Texas Recruiting Notes 2022 - Idiotic Slapfights Unrelated To 2022 Recruiting

[Snake Diggity 4627]

14 hours ago, troph said:

So where does the class land in overall rankings and what positions did we fail to land our needs?   Including the transfers…. Bc from my vantage point this looks like a spectacular class transfers included.

Top 5 class.  If you include transfers, the only position we lack incoming talent is at LB.  Hopefully they add their via the portal soon.

[JesusSweatDuck 17809]

11 hours ago, Mdhorn said:

Yes, there should be new portals after the spring games and practices.  But SEC to SEC transfers will now need to sit out a year--it's now after the cutoff. 

Which means any SEC kids will be looking to leave the conference. For better or worse we're still in the Big12

[irishtexan 11522]

14 hours ago, Rimbo said:

how you feelin' now

I'm feeling very, very fucking happy that Mario Cristobol decided to go to Miami and allow us to get back in on Banks and Williams, which is why I said things were sub-optimal. And at the time, things were sub-optimal. But of course, shit changes. Which is why scrolling through hundreds of pages with the benefit of hindsight to say "I told you so" is a tired-ass bit. 

[Junior Bonner 6288]

[FloridaHorn 4769]

Lock it down, turn off the lights on your way out. It's time to move onto 2023 boys.

[Snake Diggity 4627]

Not sure we’ve ever had a higher upside fivesome of OL in a single class than Banks, Campbell, Williams, Neto, and Hutson.

[jeevsie 3739]

[closetohumping 17458]

20 minutes ago, FloridaHorn said:

Lock it down, turn off the lights on your way out. It's time to move onto 2023 boys.

[Gidnik 3285]

i pray this oline class does not end up like the 2018 DB class

[ClubWhatever 12154]

27 minutes ago, FloridaHorn said:

Lock it down, turn off the lights on your way out. It's time to move onto 2023 boys.

Not until somebody posts the 10,000 word recruiting backstory from each 995 site.

[RGBIII 22840]

15 hours ago, Burt Macklin said:

I mean if we’re including transfers, then we’re likely getting Mathis so I still don’t get the DL comment. As for TE, Billingsley probably won’t be here long so it still leaves a roster hole moving forward. 

FWIW, Billingsley is intending on being here for two years

[Bigbend1812 12927]

14 minutes ago, Gidnik said:

i pray this oline class does not end up like the 2018 DB class

[TexasGolf 5007]

19 minutes ago, Gidnik said:

i pray this oline class does not end up like the 2018 DB class

[bad_teammate 13224]

The existence of Kyle Flood makes me hopeful that will not happen.

[runthebone 8029]

28 minutes ago, Gidnik said:

i pray this oline class does not end up like the 2018 DB class

Or the other recent classes of beef?

I  am conservatively estimating the coaching will be a million times better.

[Thiefery 5017]

How long til Roach/Wells/Nahlin/Such put out their recruiting cycle re caps/behind the scenes write ups? 

[hook me 2103]

28 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Not until somebody posts the 10,000 word recruiting backstory from each 995 site.

a&m dropped bags NIL deals the size of their overinflated ego Mt. Everest.

Texas went 5-7 with a HOME LOSS TO KU & then a bunch of rich alums bailed Sark out at the bell.

That'll be $9.95 please.

[Harvdog 2300]

1 minute ago, Thiefery said:

How long til Roach/Wells/Nahlin/Such put out their recruiting cycle re caps/behind the scenes write ups? 

That’s one of my favorites.  It just shows why you shouldn’t give those fuckers a squirt of piss for their worthless reporting 

[Harvdog 2300]

2 minutes ago, Thiefery said:

How long til Roach/Wells/Nahlin/Such put out their recruiting cycle re caps/behind the scenes write ups? 

That’s one of my favorites.  It just shows why you shouldn’t give those fuckers a squirt of piss for their worthless reporting 

[RaysBoomBoomRoom 5742]

2 minutes ago, Thiefery said:

How long til Roach/Wells/Nahlin/Such put out their recruiting cycle re caps/behind the scenes write ups? 

Roach posted his at 9 

 

[Teryor 4476]

5 minutes ago, RaysBoomBoomRoom said:

Roach posted his at 9 

 

Spoiler

The 2022 cycle was a wild ride.

Coming out of the COVID dead period, this was the first class in two years that was able to take official visits and that let loose a hurricane of trips, commitments and flips as the 2022 recruits tried to pack two years' worth of recruiting into six months. 

Texas needed to win big in 2022, and while they didn't get it done on the field, they were able to finish strong landing the No. 5 class in the nation in recruiting. They were also one of the bigger stories in the country during Transfer Portal season when they reeled in Quinn Ewers and several others.

As always, there was drama, intrigue, and plenty of crazy moments behind closed doors. As we do each year, Horns247 has a full rundown of how exactly the 2021 class played out.

So without further ado, we take you behind the scenes of the 2021 Texas signing class in this first of two parts of Horns247's annual post-National Signing Day look back at how things unfolded in the recruiting cycle.

The ballad of Quinn Ewers is something I’ll probably remember forever. I met the five-star passer at a young age and instantly knew we were dealing with a player of elite skills. In the first few years of his recruitment, Ewers told me repeatedly he didn’t want things to turn into a circus. What would follow is a career’s worth of ups-and-downs. As I write this now on what should be Ewers’ original graduation year, he’s already enrolled for a semester and transferred.

Ewers and those around him made no secret that Texas was the dream school from the moment we met. I recall doing a podcast with Ewers during the 2020 quarantine before he’d committed anywhere and could see several Longhorn logos on items in the background. It started with Tim Beck and Tom Herman. Beck wanted to offer as quickly as possible, but the staff had a policy about not offering players who hadn’t played varsity ball as of that time.

Once Texas offered, the Longhorns moved quickly to the front of the pack. Though programs like Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma took turns generating momentum, Texas was always the early pick. Ewers made his decision seemingly out of the blue and wanted to be the face of Texas recruiting. Ewers went to work immediately recruiting several others, but his commitment was short-lived.

Once the season started, Texas began to falter. A source I spoke with felt Ewers started to doubt his ability to get other top players to join him in Austin if the program continued to fall. I was also told that Ewers and his father didn’t care for the incident following the Red River Shootout where Sam Ehlinger was left alone on the field to sing The Eyes of Texas following their loss. In some ways, it sounded like the movement for social justice wasn’t of interest to the Ewers family.

I saw Quinn play just a few days before he made his decommitment. Rumors were swirling and I wanted to talk to Quinn and his family up close to see where things really were. Ewers went off that night and even gave me the Hook ‘Em after a touchdown when he saw me shooting video from the end zone. I spoke to Quinn, his family and his coaches who all told me there was no intention to make a decommitment and they wanted to play the season out to see if Herman would turn it around or who the new hire would be.

Quinn Ewers
(Photo: © Texas Football)
 

Despite that, it was clear from Ewers’ father’s social media activity that Ohio State would be the move. Ewers made the flip and Texas started to go its own way focusing on Cade Klubnik and Conner Weigman. When Steve Sarkisian took the job, he and AJ Milwee were on Ewers immediately. Even after Texas held a commitment from Maalik Murphy, the staff continued to pursue.

I’m told there was a time during the spring of 2021 where a flip started to look like it could happen. Though it never got that close, a source near Ewers told me that he loved Sarkisian and Milwee. That same source told me that if the staff were at Texas the year before, Ewers would have never decommitted. Though Milwee and Sarkisian made a good push, Ewers ultimately decided to shut it down and remain committed to Ohio State. While Quinn prepared for his senior year, a source near him told me that they wouldn’t rule out a quick portal move once he got to Columbus because he felt Ewers always wanted to be at Texas. Even those we spoke to associated with Ohio State recruiting said that Ewers had stopped speaking to other prospects on behalf of the Buckeyes. One of our sources felt Ewers had made what he thought was the right business decision to flip to Ohio State even if it wasn’t the best fit for him.

The decision for Ewers to reclassify and enroll early seemingly came out of nowhere. I was told that Ewers seemed to regret the decision almost immediately after arriving in Columbus and started setting plans into motion to get back to Austin via the transfer portal. Midway through the season we heard word and reported that Ewers was planning on entering the portal and that Texas would likely be the pick. Even in talking to some of his high school teammates, they felt he would transfer from the moment he got to Columbus.

Near the end of the year, I was told that Ewers reconsidered and would likely stick through the spring to see where the quarterback race was, but he ended up entering anyway. In the end, his heart just never seemed to be with Ohio State. Several other schools emerged along with Texas, but I was told there was never a plan for him to go anywhere else. Texas Tech was the main school of interest, and I heard a lot of confidence from that side. In fact, I was in a high school coach’s office when a member of the staff told the coach they were getting Ewers.

Steve Sarkisian zeroed in on Ewers from the beginning. As soon as Ewers entered the portal, Sarkisian was on a plane to Dallas to conduct an in-home visit that same night. The recruitment went longer than many expected. When Ewers first went in, I was told by a source near him that it would be Texas and that it would move quickly. Though the family explored other schools, Texas was always slated to be the pick.

A source I spoke with in Lubbock even told me they heard the Texas staff was growing tired of the recruitment and was thinking about pulling out. I was laughed at when I presented that information to someone in Austin. When Ewers made Austin his last visit, it was clear where things would end up. It’s been a long journey for Ewers who has more talent than I’ve ever seen in a passer in all of my time doing this. If his head is right, he is the type of quarterback who can elevate a program.

One of the most frequent questions I got over the last year was why Texas didn’t pursue Cade Klubnik instead of Maalik Murphy. The short answer was that Murphy wanted to make an early decision and Texas wasn’t in a place to turn him down. I think the most dangerous assumption is that Klubnik would have been an easy win. When I spoke to him after the season, Klubnik told me he felt Texas wanted to get someone in the class quickly but he didn’t feel Sarkisian and the staff were really all in on him at that time. Clemson was always going to be a tough school to overcome, and Alabama was also moving on him as well. I think it was possible for Texas to win that recruitment had they dialed in on Klubnik and Klubnik only, but that just wasn’t the reality.

From the time Steve Sarkisian took over, it was clear that Maalik Murphy would be a big target. Murphy was kind of a mythical figure to me as I’d seen Tim Beck and Mike Yurcich both send out offers to the strong-armed passer. I never could reach Murphy but was always told there was an interest in Texas. Once Sarkisian engaged, things moved rather quickly. We started reporting early in February that Texas was a runaway leader for Murphy and could close him soon. Perhaps the biggest indicator was when Murphy’s 7v7 team started bringing on receivers from the state of Texas to work with Murphy and start developing chemistry.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

Armani Winfield told me that Murphy would be making his commitment on his birthday and I received a call confirming that while at dinner with my wife on vacation. Murphy was locked in almost the entire time after he committed. He’s one of the best kids I’ve had the pleasure of covering during my career, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone that will say a bad word about him. Murphy took on a real leadership role in the class. If guys who were committed were flirting with other schools, Murphy took it upon himself to tell them he didn’t think it was a good look. Murphy was totally in the loop when Texas started recruiting a second quarterback in the class and was alright with Devin Brown. The Ewers news was a bit out of nowhere, and Murphy went silent for a few days leading up to signing. After a few unreturned texts, Murphy responded on National Signing Day to tell me he was about to send his letter in.

We zeroed in quickly on Devin Brown as the second quarterback take in the class thanks to a well-placed source near Brown who alerted us. Texas moved quickly and established themselves as a legitimate contender in short order. Despite a less than ideal official visit experience, the Longhorns seemed to be in a position to close the deal. Brown visited during the Kansas game, and he told me that he knew before the game even started Texas was going to lose. He talked with the staff about the need to overturn the roster and he could see a lack of buy-in from the players on the team. Despite that, Brown loved Sark and his offense and believed in that future. Brown was as close to a silent commit as he could be at one point, but a trip to Ohio State changed that. A source I spoke with near Brown said he was considering not even taking the visit because he thought Texas would ultimately be his landing place. He went anyway and everything changed. Brown clicked immediately with the coaching staff, and despite a shortened timeline, it didn’t take much for Ohio State to win him over. Texas waited until the second week to go in home with Sarkisian which was a gamble considering Ryan Day went in the first week. Sark never got to make his visit as Brown decided to shut it down. We had heard that movement in the quarterback room (Ewers) helped nudge him along, but sources near Brown told me they didn’t know any specifics and were going to pick the Buckeyes regardless. In the end, Brown said that Texas finished second.

Had Texas stuck with Herman and Yurcich, Drew Allar could be a Longhorn. The five-star quarterback said that Yurcich was on him early when he didn’t have a ton of interest and Texas would have been tough to beat had they recruited him.

The recruitment of Jaydon Blue ended quickly after Steve Sarkisian took over. The elite back had always leaned toward Texas, and Sarkisian’s offense gave him the push he needed to make an early decision. The recruitment overall was fairly ho-hum until the late spring when Blue announced he wouldn’t play his senior season. I was in Houston the week before to see Blue and others on a spring trip and sensed some weird vibes at Klein Cain when I went by there. The decision to sit out was a personal decision for Blue and his family but it was clear Blue wanted to play. Sark and the coaching staff actually tried to help mediate the issues, but a decision left up to the team captains ended with Blue not returning. There was a period of time where Blue considered decommitting from Texas, but in the end he was talked out of it after some frustrations boiled over. Many people forget that Blue was a borderline five-star and once the number one running back in the nation. He has the chance to really surprise some folks once he gets to Austin.

I first met Raleek Brown when he was a sophomore, and he wanted to visit Texas but they weren’t recruiting him. The staff at the time wouldn’t offer him unless he visited and Oklahoma was opening up a big lead. Texas engaged once Steve Sarkisian arrived but there just wasn’t a lot of time. Brown will be a day one difference maker in college.

Jamarion Miller
(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

The current staff loved Jamarion Miller, but they had some ground to make up after the previous staff failed to show much interest. Texas tried throughout the spring but couldn’t get Miller to respond much. The Longhorns weren’t even in the picture until the summer when Miller started planning visits. On the last visit weekend of June, Miller decided to make a trip to the school he grew up watching. Texas closed the deal quickly and Miller committed soon thereafter. It looked like it would be a fun story as Miller repeatedly said he was tired of recruiting and wanted it to be over. I was reminded that actions speak louder than words in the recruiting world, and it was odd to see a kid who was vocally tired of the recruiting process take a few under the radar visits. Miller’s tune changed in the fall as he decided he’d take all of his officials. A few voices near him urged him to continue to look at Alabama, as Nick Saban continued to push personally for the east Texas back. Miller ultimately flipped close to signing day and never spoke about why, but I feel the lack of NFL Draft production played a role.

Texas seemed to be in a good spot for TreVonte' Citizen early and hosted him on an official visit. LSU won out initially, but Texas was in a spot to flip him. Citizen was always somewhat borderline for Texas depending on his senior season performance. In the end, I think Texas felt the need to move on and let Citizen go.

The Longhorns were in a power position to land Tavorus Jones, and it looked like that would happen until Texas decided not to host him just days before Jones got on the plane for his official visit. We fully expected a commitment following that trip, but there was a lot of indecision when it came to the second running back spot. Jones probably would have been the guy, but Texas held him off for DeAnthony Gatson who ended up picking USC and ended up with Jamarion Miller anyway. Jones didn’t have a great junior year and I think Texas wanted to wait and he didn’t. He took his only official visit to Missouri the following weekend and shut it down soon after.

I’ve heard from several sources that Texas received a commitment from DeAnthony Gatson following his official visit, but they didn’t want to take it at the time. After some thought, the Longhorns circled back around Gatson’s commitment date and started to push again, but USC used the window they had to get in and close the deal. As the evaluation process is ongoing, Texas continued to monitor Gatson but never felt the need to push for a commitment.

Evan Stewart
(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

Texas was one of the first schools to offer Evan Stewart before he really rose to prominence prior to his junior year. That early offer ingratiated Texas with him and the Longhorns were an early leader, but Stewart was fairly indecisive his entire recruitment. Last January, I spoke to him and he told me Texas was probably 4th or 5th on his list. A few weeks later, he made his commitment to the Longhorns.

I said at the time of his commitment that Evan was the biggest wildcard in the class, and he proved that. After decommitting, there was a period where Texas drifted because of communication issues. Those could probably best be tied to some hurt feelings from the coaching staff following his decommitment.

Steve Sarkisian and Brandon Harris went about personally repairing that relationship and got Texas back into a strong position during the summer. Florida briefly grabbed headlines as a leader, but Texas never faded and constantly stayed at the head of the pack. During the summer, Stewart took a trip to College Station. Texas A&M was emerging in his recruitment, but he told me at the time that he didn’t like College Station and didn’t feel it was a fit.

As the fall went on, it only seemed like a matter of time before Texas would eventually reel Stewart in. Alabama was the main point of contention and Texas A&M wasn’t even in the conversation. Had Texas won the Red River Shootout behind an electric Xavier Worthy effort, I believe Stewart might have pulled the trigger that day. Had they been able to come back the next week and beat Oklahoma State while Stewart was in Austin, they might have had a second chance to win him over again.

After the visit for the Oklahoma State game, Stewart told me he was visiting Texas A&M the following week in what was a surprise to many. After attending several student events and the game, A&M made a big move for him. It seemed like it was headed downhill from that point for Texas, but there were times when Stewart told Texas they were still in the lead and that he still wanted to be a Longhorn.

In the end, Stewart made it clear he didn’t want to be part of a rebuild at Texas and he told me after the season that the potential to be part of a class like the one that Texas A&M had put together was too good to turn down. I also don’t think his parents and some of those around him were sold on Texas. I heard from a few sources that his mother didn’t click with the Texas staff and I know he had a couple of other voices in his corner encouraging Texas A&M.

It did get a bit interesting near signing day. Going back to Ewers’ original commitment, Quinn was a quarterback Stewart always wanted to play with. When Quinn transferred to Texas, Stewart reiterated that he wanted to play with Quinn but he was firm in his decision to stick with A&M.

