily like the strategy. It’s a little too risky for my liking. I’d rather win the recruitment the first time (like with Colin Simmons, Arch Manning, etc) and have to “worry” about keeping them in the fold.
Where do you see our final HS class ranking?
We’ll have a much better feel by the end of this month but I’ll go with top five, which is higher than I thought it might be about a month ago.
Rate the following in terms of your confidence Texas signs them:
(Sorry for spelling)
Lockett
Ffrench
Fasussi
Terry
Moore
Sanders
Pettijohn
Thx
Kaliq Lockett – 65%
Jaime Ffrench – 55%
Michael Fasusi – 55%
Michael Terry – 65%
Dakorien Moore – 35%
DJ Sanders – 50%
Riley Pettijohn – 20%
Jason, just a real general question about recruiting - do you believe that modern day recruiting is much more complex and intense than is was, say, in the Darrell Royal era?
Recruiting in the Darrell Royal era was way before my time of covering prospects, but yes, recruiting right now is more complex than it’s ever been in any era. Frankly, it’s probably not really even that close.
Always! Seriously, I would caution you to exercise cautious optimism because recruiting is tougher to predict than it’s ever been before. While I feel good about UT’s chances with some guys (and so do sources in Austin), some of these upcoming commitments haven’t even told the coaching staffs that are recruiting them what they’re planning on doing, and we’ve seen misguided confidence from sources before.
How many commitment stories do you have written up?
As I type up this Q&A, zero. By the time many people read this tonight, one for sure and likely a second at some point in the very near future.
Are you as bullish as @Ketchum and his sources?
In a word, no. I think Ketch and I are in lockstep right now on which guys Texas is going to land, but I don’t have quite as high of a confidence level as some people in Austin. As I said above, guys like Michael Fasusi, Jonah Williams and others haven’t told any coaches of their upcoming decisions that I’m aware of, so it’s hard for me to be extremely confident on them being a part of UT’s class. Do I like Texas’ chances to win out with several of these upcoming August announcements? Yes, I do. Do I consider most of them near locks? Absolutely not.
Obligatory how many DT?
Over under on portal players?
What are some under the radar players you covered in your career that you thought would and did become highly successful college players?
Thanks!
I’d expect Texas to add one more defensive tackle. I’m sure that number could go up, but there really aren’t a ton of viable options right now. There are some players that Texas cooled on that I think the Longhorns could easily flip if those players were to come out and play at a high level this fall.
I have no clue on portal player numbers right now. Rosters are extremely volatile and unpredictable so it’s almost impossible to put a number on transfers at this point. I do expect Texas to be fairly active though.
Good question on under-the-radar players that I liked that went on to be successful. Rondale Moore would be one that immediately comes to mind but let’s focus on guys who actually went to Texas. I remember liking Brian Orakpo quite a bit when it was his high school teammate, Drew Kelson, who got most of the spotlight. Sam Acho was another one. When Texas offered him, nobody had heard of him and he was a 3-star but that guy sure looked the part to me. I thought David Ash had all the tools of a potential NFL quarterback when watching him in an epic game against Cayleb Jones but we never really got to see his career materialize due to injuries. I thought wide receiver Marcus Johnson was a definite steak dinner … I kid, I kid, although I did love Marcus as a person. JUCO OL Desmond Harrison looked like a stud to me and it turned out to be true, even if it never happened at Texas. Poonah Ford was a guy I really liked as a prospect mostly because his coach would constantly call me and tell me all the specifics about his freakish athleticism, arm length, etc. I always felt Roschon Johnson was underrated but I’d be lying if I said I thought he’d become a bad-ass running back. I was a big Jared Wiley fan due to his size, versatility, athleticism and ability to be a two-sport standout. T’Vondre Sweat being a three-star never made sense to me. Trevor Goosby is a guy I always thought intriguing upside and we’re starting to see that come to fruition. Those are some of the names that jump out after going over the UT commitment lists. To be clear though, there are also a lot of guys I thought would be studs who wound up flaming out.
Who are some of the top 2026 in state CB prospects and does Texas have the best shot at?
Weirdly, cornerback recruiting in the 2026 class is pretty slow right now. Texas has extended only a handful of offers to in-state guys so I don’t really have a great feel on which guys might wind up being in the class. If you look at the Rivals.com in-state rankings, it’s definitely a down year for cornerback talent in 2026. That might be a year where the staff has to recruit nationally. Jermaine Bishop Jr. would be a name to know early on.
Are there any OL we could look to flip?
What is better, last year’s WR class or Terry, Ffrench, and Lockett?
Who is the most likely to flip?
I’m not really expecting any OL flips, but Lamont Rogers is a guy that many feel will keep an open mind despite his commitment to Missouri. Right now, the focus is on landing one (or both) of Michael Fasusi and Nick Brooks.
Last year’s wide receiver class or a grouping of Michael Terry, Jaime Ffrench and Kaliq Lockett is tough to compare because I don’t consider Terry a true receiver. Ryan Wingo has the looks of a future star, but I’d probably favor this year’s group just because of the top-heavy talent.
I know everyone has their eyes on guys like Dakorien Moore or Riley Pettijohn for potential flips, but those guys feel like they’re very happy with their decisions right now. Defensive tackle Zion Williams could be a possibility if he visits in the fall, as could defensive lineman Myron Charles if the Longhorns are able to get him back on campus.
What does an EVERYBODY scenario look like, names and stars included ?
Without just going down and listing a ton of flips, let’s say for fun that the Longhorns add the following players. Realistic? Absolutely not. Out of the realm of possibility? Pretty close but not quite …
WR Jaime Ffrench
WR Kaliq Lockett
WR Andrew Marsh
WR Dakorien Moore (flip)
OL Michael Fasusi
OL Nicolai Brooks
DT D.J. Sanders
DT Zion Williams (flip)
LB Madden Faraimo
LB Riley Pettijohn (flip)
DB Jonah Williams
CB Devin Sanchez (pipe dream flip but why not?)
Is “let the five stars commit elsewhere and then try to win the bidding war to flip them close to signing day” going to be a successful strategy for us in general?
A lot of people are expecting this year to be crazy in terms of flips in the fall. I expect there will be quite a bit of action, but I don’t necessarily like the strategy. It’s a little too risky for my liking. I’d rather win the recruitment the first time (like with Colin Simmons, Arch Manning, etc) and have to “worry” about keeping them in the fold.
Where do you see our final HS class ranking?
We’ll have a much better feel by the end of this month but I’ll go with top five, which is higher than I thought it might be about a month ago.
Rate the following in terms of your confidence Texas signs them:
(Sorry for spelling)
Lockett
Ffrench
Fasussi
Terry
Moore
Sanders
Pettijohn
Thx
Kaliq Lockett – 65%
Jaime Ffrench – 55%
Michael Fasusi – 55%
Michael Terry – 65%
Dakorien Moore – 35%
DJ Sanders – 50%
Riley Pettijohn – 20%
Jason, just a real general question about recruiting - do you believe that modern day recruiting is much more complex and intense than is was, say, in the Darrell Royal era?
Recruiting in the Darrell Royal era was way before my time of covering prospects, but yes, recruiting right now is more complex than it’s ever been in any era. Frankly, it’s probably not really even that close.
