How big of an impact is the move to the SEC having with this year's class of recruits?
It’s kind of funny … seemingly every recruit I ask says it’s a positive factor in Texas’ recruiting efforts, but it really hasn’t had a huge impact in the way of commitments. Not yet anyway. A guy like KJ Lacey is excited that Texas will be playing games closer to his home. Same with Emaree Winston and Brandon Brown, but I don’t think the changing of conferences was an overriding factor for any of those guys. The nation’s top player in the 2026 class, Jahkeem Stewart, told me the move to the SEC will boost UT’s chances with him. I can recall only one time when a prospect told me the conference affiliation didn’t really matter, but it also doesn’t seem to have guys beating down the door to commit. Perhaps some of that is by design with the Texas coaches not really rushing for early commitments, or perhaps it’s a case where it’ll have a bigger impact once these kids actually see Texas playing an SEC schedule.
Who are our primary DE/Edge targets? Is Texas still recruiting Riles, Woodfork or Morgan?
Lance Jackson is already on board and locked in, so there’s one big spot already taken. Smith Orogbo and Damien Shanklin are two others who are expected to take June official visits to Texas. The last time I spoke with Michael Riles, the communication with Texas had cooled some. Chad Woodfork told us recently that he’s still in touch with Texas but it feels like the coaches are prioritizing others right now. Kamauryn Morgan did attend UT’s junior day earlier this year but he’s been quiet of late. I’m working to get an update to see if he has any plans to get back to Austin.
Does Texas do better in state this year than last?
Does Texas land a top 3-5-10-or 20 class?
Who is a bigger threat A&M, OU, USC, the Ducks to take more of the players we are after?
Will there be a drop off at Bama?
Top 3 players you are most confident we land that has not committed yet?
Things are pretty slow in-state right now with only one commitment, although it is a good one from Lance Jackson. If we’re looking at in-state results from the 2024 cycle, Texas hit on two 5-stars in Colin Simmons and Xavier Filsaime, the state’s No. 8-ranked player (and near 5-star) Kobe Black. Those were the only commitments for the Longhorns from the top 25 in the state of Texas. So far in 2025, Texas has one commitment from a top 25 player in the state (Jackson) but the Longhorns are in the mix for several others like. The rankings will change but I’m not sure that I see Texas matching last year’s two 5-star signees, but I expect Texas will get more than three from the top 25.
Texas currently sits at No. 12 in the Rivals.com class rankings with only five commitments. Notre Dame leads the rankings with 19 pledges, but no 5-stars. Ohio State and LSU, incredibly, have three 5-stars out of their 11 commitments. USC already has two 5-stars out of its eight pledges. The biggest surprise might be seeing Georgia sitting at 20 in the rankings with only 5 commitments. This staff always finds a way to recruit well at the finish so I’d think a top-5 class is a reasonable expectation.
As far as the biggest threat, USC and Oregon will always be able to come in and poach a guy or two, but the regional schools (A&M, OU, LSU) are the much bigger threats on a year-to-year basis.
Bama currently sits at a respectable No. 8 in the Rivals team rankings, but you have to figure there will be some recruiting drop-off without Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa. That feels like a near guarantee.
Top three uncommitted guys I have confidence in Texas landing … tough one because the Longhorns are in the mix for guys like Jordon Davison and Michael Fasusi, but may not be outright leaders for either. Give me Fasusi, and I’ll throw in a couple of wildcards in Andrew Marsh and Dorian Brew.
It's a long way to December, but does Texas flip DK Moore from LSU? Do we get one or both of our Top DL targets?
I keep going back and forth on Dakorien Moore. On one hand, he seems happy with his LSU pledge. On the other hand, he’s scheduling several other visits, including two to Texas in the coming weeks. LSU wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton has done a great job in developing a strong relationship with both Moore and his mother. If Hankton sticks around in Baton Rouge, it won’t be easy to flip the 5-star receiver but others who know Moore have told me recently they think Texas gets it done. I’ll go with a very soft buy as of now.