On National Signing Day when Stewart’s letter was delayed, there was a period of time where he was in contact with the Texas staff and commits, but nobody near him ever indicated any sort of flip was close.

The race for four-star wide receiver Shazz Preston was an illusion of sorts. Texas did a strong job and finished second in Preston’s own admission following his decision to sign with Alabama. Still, the recruitment always seemed like Preston was attainable yet always out of reach. Texas did just about everything they could do, and there was a time in the early fall where it looked like Texas could be victorious. Even down the stretch, Texas did everything it could to bring him in, but they always seemed to be behind one school or another. LSU always seemed like the favorite, but the coaching change didn’t leave the Tigers enough time and Alabama grabbed control following his visit to Tuscaloosa.

Put Kevin Coleman down as yet another odd recruitment that probably could have gone different. In the spring, Texas was in as good of a position for Coleman as anyone. As we entered the summer, a canceled visit from Coleman seemed to turn Texas off a bit. In many ways, Texas seemed to pull out of the recruitment and focus on others. Coleman told me during All-American Bowl week that he always envisioned himself at Texas and his family even thought about moving there. Coleman did tell me Texas reached out after Brennan Marion was hired and he was thinking about taking a visit later in the month. In the end, Coleman pulled off a surprise commitment to Jackson State and told me he planned to enroll early.

"<b
Chris Marshall" 
(Photo: Andrew Ivins, 247Sports)
Texas coveted the talent of Fort Bend Marshall wide receiver Chris Marshall early in the cycle. What happened after that depends on who you talk with. Throughout the spring I saw Marshall at several events and he told me that Texas was high on his list during all of those occasions. USC and Texas A&M were always the two schools most talked about with Marshall, but Texas seemed like they would hang around. Following a Top 5 cut that excluded Texas, I checked around to see what happened. One side of the story was that Marshall just simply wasn’t interested in Texas and decided to move on. The other side of the story included Texas pulling out of the recruitment because of some concerns with content they’d seen on Marshall’s social media. Who knows what the true story really is? To be fair, a lot of recruitments end with a he-said/she-said attitude.

From the beginning, Caleb Burton seemed like the type of kid who didn’t want to be pigeonholed to Texas just because he lived in Austin. He was often quick to remind many people that he was not born in Austin and had come from Houston. Burton never really considered Texas even after Ewers made his first commitment. In fact, Burton’s reticence with Texas following Ewers was a big part of Quinn feeling he couldn’t attract talent with him. Burton’s name came up in rumors several times, but we never found anything concrete. Even when Ewers was rumored to be headed to Texas, we heard that as long as Andre Coleman was the receiver coach, Burton wanted to be elsewhere.

The Longhorns also finished second for Mater Dei wide receiver CJ Williams during his first recruitment when he picked Notre Dame. Though he was committed to the Irish, he kept me in the loop on his plans and his contact with Texas. I think the Longhorns could have made a strong push for him, but I think there were some questions about his overall explosive ability that caused Texas to zero in on others. When Brian Kelly left Notre Dame, Texas wanted to make an in-home visit to make one last pitch to him. Williams told me he would have been very open to Texas as he loved Austin, the education and the offense. He was told they wouldn’t make the in-home visit unless he was decommitted, and while that was coming, he wasn’t officially decommitted at the time. Could Texas have overcome the hometown pull of USC with Lincoln Riley at the helm? Perhaps, but Williams did seem mystified that they didn’t try harder down the stretch.

When Brenen Thompson blew up on the recruiting trail in the spring of 2020, Texas was quick to pull the trigger for the Panhandle speedster. In the beginning, Thompson kept everything at a true level playing field as he entertained almost every offer he received. As his junior season rolled around, Clemson had begun to get involved and things looked like they could’ve been heading towards an early commitment for the Tigers after Cade Klubnik’s commitment, but Thompson insisted that he wanted to visit his top contenders before making any decision. When visit time did roll around, we reported that Oklahoma State and Texas were going to be the ones battling it out heading into June. Two schools entered the picture following visits: Oregon and Texas A&M. His experience in Eugene blew him away as the family really connected with Mario Cristobal and the entire staff. However, being close to home was a big factor for him. If Eugene wasn’t so far away, he could be donning green and black, but it was just too big of a concern to overcome. While he did flirt with Texas A&M down the stretch and included him in his top three, it ultimately came down to the Cowboys and Longhorns. The concern for Thompson regarding Texas was always if he would be a fit in a city like Austin coming from Spearman, but his official visit experience answered all of those questions. After a long discussion with Jordan Shipley during his visit about transitioning into Austin as a small-town kid, Thompson began to see himself locking things down. The visit concluded with a strong effort from the coaching staff and an assist from Loreal Sarkisian that helped convince the family. Just two weeks later, he was committed and never wavered before Signing Day. (Nick)

Texas was early to offer Garland wide receiver Jordan Hudson and while the Longhorns grabbed some early buzz, Oklahoma was where he made his early commitment. Even after he had committed to the Sooners, Hudson started talking about flipping early. Hudson considered coming out to throw with Quinn Ewers when he worked out with several recruits after committing. Despite taking more pictures with the horns down than any recruit I’d ever seen, Hudson was constantly talking to Texas. In February of last year, Hudson told me he wouldn’t be signing with Oklahoma and just wanted to find the right place. Texas seemed like the move as Hudson was one of the players suiting up with Maalik Murphy’s 7v7 team in an effort to gain some chemistry. For whatever reason, Hudson just kept playing the game and stretched his recruitment out. By the time he did come free, he went into his second recruitment looking to play it low key. I was told repeatedly that Hudson thought Evan Stewart would end up at Texas and he didn’t want to go somewhere that he wasn’t the top priority. Hudson chose SMU to be the small fish in the big pond after seeing the way Mustang receivers developed in the last few seasons. He would have stayed at SMU had the coaching staff not left.

WR Armani Winfield (Photo: Collin Kennedy, 247Sports)
 

There wasn’t a higher maintenance recruitment than that of Armani Winfield. He made headlines by committing to Andre Coleman at halftime of the national championship game before Steve Sarkisian officially arrived in Austin. Though he went through the spring incident-free, Winfield started talking about possibly decommitting and taking other visits. Even after his official visit to Austin, there was still pressure on him to open things up. Texas had calls with Armani and his family on several occasions to save what would have been a decommitment. While Winfield never seemed like he wanted to leave, he had several voices around him telling him that he wasn’t being recruited as a priority the way his friend and training partner Evan Stewart was. Winfield made his decommitment in the middle of the Longhorns’ game against Kansas State that would close the season. I was told he regretted the decision and called the staff back to see if he could re-commit. There was a time where the staff put him on hold because they weren’t happy with the way his decommitment had gone down. After a few meetings, Texas was going to let him back in the class on signing day. Winfield told the staff the night before that he would be signing with them along with many other recruits only to ink with Baylor the next day in a fitting end to that recruitment.

I feel that when we look back in a few years, Matthew Golden will be seen as a big miss. Golden was a guy Texas was early in identifying, but they didn’t pull the trigger during the spring. The staff had some questions about his speed and overall athletic ability. Texas wanted to get Golden in for a workout in the summer, but he didn’t feel he needed to with other offers.

The Longhorns tried to take advantage when Golden decommitted from TCU, and at first, it looked like Texas would be able to close the deal. Golden attended the final game of the season and something in his tone changed when talking about his recruitment. TCU came in heavy after Ra’Shaad Samples and Bryan Carrington were hired and it seemed like they would get him back. I’ll give credit to Golden who told me he wanted to go wherever he felt was the best fit and wherever he had the best relationship. He could have chosen bigger options than Houston, but he was true to his word. Texas could have won him had they engaged earlier.

The decision of Phaizon Wilson to become the first commit in the Texas class for 2022 was a little bit of a shock to those around him. Wilson was a promising sophomore at the time of his commitment, and he decided to decommit soon after Ewers defected. During his junior year, Wilson was suspended and ended up not playing after having seen the field sparingly during his sophomore year. After attempting to transfer before his senior season, Wilson returned to Lancaster where he actually played a great deal. Had he stayed committed he might have had a chance to stick in the class, but decommitting limited his options when he didn’t have much on film other than 7v7.

There isn’t much to say about the way the Savion Red recruitment played out. Texas was looking for a receiver prospect with some versatility late and jumped on Red when SMU had their coaching turnover. I’m told Chris Gilbert was vocal in his support for a player like Red, and Texas closed pretty easily after putting the press on.

It seemed like Texas finished second for Jaleel Skinner, but he told me they actually finished third when he made his commitment to Alabama. There was a time where Skinner and his family were giving the Longhorns positive vibes that made them think they could land him. A big part of that was Jeff Banks who established a great relationship with the family. Skinner made a summer official visit and returned in the fall even after he was committed to Alabama. Skinner told me he almost committed after his official visit to Austin, but decided to hold off. From talking to him, it didn’t sound like Texas did anything wrong. He simply wanted to be part of a winning program and felt Texas would need a few years to build.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

As Texas took aim at Humble Summer Creek offensive tackle Kelvin Banks, it seemed like they were emerging as the favorite in a two-way battle between Texas and Texas A&M. I went to Humble in the late spring to see Banks and all the talk centered around a head-to-head in-state battle for the Longhorns against the Aggies.

As we moved into the summer, several other schools popped up for Banks with a little bit of buzz. His first visit to LSU caused some commotion, but that momentum quickly died. Oregon caused a spark as well, but everyone near the Houston big man said this would come down to the two in-state powers.

The confidence in Austin was high throughout that time as the staff was hearing a ton of strong feedback from Banks and his family. Following his official visits, Banks announced he would make his commitment on July 4. Texas A&M was building a lot of momentum in-state, and it sounded like they made a big splash on his official visit. While most folks expected them to eventually be the pick, Oregon quickly emerged out of nowhere as a strong threat.

Banks told several people that the decision would really come down to Oregon and Texas A&M with Texas finishing third. That news alone was puzzling to folks in Austin who were led to believe they were in the thick of that race if not the lead. Banks eventually chose Oregon and became one of the more vocal commits in the class.

The relationship-building never stopped, and though there were moments where several people in Austin felt it might be a lost cause to continue chasing him.

In October, a source near Banks reached out to me with some fairly big news. Though nobody in Austin seemed to know it, the relationship building was working. Banks was telling those close to him that the door was open in his recruitment and some things that happened within the family could cause him to stay close to home. The source also indicated that if a flip happened, it would be to Texas and nobody else.

On a whim, I drove out to a Thursday night game between Banks and North Shore. After the game, I spoke with Banks for a bit and he told me that while he was fully committed to Oregon, he was definitely listening to Texas. While my source was strong in saying he would eventually flip, Banks downplayed those chances and said he was considering making a game visit that weekend to see Oklahoma State.

I asked him about whether I should report the news or not and offered to keep a lid on it since I knew it was a sensitive subject. Banks was adamant that I needed to do my job and told me to go ahead and report it but to make sure it was stressed that he was firmly committed to Oregon. Sources I spoke with in Austin didn’t have objections to me reporting the news either, and though fans thought it could potentially ruin the recruitment, it never mattered.

Banks didn’t visit Austin that weekend, and I went back to my source and told him I didn’t think the indications were that strong. This source doubled down at the time and told me Banks would eventually be a Texas commit. It was at that point, I started monitoring the Miami situation and if Mario Cristobal could be hired away from Oregon.

A source in Austin felt they could get Banks regardless, but they were hoping a move for Cristobal could be the ultimate catalyst for it. When Cristobal was hired away, I was told that if something was going to happen for Texas, it would move quickly. Nick went and saw Banks at the Houston Touchdown Club Dinner where he told him his recruitment would be reset and he would probably push things until February. While we initially heard that as well, another source I spoke with near Banks told me that the family could shut it down early to avoid the fatigue of the recruiting process.

When Banks said he would stretch the recruitment out, I kept that source in the back of my mind but chalked it up to a change for Banks. As schools started to change their strategies to push home visits back to January, Texas remained undeterred. The plan was always to go into his home as late as possible in the week before the Early Signing Period and try to make the final impression.

I asked a source in Austin if Sarkisian would save his in-home for January, and was told he didn’t need to as there was confidence that Texas could seal things up on the in-home visit. I’m not sure if they knew Banks was already in the bag or if they just felt that good about the ability to close.

Texas did exactly that and secured a cornerstone for their offensive line class.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

When I met Malik Agbo last February, he was very high on Texas and was forging a bond with Maalik Murphy. Texas seemed like an early leader, but contact fell off through the spring and summer. It looked like the recruitment with Texas was dead until the fall when the Longhorns re-established contact with him. All the Longhorns needed was to get Agbo on campus for an official visit. I was on the field taking pictures on the day of his official visit and trying to make sure not to speak with anyone during a visit, per the rules of what we are allowed to do. Agbo saw me and walked over to talk, and I tried to keep it short without being rude. He had been there a few hours and was already blown away by the trip. A source I spoke with warned me that further visits could sway the impressionable Agbo. Auburn did surge for a while after his trip, but Texas stayed the course and Kyle Flood’s trips to Seattle during the month of December ended up paying off.

Texas came in late on Cameron Williams during the summer but made up quite a bit of ground coming out of his late June official visit. Leading up to decision day, we had a lot of intel that Texas would be the pick. However, Oregon emerged quickly as the decision neared and ended up winning out, continuing a hot streak of victories over Texas. The Longhorns never really gave in and sources at Duncanville told us that they felt Texas would eventually flip Williams as his family wanted him closer to home. Oregon continued to put up a big fight sending coaches out any time it felt like Williams might be leaning a certain way. Down the stretch, Texas continued to do in-home visits and while sources we had spoken with weren’t as confident on flipping Williams, the fact he was still letting them in was encouraging. Once Mario Cristobal defected from Oregon, it was just about a sure thing. Duncanville’s season ended around the same time and Williams made the call for Texas.

For as long and high profile as the recruitment of Devon Campbell was, there weren’t many twists. Texas offered Campbell early when Herb Hand was in Austin and that gave the Longhorns a strong upper hand. For a while, Texas was the only school Campbell had visited and he did so a few times. There was a time before his junior year where Campbell was considering committing to Texas but his family told him to go see other schools and his recruitment stretched out. What’s funny is the way Campbell was talked about by other commits and schools. Despite confidence at times from programs such as Oklahoma, the prevailing sentiment was that Campbell would eventually be a Longhorn. Texas actually signed Campbell at the end of the December signing window, but sources asked us to keep a tight lid on it so Campbell could play his announcement out his way through the month of January. I thought it was going to get out on Monday when a twitter account with very few followers tweeted a picture of the NCAA’s database showing Campbell’s NLI to Texas, but it was taken down within 30 minutes and nobody saw it.

When it came down to it, the recruitment of Earnest Greene looked to be do-or-die for the Texas offensive line. The Longhorns were all in on the four-star California prospect and doing everything they could to win him. Ohio State seemed to be the primary competition, but Texas started to take a bit of a lead in the early fall. When I went to California in the fall, Greene told me that he wanted to play for a championship contender but that the job Kyle Flood and Steve Sarkisian had done establishing a relationship was pushing Texas to the top. The Longhorns pulled out every stop they had for Greene and even involved Andre Coleman who played with Greene’s father for the San Diego Chargers. Georgia just had too much and though Texas tried to pitch the tackle position as a difference maker, the Dawgs won out because of their NFL development and status as a program.

Kam Dewberry (Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

While it seemed like Kam Dewberry was always destined to end up at Texas A&M, he told me that had the current staff been around for more than a year, he’d probably have chosen Texas. Let’s go back to the Tom Herman era. Herb Hand neglected that relationship so much that Dewberry was prepared to drop Texas altogether. He didn’t think Hand could develop, he didn’t think Herman would be around long and he didn’t think Texas really saw him as a priority. Flood changed that almost immediately and Dewberry said that no school recruited him harder throughout the year. In the spring, Dewberry told me Texas was sitting third behind Ohio State and Alabama. As the year went on, Texas continued to push and in the end it came down to Texas and Texas A&M following Lincoln Riley’s departure. Dewberry said it was an incredibly difficult decision and the worst part of his recruitment was making the call to the staff to tell them no. Texas pitched Dewberry on not following the A&M class and making his own legacy. Dewberry told me the difference-maker was the last visit he made to College Station where he drove himself. Being that close to home clicked for him in a different way and he knew his decision then. Even at that point, Dewberry told me the staff made a convincing case when they came in for the last in-home visit. There was even a rumor I heard that Dewberry would end up with his good friend Kelvin Banks, but it ended just like many other package deals.

Perhaps the most unlikely win of the year was that of Neto Umeozulu. From the beginning, Umeozulu didn’t show a lot of interest in Texas. One of the big difference makers in this recruitment was Chris Gilbert who did a great job building the relationship. Still, Texas was never really considered a leader for Umeozulu. Even on his official visit in the fall, I was told Umeozulu requested to leave the trip early, but his one-on-one meeting with Kyle Flood left a big impression on him. Even down the stretch, Oklahoma looked like the biggest team to beat. I was told that even when it came decision time, Oklahoma seemed to be the move until a late push by Texas and the prestige of the McCombs Business School won out for Texas. Even after his commitment, Umeozulu had cold feet on NSD-eve as Baylor had made a strong late push. Both Baylor and Texas were in contact after midnight before Signing Day, but Texas smoothed it over and got his signature early the next morning.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
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I’m going to group Cole Hutson and Connor Robertson together because they did just about everything as a pair and were both low drama. Robertson seemed like a sure thing from the moment he was offered, and Hutson was a lean even before he knew it. Hutson’s unofficial visit to Austin a week before his official really helped Texas to seal the deal. Kyle Flood spent time with his family at the Texas baseball game and they got to break the ice in person before the official visit. A return trip the next week sealed it. Hutson told me that Texas treated him like a priority while a few poor visit experiences at other schools helped Texas stand out. Robertson and Hutson did the heavy lifting of recruiting and trying to keep the class together and united throughout the year and never wavered once.

Spoiler

The 2022 cycle was a wild ride.

