Tag: Texas football recruiting

Texas receives prediction to win over five-star DB Xavier Filsaime

Is Xavier Filsaime trending toward choosing the Texas Longhorns?

Making the College Football Playoff is a strong recruiting pitch. Texas is leveraging that success on the recruiting trail.

McKinney five-star safety Xavier Filsaime was set to become a Florida Gator, but there’s reason to believe that could change. The north Texas talent received a flip prediction in favor of Texas from Inside Texas analyst Eric Nahlin. If Nahlin’s success forecasting recruiting decisions is any indication, the Longhorns have a strong chance to win the recruitment.

Texas can make do without elite safety talents, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to add a five-star talent at the position. The program is used to landing big time safeties, but never behind as strong a front six as the Longhorns have built in head coach Steve Sarkisian’s three seasons in Austin.

Filsaime would become the fourth five-star to join Texas’ already talent-laden recruiting class. He would join wide receiver Ryan Wingo, edge rusher Colin Simmons and offensive tackle Brandon Baker as Longhorn pledges to receive five-star billing.

We will continue to monitor the recruitment as it develops.

Portal or Recruit: Where Texas found its 2023 starters

Building through recruiting and supplementing through the transfer portal has resulted in a powerhouse at Texas.

The transfer portal has greatly aided the Texas Longhorns’ build toward a championship roster. Even so, the team has excelled at developing players that originally committed to Texas.

There are several homegrown Longhorns. Multiple players who have been at the program four years or longer, like wide receiver Jordan Whittington and defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat, are going to be honored over Senior Day. Texas has developed a handful of other players like defensive tackle Byron Murphy, edge rusher Barryn Sorrell and tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders.

The Longhorns have still done well to find contributors through the transfer portal to be sure. Among those players, the team pulled receivers Xavier Worthy from Michigan and Adonai Mitchell from Georgia. Nevertheless, the team is doing right by players who chose Texas from the start as well.

There’s a healthy mix of portal players and recruits on the roster. Here’s a look at how the Texas starting lineup is constructed.

Four-star DB Wardell Mack commits to Texas

Wardell Mack wants to be a Texas Longhorn.

Texas got big news in regard to its future secondary on Saturday. Four-star defensive back Wardell Mack de-committed from the Florida Gators in favor of the Longhorns.

Mack continues a trend of high profile recruits joining defensive backs coaches Terry Joseph and Blake Gideon to play in the Texas defensive backfield.

The Marrero (LA) native isn’t the first big name Louisiana player to choose the Texas Longhorns. He joins Texas backup quarterback Arch Manning and defensive back Derek Williams Jr. among players from the Pelican State to commit to the team.

From the coaching staff’s perspective, Mack stands as one of the program’s top targets in the 2024 recruiting class. He stands as one of the biggest wins of the cycle for the upward trending program. The team’s 9-1 season might have played a role in swaying Mack from Florida.

The four-star defensive back is the No. 13 cornerback and No. 105 ranked player in the 2024 On3 industry rankings.

Social media reacts to five-star Brandon Baker’s commitment to Texas

Five-star tackle Brandon Baker picks Texas as 2023 continues to fall in the Longhorns’ favor.

Five-star California offensive tackle Brandon Baker is committed to The University of Texas. The move continues a 2023 season in which everything seems to be falling right for the program.

Baker garners his fair share of acclaim from recruiting sites. The player ranks as the No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 23 overall player in the country in the 2024 On3 consensus.

As you might imagine, the move is making waves on social media. The Texas fanbase, hungry to return to recent prominence it enjoyed in the early 2000’s, is seeing its team do what it couldn’t do for several years. The Longhorns are recruiting the best offensive linemen in the country and winning those recruits.

Offensive line coach Kyle Flood has transformed recruiting, but done even more in the way of development. Two second year five-star offensive offensive linemen are starters in Devon Campbell Jr. and Kelvin Banks Jr. Banks earned freshman All-American honors last year.

Texas is turning into a problem up front for future opponents. Here’s how social media is viewing the news.

Five-star DL Dominick McKinley receives recruiting prediction to Texas

Dominick McKinley now trends to Texas.

Texas’ raid on elite Louisiana talent could continue this season. After securing pledges from five-star quarterback Arch Manning and elite safety Derek Williams Jr. in the 2023 class, the team trends for another five-star talent.

Louisiana defensive lineman Dominick McKinley is trending toward the Texas Longhorns as we move closer to McKinley’s decision. He received an On3 recruiting prediction machine pick from Inside Texas’ Justin Wells this week.

The news comes on the heels of five-star, No. 1 edge rusher Colin Simmons’ commitment to Texas. McKinley’s decision would be a hit to LSU and Oklahoma in this recruiting cycle. LSU already lost a head-to-head battle with Colin Simmons while Oklahoma is striking out on the elite defensive tackles it was projected to win.

The Texas machine is rolling, but perhaps the only unit in which the program has lagged with five-star and high four-star talent is the defensive line. That trend looks to be coming to an end.

Texas Football: 2024 recruiting class can still win its “big three”

Texas’ three most important targets are still out there to win over in the next few months.

Texas recruiting has cooled in recent days. We’ve seen cornerbacks Selman Bridges and Corian Gipson commit elsewhere and effectively thwart the Longhorns’ dream cornerback class. Even so, there are several big time targets the team can win out for over the next few months.

There are three essential recruits needed for the 2024 class in my estimation. Texas needs to win them all. Edge rusher Colin Simmons, cornerback Kobe Black and offensive tackle Brandon Baker are those three.

If Texas wins out on the above three players, the class is an unmitigated success. And it really wouldn’t matter who else they fail to win.

Simmons, Baker and Black play at the three premium positions you can’t always acquire through the portal. That’s not the case at other positions.