A case could be made that Texas already has commitments from two of its top DL targets but if we’re talking about uncommitted guys like Zion Williams and D.J. Sanders then yes, I expect Texas will win out with one of those recruitments, with Williams being more likely.
Was Byron Washington’s commitment to Syracuse a surprise?
A little. The timing of it certainly was. If Texas really pushed there, the Longhorns could have landed him and he could always be a guy that Kyle Flood circles back to if there’s a need along the OL and if Washington continues to develop.
Odds that UT lands 2025 RB Jordon Davison?
Two months ago, I would have put the odds over 50 percent. A couple of weeks ago, it was definitely Ohio State that had surged into the lead. Then, Michigan poaches OSU’s running backs coach, which seemed to open the door back up for Texas. Now Ohio State is hiring Oregon’s Carlos Locklyn, who already had a strong relationship with Davison so the momentum has switched back to the Buckeyes. I’d call it 60/40 in favor of Ohio State right now.
How many defensive tackles are we taking? Who are the ones you think we get?
I would expect Texas to take two or three considering there was only one true tackle taken in last year’s class (Alex January) and Sydir Mitchell from the 2023 class is still an unknown commodity. Brandon Brown is committed but Texas will have to work to hold onto that one. Texas seems to be in a good spot for Zion Williams but things get a little tricky after that. Chace Sims is a recent offer so keep an eye on that one, or Texas could look for another out-of-state guy.
I thought the LB who committed to us around the holidays had switched his commitment to TCU?
Anthony Williams is still committed to Texas but he’s going to take an official visit to TCU. He did recently take an unofficial visit to Baylor as well.
Does Texas stand a real chance with DJ Sanders ?
Sure. D.J. Sanders keeps to himself so he’s a tough one to read, but per his coach recently, Texas is very much in play there. Per his coach this week, Sanders visited A&M on March 30. He'll be at Texas this Saturday, Baylor April 19 and Michigan April 14. Texas A&M is a school some believe has the inside track, but Sanders’ coach said Sanders literally laughed about any projected leanings to any one particular school.
Now that Texas is able to stack talent in the RB and WR rooms, will it make it harder to recruit guys to bide their time or will it be harder to recruit with the numbers we seem to be pooling?
In the day of the transfer portal, it’s always going to be a bit of a balancing act to expect guys to wait a year or two before touching the field. We’ll continue to see large numbers of players at every position, including RB and WR, portaling in and out of the program. As far as recruiting numbers, the elite guys don’t really worry about that stuff, and that’s the type of player Texas should be recruiting. A 5-star RB isn’t going to be scared off by a depth chart. That being said, if Texas does what it did this year and loads up at a spot like WR via the portal, it could be a hurdle the coaches will have to get over while recruiting high school players. Getting young guys like Johntay Cook and Ryan Wingo into the mix early would help combat that narrative.
Is Fasusi a real chance? According to MSN he visited aggy 2 weeks in a row. I know we are in his top 7 against tough competition
He’s a very real chance with Michael Fasusi. He did take recent trips to A&M, but is scheduled to be back in Austin next Tuesday, and again for an official visit. There’s not a school I’d put in front of Texas right now, but you’re right that it’ll be tough competition for the 5-star lineman.
How do you see us improve our D-line recruiting and what specifically do we need to stack at each position?
Bo Davis was very influential as a recruiter. It’s why you see a lot of his former targets at Texas now looking at LSU. But Davis did struggle to land the truly elite interior defensive linemen. Last year, Davis signed one true defensive tackle (Alex January) and he had some built-in advantages there. The year before that he signed one (Sydir Mitchell). In 2022, he signed three but none were considered elite (one has already left the program). He didn’t exactly leave Kenny Baker with a stocked cupboard full of young talent. Kenny Baker is still a bit of an unknown around these parts as a recruiter but simply put, he has to recruit at a higher level than Davis did. Holding onto Brandon Brown would be a nice start, as would landing one or more of the top in-state talents. And while those guys are good prospects, at some point Baker will need to show that he can land the type of guys that Davis was unable to secure while in Austin.