Coming out of the COVID dead period, this was the first class in two years that was able to take official visits and that let loose a hurricane of trips, commitments and flips as the 2022 recruits tried to pack two years' worth of recruiting into six months.

Texas needed to win big in 2022, and while they didn't get it done on the field, they were able to finish strong landing the No. 5 class in the nation in recruiting. They were also one of the bigger stories in the country during Transfer Portal season when they reeled in Quinn Ewers and several others.

As always, there was drama, intrigue, and plenty of crazy moments behind closed doors. As we do each year, Horns247 has a full rundown of how exactly the 2021 class played out.

So without further ado, we take you behind the scenes of the 2021 Texas signing class in this second of two parts of Horns247's annual post-National Signing Day look back at how things unfolded in the recruiting cycle.

Texas was in and out of the race for Bear Alexander for most of his recruitment, and they never had much of a chance with the new staff. While Alexander spoke with Bo Davis a few times and made a visit, Texas was never considered a serious option. I checked out of that recruitment pretty early, but it sounded like there were some interesting stories from both the Georgia and Texas A&M side.

After Quency Wiggins visited Texas in the summer, the Longhorns were in the top group but it never seemed like they’d be able to overcome other programs like Alabama and LSU. Wiggins came back for an official visit which he said he enjoyed, but he just didn’t feel Texas was a fit. Wiggins was a big fan of Bo Davis, but the losing streak and looming rebuild were too much for Texas to overcome.

Jaray Bledsoe
(Photo: Andrew Ivins, 247Sports)
 

One of the cooler stories in the class was Marlin defensive lineman Jaray Bledsoe. I first met Bledsoe on a Saturday night in 2020 on the way back from seeing Hayden Conner in Katy that morning. Myself and Guy Frazier (who you may know already if you listen to the State of Recruiting podcast) decided to swing by Mart and Bremond that night to just see some good small-town football. While Mart won big, big No. 99 for Bremond stuck out as he totaled multiple TFLs and rushed for over 100 yards on offense with a 6-foot-4, 270 pound frame. After the game, we spoke with Bledsoe to see if he had been hearing from any schools and he mentioned Texas A&M. It was clear that night that he was going to be a Power Five talent. After he dropped his junior year film that next January, his recruitment exploded but hit a quick halt after schools were alerted to an eligibility issue.

Following the winter storm in February, Bledsoe had to make the move back to his hometown of Marlin and it was there that he was able to get his grades back on track. After powering through a rigorous summer school schedule, Bledsoe had put himself back on the map to be recruited and Texas was the first school to notice. The Texas staff welcomed him in for an official visit in late June and were really the only school to push for a commitment in the summer. The effort paid off as Bledsoe locked it down just before his senior school year and never wavered leading up to his signing. Texas A&M and Baylor were always the schools that I felt like would have the inside track, but the loyalty that Bo Davis and the staff showed through Bledsoe’s adversities was what put Texas in the lead through the end. (Nick)

I never got the idea that Ernest Cooper IV was ever seriously interested in Texas. Texas A&M was always the in-state school that held his attention. In early spring, Cooper was talking like Texas would be in his top group, but something changed quickly. I just don’t think Texas saw him as a fit and didn’t feel he was incredibly interested in the first place. I think Stanford is a great fit for him both academically and athletically.

Give credit to Bo Davis for zeroing in immediately on Kristopher Ross and winning him over pretty quickly. Texas was originally in line for a quicker decision but Ross decided to wait it out another month or so after a push from Texas Tech. TCU made a push for him and there was some confidence in Fort Worth that they could flip him. I never sensed anything serious there as Ross seemed pretty locked in from the beginning.

Omari Abor
Omari Abor (Photo: Collin Kennedy, 247Sports)
 

The tale of Omari Abor and his recruitment with Texas really depends on who you talk with. I first met Abor when he was a sophomore with no offers. After a breakout season, Abor put on a show in front of Tom Herman and Bryan Carrington in the playoffs but didn’t receive an offer. Even talking to Abor after that game, he said OU was the program he grew up rooting for. Texas just never seemed to ever gain traction with him even after the new staff took over. Sources I spoke with in Austin regarded Abor as non-responsive while Abor would say he never heard much from the staff. I will say that the non-responsive complaint is one I heard from several schools. The recruitment was pretty much dead in the water until Abor decided to make a summer visit to Austin. Longtime favorite OU was dropping at that time and Texas made a good enough impression to make it look like they would hang around. As we moved into the fall, communication was up and down once again. Ohio State was always the school everyone felt Abor would end up at. Around the state finals, Abor started talking up Texas again, but that was incredibly short-lived. I asked him later what happened and he said Texas had dropped contact once again. In the end, he was probably going to end up at Ohio State anyway. I did run into his parents after the state championship game and asked them about Texas and they said they didn’t even have a handle on what Abor was thinking.

Texas landing J'Mond Tapp was somewhat surprising and I ignored the signs because of the history of players like Tapp staying in-state to play for LSU. I got the warning on his commitment with the caveat that it would probably take a couple of hours to come down. I wanted to write his commitment story then but figured I had some time to eat dinner and write the story after. Tapp ended up committing in the middle of my meal leading to a mad scramble. From the time he committed, Tapp was a guy others talked about as being on flip watch but he never really wavered. Tapp was open about wanting to take visits and attended several LSU games during the fall and even made an appearance at Jackson State in October. Every time rumors would heat up about Tapp, he’d shut them down. Tapp is truly one of the most unique characters I’ve met doing this. The stories from the other commits and their interactions with him are some of the funniest things I’ve heard.

I’ll be honest in saying I had doubts Texas could pull Justice Finkley in. Sources in Austin were always optimistic for him, but there had been some misreads on recruitments causing me to be suspicious. The academic advantages held a lot of sway for Texas, but it was hard to believe they could go head-to-head with Nick Saban and pull a kid out of Alabama. The most interesting part of the recruitment was how secretive and paranoid Finkley was about his decision leaking. In fact, some sources were purposely putting out misinformation to keep things a secret. When we figured out what the decision was, those sources opened up to confirm. There was a fear that any leak could cause Finkley to reconsider, but he’d been committed to Texas for a while leading up to his announcement.

Derrick Brown (Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

Texas was a bit late to the recruitment of Derrick Brown, but the staff did a tremendous job making up ground through Jeff Choate, Pete Kwiatkowski and Chris Gilbert who helped because of his relationship with Texas High head coach Gerry Stanford. Going into the summer, Texas and Texas A&M were the two highest for Brown. Texas got the first visit of the summer, which was a calculated gamble knowing how impressionable Brown was. I think Texas wanted to slam the door on that first visit, and they almost did. Brown canceled his visit to Texas A&M coming out of the weekend after telling some people that the A&M staff was trying to contact him the entire time through the visit. Brown was going to take his time with visits, but he was considered as close to a commit as one could get. Everything was fine until Brown went on a trip to Baylor. The Bears were one of the first schools to offer and Joey McGuire did a phenomenal job on that visit. Coming out of it, Baylor was in the lead and Brown was zeroing in on the Bears as he planned his commitment video. Texas doubled down with communication and they were able to get Brown to hold off and return to Austin in July for the pool party. Once they held Baylor off, momentum started to turn and Brown was going to return to Austin with Jeremy Patton (more on him later) for a dual commitment. Patton didn’t follow through but Brown did. There was some concern he might take other visits, but Brown emerged as one of the faces of the class.

There really wasn’t much to say about the Ethan Burke recruitment. Texas initiated contact late in the year and swooped in at the last minute to offer and flip him from Michigan. It appeared Texas was looking to see how the defensive line would pan out with a couple of other prospects, and they moved on Burke when they had an idea of the way those races were going. Burke was the ultimate senior riser in this class coming out of nowhere to generate some big time interest from around the country.

When Harold Perkins started to blow up, he maintained that he didn’t really have any leaders and it stayed that way through his junior season. Once we entered last spring, LSU, Texas A&M, and USC were schools that I was beginning to monitor, in that order. His interest in Texas was generated basically overnight when USC canceled his official visit days before he was set to fly to Los Angeles and Texas swooped in to get him on campus. A source told me at that time that Perkins never saw himself in burnt orange, but it clicked for him when he put on the jersey for the photo session. However, coming out of the summer it was clear that Texas A&M had a large lead despite ups and downs at times.

Texas stuck around and stayed in routine communication with Perkins all the way to the end. In fact, ahead of his commitment to Texas A&M in early January, a source told me that he would be committing to the Aggies but that he would not end up signing with them in the end and that Texas was still very much on the table. The Longhorns fought around up until about a week ago when he decided to focus on LSU, Florida, and Texas A&M. Being originally from New Orleans, it was always gonna be tough for Perkins to tell LSU no, and had they not made a coaching change, I feel Perkins would be headed to Gainesville. However, a solid final visit to Baton Rouge sealed things for the five-star linebacker. (Nick)

Heading into the summer, Sebastian Cheeks was talking to people behind the scenes like he would be committing to Texas. As he entered the summer, North Carolina and Texas stood above Michigan. North Carolina really crushed their official visit, and Cheeks' family had a health issue requiring them to stay in Chapel Hill while Cheeks visited Austin. North Carolina won out and Michigan ended up finishing second. In talking with Cheeks, he told me that most of his Texas interest centered around the relationship he had with Jeff Choate. Choate did an incredible job in the recruitment, but Austin wasn’t what Cheeks thought it would be and he didn’t want to pick a school just for one coach. Outside of Choate, Cheeks said he didn’t have a great relationship with anyone else on the staff and felt Texas “put on a show” during his visit. When I asked what that meant, Cheeks said it just felt like they were going through the motions. Texas made another run at Cheeks during the fall, but he was pretty locked in.

Kobie McKinzie
(Photo: Andrew Ivins, 247Sports)
 

The only way to describe the Kobie McKinzie recruitment is to say it was quite the whirlwind. McKinzie committed to Oklahoma a long time ago and Texas never really pursued for that reason. On the night Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma, I reached out to McKinzie who told me Texas had already reached out. He told me at the time that he always had love for Texas and an offer would make Texas the pick. I went and saw McKinzie play that week and talking to him after the game, he told me of his intentions to take his official visit to Austin and commit when he left. While his father downplayed Texas’ chances on message boards, McKinzie was giving me commitment quotes and telling me it was done to Texas. After making his announcement official, Brent Venables started to put the press on. Oklahoma pushed back, and I heard through several sources that the family was pushing the Sooners. Texas went in-home with Jeff Choate and Steve Sarkisian, and I was told the staff tried to work out any misconceptions or issues with the family at that time but ran into some opposition regarding Texas not offering him earlier. I was told that McKinzie was keeping in constant contact with the Texas staff throughout the week, and he’d voiced some concern to them over going back to Oklahoma for a visit while they were in the state of Oklahoma. Once he made the visit, everyone expected the flip and it ended up coming. One thing that was odd to me and several recruits around the state was the way he decommitted with a caption that read “I would say I’m sorry but I’m not.” It was just read as a bizarre about face from McKinzie and went even further when McKinzie gave an interview saying all Texas pitched him was money. While it was true Texas utilized NIL in recruitments, they were selective in who they used it with and wanted to make sure it was the right pitch. Up until that time, McKinzie talked often about the staff being football junkies and connecting with him through talk of scheme and fit. It was an odd ending for sure, and the most important thing was for McKinzie to find his right fit. I never got the sense he was a bad kid, but he did seem somewhat impulsive and indecisive.

Going into the summer, Texas knew it would have to overcome Notre Dame for Niuafe Tuihalamaka. Jeff Choate had done a really good job getting them in position and Jake Langi pitched in as well according to Tuihalamaka. Texas did a great job on the official visit, and Tuihalamaka said he almost committed to the Horns when he left Austin. Notre Dame had a long relationship with him and he wanted to keep his word and make the official visit. Once he made the trip, Notre Dame eventually won out. Tuihalamaka said that the academic and athletic fit at Notre Dame were what he was looking for more than what he found in Austin.

I had to contain my laughter the first time Lander Barton told me he was excited about Austin because he loved ranching and horses. I didn’t have the heart to tell him he probably wasn’t going to find a lot of that near campus. Barton said that Texas finished second and couldn’t have done anything different. He simply wanted to stay home and near his family’s ranch.

Texas A&M signee Ish Harris never seemed that into Texas and he communicated that to the staff before his official visit so they didn’t waste the trip on him. Harris said he liked Texas but his interest was in agricultural sciences and Texas didn’t offer that degree plan. Harris did make a late visit to Texas, but I was told there was nothing to it as he was just in Austin for his birthday. While Harris did tell other recruits he was considering flipping, a source near him said he was never serious and just having fun.

As I alluded to earlier, the recruitment of Jeremy Patton went from pretty quiet to crazy in the last week. Going back to the Derrick Brown recruitment, Patton and Brown had formed quite a bond and planned on committing together. Texas wanted to get Patton and his mother back on campus for a second visit, but he suddenly cut off communication and planned to commit to Michigan in what was regarded as a fairly big upset. On the day of his commitment, Patton told others he woke up with a feeling that God was leading him to Baylor. After committing to the Bears, I was told Patton reached out to Texas a few times to indicate interest in possibly flipping, but Texas moved on at that point.

Eoghan Kerry
(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

COVID-19’s effect on recruiting lingered into this class. Texas was looking for linebacker options and found Eoghan Kerry but didn’t have a ton to go on. Kerry had only played in the shortened season during the spring, but the staff liked his adjustment to stronger competition and he had some good combine testing numbers. I saw Kerry play a few times during the year and didn’t notice him much in a sea full of stars at Mater Dei. Late in the year, the staff and Kerry made a mutual decision to go their separate ways and Kerry found a home at Colorado. Kerry was an incredible kid to get to know and I hope he finds success in whatever he does.

I don’t have a ton on Isaiah Bond, but the speedy receiver told me he was interested in visiting Austin over the summer. Bond said contact with Andre Coleman just dropped off at one point and he decided not to make the trip after all.

I’m confident that Arlis Boardingham probably would have committed had Texas pushed, but I don’t think they wanted to take the chance in the end. Boardingham is such a high-ceiling athlete with an intriguing future, but I was told his private workout with UT didn’t go well so they didn’t want to spend the spot.

I was an early fan of the potential Xavion Brice had at defensive back and wasn’t surprised when he ripped up the SMU camp in front of a lot of college staffs. Texas offered and hosted him on a visit, but Brice said they never communicated again past that. Brice committed to Oklahoma, but Texas came back around in the end and got him after Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma.

There was a brief moment when Jay Valai was at Texas where Domani Jackson was at least telling those close to him that Texas was near the top. Jackson told several different schools that he was thinking of committing to them. I think Texas had some early momentum but they lost it pretty quickly.

Other than not performing on the field, I’m not sure where things really went wrong with Denver Harris. Throughout his recruitment, Texas was always right there among the top schools and I was told on several different occasions that his mother and those in his family preferred Texas as the pick. Harris always seemed to be just within their grasp but they could never quite take hold. From the spring and through the summer, those closest to Harris described the race as a two-way between Texas and Alabama. I was told throughout that time that Texas A&M would always hold the last spot but weren’t a big threat. I was told that throughout the spring and summer, but in late fall I mentioned on the board that I heard something to make me believe A&M was in a better position than anyone thought. Around the time Evan Stewart started receiving Crystal Balls to Texas A&M, I was told that Harris sent Stewart and Kam Dewberry a message asking if they should all link up in College Station. The person that relayed that information felt it was Harris who was in effect recruiting for them at the time. There was some intrigue and mixed messaging down the stretch in favor of Texas, but it was mostly a smokescreen as Harris picked A&M.

Terrance Brooks
(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

Texas actually started the Terrance Brooks recruitment at an advantage because Brooks had a relationship with Terry Joseph. Texas A&M was seen as the early favorite because of the links to his family, but someone close to Brooks told me early on he just didn’t like College Station and couldn’t see himself there. It looked like a Texas/Alabama battle as Nick Saban was coming after Brooks hard throughout the spring. Ohio State offered a month before his announcement and most people we talked to didn’t consider them a threat because of the late entry. Kudos to Ohio State for moving quickly and closing the deal off the bat, but it wouldn’t hold. Starting in the fall, I was pretty open in reporting that Texas was in position to flip him. Though he played things pretty lowkey, Brooks always maintained communication with the staff. Credit to Terry Joseph who never gave in and fought to the very end. The staff closed the deal on their in-home visit just before signing day and it didn’t hurt that Kerry Coombs looked to be on the outs at Ohio State.

There were certainly ups and downs with Jaylon Guilbeau but I don’t think he was the person some of the fanbase thought he was. Consider the fact that Guilbeau made an early commitment to Texas, stuck on as the only commit through a coaching change and tried everything he could to connect with the new staff. As he went through the spring and summer, Guilbeau told me he was having trouble connecting with Terry Joseph who was a stark contrast to Jay Valai. Guilbeau also got the hard press from Gary Patterson and the TCU staff, ultimately leading him to flip to the Horned Frogs. When Patterson was fired, the staff re-initiated contact with Guilbeau and started the process over. Guilbeau told me that the constant turnover he was seeing really messed his head up but he appreciated how the Texas staff came back to him and started from scratch.

Texas hosted Ronald Lewisfor a camp visit during the summer where he dominated competition and put himself on the radar of Terry Joseph and the defensive staff. Shortly after that camp visit, Lewis locked in a spot at Colorado where he remained committed for a few months. However, once it became clear that Texas would miss on Bryce Anderson, the defensive staff immediately pivoted to their primary contingency plan in Lewis. Texas offered and he committed less than 24 hours later.

As the class really started to build in late December, especially on the offensive line, numbers started to become a legitimate concern. We heard some buzz ahead of signing day in December that Lewis would most likely be a numbers casualty and that’s what ended up happening. Lewis has an incredible work ethic and is one of the most level-headed recruits I’ve had the pleasure of covering. I’m excited to see what he can accomplish in Fort Worth with a chip on his shoulder. (Nick)

Jacoby Mathews
(Photo: Andrew Ivins, 247Sports)
 

Like Domani Jackson, there was a time when Kamari Wilson was telling several others about plans to commit to Texas. Wilson loved to play the game in recruiting, so that wasn’t exactly surprising, but Texas never really came close when it came down to it.

