Tag: Texas football recruiting

On3 Sports insider predicts four-star edge Zina Umeozulu to Texas

Zina Umeozulu joins several prospects who trend toward the Longhorns.

Zina Umeozulu could be leaning toward committing to the Texas Longhorns. The brother of Texas offensive lineman Neto Umeozulu is seeing plenty of Texas buzz following one insider’s prediction.

Gerry Hamilton of Inside Texas sent in a 75% confidence prediction for the Longhorns to land the elite edge rusher from Allen High School. The Dallas-Fort Worth area product would be a huge get for the program and a recruiting breakthrough for Texas defensive line coach Bo Davis.

The Longhorns haven’t been known to win over edge rushers like Umeozulu or Colin Simmons in recent seasons, but could be turning the corner in that respect. While the team’s rivals from north of the Red River seem to be on track for an impressive interior defensive line haul, Texas appears set up to own the edges with pass rush should they hold serve with Simmons and Umeozulu.

There’s plenty of time before we reach the finish line, but early returns indicate the Longhorns are set up nicely to close on primary targets.

Oregon insider predicts Texas to win for five-star edge Colin Simmons

Colin Simmons increasingly trends to Texas as the pairing is all but a foregone conclusion for now.

Texas continues to gain momentum for five-star edge Colin Simmons. The two parties seem destined to join forces after recent insider predictions from those following his recruitment.

Colin Simmons is currently on an Oregon visit, but it appears his mind is on Texas. While on his visit, Oregon writer Justin Hopkins submitted a 75% confidence pick for the Longhorns to win out for Simmons. Inside Texas’ Eric Nahlin followed that pick with a high confidence prediction of his own in Texas’ favor.

Plenty can change over the next few days but there’s reason to keep a close eye on the Duncanville edge prospect. A decision could be imminent for the special talent. He’s the caliber of player Texas has not recruited at his position in a long while.

Simmons checks in as the No. 4 overall player, No. 1 edge rusher and No. 1 player in the state of Texas in the 2024 On3 consensus rankings. We’ll see if Texas is the team that benefits from the transformative in-state talent.

Recent Texas OL commit Nate Kibble explains why he picked Texas

The Longhorns have been hot on the recruiting trail over the past week.

Despite concerns of a slow start and maybe a hangover from all of the hype surrounding the Arch Manning recruitment, Texas has seen their 2024 class start rolling.

The Longhorns have landed five commitments within the last week or so, and are trending in the right direction for a couple five-stars as well. One of the recent recruits Texas was able to land was four-star offensive lineman Nate Kibble.

The Humble, Texas native recently spoke with On3 and broke down what it was about Texas that stood out to him.

“First, why I committed, being down there and being around the guys, everybody fits what I’m about. They work hard. They do everything right. You can tell everybody has the same goal up there.”

While he wasn’t initially intending to commit, Kibble revealed that Austin just felt like home.

“To be honest, I woke up Sunday and I told my mom this is it. I don’t have to go anywhere else. I feel really good here. Once we had our meeting with Coach Sark, it was me, my stepdad, my little brother, and my mom in there. We were just talking, and I just let them know ‘coach, I don’t have to go anywhere else. This is where I want to be at.’”

Kibble also explained that he felt it was the perfect opportunity for him and revealed that he talked with offensive line coach Kyle Flood about what it will take to earn playing time.

“Coach Flood, he seems like he has a plan for me. All I have to do is come in there and work, and if I put the work in I’m going to get to where I need to be. I just know that I can work and I know if he gets me in the right spot, the sky’s the limit.”

Texas’ recruiting class ranks as the No. 53 class in the country and is headlined by four-star running back Jerrick Gibson. Kibble ranks as the No. 430 player in the country.

Looking at Texas’ path to the best cornerback class in 2024

Texas leads for three cornerbacks ranked inside the Top 70 overall recruits.

Texas cornerbacks coach Terry Joseph has the chance to build an historic cornerback class on the Forty Acres. He’s off to a good start.

After the Longhorns’ first major recruiting weekend of June, Joseph had a commitment from four-star cornerback Santana Wilson. The Arizona cornerback comes from an NFL bloodline, but he appears to be faster than his dad, Adrian Wilson.

Santana might only be the beginning of the fun for the Longhorns cornerback class. Texas is trending for the No. 22 overall player and No. 2 cornerback in Kobe Black. The team also leads for the No. 46 player and No. 5 cornerback Selman Bridges as well as No. 67 player and No. 8 cornerback Corian Gipson.

Here’s a look at where Texas stands with all three of the premier cornerbacks according to the On3 recruiting prediction machine.

Flood Watch: Three-star OL Nate Kibble commits to Texas

In his first 2024 offensive line commit Nate Kibble, Kyle Flood finds an athletic 6-foot-5, 310-pound big human.

Texas offensive line coach Kyle Flood has found another massive human to lead the charge up front. Atascocita interior offensive lineman Nate Kibble becomes the first Texas offensive line commitment of the 2024 recruiting class.

Kibble more than meets Kyle Flood’s offensive line specifications. The 6-foot-5 guard prospect weighs in at a college-ready 310 pounds. He continues Flood’s push for SEC-sized linemen starkly contrasting the past coaching regime.

The latest Longhorns commit is a huge surprise on multiple fronts. Like 2023 offensive line signee Payton Kirkland, Kibble was not seen as a strong Texas lean until the last few moments of his recruitment. In addition, Atascocita players often trend to Texas A&M. Kibble bucked that trend and chose A&M’s top rival.

