The attrition of previous recruiting classes at Texas is certainly taking a toll on Steve Sarkisian and his staff.
It helps that the NCAA implemented the one-time transfer rule where programs can bring in immediate impact players to lessen the blow, but it’s certainly still an uphill battle to climb when you suffer a significant amount of attrition from previous classes.
The Athletic recently re-ranked the 2018 recruiting classes, and while Texas knowingly suffered quite a bit of attrition from this cycle, a few of the players that panned out were enough to keep the Longhorns within the top 10.
Texas’ top signees for the 2018 cycle included linebacker Joseph Ossai, safety Caden Sterns, cornerback D’Shawn Jamison, linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, and kicker Cameron Dicker. It was rated the No. 3 class in the country and the four-year record was 30-19. However, the attrition was 50%.
Here’s what The Athletic had to say about the re-rank and why Texas still falls within the top 10.
This was the first of Tom Herman’s back-to-back No. 3-ranked recruiting classes, a group full of blue-chip talent that certainly raised expectations. In his staff’s first full recruiting cycle, the
Longhorns cleaned up by signing 11 of the top 15 recruits in their home state.While the 2018 class helped Texas achieve three top-25 finishes and get to a Big 12 title game under Herman, it’s clear the on-field feats haven’t matched the hype. Like many Texas classes before them, this group went through a lot in a turbulent four-year period and experienced another regime change. But there were 18 future starters in this class, including 10 players who’ve started 20-plus games in Austin.
Ossai became a consensus All-American as a junior and third-round draft pick. Sterns was the Big 12’s Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2018 and is now playing for the Broncos. Only one other member of this touted class – kicker/punter Cameron Dicker – has become an All-Big 12 player during his career, which seems telling. But it’s worth noting Jamison, Overshown and five more starters are returning as fifth-year seniors in 2022. Their leadership will be critical if Texas hopes to bounce back in a big way from going 5-7 in Steve Sarkisian’s
debut season.
Sarkisian and his staff are off to a hot start after bringing in the No. 5 recruiting class in the nation for the 2022 cycle, but having those players develop and produce is another task awaiting him.