If I had 100 dollars for every time a source told me Jacoby Mathews was on the verge of committing, I’d have several hundred dollars. During the spring there was quite a bit of talk that Mathews would be committing to Texas along with Bryce Anderson (more on him later) but it never materialized. There were several times Mathews had visits planned to Texas and other campuses only not to show. Mathews officially visited Austin during the Oklahoma State game, and I was told he was one of the recruits most vocal about believing in the staff. At the Under Armour All-American Game, Mathews told everyone that his final five all had a chance to get him. I thought Texas would need to get him back on campus to have a chance and they never did. Texas A&M had a lot of momentum since the summer and ended up winning out.

From the moment he decommitted from LSU, Bryce Anderson was pretty much pegged to be a Longhorn. Texas made a quick move and landed in the top position for the Beaumont safety. Throughout the spring, Anderson was planning to make his commitment to Texas, arranging videographers and recruiting for the Longhorns. When Nick and I visited West Brook during the spring, we spoke with Bryce off the record about recruiting for Texas and his eventual plans for his announcement. When Anderson pushed his timeline to the summer, I told Nick I was a little bit worried about what that meant for Texas. Credit to Texas A&M who went all in on the first visit week and swung the momentum. From that point, Texas was fighting on their heels. There was a lot of back and forth throughout the summer, but it never felt like Texas recaptured the momentum. We were told that Anderson was basically watching to see how either recruiting class was filling out so he could tell which would be the better group. Texas hosted Anderson in July during their pool party where he told media he would wait until September to make his decision. Anderson’s commitment was already made at that point and he decided to make his commitment in late July. Those in Anderson’s camp kept communication with Texas and kept encouraging them to recruit Anderson through signing day talking about plans for a late flip, but I never got the feeling that was coming from Bryce himself.

(Photo: Collin Kennedy, 247Sports)
 

I anticipated more drama from Bryan Allen Jr. but his recruitment went pretty smoothly. After decommitting from LSU, Texas A&M and Oklahoma were the schools we heard mentioned, but Texas moved in quickly. Blake Gideon did a great job nailing this recruitment down and I’m told Chris Gilbert helped quite a bit as well. When Alabama offered, there were some initial worries, but Allen never wavered after that.

Texas got in on Larry Turner-Gooden from the moment Steve Sarkisian arrived in Austin. Turner-Gooden told me in January of 2021 that Texas would be a school in the mix because of Sark who recruited a few of his family members. When he made his original commitment to Arizona State, Texas never really gave up.

I was told in early June that Turner-Gooden was still keeping regular contact with the Texas staff and there was a lot of confidence in getting the four-star prospect to campus for a visit. As Arizona State’s class crumbled following the visit scandal, things began to heat up with Texas and Turner-Gooden.

Larry made it to Austin on his own in the summer, and he returned in October for an official visit. From there, Texas held the lead and never really relinquished it. Turner-Godoen returned for another unofficial visit, and the Texas staff was monitoring his injury progress while factoring him into the numbers of the class. Turner-Gooden signed in December and made his announcement at the All-American Bowl.

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The previous Texas staff pursued Austin Jordan hard, but Oklahoma seemed to have an advantage during the staff transition. When he cut his list to a Top 3 of Texas, Oklahoma and Ohio State, I was told by sources near him that Oklahoma had a healthy lead and he was as close to a silent commit as possible. Terry Joseph and Blake Gideon continued to work through that recruitment, and they did a good job illustrating a need for Jordan on his official visit. We heard less about Jordan than anyone else coming out of the visit, and that usually doesn’t bode well in a recruitment. Leading into Jordan’s decision date, sources near him were in the dark on what he would ultimately do.

Texas seemed to be surging near the end, and sources in Norman started to waver a bit. Jordan decided on Texas and remained strong until the end. Though he had the reputation as a quiet kid who didn’t talk recruiting much, I did see him at one game working on other prospects on the sideline.

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Teryor

[Burt Macklin 19038]

3 minutes ago, Teryor said:

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The 2022 cycle was a wild ride.

Coming out of the COVID dead period, this was the first class in two years that was able to take official visits and that let loose a hurricane of trips, commitments and flips as the 2022 recruits tried to pack two years' worth of recruiting into six months. 

Texas needed to win big in 2022, and while they didn't get it done on the field, they were able to finish strong landing the No. 5 class in the nation in recruiting. They were also one of the bigger stories in the country during Transfer Portal season when they reeled in Quinn Ewers and several others.

As always, there was drama, intrigue, and plenty of crazy moments behind closed doors. As we do each year, Horns247 has a full rundown of how exactly the 2021 class played out.

So without further ado, we take you behind the scenes of the 2021 Texas signing class in this first of two parts of Horns247's annual post-National Signing Day look back at how things unfolded in the recruiting cycle.

The ballad of Quinn Ewers is something I’ll probably remember forever. I met the five-star passer at a young age and instantly knew we were dealing with a player of elite skills. In the first few years of his recruitment, Ewers told me repeatedly he didn’t want things to turn into a circus. What would follow is a career’s worth of ups-and-downs. As I write this now on what should be Ewers’ original graduation year, he’s already enrolled for a semester and transferred.

Ewers and those around him made no secret that Texas was the dream school from the moment we met. I recall doing a podcast with Ewers during the 2020 quarantine before he’d committed anywhere and could see several Longhorn logos on items in the background. It started with Tim Beck and Tom Herman. Beck wanted to offer as quickly as possible, but the staff had a policy about not offering players who hadn’t played varsity ball as of that time.

Once Texas offered, the Longhorns moved quickly to the front of the pack. Though programs like Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma took turns generating momentum, Texas was always the early pick. Ewers made his decision seemingly out of the blue and wanted to be the face of Texas recruiting. Ewers went to work immediately recruiting several others, but his commitment was short-lived.

Once the season started, Texas began to falter. A source I spoke with felt Ewers started to doubt his ability to get other top players to join him in Austin if the program continued to fall. I was also told that Ewers and his father didn’t care for the incident following the Red River Shootout where Sam Ehlinger was left alone on the field to sing The Eyes of Texas following their loss. In some ways, it sounded like the movement for social justice wasn’t of interest to the Ewers family.

I saw Quinn play just a few days before he made his decommitment. Rumors were swirling and I wanted to talk to Quinn and his family up close to see where things really were. Ewers went off that night and even gave me the Hook ‘Em after a touchdown when he saw me shooting video from the end zone. I spoke to Quinn, his family and his coaches who all told me there was no intention to make a decommitment and they wanted to play the season out to see if Herman would turn it around or who the new hire would be.

Quinn Ewers
(Photo: © Texas Football)
 

Despite that, it was clear from Ewers’ father’s social media activity that Ohio State would be the move. Ewers made the flip and Texas started to go its own way focusing on Cade Klubnik and Conner Weigman. When Steve Sarkisian took the job, he and AJ Milwee were on Ewers immediately. Even after Texas held a commitment from Maalik Murphy, the staff continued to pursue.

I’m told there was a time during the spring of 2021 where a flip started to look like it could happen. Though it never got that close, a source near Ewers told me that he loved Sarkisian and Milwee. That same source told me that if the staff were at Texas the year before, Ewers would have never decommitted. Though Milwee and Sarkisian made a good push, Ewers ultimately decided to shut it down and remain committed to Ohio State. While Quinn prepared for his senior year, a source near him told me that they wouldn’t rule out a quick portal move once he got to Columbus because he felt Ewers always wanted to be at Texas. Even those we spoke to associated with Ohio State recruiting said that Ewers had stopped speaking to other prospects on behalf of the Buckeyes. One of our sources felt Ewers had made what he thought was the right business decision to flip to Ohio State even if it wasn’t the best fit for him.

The decision for Ewers to reclassify and enroll early seemingly came out of nowhere. I was told that Ewers seemed to regret the decision almost immediately after arriving in Columbus and started setting plans into motion to get back to Austin via the transfer portal. Midway through the season we heard word and reported that Ewers was planning on entering the portal and that Texas would likely be the pick. Even in talking to some of his high school teammates, they felt he would transfer from the moment he got to Columbus.

Near the end of the year, I was told that Ewers reconsidered and would likely stick through the spring to see where the quarterback race was, but he ended up entering anyway. In the end, his heart just never seemed to be with Ohio State. Several other schools emerged along with Texas, but I was told there was never a plan for him to go anywhere else. Texas Tech was the main school of interest, and I heard a lot of confidence from that side. In fact, I was in a high school coach’s office when a member of the staff told the coach they were getting Ewers.

Steve Sarkisian zeroed in on Ewers from the beginning. As soon as Ewers entered the portal, Sarkisian was on a plane to Dallas to conduct an in-home visit that same night. The recruitment went longer than many expected. When Ewers first went in, I was told by a source near him that it would be Texas and that it would move quickly. Though the family explored other schools, Texas was always slated to be the pick.

A source I spoke with in Lubbock even told me they heard the Texas staff was growing tired of the recruitment and was thinking about pulling out. I was laughed at when I presented that information to someone in Austin. When Ewers made Austin his last visit, it was clear where things would end up. It’s been a long journey for Ewers who has more talent than I’ve ever seen in a passer in all of my time doing this. If his head is right, he is the type of quarterback who can elevate a program.

One of the most frequent questions I got over the last year was why Texas didn’t pursue Cade Klubnik instead of Maalik Murphy. The short answer was that Murphy wanted to make an early decision and Texas wasn’t in a place to turn him down. I think the most dangerous assumption is that Klubnik would have been an easy win. When I spoke to him after the season, Klubnik told me he felt Texas wanted to get someone in the class quickly but he didn’t feel Sarkisian and the staff were really all in on him at that time. Clemson was always going to be a tough school to overcome, and Alabama was also moving on him as well. I think it was possible for Texas to win that recruitment had they dialed in on Klubnik and Klubnik only, but that just wasn’t the reality.

From the time Steve Sarkisian took over, it was clear that Maalik Murphy would be a big target. Murphy was kind of a mythical figure to me as I’d seen Tim Beck and Mike Yurcich both send out offers to the strong-armed passer. I never could reach Murphy but was always told there was an interest in Texas. Once Sarkisian engaged, things moved rather quickly. We started reporting early in February that Texas was a runaway leader for Murphy and could close him soon. Perhaps the biggest indicator was when Murphy’s 7v7 team started bringing on receivers from the state of Texas to work with Murphy and start developing chemistry.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

Armani Winfield told me that Murphy would be making his commitment on his birthday and I received a call confirming that while at dinner with my wife on vacation. Murphy was locked in almost the entire time after he committed. He’s one of the best kids I’ve had the pleasure of covering during my career, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone that will say a bad word about him. Murphy took on a real leadership role in the class. If guys who were committed were flirting with other schools, Murphy took it upon himself to tell them he didn’t think it was a good look. Murphy was totally in the loop when Texas started recruiting a second quarterback in the class and was alright with Devin Brown. The Ewers news was a bit out of nowhere, and Murphy went silent for a few days leading up to signing. After a few unreturned texts, Murphy responded on National Signing Day to tell me he was about to send his letter in.

We zeroed in quickly on Devin Brown as the second quarterback take in the class thanks to a well-placed source near Brown who alerted us. Texas moved quickly and established themselves as a legitimate contender in short order. Despite a less than ideal official visit experience, the Longhorns seemed to be in a position to close the deal. Brown visited during the Kansas game, and he told me that he knew before the game even started Texas was going to lose. He talked with the staff about the need to overturn the roster and he could see a lack of buy-in from the players on the team. Despite that, Brown loved Sark and his offense and believed in that future. Brown was as close to a silent commit as he could be at one point, but a trip to Ohio State changed that. A source I spoke with near Brown said he was considering not even taking the visit because he thought Texas would ultimately be his landing place. He went anyway and everything changed. Brown clicked immediately with the coaching staff, and despite a shortened timeline, it didn’t take much for Ohio State to win him over. Texas waited until the second week to go in home with Sarkisian which was a gamble considering Ryan Day went in the first week. Sark never got to make his visit as Brown decided to shut it down. We had heard that movement in the quarterback room (Ewers) helped nudge him along, but sources near Brown told me they didn’t know any specifics and were going to pick the Buckeyes regardless. In the end, Brown said that Texas finished second.

Had Texas stuck with Herman and Yurcich, Drew Allar could be a Longhorn. The five-star quarterback said that Yurcich was on him early when he didn’t have a ton of interest and Texas would have been tough to beat had they recruited him.

The recruitment of Jaydon Blue ended quickly after Steve Sarkisian took over. The elite back had always leaned toward Texas, and Sarkisian’s offense gave him the push he needed to make an early decision. The recruitment overall was fairly ho-hum until the late spring when Blue announced he wouldn’t play his senior season. I was in Houston the week before to see Blue and others on a spring trip and sensed some weird vibes at Klein Cain when I went by there. The decision to sit out was a personal decision for Blue and his family but it was clear Blue wanted to play. Sark and the coaching staff actually tried to help mediate the issues, but a decision left up to the team captains ended with Blue not returning. There was a period of time where Blue considered decommitting from Texas, but in the end he was talked out of it after some frustrations boiled over. Many people forget that Blue was a borderline five-star and once the number one running back in the nation. He has the chance to really surprise some folks once he gets to Austin.

I first met Raleek Brown when he was a sophomore, and he wanted to visit Texas but they weren’t recruiting him. The staff at the time wouldn’t offer him unless he visited and Oklahoma was opening up a big lead. Texas engaged once Steve Sarkisian arrived but there just wasn’t a lot of time. Brown will be a day one difference maker in college.

Jamarion Miller
(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

The current staff loved Jamarion Miller, but they had some ground to make up after the previous staff failed to show much interest. Texas tried throughout the spring but couldn’t get Miller to respond much. The Longhorns weren’t even in the picture until the summer when Miller started planning visits. On the last visit weekend of June, Miller decided to make a trip to the school he grew up watching. Texas closed the deal quickly and Miller committed soon thereafter. It looked like it would be a fun story as Miller repeatedly said he was tired of recruiting and wanted it to be over. I was reminded that actions speak louder than words in the recruiting world, and it was odd to see a kid who was vocally tired of the recruiting process take a few under the radar visits. Miller’s tune changed in the fall as he decided he’d take all of his officials. A few voices near him urged him to continue to look at Alabama, as Nick Saban continued to push personally for the east Texas back. Miller ultimately flipped close to signing day and never spoke about why, but I feel the lack of NFL Draft production played a role.

Texas seemed to be in a good spot for TreVonte' Citizen early and hosted him on an official visit. LSU won out initially, but Texas was in a spot to flip him. Citizen was always somewhat borderline for Texas depending on his senior season performance. In the end, I think Texas felt the need to move on and let Citizen go.

The Longhorns were in a power position to land Tavorus Jones, and it looked like that would happen until Texas decided not to host him just days before Jones got on the plane for his official visit. We fully expected a commitment following that trip, but there was a lot of indecision when it came to the second running back spot. Jones probably would have been the guy, but Texas held him off for DeAnthony Gatson who ended up picking USC and ended up with Jamarion Miller anyway. Jones didn’t have a great junior year and I think Texas wanted to wait and he didn’t. He took his only official visit to Missouri the following weekend and shut it down soon after.

I’ve heard from several sources that Texas received a commitment from DeAnthony Gatson following his official visit, but they didn’t want to take it at the time. After some thought, the Longhorns circled back around Gatson’s commitment date and started to push again, but USC used the window they had to get in and close the deal. As the evaluation process is ongoing, Texas continued to monitor Gatson but never felt the need to push for a commitment.

Evan Stewart
(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

Texas was one of the first schools to offer Evan Stewart before he really rose to prominence prior to his junior year. That early offer ingratiated Texas with him and the Longhorns were an early leader, but Stewart was fairly indecisive his entire recruitment. Last January, I spoke to him and he told me Texas was probably 4th or 5th on his list. A few weeks later, he made his commitment to the Longhorns.

I said at the time of his commitment that Evan was the biggest wildcard in the class, and he proved that. After decommitting, there was a period where Texas drifted because of communication issues. Those could probably best be tied to some hurt feelings from the coaching staff following his decommitment.

Steve Sarkisian and Brandon Harris went about personally repairing that relationship and got Texas back into a strong position during the summer. Florida briefly grabbed headlines as a leader, but Texas never faded and constantly stayed at the head of the pack. During the summer, Stewart took a trip to College Station. Texas A&M was emerging in his recruitment, but he told me at the time that he didn’t like College Station and didn’t feel it was a fit.

As the fall went on, it only seemed like a matter of time before Texas would eventually reel Stewart in. Alabama was the main point of contention and Texas A&M wasn’t even in the conversation. Had Texas won the Red River Shootout behind an electric Xavier Worthy effort, I believe Stewart might have pulled the trigger that day. Had they been able to come back the next week and beat Oklahoma State while Stewart was in Austin, they might have had a second chance to win him over again.

After the visit for the Oklahoma State game, Stewart told me he was visiting Texas A&M the following week in what was a surprise to many. After attending several student events and the game, A&M made a big move for him. It seemed like it was headed downhill from that point for Texas, but there were times when Stewart told Texas they were still in the lead and that he still wanted to be a Longhorn.

In the end, Stewart made it clear he didn’t want to be part of a rebuild at Texas and he told me after the season that the potential to be part of a class like the one that Texas A&M had put together was too good to turn down. I also don’t think his parents and some of those around him were sold on Texas. I heard from a few sources that his mother didn’t click with the Texas staff and I know he had a couple of other voices in his corner encouraging Texas A&M.

It did get a bit interesting near signing day. Going back to Ewers’ original commitment, Quinn was a quarterback Stewart always wanted to play with. When Quinn transferred to Texas, Stewart reiterated that he wanted to play with Quinn but he was firm in his decision to stick with A&M.

On National Signing Day when Stewart’s letter was delayed, there was a period of time where he was in contact with the Texas staff and commits, but nobody near him ever indicated any sort of flip was close.