The Atascocita lineman becomes the fifth Texas commit in a nine-day span. He joins Santana Wilson, Freddie Dubose, Christian Clark and Jerrick Gibson as high-profile players to choose the Longhorns during June visit season.

Texas will look to continue to fortify its 2024 offensive line class with more athletic giants like Kibble moving forward.

WATCH: Texas RB commit Jerrick Gibson scorches turf on 49-yard run

Texas should continue to hit home runs in the running game with Jerrick Gibson and Christian Clark.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian loves explosive plays. He could get that with his two running back commits in the 2024 recruiting class.

The Longhorns earned two breakaway talents in three days reeling in Arizona ace running back Christian Clark and the nation’s No. 2 back Jerrick Gibson. The latter back’s highlights flooded the news feed on social media featuring a guy who can leave defenders in the dust.

Sarkisian and running backs coach Tashard Choice are recruiting complete backs in Gibson, Clark and Cedric Baxter Jr, but all seem to have solid speed. One highlight run saw Gibson cruising past an opposing defense for a 49-yard score. The run clocked the talented back’s top speed at 20.9 miles per hour despite having to evade defenders in an imperfectly straight line.

The style of Gibson’s cuts behind the line of scrimmage are reminiscent of the running style of this year’s likely starting running back Jonathon Brooks. Outside of that, there’s not a close comparison to Gibson’s running style. Texas will look to maximize his skill set when he comes to campus in 2024.

Four-star RB Jerrick Gibson commits to Texas

Jerrick Gibson commits to Texas setting up perhaps the best running back class for 2024.

Running back recruiting is Tashard Choice’s world, and we’re just living in it. The Texas running back coach earned a second elite running back commitment in three days with arguably the best running back in the nation, Jerrick Gibson.

The four-star running back made his intent to join the Longhorns known on Saturday. He joins fellow running back commit Christian Clark in what appears to be one of the best running back classes Texas has ever assembled.

We’ll let Gibson and Clark decide which back will be known as lightning and which one will be thunder. What seems evident is Texas should be set to run the football at an elite level for years to come.

Gibson is the No. 2 running back and No. 48 overall player in the 2024 On3 consensus.

Predicting 20 players we think will be Longhorns in the 2024 class

If the recruiting class goes as we expect, the Longhorns are in for a HAUL.

Texas is going to have a chance to build a strong 2024 recruiting class over the next few months. It all starts this weekend. The Longhorns are set to host several key players in a class that could haul in several five-star and high four-star players.

Last weekend, the program hosted multiple big name players and earned three huge commitments. Two commitments came from the state of Arizona, continuing a good trend there in recruiting.

This weekend the program brings in one of its most high profile lineups of recruiting visitors. Colin Simmons, Kobe Black and Jerrick Gibson headline of group of star players.

With an influx of talented prospects visiting the Forty Acres, here are 20 players we think could be Longhorns when all is said and done.

Examining the role of LSU’s three-year probation in battles with Texas

LSU’s three-year probation and 37 vacated wins in football certainly won’t help in recruiting battles with Texas and others.

The LSU athletics program is in hot water after an alleged pattern of bending the rules. As a result, the NCAA has put the Tigers on a three-year probation in football and basketball. The move might not hurt the program much but it certainly won’t help.

LSU has been known for being “all about ball,” and they’ve developed that reputation in dramatic ways. In 2019, an LSU booster was sent to prison for 33 months for shady behavior in acquiring money to fund parents of Tigers football players. It appears that more questionable behavior has been uncovered in regard to the program.

After an investigation by the FBI into the school’s football and basketball programs, the NCAA is vacating 37 wins from former head coach Les Miles and the LSU Tigers. It’s unclear where that will put LSU in some of its recruiting battles, but it could certainly leave a black eye on the program.

For Texas, this isn’t the way you want to win recruiting battles but it could tip the scales. Five-star edge Colin Simmons comes to mind. The Duncanville pass rusher who has all but narrowed down his list to Texas and LSU will be in Austin this weekend. With a strong pitch this could be the moment where the Longhorns separate from the Tigers.

LSU looks to be reaping what a few bad apples have sown and could pay the price in the next few seasons. The two teams will battle for some of the nation’s elite players from the state of Texas and Louisiana in the next few months.

Four-star DB Corian Gipson celebrates birthday on Texas official visit

Corian Gipson will enjoy his birthday weekend in Austin during his Texas visit.

Texas has a huge weekend planned for several recruiting targets this weekend. The team has a significant opportunity to make a memorable impression on one of its most important prospects in defensive back Corian Gipson.

In one of the latest recruiting humidor posts by Inside Texas, the site noted that Gipson is set to turn 18 in the coming days. We can take a couple things away from that discovery. The low-hanging fruit is that at the very least Gipson enjoys Austin if that’s where he’s choosing to spend his birthday. It might further validate the Longhorns’ chances of winning his recruitment.

Texas has made a strong push to put together one of the top defensive back classes in the country. The team is well on its way to making that a reality after bringing in four-star defensive back Santana Wilson. The Longhorns appear to be on positive footing with elite defensive backs like Gipson, Kobe Black, Jordon Johnson-Rubell and Selmon Bridges.

The Texas defensive staff will have the opportunity to close on a couple of their top defensive back targets this weekend.