Texas found a big time quarterback and several key receivers through the portal. Quinn Ewers (Ohio State) and his pass catchers Xavier Worthy (Michigan), Isaiah Neyor (Wyoming) and AD Mitchell (Georgia) were all transfers. But to get elite edges, tackles and cornerbacks you have to recruit high school talent.

There’s more to add in this recruiting class. How it finishes in these three recruitments could determine how we view the 2024 class.

Texas solidifying recruiting pipeline with biggest powers in high school football

The Longhorns are finding success at some of the most talent rich schools in the country.

While top recruits can come from anywhere in the country spanning from New York to Hawaii, there are a handful of high school programs that constantly produce top players every year.

These programs are breeding grounds for the best high school recruits, and if you are able to build a connection with one of them you will get major boosts for years to come. In an article by On3‘s Justin Wells, he shined a light on the fact that Texas has been and will continue to build a pipeline with three of the most talent rich programs in the country in Mater Dei (CA), Duncanville (TX), and IMG Academy (FL).

These are schools that have produced names such as Bryce Young (Mater Dei) and Nolan Smith (IMG) among many more standouts. However, up until recently these have been schools that the Longhorns haven’t had a ton of success recruiting. Something Wells broke down, and how their misfortune has changed.

Starting with Southern California powerhouse Mater Dei, the Longhorns have landed just a couple recruits from there in Spencer Shannon in 2023 and Bru McCoy in 2019 who spent about five minutes on campus before leaving. Wells cited Steve Sarkisian’s ties and the fact that new wide receivers coach Chris Jackson also played there has helped tremendously.

Before then, Texas and Mater Dei rarely crossed paths. But these days with Sarkisian’s ties, Monarch alum Chris Jackson on staff, and other assistants with California connections like Jeff Banks and Pete Kwiatkowski, the Longhorns are pursuing some of the best from the program.

In the 2024 class alone, Texas is after five-star offensive lineman Brandon Baker and four-star offensive lineman DeAndre Carter.

When it comes to in-state Duncanville, it wasn’t until Ra’Shaad Samples was on staff that Texas actually found success there. The most recent player from the Texas powerhouse is offensive tackle Cam Williams in 2022. They’ve already landed Alex January in the class of 2024, and are viewed as one of the favorites for five-star Colin Simmons which could be the biggest win in the 2024 class for Texas.

IMG is the pinnacle of high school sports as players move from all over the country to play there and train, but historically the Longhorns haven’t fared well. That has appeared to change now, as they’ve already landed three players from the Florida powerhouse. Something that running backs coach Tashard Choice can be credited for.

If there’s one program where the Horns have seen very little success over the years, it’s the Florida-based private school that produces a large amount of college prospects. Texas recruited Adeoye out of his high school in Missouri before the linebacker transferred to IMG. He’s essentially the only IMG graduate who made the trek from Bradenton to Austin. In 2024, Texas dove into IMG waters and landed two of the top prospects in the country in Johnson-Rubell and Gibson. Plus, the Horns find themselves in a good position for Lindsey, but are fighting Auburn for his services.

If the Longhorns can continue to grab recruits out of these three schools it will only help them as they begin to transition to the SEC ahead of 2024.

Five-star WR Ryan Wingo discusses Texas and commitment date

Ryan Wingo is the No. 7 recruit in the country for 2024.

Texas has perhaps the best receiver corps in the country heading into the 2023 college football season, and it is looking to add to it via the recruiting trail. Continue reading “Five-star WR Ryan Wingo discusses Texas and commitment date”

Texas inches closer to a commitment from No. 1 OT Brandon Baker

Texas seems like a good match for Mater Dei (CA) offensive tackle Brandon Baker.

Texas has arguably the most talented offensive tackle in the nation on its roster, Kelvin Banks. The team also has its sights on his heir apparent.

Mater Dei (California) offensive tackle Brandon Baker is a realistic get for the Longhorns. According to Inside Texas, offensive line coach Kyle Flood and company make a lot of sense for the top offensive tackle in the country.

There are more than enough serviceable linemen on the roster to man the left tackle position when Kelvin Banks departs. Presumably Cam Williams or Neto Umeozulu could move to tackle after Banks’ junior season. Nevertheless, Texas would be wise to look further than 2025, and Baker would figure to be a good replacement at the position.

That Flood has put the Longhorns in position to go from No. 1-ranked tackle to No. 1-ranked tackle is a testament to what he brings to the Forty Acres. The famine in offensive line recruiting under previous head coach Tom Herman is well documented. Texas is far removed from that drought.

The Longhorns look to close on the indispensable recruit over the next few months.

Four-star CB Selman Bridges to make commitment announcement on Friday

Texas will battle Arkansas for a second Top 50 recruit in the 2024 class on Friday.

It’s about that time. Top 50 recruit Selman Bridges is set to commit to his school of choice on Friday, July 14. Texas faithful would welcome a commitment to their hometown team. While it’s rumored that Arkansas is the likely school of choice, the commitment is still worth watching for Texas.

Bridges is one of a few 2024 recruits who could bring a historically good cornerback class to Texas. In the early 2000s, the Longhorns were among the best universities in sending cornerbacks and safeties to the NFL. Even among those great secondaries, this group could be special.

Bridges has a chance to join Texas commits Santana Wilson and Jordon Johnson-Rubell as well as the uncommitted trio of Kobe Black, Corian Gipson and Wardell Mack in Austin. Even so, the elite and lengthy cornerback doesn’t have to play second fiddle to anyone. He seems to be one that relishes the prospect of competition with fellow talented defensive backs.

Texas already has one Top 50 recruit in the boat in 2024 running back Jerrick Gibson. Head coach Steve Sarkisian and company will look to add a second Top 50 player on Friday.