The race for four-star wide receiver Shazz Preston was an illusion of sorts. Texas did a strong job and finished second in Preston’s own admission following his decision to sign with Alabama. Still, the recruitment always seemed like Preston was attainable yet always out of reach. Texas did just about everything they could do, and there was a time in the early fall where it looked like Texas could be victorious. Even down the stretch, Texas did everything it could to bring him in, but they always seemed to be behind one school or another. LSU always seemed like the favorite, but the coaching change didn’t leave the Tigers enough time and Alabama grabbed control following his visit to Tuscaloosa.

Put Kevin Coleman down as yet another odd recruitment that probably could have gone different. In the spring, Texas was in as good of a position for Coleman as anyone. As we entered the summer, a canceled visit from Coleman seemed to turn Texas off a bit. In many ways, Texas seemed to pull out of the recruitment and focus on others. Coleman told me during All-American Bowl week that he always envisioned himself at Texas and his family even thought about moving there. Coleman did tell me Texas reached out after Brennan Marion was hired and he was thinking about taking a visit later in the month. In the end, Coleman pulled off a surprise commitment to Jackson State and told me he planned to enroll early.

"<b
Chris Marshall" 
(Photo: Andrew Ivins, 247Sports)
Texas coveted the talent of Fort Bend Marshall wide receiver Chris Marshall early in the cycle. What happened after that depends on who you talk with. Throughout the spring I saw Marshall at several events and he told me that Texas was high on his list during all of those occasions. USC and Texas A&M were always the two schools most talked about with Marshall, but Texas seemed like they would hang around. Following a Top 5 cut that excluded Texas, I checked around to see what happened. One side of the story was that Marshall just simply wasn’t interested in Texas and decided to move on. The other side of the story included Texas pulling out of the recruitment because of some concerns with content they’d seen on Marshall’s social media. Who knows what the true story really is? To be fair, a lot of recruitments end with a he-said/she-said attitude.

From the beginning, Caleb Burton seemed like the type of kid who didn’t want to be pigeonholed to Texas just because he lived in Austin. He was often quick to remind many people that he was not born in Austin and had come from Houston. Burton never really considered Texas even after Ewers made his first commitment. In fact, Burton’s reticence with Texas following Ewers was a big part of Quinn feeling he couldn’t attract talent with him. Burton’s name came up in rumors several times, but we never found anything concrete. Even when Ewers was rumored to be headed to Texas, we heard that as long as Andre Coleman was the receiver coach, Burton wanted to be elsewhere.

The Longhorns also finished second for Mater Dei wide receiver CJ Williams during his first recruitment when he picked Notre Dame. Though he was committed to the Irish, he kept me in the loop on his plans and his contact with Texas. I think the Longhorns could have made a strong push for him, but I think there were some questions about his overall explosive ability that caused Texas to zero in on others. When Brian Kelly left Notre Dame, Texas wanted to make an in-home visit to make one last pitch to him. Williams told me he would have been very open to Texas as he loved Austin, the education and the offense. He was told they wouldn’t make the in-home visit unless he was decommitted, and while that was coming, he wasn’t officially decommitted at the time. Could Texas have overcome the hometown pull of USC with Lincoln Riley at the helm? Perhaps, but Williams did seem mystified that they didn’t try harder down the stretch.

When Brenen Thompson blew up on the recruiting trail in the spring of 2020, Texas was quick to pull the trigger for the Panhandle speedster. In the beginning, Thompson kept everything at a true level playing field as he entertained almost every offer he received. As his junior season rolled around, Clemson had begun to get involved and things looked like they could’ve been heading towards an early commitment for the Tigers after Cade Klubnik’s commitment, but Thompson insisted that he wanted to visit his top contenders before making any decision. When visit time did roll around, we reported that Oklahoma State and Texas were going to be the ones battling it out heading into June. Two schools entered the picture following visits: Oregon and Texas A&M. His experience in Eugene blew him away as the family really connected with Mario Cristobal and the entire staff. However, being close to home was a big factor for him. If Eugene wasn’t so far away, he could be donning green and black, but it was just too big of a concern to overcome. While he did flirt with Texas A&M down the stretch and included him in his top three, it ultimately came down to the Cowboys and Longhorns. The concern for Thompson regarding Texas was always if he would be a fit in a city like Austin coming from Spearman, but his official visit experience answered all of those questions. After a long discussion with Jordan Shipley during his visit about transitioning into Austin as a small-town kid, Thompson began to see himself locking things down. The visit concluded with a strong effort from the coaching staff and an assist from Loreal Sarkisian that helped convince the family. Just two weeks later, he was committed and never wavered before Signing Day. (Nick)

Texas was early to offer Garland wide receiver Jordan Hudson and while the Longhorns grabbed some early buzz, Oklahoma was where he made his early commitment. Even after he had committed to the Sooners, Hudson started talking about flipping early. Hudson considered coming out to throw with Quinn Ewers when he worked out with several recruits after committing. Despite taking more pictures with the horns down than any recruit I’d ever seen, Hudson was constantly talking to Texas. In February of last year, Hudson told me he wouldn’t be signing with Oklahoma and just wanted to find the right place. Texas seemed like the move as Hudson was one of the players suiting up with Maalik Murphy’s 7v7 team in an effort to gain some chemistry. For whatever reason, Hudson just kept playing the game and stretched his recruitment out. By the time he did come free, he went into his second recruitment looking to play it low key. I was told repeatedly that Hudson thought Evan Stewart would end up at Texas and he didn’t want to go somewhere that he wasn’t the top priority. Hudson chose SMU to be the small fish in the big pond after seeing the way Mustang receivers developed in the last few seasons. He would have stayed at SMU had the coaching staff not left.

WR Armani Winfield (Photo: Collin Kennedy, 247Sports)
 

There wasn’t a higher maintenance recruitment than that of Armani Winfield. He made headlines by committing to Andre Coleman at halftime of the national championship game before Steve Sarkisian officially arrived in Austin. Though he went through the spring incident-free, Winfield started talking about possibly decommitting and taking other visits. Even after his official visit to Austin, there was still pressure on him to open things up. Texas had calls with Armani and his family on several occasions to save what would have been a decommitment. While Winfield never seemed like he wanted to leave, he had several voices around him telling him that he wasn’t being recruited as a priority the way his friend and training partner Evan Stewart was. Winfield made his decommitment in the middle of the Longhorns’ game against Kansas State that would close the season. I was told he regretted the decision and called the staff back to see if he could re-commit. There was a time where the staff put him on hold because they weren’t happy with the way his decommitment had gone down. After a few meetings, Texas was going to let him back in the class on signing day. Winfield told the staff the night before that he would be signing with them along with many other recruits only to ink with Baylor the next day in a fitting end to that recruitment.

I feel that when we look back in a few years, Matthew Golden will be seen as a big miss. Golden was a guy Texas was early in identifying, but they didn’t pull the trigger during the spring. The staff had some questions about his speed and overall athletic ability. Texas wanted to get Golden in for a workout in the summer, but he didn’t feel he needed to with other offers.

The Longhorns tried to take advantage when Golden decommitted from TCU, and at first, it looked like Texas would be able to close the deal. Golden attended the final game of the season and something in his tone changed when talking about his recruitment. TCU came in heavy after Ra’Shaad Samples and Bryan Carrington were hired and it seemed like they would get him back. I’ll give credit to Golden who told me he wanted to go wherever he felt was the best fit and wherever he had the best relationship. He could have chosen bigger options than Houston, but he was true to his word. Texas could have won him had they engaged earlier.

The decision of Phaizon Wilson to become the first commit in the Texas class for 2022 was a little bit of a shock to those around him. Wilson was a promising sophomore at the time of his commitment, and he decided to decommit soon after Ewers defected. During his junior year, Wilson was suspended and ended up not playing after having seen the field sparingly during his sophomore year. After attempting to transfer before his senior season, Wilson returned to Lancaster where he actually played a great deal. Had he stayed committed he might have had a chance to stick in the class, but decommitting limited his options when he didn’t have much on film other than 7v7.

There isn’t much to say about the way the Savion Red recruitment played out. Texas was looking for a receiver prospect with some versatility late and jumped on Red when SMU had their coaching turnover. I’m told Chris Gilbert was vocal in his support for a player like Red, and Texas closed pretty easily after putting the press on.

It seemed like Texas finished second for Jaleel Skinner, but he told me they actually finished third when he made his commitment to Alabama. There was a time where Skinner and his family were giving the Longhorns positive vibes that made them think they could land him. A big part of that was Jeff Banks who established a great relationship with the family. Skinner made a summer official visit and returned in the fall even after he was committed to Alabama. Skinner told me he almost committed after his official visit to Austin, but decided to hold off. From talking to him, it didn’t sound like Texas did anything wrong. He simply wanted to be part of a winning program and felt Texas would need a few years to build.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

As Texas took aim at Humble Summer Creek offensive tackle Kelvin Banks, it seemed like they were emerging as the favorite in a two-way battle between Texas and Texas A&M. I went to Humble in the late spring to see Banks and all the talk centered around a head-to-head in-state battle for the Longhorns against the Aggies.

As we moved into the summer, several other schools popped up for Banks with a little bit of buzz. His first visit to LSU caused some commotion, but that momentum quickly died. Oregon caused a spark as well, but everyone near the Houston big man said this would come down to the two in-state powers.

The confidence in Austin was high throughout that time as the staff was hearing a ton of strong feedback from Banks and his family. Following his official visits, Banks announced he would make his commitment on July 4. Texas A&M was building a lot of momentum in-state, and it sounded like they made a big splash on his official visit. While most folks expected them to eventually be the pick, Oregon quickly emerged out of nowhere as a strong threat.

Banks told several people that the decision would really come down to Oregon and Texas A&M with Texas finishing third. That news alone was puzzling to folks in Austin who were led to believe they were in the thick of that race if not the lead. Banks eventually chose Oregon and became one of the more vocal commits in the class.

The relationship-building never stopped, and though there were moments where several people in Austin felt it might be a lost cause to continue chasing him.

In October, a source near Banks reached out to me with some fairly big news. Though nobody in Austin seemed to know it, the relationship building was working. Banks was telling those close to him that the door was open in his recruitment and some things that happened within the family could cause him to stay close to home. The source also indicated that if a flip happened, it would be to Texas and nobody else.

On a whim, I drove out to a Thursday night game between Banks and North Shore. After the game, I spoke with Banks for a bit and he told me that while he was fully committed to Oregon, he was definitely listening to Texas. While my source was strong in saying he would eventually flip, Banks downplayed those chances and said he was considering making a game visit that weekend to see Oklahoma State.

I asked him about whether I should report the news or not and offered to keep a lid on it since I knew it was a sensitive subject. Banks was adamant that I needed to do my job and told me to go ahead and report it but to make sure it was stressed that he was firmly committed to Oregon. Sources I spoke with in Austin didn’t have objections to me reporting the news either, and though fans thought it could potentially ruin the recruitment, it never mattered.

Banks didn’t visit Austin that weekend, and I went back to my source and told him I didn’t think the indications were that strong. This source doubled down at the time and told me Banks would eventually be a Texas commit. It was at that point, I started monitoring the Miami situation and if Mario Cristobal could be hired away from Oregon.

A source in Austin felt they could get Banks regardless, but they were hoping a move for Cristobal could be the ultimate catalyst for it. When Cristobal was hired away, I was told that if something was going to happen for Texas, it would move quickly. Nick went and saw Banks at the Houston Touchdown Club Dinner where he told him his recruitment would be reset and he would probably push things until February. While we initially heard that as well, another source I spoke with near Banks told me that the family could shut it down early to avoid the fatigue of the recruiting process.

When Banks said he would stretch the recruitment out, I kept that source in the back of my mind but chalked it up to a change for Banks. As schools started to change their strategies to push home visits back to January, Texas remained undeterred. The plan was always to go into his home as late as possible in the week before the Early Signing Period and try to make the final impression.

I asked a source in Austin if Sarkisian would save his in-home for January, and was told he didn’t need to as there was confidence that Texas could seal things up on the in-home visit. I’m not sure if they knew Banks was already in the bag or if they just felt that good about the ability to close.

Texas did exactly that and secured a cornerstone for their offensive line class.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

When I met Malik Agbo last February, he was very high on Texas and was forging a bond with Maalik Murphy. Texas seemed like an early leader, but contact fell off through the spring and summer. It looked like the recruitment with Texas was dead until the fall when the Longhorns re-established contact with him. All the Longhorns needed was to get Agbo on campus for an official visit. I was on the field taking pictures on the day of his official visit and trying to make sure not to speak with anyone during a visit, per the rules of what we are allowed to do. Agbo saw me and walked over to talk, and I tried to keep it short without being rude. He had been there a few hours and was already blown away by the trip. A source I spoke with warned me that further visits could sway the impressionable Agbo. Auburn did surge for a while after his trip, but Texas stayed the course and Kyle Flood’s trips to Seattle during the month of December ended up paying off.

Texas came in late on Cameron Williams during the summer but made up quite a bit of ground coming out of his late June official visit. Leading up to decision day, we had a lot of intel that Texas would be the pick. However, Oregon emerged quickly as the decision neared and ended up winning out, continuing a hot streak of victories over Texas. The Longhorns never really gave in and sources at Duncanville told us that they felt Texas would eventually flip Williams as his family wanted him closer to home. Oregon continued to put up a big fight sending coaches out any time it felt like Williams might be leaning a certain way. Down the stretch, Texas continued to do in-home visits and while sources we had spoken with weren’t as confident on flipping Williams, the fact he was still letting them in was encouraging. Once Mario Cristobal defected from Oregon, it was just about a sure thing. Duncanville’s season ended around the same time and Williams made the call for Texas.

For as long and high profile as the recruitment of Devon Campbell was, there weren’t many twists. Texas offered Campbell early when Herb Hand was in Austin and that gave the Longhorns a strong upper hand. For a while, Texas was the only school Campbell had visited and he did so a few times. There was a time before his junior year where Campbell was considering committing to Texas but his family told him to go see other schools and his recruitment stretched out. What’s funny is the way Campbell was talked about by other commits and schools. Despite confidence at times from programs such as Oklahoma, the prevailing sentiment was that Campbell would eventually be a Longhorn. Texas actually signed Campbell at the end of the December signing window, but sources asked us to keep a tight lid on it so Campbell could play his announcement out his way through the month of January. I thought it was going to get out on Monday when a twitter account with very few followers tweeted a picture of the NCAA’s database showing Campbell’s NLI to Texas, but it was taken down within 30 minutes and nobody saw it.

When it came down to it, the recruitment of Earnest Greene looked to be do-or-die for the Texas offensive line. The Longhorns were all in on the four-star California prospect and doing everything they could to win him. Ohio State seemed to be the primary competition, but Texas started to take a bit of a lead in the early fall. When I went to California in the fall, Greene told me that he wanted to play for a championship contender but that the job Kyle Flood and Steve Sarkisian had done establishing a relationship was pushing Texas to the top. The Longhorns pulled out every stop they had for Greene and even involved Andre Coleman who played with Greene’s father for the San Diego Chargers. Georgia just had too much and though Texas tried to pitch the tackle position as a difference maker, the Dawgs won out because of their NFL development and status as a program.

Kam Dewberry (Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

While it seemed like Kam Dewberry was always destined to end up at Texas A&M, he told me that had the current staff been around for more than a year, he’d probably have chosen Texas. Let’s go back to the Tom Herman era. Herb Hand neglected that relationship so much that Dewberry was prepared to drop Texas altogether. He didn’t think Hand could develop, he didn’t think Herman would be around long and he didn’t think Texas really saw him as a priority. Flood changed that almost immediately and Dewberry said that no school recruited him harder throughout the year. In the spring, Dewberry told me Texas was sitting third behind Ohio State and Alabama. As the year went on, Texas continued to push and in the end it came down to Texas and Texas A&M following Lincoln Riley’s departure. Dewberry said it was an incredibly difficult decision and the worst part of his recruitment was making the call to the staff to tell them no. Texas pitched Dewberry on not following the A&M class and making his own legacy. Dewberry told me the difference-maker was the last visit he made to College Station where he drove himself. Being that close to home clicked for him in a different way and he knew his decision then. Even at that point, Dewberry told me the staff made a convincing case when they came in for the last in-home visit. There was even a rumor I heard that Dewberry would end up with his good friend Kelvin Banks, but it ended just like many other package deals.

Perhaps the most unlikely win of the year was that of Neto Umeozulu. From the beginning, Umeozulu didn’t show a lot of interest in Texas. One of the big difference makers in this recruitment was Chris Gilbert who did a great job building the relationship. Still, Texas was never really considered a leader for Umeozulu. Even on his official visit in the fall, I was told Umeozulu requested to leave the trip early, but his one-on-one meeting with Kyle Flood left a big impression on him. Even down the stretch, Oklahoma looked like the biggest team to beat. I was told that even when it came decision time, Oklahoma seemed to be the move until a late push by Texas and the prestige of the McCombs Business School won out for Texas. Even after his commitment, Umeozulu had cold feet on NSD-eve as Baylor had made a strong late push. Both Baylor and Texas were in contact after midnight before Signing Day, but Texas smoothed it over and got his signature early the next morning.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
13
COMMENTS
 

I’m going to group Cole Hutson and Connor Robertson together because they did just about everything as a pair and were both low drama. Robertson seemed like a sure thing from the moment he was offered, and Hutson was a lean even before he knew it. Hutson’s unofficial visit to Austin a week before his official really helped Texas to seal the deal. Kyle Flood spent time with his family at the Texas baseball game and they got to break the ice in person before the official visit. A return trip the next week sealed it. Hutson told me that Texas treated him like a priority while a few poor visit experiences at other schools helped Texas stand out. Robertson and Hutson did the heavy lifting of recruiting and trying to keep the class together and united throughout the year and never wavered once.

 

I stopped after the Ewers stuff. That’s way too much to read from someone as uninformed as Roach, but I love the part where he says he wanted to get the scoop on if Ewers would decommit so he went to Ewers’ game, talked to him and his family and they all said he was solid, only for him to decommit shortly after. I swear Mile Roach has posted that exact same kind of story about 100 times and yet he still never learns that recruits and their families might not actually tell Mike to his face what they’re really planning on doing. 

