With Kade Phillips flipping his commitment from Texas to LSU on Sunday, that leaves the Longhorns with only one defensive back commitment in the 2025 recruiting class. The good news for Texas is that its one DB pledge - Caleb Chester – remains completely locked in with his decision.
“I’m still 100 percent. No regrets,” Chester said. “It’s even better.”
Chester committed to Texas on June 11 and he said since that day, the Texas staff has continued to make him feel like a priority.
“Even with me being committed, coach Sark, coach Gideon, coach Joseph still talk to me and recruit me like they’re trying to get me to commit,” Chester said. “That shows me that they’re real and they love me as a recruit.”
Along with the Texas coaches, Chester also keeps in contact with a handful of Texas players, including second-year cornerback Manny Muhammad.
“Manny, to me, he’s just kind of a big brother to me. I look up to him, ask him a lot of questions,” Chester said. “He gives me the rundown of how things are going to be. He tries to give me a clear view of what it will be like when I get there.”
This summer, Chester put in a lot of work with personal trainers trying to improve his game in every way possible – strength, speed, technique. He has spent some time working with professional athletes and says it gave him a taste of the kind of work he’ll need to put in to be successful at a place like Texas.
“Ever since I put that Longhorn logo around my head, I started repping that, everything kicked up by a million. My workouts with my skill trainer, I’ve upped those. We’re working out in the heat because when you go to Austin it’s going to be hot. Justin (Allen), my first workout with him was with Tank Dell, Cam Akers,” Chester said. “The rest of the summer was with Dalvin Cook. Dalvin let me know I’m not a little boy, he said “You’re in the SEC, you’re going to have to tackle guys like me.
“He looked at me and paused. He said ‘I love you kid, but you for sure can’t tackle me.’ I’ve really been working hard, showing off. Fall camp has been a breeze.”
The 6-2, 175-pound Chester’s goal this year, of course, is to win as many games as possible. Individually, he wants to play a more physical brand of football and he’s off to a good start after his team’s first scrimmage.
“Really I’ve been trying to work on physicality, setting the edge, filling the hole. In SEC football if you can’t tackle you can’t play. It’s as simple as that,” Chester said. “So I’ve been working on that.”
Chester said he plans to visit as many Texas home games as possible this year, although he’s still ironing out his schedule. With so many key decisions coming up, he’s been working as a recruiter on the Longhorns’ behalf.
“Jonah (Williams), that’s my guy. Kaliq (Lockett), we got him. He was my guy, was trying to get him for the longest,” Chester said. “Big Mike (Fasusi), we’re trying to reel him in. Just trying to get those missing puzzle pieces.”