[Teryor 4476]

This was my favorite part: 

Quote

 Texas actually signed Campbell at the end of the December signing window, but sources asked us to keep a tight lid on it so Campbell could play his announcement out his way through the month of January. I thought it was going to get out on Monday when a twitter account with very few followers tweeted a picture of the NCAA’s database showing Campbell’s NLI to Texas, but it was taken down within 30 minutes and nobody saw it.

So IT dunked on Roach and Roach repeatedly just lied to his subs

[Hookem2147 21348]

Weirdest part for me was the notes on Cheeks. Why was Choate the only one putting in any effort? He seemed the only kid who had negative remarks about the staff and experience.

[Thiefery 5017]

guess in part 2 he'll discuss the abor recruitment?  That's the one I would like to know more about.

[texifornia 57078]

3 minutes ago, Thiefery said:

guess in part 2 he'll discuss the abor recruitment?  That's the one I would like to know more about.

Part 2 is up there, go look

[ousux 5601]

i pray this oline class does not end up like the 2018 DB class

I dont expect every single one of them to pan out like we hope, but even if just 4 of that group meet their expectations...fuck yeah!

O-line has been a weakness for so long I won't know how to watch guys in burnt orange rag dolling and pancaking fools wearing the wrong uni's...but I'll be happy to learn.

[ousux 5601]

The existence of Kyle Flood makes me hopeful that will not happen.

Problem is others have noticed our haul this year...he may be a name some schools looking for a new HC next year have on their shortlist. I mean sure he's just a position coach, but one with a better resume (2021 Longhorns season excepted) than most.

Having said that, I'll need to see some vast improvement in '22 before I fret about losing him after the season.

[Huckleberry 33072]

2 minutes ago, ousux said:

Problem is others have noticed our haul this year...he may be a name some schools looking for a new HC next year have on their shortlist. I mean sure he's just a position coach, but one with a better resume (2021 Longhorns season excepted) than most.

Having said that, I'll need to see some vast improvement in '22 before I fret about losing him after the season.

Except for that whole completely sucking as a head coach when he got his shot thing.

Hopefully he realizes that being a badass OL coach is all he needs to prove.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Huckleberry

[texifornia 57078]

26 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

I stopped after the Ewers stuff. That’s way too much to read from someone as uninformed as Roach, but I love the part where he says he wanted to get the scoop on if Ewers would decommit so he went to Ewers’ game, talked to him and his family and they all said he was solid, only for him to decommit shortly after. I swear Mile Roach has posted that exact same kind of story about 100 times and yet he still never learns that recruits and their families might not actually tell Mike to his face what they’re really planning on doing. 

Some of it's kind of funny/telling. Vague "stuff on his social media" scaring UT off from Marshall. God telling Jeremy Patton in his sleep to go to Baylor. J'Mond Tapp is apparently a bit of a nut in a harmless way. Omari Abor's parents basically being like "I don't know, he's a weird kid" when asked whether he was serious about Texas.

[closetojumping 62785]

3 minutes ago, ousux said:

Problem is others have noticed our haul this year...he may be a name some schools looking for a new HC next year have on their shortlist. I mean sure he's just a position coach, but one with a better resume (2021 Longhorns season excepted) than most.

Having said that, I'll need to see some vast improvement in '22 before I fret about losing him after the season.

At some point, some of you pussies will start to realize that other schools wanting your assistants is indicative that you have a staff, or part of a staff, that is worth a shit. I hope all of our assistants are frequently targeted for promotions elsewhere. We have seen the alternative in some ways for more than two decades and the results of a truly shitty staff in full bloom from 2013-2020.

[MoJames 8244]

1 minute ago, closetojumping said:

At some point, some of you pussies will start to realize that other schools wanting your assistants is indicative that you have a staff, or part of a staff, that is worth a shit. I hope all of our assistants are frequently targeted for promotions elsewhere. We have seen the alternative in some ways for more than two decades and the results of a truly shitty staff in full bloom from 2013-2020.

This. It is nauseating to see where previous staff lands.

Hell one of the best landing spots over the past 15 years was Greg Davis at Iowa. Let that sink in. One of the best landings for an assistant on our staff was for Greg Davis.

[Thiefery 5017]

19 minutes ago, texifornia said:

Part 2 is up there, go look

thanks.. last year Roach was saying there were things going on with Abor, but he wouldn't discuss it til after the 22 class was done.. and he really didn't say anything here.

[D3zii 3708]

Top 5 class

Greatest O-Line haul in school History 

Still ended up with Ewers in 2022

All on a 5-7 season with a loss to KU

 

*WELL DONE 9.95ers!!!

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by D3zii

[closetojumping 62785]

2 minutes ago, Thiefery said:

thanks.. last year Roach was saying there were things going on with Abor, but he wouldn't discuss it til after the 22 class was done.. and he really didn't say anything here.

Is it Roach's fault for not saying anything of substance or relevance on a subject that he never seemed to have a clue on in the first place? Or is it your fault for believing that Roach had anything of substance or relevance to impart in the first place?

I'm going to start covering the 2023 class like Mike Roach, but without visiting any players or schools or talking to any parents or handlers. I will wind up being more entertaining and more informative. That guy is absolutely worthless at what he does. 

[Sir Ulrich 5188]

55 minutes ago, Teryor said:

If I had 100 dollars for every time a source told me Jacoby Mathews was on the verge of committing, I’d have several hundred dollars.

Can't believe we are lucky enough to have such informative hard hitting scoops like this for only $9.95. 

[Rimbo 26052]

2 hours ago, irishtexan said:

Which is why scrolling through hundreds of pages with the benefit of hindsight to say "I told you so" is a tired-ass bit. 

Well, "I told you so" wasn't my message, because I felt the exact same way back then. The message was more, "Thank God our worst fears didn't happen."

We also need to give credit to Horns With Hearts and Landry leaving. I like that one of these three things was proactive effort on our part and not just luck. But it was mostly luck.

[Tree Fidy 1174]

45 minutes ago, texifornia said:

Part 2 is up there, go look

I'm missing something apparently.  The only one I see is the one that starts off talking about Ewers.  Someone help the remedial group here.

[texifornia 57078]

1 minute ago, Tree Fidy said:

I'm missing something apparently.  The only one I see is the one that starts off talking about Ewers.  Someone help the remedial group here.

 

1 hour ago, Teryor said:

  Reveal hidden contents

The 2022 cycle was a wild ride.

Coming out of the COVID dead period, this was the first class in two years that was able to take official visits and that let loose a hurricane of trips, commitments and flips as the 2022 recruits tried to pack two years' worth of recruiting into six months. 

Texas needed to win big in 2022, and while they didn't get it done on the field, they were able to finish strong landing the No. 5 class in the nation in recruiting. They were also one of the bigger stories in the country during Transfer Portal season when they reeled in Quinn Ewers and several others.

As always, there was drama, intrigue, and plenty of crazy moments behind closed doors. As we do each year, Horns247 has a full rundown of how exactly the 2021 class played out.

So without further ado, we take you behind the scenes of the 2021 Texas signing class in this first of two parts of Horns247's annual post-National Signing Day look back at how things unfolded in the recruiting cycle.

The ballad of Quinn Ewers is something I’ll probably remember forever. I met the five-star passer at a young age and instantly knew we were dealing with a player of elite skills. In the first few years of his recruitment, Ewers told me repeatedly he didn’t want things to turn into a circus. What would follow is a career’s worth of ups-and-downs. As I write this now on what should be Ewers’ original graduation year, he’s already enrolled for a semester and transferred.

Ewers and those around him made no secret that Texas was the dream school from the moment we met. I recall doing a podcast with Ewers during the 2020 quarantine before he’d committed anywhere and could see several Longhorn logos on items in the background. It started with Tim Beck and Tom Herman. Beck wanted to offer as quickly as possible, but the staff had a policy about not offering players who hadn’t played varsity ball as of that time.

Once Texas offered, the Longhorns moved quickly to the front of the pack. Though programs like Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma took turns generating momentum, Texas was always the early pick. Ewers made his decision seemingly out of the blue and wanted to be the face of Texas recruiting. Ewers went to work immediately recruiting several others, but his commitment was short-lived.

Once the season started, Texas began to falter. A source I spoke with felt Ewers started to doubt his ability to get other top players to join him in Austin if the program continued to fall. I was also told that Ewers and his father didn’t care for the incident following the Red River Shootout where Sam Ehlinger was left alone on the field to sing The Eyes of Texas following their loss. In some ways, it sounded like the movement for social justice wasn’t of interest to the Ewers family.

I saw Quinn play just a few days before he made his decommitment. Rumors were swirling and I wanted to talk to Quinn and his family up close to see where things really were. Ewers went off that night and even gave me the Hook ‘Em after a touchdown when he saw me shooting video from the end zone. I spoke to Quinn, his family and his coaches who all told me there was no intention to make a decommitment and they wanted to play the season out to see if Herman would turn it around or who the new hire would be.

Quinn Ewers
(Photo: © Texas Football)
 

Despite that, it was clear from Ewers’ father’s social media activity that Ohio State would be the move. Ewers made the flip and Texas started to go its own way focusing on Cade Klubnik and Conner Weigman. When Steve Sarkisian took the job, he and AJ Milwee were on Ewers immediately. Even after Texas held a commitment from Maalik Murphy, the staff continued to pursue.

I’m told there was a time during the spring of 2021 where a flip started to look like it could happen. Though it never got that close, a source near Ewers told me that he loved Sarkisian and Milwee. That same source told me that if the staff were at Texas the year before, Ewers would have never decommitted. Though Milwee and Sarkisian made a good push, Ewers ultimately decided to shut it down and remain committed to Ohio State. While Quinn prepared for his senior year, a source near him told me that they wouldn’t rule out a quick portal move once he got to Columbus because he felt Ewers always wanted to be at Texas. Even those we spoke to associated with Ohio State recruiting said that Ewers had stopped speaking to other prospects on behalf of the Buckeyes. One of our sources felt Ewers had made what he thought was the right business decision to flip to Ohio State even if it wasn’t the best fit for him.

The decision for Ewers to reclassify and enroll early seemingly came out of nowhere. I was told that Ewers seemed to regret the decision almost immediately after arriving in Columbus and started setting plans into motion to get back to Austin via the transfer portal. Midway through the season we heard word and reported that Ewers was planning on entering the portal and that Texas would likely be the pick. Even in talking to some of his high school teammates, they felt he would transfer from the moment he got to Columbus.

Near the end of the year, I was told that Ewers reconsidered and would likely stick through the spring to see where the quarterback race was, but he ended up entering anyway. In the end, his heart just never seemed to be with Ohio State. Several other schools emerged along with Texas, but I was told there was never a plan for him to go anywhere else. Texas Tech was the main school of interest, and I heard a lot of confidence from that side. In fact, I was in a high school coach’s office when a member of the staff told the coach they were getting Ewers.

Steve Sarkisian zeroed in on Ewers from the beginning. As soon as Ewers entered the portal, Sarkisian was on a plane to Dallas to conduct an in-home visit that same night. The recruitment went longer than many expected. When Ewers first went in, I was told by a source near him that it would be Texas and that it would move quickly. Though the family explored other schools, Texas was always slated to be the pick.

A source I spoke with in Lubbock even told me they heard the Texas staff was growing tired of the recruitment and was thinking about pulling out. I was laughed at when I presented that information to someone in Austin. When Ewers made Austin his last visit, it was clear where things would end up. It’s been a long journey for Ewers who has more talent than I’ve ever seen in a passer in all of my time doing this. If his head is right, he is the type of quarterback who can elevate a program.

One of the most frequent questions I got over the last year was why Texas didn’t pursue Cade Klubnik instead of Maalik Murphy. The short answer was that Murphy wanted to make an early decision and Texas wasn’t in a place to turn him down. I think the most dangerous assumption is that Klubnik would have been an easy win. When I spoke to him after the season, Klubnik told me he felt Texas wanted to get someone in the class quickly but he didn’t feel Sarkisian and the staff were really all in on him at that time. Clemson was always going to be a tough school to overcome, and Alabama was also moving on him as well. I think it was possible for Texas to win that recruitment had they dialed in on Klubnik and Klubnik only, but that just wasn’t the reality.

From the time Steve Sarkisian took over, it was clear that Maalik Murphy would be a big target. Murphy was kind of a mythical figure to me as I’d seen Tim Beck and Mike Yurcich both send out offers to the strong-armed passer. I never could reach Murphy but was always told there was an interest in Texas. Once Sarkisian engaged, things moved rather quickly. We started reporting early in February that Texas was a runaway leader for Murphy and could close him soon. Perhaps the biggest indicator was when Murphy’s 7v7 team started bringing on receivers from the state of Texas to work with Murphy and start developing chemistry.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

Armani Winfield told me that Murphy would be making his commitment on his birthday and I received a call confirming that while at dinner with my wife on vacation. Murphy was locked in almost the entire time after he committed. He’s one of the best kids I’ve had the pleasure of covering during my career, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone that will say a bad word about him. Murphy took on a real leadership role in the class. If guys who were committed were flirting with other schools, Murphy took it upon himself to tell them he didn’t think it was a good look. Murphy was totally in the loop when Texas started recruiting a second quarterback in the class and was alright with Devin Brown. The Ewers news was a bit out of nowhere, and Murphy went silent for a few days leading up to signing. After a few unreturned texts, Murphy responded on National Signing Day to tell me he was about to send his letter in.

We zeroed in quickly on Devin Brown as the second quarterback take in the class thanks to a well-placed source near Brown who alerted us. Texas moved quickly and established themselves as a legitimate contender in short order. Despite a less than ideal official visit experience, the Longhorns seemed to be in a position to close the deal. Brown visited during the Kansas game, and he told me that he knew before the game even started Texas was going to lose. He talked with the staff about the need to overturn the roster and he could see a lack of buy-in from the players on the team. Despite that, Brown loved Sark and his offense and believed in that future. Brown was as close to a silent commit as he could be at one point, but a trip to Ohio State changed that. A source I spoke with near Brown said he was considering not even taking the visit because he thought Texas would ultimately be his landing place. He went anyway and everything changed. Brown clicked immediately with the coaching staff, and despite a shortened timeline, it didn’t take much for Ohio State to win him over. Texas waited until the second week to go in home with Sarkisian which was a gamble considering Ryan Day went in the first week. Sark never got to make his visit as Brown decided to shut it down. We had heard that movement in the quarterback room (Ewers) helped nudge him along, but sources near Brown told me they didn’t know any specifics and were going to pick the Buckeyes regardless. In the end, Brown said that Texas finished second.

Had Texas stuck with Herman and Yurcich, Drew Allar could be a Longhorn. The five-star quarterback said that Yurcich was on him early when he didn’t have a ton of interest and Texas would have been tough to beat had they recruited him.

The recruitment of Jaydon Blue ended quickly after Steve Sarkisian took over. The elite back had always leaned toward Texas, and Sarkisian’s offense gave him the push he needed to make an early decision. The recruitment overall was fairly ho-hum until the late spring when Blue announced he wouldn’t play his senior season. I was in Houston the week before to see Blue and others on a spring trip and sensed some weird vibes at Klein Cain when I went by there. The decision to sit out was a personal decision for Blue and his family but it was clear Blue wanted to play. Sark and the coaching staff actually tried to help mediate the issues, but a decision left up to the team captains ended with Blue not returning. There was a period of time where Blue considered decommitting from Texas, but in the end he was talked out of it after some frustrations boiled over. Many people forget that Blue was a borderline five-star and once the number one running back in the nation. He has the chance to really surprise some folks once he gets to Austin.

I first met Raleek Brown when he was a sophomore, and he wanted to visit Texas but they weren’t recruiting him. The staff at the time wouldn’t offer him unless he visited and Oklahoma was opening up a big lead. Texas engaged once Steve Sarkisian arrived but there just wasn’t a lot of time. Brown will be a day one difference maker in college.

Jamarion Miller
(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

The current staff loved Jamarion Miller, but they had some ground to make up after the previous staff failed to show much interest. Texas tried throughout the spring but couldn’t get Miller to respond much. The Longhorns weren’t even in the picture until the summer when Miller started planning visits. On the last visit weekend of June, Miller decided to make a trip to the school he grew up watching. Texas closed the deal quickly and Miller committed soon thereafter. It looked like it would be a fun story as Miller repeatedly said he was tired of recruiting and wanted it to be over. I was reminded that actions speak louder than words in the recruiting world, and it was odd to see a kid who was vocally tired of the recruiting process take a few under the radar visits. Miller’s tune changed in the fall as he decided he’d take all of his officials. A few voices near him urged him to continue to look at Alabama, as Nick Saban continued to push personally for the east Texas back. Miller ultimately flipped close to signing day and never spoke about why, but I feel the lack of NFL Draft production played a role.

Texas seemed to be in a good spot for TreVonte' Citizen early and hosted him on an official visit. LSU won out initially, but Texas was in a spot to flip him. Citizen was always somewhat borderline for Texas depending on his senior season performance. In the end, I think Texas felt the need to move on and let Citizen go.

The Longhorns were in a power position to land Tavorus Jones, and it looked like that would happen until Texas decided not to host him just days before Jones got on the plane for his official visit. We fully expected a commitment following that trip, but there was a lot of indecision when it came to the second running back spot. Jones probably would have been the guy, but Texas held him off for DeAnthony Gatson who ended up picking USC and ended up with Jamarion Miller anyway. Jones didn’t have a great junior year and I think Texas wanted to wait and he didn’t. He took his only official visit to Missouri the following weekend and shut it down soon after.

I’ve heard from several sources that Texas received a commitment from DeAnthony Gatson following his official visit, but they didn’t want to take it at the time. After some thought, the Longhorns circled back around Gatson’s commitment date and started to push again, but USC used the window they had to get in and close the deal. As the evaluation process is ongoing, Texas continued to monitor Gatson but never felt the need to push for a commitment.

Evan Stewart
(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

Texas was one of the first schools to offer Evan Stewart before he really rose to prominence prior to his junior year. That early offer ingratiated Texas with him and the Longhorns were an early leader, but Stewart was fairly indecisive his entire recruitment. Last January, I spoke to him and he told me Texas was probably 4th or 5th on his list. A few weeks later, he made his commitment to the Longhorns.

I said at the time of his commitment that Evan was the biggest wildcard in the class, and he proved that. After decommitting, there was a period where Texas drifted because of communication issues. Those could probably best be tied to some hurt feelings from the coaching staff following his decommitment.

Steve Sarkisian and Brandon Harris went about personally repairing that relationship and got Texas back into a strong position during the summer. Florida briefly grabbed headlines as a leader, but Texas never faded and constantly stayed at the head of the pack. During the summer, Stewart took a trip to College Station. Texas A&M was emerging in his recruitment, but he told me at the time that he didn’t like College Station and didn’t feel it was a fit.

As the fall went on, it only seemed like a matter of time before Texas would eventually reel Stewart in. Alabama was the main point of contention and Texas A&M wasn’t even in the conversation. Had Texas won the Red River Shootout behind an electric Xavier Worthy effort, I believe Stewart might have pulled the trigger that day. Had they been able to come back the next week and beat Oklahoma State while Stewart was in Austin, they might have had a second chance to win him over again.

After the visit for the Oklahoma State game, Stewart told me he was visiting Texas A&M the following week in what was a surprise to many. After attending several student events and the game, A&M made a big move for him. It seemed like it was headed downhill from that point for Texas, but there were times when Stewart told Texas they were still in the lead and that he still wanted to be a Longhorn.

In the end, Stewart made it clear he didn’t want to be part of a rebuild at Texas and he told me after the season that the potential to be part of a class like the one that Texas A&M had put together was too good to turn down. I also don’t think his parents and some of those around him were sold on Texas. I heard from a few sources that his mother didn’t click with the Texas staff and I know he had a couple of other voices in his corner encouraging Texas A&M.

It did get a bit interesting near signing day. Going back to Ewers’ original commitment, Quinn was a quarterback Stewart always wanted to play with. When Quinn transferred to Texas, Stewart reiterated that he wanted to play with Quinn but he was firm in his decision to stick with A&M.

On National Signing Day when Stewart’s letter was delayed, there was a period of time where he was in contact with the Texas staff and commits, but nobody near him ever indicated any sort of flip was close.

The race for four-star wide receiver Shazz Preston was an illusion of sorts. Texas did a strong job and finished second in Preston’s own admission following his decision to sign with Alabama. Still, the recruitment always seemed like Preston was attainable yet always out of reach. Texas did just about everything they could do, and there was a time in the early fall where it looked like Texas could be victorious. Even down the stretch, Texas did everything it could to bring him in, but they always seemed to be behind one school or another. LSU always seemed like the favorite, but the coaching change didn’t leave the Tigers enough time and Alabama grabbed control following his visit to Tuscaloosa.

Put Kevin Coleman down as yet another odd recruitment that probably could have gone different. In the spring, Texas was in as good of a position for Coleman as anyone. As we entered the summer, a canceled visit from Coleman seemed to turn Texas off a bit. In many ways, Texas seemed to pull out of the recruitment and focus on others. Coleman told me during All-American Bowl week that he always envisioned himself at Texas and his family even thought about moving there. Coleman did tell me Texas reached out after Brennan Marion was hired and he was thinking about taking a visit later in the month. In the end, Coleman pulled off a surprise commitment to Jackson State and told me he planned to enroll early.

"<b
Chris Marshall" 
(Photo: Andrew Ivins, 247Sports)
Texas coveted the talent of Fort Bend Marshall wide receiver Chris Marshall early in the cycle. What happened after that depends on who you talk with. Throughout the spring I saw Marshall at several events and he told me that Texas was high on his list during all of those occasions. USC and Texas A&M were always the two schools most talked about with Marshall, but Texas seemed like they would hang around. Following a Top 5 cut that excluded Texas, I checked around to see what happened. One side of the story was that Marshall just simply wasn’t interested in Texas and decided to move on. The other side of the story included Texas pulling out of the recruitment because of some concerns with content they’d seen on Marshall’s social media. Who knows what the true story really is? To be fair, a lot of recruitments end with a he-said/she-said attitude.

From the beginning, Caleb Burton seemed like the type of kid who didn’t want to be pigeonholed to Texas just because he lived in Austin. He was often quick to remind many people that he was not born in Austin and had come from Houston. Burton never really considered Texas even after Ewers made his first commitment. In fact, Burton’s reticence with Texas following Ewers was a big part of Quinn feeling he couldn’t attract talent with him. Burton’s name came up in rumors several times, but we never found anything concrete. Even when Ewers was rumored to be headed to Texas, we heard that as long as Andre Coleman was the receiver coach, Burton wanted to be elsewhere.

The Longhorns also finished second for Mater Dei wide receiver CJ Williams during his first recruitment when he picked Notre Dame. Though he was committed to the Irish, he kept me in the loop on his plans and his contact with Texas. I think the Longhorns could have made a strong push for him, but I think there were some questions about his overall explosive ability that caused Texas to zero in on others. When Brian Kelly left Notre Dame, Texas wanted to make an in-home visit to make one last pitch to him. Williams told me he would have been very open to Texas as he loved Austin, the education and the offense. He was told they wouldn’t make the in-home visit unless he was decommitted, and while that was coming, he wasn’t officially decommitted at the time. Could Texas have overcome the hometown pull of USC with Lincoln Riley at the helm? Perhaps, but Williams did seem mystified that they didn’t try harder down the stretch.

When Brenen Thompson blew up on the recruiting trail in the spring of 2020, Texas was quick to pull the trigger for the Panhandle speedster. In the beginning, Thompson kept everything at a true level playing field as he entertained almost every offer he received. As his junior season rolled around, Clemson had begun to get involved and things looked like they could’ve been heading towards an early commitment for the Tigers after Cade Klubnik’s commitment, but Thompson insisted that he wanted to visit his top contenders before making any decision. When visit time did roll around, we reported that Oklahoma State and Texas were going to be the ones battling it out heading into June. Two schools entered the picture following visits: Oregon and Texas A&M. His experience in Eugene blew him away as the family really connected with Mario Cristobal and the entire staff. However, being close to home was a big factor for him. If Eugene wasn’t so far away, he could be donning green and black, but it was just too big of a concern to overcome. While he did flirt with Texas A&M down the stretch and included him in his top three, it ultimately came down to the Cowboys and Longhorns. The concern for Thompson regarding Texas was always if he would be a fit in a city like Austin coming from Spearman, but his official visit experience answered all of those questions. After a long discussion with Jordan Shipley during his visit about transitioning into Austin as a small-town kid, Thompson began to see himself locking things down. The visit concluded with a strong effort from the coaching staff and an assist from Loreal Sarkisian that helped convince the family. Just two weeks later, he was committed and never wavered before Signing Day. (Nick)

Texas was early to offer Garland wide receiver Jordan Hudson and while the Longhorns grabbed some early buzz, Oklahoma was where he made his early commitment. Even after he had committed to the Sooners, Hudson started talking about flipping early. Hudson considered coming out to throw with Quinn Ewers when he worked out with several recruits after committing. Despite taking more pictures with the horns down than any recruit I’d ever seen, Hudson was constantly talking to Texas. In February of last year, Hudson told me he wouldn’t be signing with Oklahoma and just wanted to find the right place. Texas seemed like the move as Hudson was one of the players suiting up with Maalik Murphy’s 7v7 team in an effort to gain some chemistry. For whatever reason, Hudson just kept playing the game and stretched his recruitment out. By the time he did come free, he went into his second recruitment looking to play it low key. I was told repeatedly that Hudson thought Evan Stewart would end up at Texas and he didn’t want to go somewhere that he wasn’t the top priority. Hudson chose SMU to be the small fish in the big pond after seeing the way Mustang receivers developed in the last few seasons. He would have stayed at SMU had the coaching staff not left.

WR Armani Winfield (Photo: Collin Kennedy, 247Sports)
 

There wasn’t a higher maintenance recruitment than that of Armani Winfield. He made headlines by committing to Andre Coleman at halftime of the national championship game before Steve Sarkisian officially arrived in Austin. Though he went through the spring incident-free, Winfield started talking about possibly decommitting and taking other visits. Even after his official visit to Austin, there was still pressure on him to open things up. Texas had calls with Armani and his family on several occasions to save what would have been a decommitment. While Winfield never seemed like he wanted to leave, he had several voices around him telling him that he wasn’t being recruited as a priority the way his friend and training partner Evan Stewart was. Winfield made his decommitment in the middle of the Longhorns’ game against Kansas State that would close the season. I was told he regretted the decision and called the staff back to see if he could re-commit. There was a time where the staff put him on hold because they weren’t happy with the way his decommitment had gone down. After a few meetings, Texas was going to let him back in the class on signing day. Winfield told the staff the night before that he would be signing with them along with many other recruits only to ink with Baylor the next day in a fitting end to that recruitment.

I feel that when we look back in a few years, Matthew Golden will be seen as a big miss. Golden was a guy Texas was early in identifying, but they didn’t pull the trigger during the spring. The staff had some questions about his speed and overall athletic ability. Texas wanted to get Golden in for a workout in the summer, but he didn’t feel he needed to with other offers.

The Longhorns tried to take advantage when Golden decommitted from TCU, and at first, it looked like Texas would be able to close the deal. Golden attended the final game of the season and something in his tone changed when talking about his recruitment. TCU came in heavy after Ra’Shaad Samples and Bryan Carrington were hired and it seemed like they would get him back. I’ll give credit to Golden who told me he wanted to go wherever he felt was the best fit and wherever he had the best relationship. He could have chosen bigger options than Houston, but he was true to his word. Texas could have won him had they engaged earlier.

The decision of Phaizon Wilson to become the first commit in the Texas class for 2022 was a little bit of a shock to those around him. Wilson was a promising sophomore at the time of his commitment, and he decided to decommit soon after Ewers defected. During his junior year, Wilson was suspended and ended up not playing after having seen the field sparingly during his sophomore year. After attempting to transfer before his senior season, Wilson returned to Lancaster where he actually played a great deal. Had he stayed committed he might have had a chance to stick in the class, but decommitting limited his options when he didn’t have much on film other than 7v7.

There isn’t much to say about the way the Savion Red recruitment played out. Texas was looking for a receiver prospect with some versatility late and jumped on Red when SMU had their coaching turnover. I’m told Chris Gilbert was vocal in his support for a player like Red, and Texas closed pretty easily after putting the press on.

It seemed like Texas finished second for Jaleel Skinner, but he told me they actually finished third when he made his commitment to Alabama. There was a time where Skinner and his family were giving the Longhorns positive vibes that made them think they could land him. A big part of that was Jeff Banks who established a great relationship with the family. Skinner made a summer official visit and returned in the fall even after he was committed to Alabama. Skinner told me he almost committed after his official visit to Austin, but decided to hold off. From talking to him, it didn’t sound like Texas did anything wrong. He simply wanted to be part of a winning program and felt Texas would need a few years to build.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

As Texas took aim at Humble Summer Creek offensive tackle Kelvin Banks, it seemed like they were emerging as the favorite in a two-way battle between Texas and Texas A&M. I went to Humble in the late spring to see Banks and all the talk centered around a head-to-head in-state battle for the Longhorns against the Aggies.

As we moved into the summer, several other schools popped up for Banks with a little bit of buzz. His first visit to LSU caused some commotion, but that momentum quickly died. Oregon caused a spark as well, but everyone near the Houston big man said this would come down to the two in-state powers.

The confidence in Austin was high throughout that time as the staff was hearing a ton of strong feedback from Banks and his family. Following his official visits, Banks announced he would make his commitment on July 4. Texas A&M was building a lot of momentum in-state, and it sounded like they made a big splash on his official visit. While most folks expected them to eventually be the pick, Oregon quickly emerged out of nowhere as a strong threat.

Banks told several people that the decision would really come down to Oregon and Texas A&M with Texas finishing third. That news alone was puzzling to folks in Austin who were led to believe they were in the thick of that race if not the lead. Banks eventually chose Oregon and became one of the more vocal commits in the class.

The relationship-building never stopped, and though there were moments where several people in Austin felt it might be a lost cause to continue chasing him.

In October, a source near Banks reached out to me with some fairly big news. Though nobody in Austin seemed to know it, the relationship building was working. Banks was telling those close to him that the door was open in his recruitment and some things that happened within the family could cause him to stay close to home. The source also indicated that if a flip happened, it would be to Texas and nobody else.

On a whim, I drove out to a Thursday night game between Banks and North Shore. After the game, I spoke with Banks for a bit and he told me that while he was fully committed to Oregon, he was definitely listening to Texas. While my source was strong in saying he would eventually flip, Banks downplayed those chances and said he was considering making a game visit that weekend to see Oklahoma State.

I asked him about whether I should report the news or not and offered to keep a lid on it since I knew it was a sensitive subject. Banks was adamant that I needed to do my job and told me to go ahead and report it but to make sure it was stressed that he was firmly committed to Oregon. Sources I spoke with in Austin didn’t have objections to me reporting the news either, and though fans thought it could potentially ruin the recruitment, it never mattered.

Banks didn’t visit Austin that weekend, and I went back to my source and told him I didn’t think the indications were that strong. This source doubled down at the time and told me Banks would eventually be a Texas commit. It was at that point, I started monitoring the Miami situation and if Mario Cristobal could be hired away from Oregon.

A source in Austin felt they could get Banks regardless, but they were hoping a move for Cristobal could be the ultimate catalyst for it. When Cristobal was hired away, I was told that if something was going to happen for Texas, it would move quickly. Nick went and saw Banks at the Houston Touchdown Club Dinner where he told him his recruitment would be reset and he would probably push things until February. While we initially heard that as well, another source I spoke with near Banks told me that the family could shut it down early to avoid the fatigue of the recruiting process.

When Banks said he would stretch the recruitment out, I kept that source in the back of my mind but chalked it up to a change for Banks. As schools started to change their strategies to push home visits back to January, Texas remained undeterred. The plan was always to go into his home as late as possible in the week before the Early Signing Period and try to make the final impression.

I asked a source in Austin if Sarkisian would save his in-home for January, and was told he didn’t need to as there was confidence that Texas could seal things up on the in-home visit. I’m not sure if they knew Banks was already in the bag or if they just felt that good about the ability to close.

Texas did exactly that and secured a cornerstone for their offensive line class.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

When I met Malik Agbo last February, he was very high on Texas and was forging a bond with Maalik Murphy. Texas seemed like an early leader, but contact fell off through the spring and summer. It looked like the recruitment with Texas was dead until the fall when the Longhorns re-established contact with him. All the Longhorns needed was to get Agbo on campus for an official visit. I was on the field taking pictures on the day of his official visit and trying to make sure not to speak with anyone during a visit, per the rules of what we are allowed to do. Agbo saw me and walked over to talk, and I tried to keep it short without being rude. He had been there a few hours and was already blown away by the trip. A source I spoke with warned me that further visits could sway the impressionable Agbo. Auburn did surge for a while after his trip, but Texas stayed the course and Kyle Flood’s trips to Seattle during the month of December ended up paying off.

Texas came in late on Cameron Williams during the summer but made up quite a bit of ground coming out of his late June official visit. Leading up to decision day, we had a lot of intel that Texas would be the pick. However, Oregon emerged quickly as the decision neared and ended up winning out, continuing a hot streak of victories over Texas. The Longhorns never really gave in and sources at Duncanville told us that they felt Texas would eventually flip Williams as his family wanted him closer to home. Oregon continued to put up a big fight sending coaches out any time it felt like Williams might be leaning a certain way. Down the stretch, Texas continued to do in-home visits and while sources we had spoken with weren’t as confident on flipping Williams, the fact he was still letting them in was encouraging. Once Mario Cristobal defected from Oregon, it was just about a sure thing. Duncanville’s season ended around the same time and Williams made the call for Texas.

For as long and high profile as the recruitment of Devon Campbell was, there weren’t many twists. Texas offered Campbell early when Herb Hand was in Austin and that gave the Longhorns a strong upper hand. For a while, Texas was the only school Campbell had visited and he did so a few times. There was a time before his junior year where Campbell was considering committing to Texas but his family told him to go see other schools and his recruitment stretched out. What’s funny is the way Campbell was talked about by other commits and schools. Despite confidence at times from programs such as Oklahoma, the prevailing sentiment was that Campbell would eventually be a Longhorn. Texas actually signed Campbell at the end of the December signing window, but sources asked us to keep a tight lid on it so Campbell could play his announcement out his way through the month of January. I thought it was going to get out on Monday when a twitter account with very few followers tweeted a picture of the NCAA’s database showing Campbell’s NLI to Texas, but it was taken down within 30 minutes and nobody saw it.

When it came down to it, the recruitment of Earnest Greene looked to be do-or-die for the Texas offensive line. The Longhorns were all in on the four-star California prospect and doing everything they could to win him. Ohio State seemed to be the primary competition, but Texas started to take a bit of a lead in the early fall. When I went to California in the fall, Greene told me that he wanted to play for a championship contender but that the job Kyle Flood and Steve Sarkisian had done establishing a relationship was pushing Texas to the top. The Longhorns pulled out every stop they had for Greene and even involved Andre Coleman who played with Greene’s father for the San Diego Chargers. Georgia just had too much and though Texas tried to pitch the tackle position as a difference maker, the Dawgs won out because of their NFL development and status as a program.

Kam Dewberry (Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

While it seemed like Kam Dewberry was always destined to end up at Texas A&M, he told me that had the current staff been around for more than a year, he’d probably have chosen Texas. Let’s go back to the Tom Herman era. Herb Hand neglected that relationship so much that Dewberry was prepared to drop Texas altogether. He didn’t think Hand could develop, he didn’t think Herman would be around long and he didn’t think Texas really saw him as a priority. Flood changed that almost immediately and Dewberry said that no school recruited him harder throughout the year. In the spring, Dewberry told me Texas was sitting third behind Ohio State and Alabama. As the year went on, Texas continued to push and in the end it came down to Texas and Texas A&M following Lincoln Riley’s departure. Dewberry said it was an incredibly difficult decision and the worst part of his recruitment was making the call to the staff to tell them no. Texas pitched Dewberry on not following the A&M class and making his own legacy. Dewberry told me the difference-maker was the last visit he made to College Station where he drove himself. Being that close to home clicked for him in a different way and he knew his decision then. Even at that point, Dewberry told me the staff made a convincing case when they came in for the last in-home visit. There was even a rumor I heard that Dewberry would end up with his good friend Kelvin Banks, but it ended just like many other package deals.

Perhaps the most unlikely win of the year was that of Neto Umeozulu. From the beginning, Umeozulu didn’t show a lot of interest in Texas. One of the big difference makers in this recruitment was Chris Gilbert who did a great job building the relationship. Still, Texas was never really considered a leader for Umeozulu. Even on his official visit in the fall, I was told Umeozulu requested to leave the trip early, but his one-on-one meeting with Kyle Flood left a big impression on him. Even down the stretch, Oklahoma looked like the biggest team to beat. I was told that even when it came decision time, Oklahoma seemed to be the move until a late push by Texas and the prestige of the McCombs Business School won out for Texas. Even after his commitment, Umeozulu had cold feet on NSD-eve as Baylor had made a strong late push. Both Baylor and Texas were in contact after midnight before Signing Day, but Texas smoothed it over and got his signature early the next morning.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
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I’m going to group Cole Hutson and Connor Robertson together because they did just about everything as a pair and were both low drama. Robertson seemed like a sure thing from the moment he was offered, and Hutson was a lean even before he knew it. Hutson’s unofficial visit to Austin a week before his official really helped Texas to seal the deal. Kyle Flood spent time with his family at the Texas baseball game and they got to break the ice in person before the official visit. A return trip the next week sealed it. Hutson told me that Texas treated him like a priority while a few poor visit experiences at other schools helped Texas stand out. Robertson and Hutson did the heavy lifting of recruiting and trying to keep the class together and united throughout the year and never wavered once.

  Reveal hidden contents

The 2022 cycle was a wild ride.

Coming out of the COVID dead period, this was the first class in two years that was able to take official visits and that let loose a hurricane of trips, commitments and flips as the 2022 recruits tried to pack two years' worth of recruiting into six months.

Texas needed to win big in 2022, and while they didn't get it done on the field, they were able to finish strong landing the No. 5 class in the nation in recruiting. They were also one of the bigger stories in the country during Transfer Portal season when they reeled in Quinn Ewers and several others.

As always, there was drama, intrigue, and plenty of crazy moments behind closed doors. As we do each year, Horns247 has a full rundown of how exactly the 2021 class played out.

So without further ado, we take you behind the scenes of the 2021 Texas signing class in this second of two parts of Horns247's annual post-National Signing Day look back at how things unfolded in the recruiting cycle.

Texas was in and out of the race for Bear Alexander for most of his recruitment, and they never had much of a chance with the new staff. While Alexander spoke with Bo Davis a few times and made a visit, Texas was never considered a serious option. I checked out of that recruitment pretty early, but it sounded like there were some interesting stories from both the Georgia and Texas A&M side.

After Quency Wiggins visited Texas in the summer, the Longhorns were in the top group but it never seemed like they’d be able to overcome other programs like Alabama and LSU. Wiggins came back for an official visit which he said he enjoyed, but he just didn’t feel Texas was a fit. Wiggins was a big fan of Bo Davis, but the losing streak and looming rebuild were too much for Texas to overcome.

Jaray Bledsoe
(Photo: Andrew Ivins, 247Sports)
 

One of the cooler stories in the class was Marlin defensive lineman Jaray Bledsoe. I first met Bledsoe on a Saturday night in 2020 on the way back from seeing Hayden Conner in Katy that morning. Myself and Guy Frazier (who you may know already if you listen to the State of Recruiting podcast) decided to swing by Mart and Bremond that night to just see some good small-town football. While Mart won big, big No. 99 for Bremond stuck out as he totaled multiple TFLs and rushed for over 100 yards on offense with a 6-foot-4, 270 pound frame. After the game, we spoke with Bledsoe to see if he had been hearing from any schools and he mentioned Texas A&M. It was clear that night that he was going to be a Power Five talent. After he dropped his junior year film that next January, his recruitment exploded but hit a quick halt after schools were alerted to an eligibility issue.

Following the winter storm in February, Bledsoe had to make the move back to his hometown of Marlin and it was there that he was able to get his grades back on track. After powering through a rigorous summer school schedule, Bledsoe had put himself back on the map to be recruited and Texas was the first school to notice. The Texas staff welcomed him in for an official visit in late June and were really the only school to push for a commitment in the summer. The effort paid off as Bledsoe locked it down just before his senior school year and never wavered leading up to his signing. Texas A&M and Baylor were always the schools that I felt like would have the inside track, but the loyalty that Bo Davis and the staff showed through Bledsoe’s adversities was what put Texas in the lead through the end. (Nick)

I never got the idea that Ernest Cooper IV was ever seriously interested in Texas. Texas A&M was always the in-state school that held his attention. In early spring, Cooper was talking like Texas would be in his top group, but something changed quickly. I just don’t think Texas saw him as a fit and didn’t feel he was incredibly interested in the first place. I think Stanford is a great fit for him both academically and athletically.

Give credit to Bo Davis for zeroing in immediately on Kristopher Ross and winning him over pretty quickly. Texas was originally in line for a quicker decision but Ross decided to wait it out another month or so after a push from Texas Tech. TCU made a push for him and there was some confidence in Fort Worth that they could flip him. I never sensed anything serious there as Ross seemed pretty locked in from the beginning.

Omari Abor
Omari Abor (Photo: Collin Kennedy, 247Sports)
 

The tale of Omari Abor and his recruitment with Texas really depends on who you talk with. I first met Abor when he was a sophomore with no offers. After a breakout season, Abor put on a show in front of Tom Herman and Bryan Carrington in the playoffs but didn’t receive an offer. Even talking to Abor after that game, he said OU was the program he grew up rooting for. Texas just never seemed to ever gain traction with him even after the new staff took over. Sources I spoke with in Austin regarded Abor as non-responsive while Abor would say he never heard much from the staff. I will say that the non-responsive complaint is one I heard from several schools. The recruitment was pretty much dead in the water until Abor decided to make a summer visit to Austin. Longtime favorite OU was dropping at that time and Texas made a good enough impression to make it look like they would hang around. As we moved into the fall, communication was up and down once again. Ohio State was always the school everyone felt Abor would end up at. Around the state finals, Abor started talking up Texas again, but that was incredibly short-lived. I asked him later what happened and he said Texas had dropped contact once again. In the end, he was probably going to end up at Ohio State anyway. I did run into his parents after the state championship game and asked them about Texas and they said they didn’t even have a handle on what Abor was thinking.

Texas landing J'Mond Tapp was somewhat surprising and I ignored the signs because of the history of players like Tapp staying in-state to play for LSU. I got the warning on his commitment with the caveat that it would probably take a couple of hours to come down. I wanted to write his commitment story then but figured I had some time to eat dinner and write the story after. Tapp ended up committing in the middle of my meal leading to a mad scramble. From the time he committed, Tapp was a guy others talked about as being on flip watch but he never really wavered. Tapp was open about wanting to take visits and attended several LSU games during the fall and even made an appearance at Jackson State in October. Every time rumors would heat up about Tapp, he’d shut them down. Tapp is truly one of the most unique characters I’ve met doing this. The stories from the other commits and their interactions with him are some of the funniest things I’ve heard.

I’ll be honest in saying I had doubts Texas could pull Justice Finkley in. Sources in Austin were always optimistic for him, but there had been some misreads on recruitments causing me to be suspicious. The academic advantages held a lot of sway for Texas, but it was hard to believe they could go head-to-head with Nick Saban and pull a kid out of Alabama. The most interesting part of the recruitment was how secretive and paranoid Finkley was about his decision leaking. In fact, some sources were purposely putting out misinformation to keep things a secret. When we figured out what the decision was, those sources opened up to confirm. There was a fear that any leak could cause Finkley to reconsider, but he’d been committed to Texas for a while leading up to his announcement.

Derrick Brown (Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

Texas was a bit late to the recruitment of Derrick Brown, but the staff did a tremendous job making up ground through Jeff Choate, Pete Kwiatkowski and Chris Gilbert who helped because of his relationship with Texas High head coach Gerry Stanford. Going into the summer, Texas and Texas A&M were the two highest for Brown. Texas got the first visit of the summer, which was a calculated gamble knowing how impressionable Brown was. I think Texas wanted to slam the door on that first visit, and they almost did. Brown canceled his visit to Texas A&M coming out of the weekend after telling some people that the A&M staff was trying to contact him the entire time through the visit. Brown was going to take his time with visits, but he was considered as close to a commit as one could get. Everything was fine until Brown went on a trip to Baylor. The Bears were one of the first schools to offer and Joey McGuire did a phenomenal job on that visit. Coming out of it, Baylor was in the lead and Brown was zeroing in on the Bears as he planned his commitment video. Texas doubled down with communication and they were able to get Brown to hold off and return to Austin in July for the pool party. Once they held Baylor off, momentum started to turn and Brown was going to return to Austin with Jeremy Patton (more on him later) for a dual commitment. Patton didn’t follow through but Brown did. There was some concern he might take other visits, but Brown emerged as one of the faces of the class.

There really wasn’t much to say about the Ethan Burke recruitment. Texas initiated contact late in the year and swooped in at the last minute to offer and flip him from Michigan. It appeared Texas was looking to see how the defensive line would pan out with a couple of other prospects, and they moved on Burke when they had an idea of the way those races were going. Burke was the ultimate senior riser in this class coming out of nowhere to generate some big time interest from around the country.

When Harold Perkins started to blow up, he maintained that he didn’t really have any leaders and it stayed that way through his junior season. Once we entered last spring, LSU, Texas A&M, and USC were schools that I was beginning to monitor, in that order. His interest in Texas was generated basically overnight when USC canceled his official visit days before he was set to fly to Los Angeles and Texas swooped in to get him on campus. A source told me at that time that Perkins never saw himself in burnt orange, but it clicked for him when he put on the jersey for the photo session. However, coming out of the summer it was clear that Texas A&M had a large lead despite ups and downs at times.

Texas stuck around and stayed in routine communication with Perkins all the way to the end. In fact, ahead of his commitment to Texas A&M in early January, a source told me that he would be committing to the Aggies but that he would not end up signing with them in the end and that Texas was still very much on the table. The Longhorns fought around up until about a week ago when he decided to focus on LSU, Florida, and Texas A&M. Being originally from New Orleans, it was always gonna be tough for Perkins to tell LSU no, and had they not made a coaching change, I feel Perkins would be headed to Gainesville. However, a solid final visit to Baton Rouge sealed things for the five-star linebacker. (Nick)

Heading into the summer, Sebastian Cheeks was talking to people behind the scenes like he would be committing to Texas. As he entered the summer, North Carolina and Texas stood above Michigan. North Carolina really crushed their official visit, and Cheeks' family had a health issue requiring them to stay in Chapel Hill while Cheeks visited Austin. North Carolina won out and Michigan ended up finishing second. In talking with Cheeks, he told me that most of his Texas interest centered around the relationship he had with Jeff Choate. Choate did an incredible job in the recruitment, but Austin wasn’t what Cheeks thought it would be and he didn’t want to pick a school just for one coach. Outside of Choate, Cheeks said he didn’t have a great relationship with anyone else on the staff and felt Texas “put on a show” during his visit. When I asked what that meant, Cheeks said it just felt like they were going through the motions. Texas made another run at Cheeks during the fall, but he was pretty locked in.

Kobie McKinzie
(Photo: Andrew Ivins, 247Sports)
 

The only way to describe the Kobie McKinzie recruitment is to say it was quite the whirlwind. McKinzie committed to Oklahoma a long time ago and Texas never really pursued for that reason. On the night Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma, I reached out to McKinzie who told me Texas had already reached out. He told me at the time that he always had love for Texas and an offer would make Texas the pick. I went and saw McKinzie play that week and talking to him after the game, he told me of his intentions to take his official visit to Austin and commit when he left. While his father downplayed Texas’ chances on message boards, McKinzie was giving me commitment quotes and telling me it was done to Texas. After making his announcement official, Brent Venables started to put the press on. Oklahoma pushed back, and I heard through several sources that the family was pushing the Sooners. Texas went in-home with Jeff Choate and Steve Sarkisian, and I was told the staff tried to work out any misconceptions or issues with the family at that time but ran into some opposition regarding Texas not offering him earlier. I was told that McKinzie was keeping in constant contact with the Texas staff throughout the week, and he’d voiced some concern to them over going back to Oklahoma for a visit while they were in the state of Oklahoma. Once he made the visit, everyone expected the flip and it ended up coming. One thing that was odd to me and several recruits around the state was the way he decommitted with a caption that read “I would say I’m sorry but I’m not.” It was just read as a bizarre about face from McKinzie and went even further when McKinzie gave an interview saying all Texas pitched him was money. While it was true Texas utilized NIL in recruitments, they were selective in who they used it with and wanted to make sure it was the right pitch. Up until that time, McKinzie talked often about the staff being football junkies and connecting with him through talk of scheme and fit. It was an odd ending for sure, and the most important thing was for McKinzie to find his right fit. I never got the sense he was a bad kid, but he did seem somewhat impulsive and indecisive.

Going into the summer, Texas knew it would have to overcome Notre Dame for Niuafe Tuihalamaka. Jeff Choate had done a really good job getting them in position and Jake Langi pitched in as well according to Tuihalamaka. Texas did a great job on the official visit, and Tuihalamaka said he almost committed to the Horns when he left Austin. Notre Dame had a long relationship with him and he wanted to keep his word and make the official visit. Once he made the trip, Notre Dame eventually won out. Tuihalamaka said that the academic and athletic fit at Notre Dame were what he was looking for more than what he found in Austin.

I had to contain my laughter the first time Lander Barton told me he was excited about Austin because he loved ranching and horses. I didn’t have the heart to tell him he probably wasn’t going to find a lot of that near campus. Barton said that Texas finished second and couldn’t have done anything different. He simply wanted to stay home and near his family’s ranch.

Texas A&M signee Ish Harris never seemed that into Texas and he communicated that to the staff before his official visit so they didn’t waste the trip on him. Harris said he liked Texas but his interest was in agricultural sciences and Texas didn’t offer that degree plan. Harris did make a late visit to Texas, but I was told there was nothing to it as he was just in Austin for his birthday. While Harris did tell other recruits he was considering flipping, a source near him said he was never serious and just having fun.

As I alluded to earlier, the recruitment of Jeremy Patton went from pretty quiet to crazy in the last week. Going back to the Derrick Brown recruitment, Patton and Brown had formed quite a bond and planned on committing together. Texas wanted to get Patton and his mother back on campus for a second visit, but he suddenly cut off communication and planned to commit to Michigan in what was regarded as a fairly big upset. On the day of his commitment, Patton told others he woke up with a feeling that God was leading him to Baylor. After committing to the Bears, I was told Patton reached out to Texas a few times to indicate interest in possibly flipping, but Texas moved on at that point.

Eoghan Kerry
(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

COVID-19’s effect on recruiting lingered into this class. Texas was looking for linebacker options and found Eoghan Kerry but didn’t have a ton to go on. Kerry had only played in the shortened season during the spring, but the staff liked his adjustment to stronger competition and he had some good combine testing numbers. I saw Kerry play a few times during the year and didn’t notice him much in a sea full of stars at Mater Dei. Late in the year, the staff and Kerry made a mutual decision to go their separate ways and Kerry found a home at Colorado. Kerry was an incredible kid to get to know and I hope he finds success in whatever he does.

I don’t have a ton on Isaiah Bond, but the speedy receiver told me he was interested in visiting Austin over the summer. Bond said contact with Andre Coleman just dropped off at one point and he decided not to make the trip after all.

I’m confident that Arlis Boardingham probably would have committed had Texas pushed, but I don’t think they wanted to take the chance in the end. Boardingham is such a high-ceiling athlete with an intriguing future, but I was told his private workout with UT didn’t go well so they didn’t want to spend the spot.

I was an early fan of the potential Xavion Brice had at defensive back and wasn’t surprised when he ripped up the SMU camp in front of a lot of college staffs. Texas offered and hosted him on a visit, but Brice said they never communicated again past that. Brice committed to Oklahoma, but Texas came back around in the end and got him after Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma.

There was a brief moment when Jay Valai was at Texas where Domani Jackson was at least telling those close to him that Texas was near the top. Jackson told several different schools that he was thinking of committing to them. I think Texas had some early momentum but they lost it pretty quickly.

Other than not performing on the field, I’m not sure where things really went wrong with Denver Harris. Throughout his recruitment, Texas was always right there among the top schools and I was told on several different occasions that his mother and those in his family preferred Texas as the pick. Harris always seemed to be just within their grasp but they could never quite take hold. From the spring and through the summer, those closest to Harris described the race as a two-way between Texas and Alabama. I was told throughout that time that Texas A&M would always hold the last spot but weren’t a big threat. I was told that throughout the spring and summer, but in late fall I mentioned on the board that I heard something to make me believe A&M was in a better position than anyone thought. Around the time Evan Stewart started receiving Crystal Balls to Texas A&M, I was told that Harris sent Stewart and Kam Dewberry a message asking if they should all link up in College Station. The person that relayed that information felt it was Harris who was in effect recruiting for them at the time. There was some intrigue and mixed messaging down the stretch in favor of Texas, but it was mostly a smokescreen as Harris picked A&M.

Terrance Brooks
(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

Texas actually started the Terrance Brooks recruitment at an advantage because Brooks had a relationship with Terry Joseph. Texas A&M was seen as the early favorite because of the links to his family, but someone close to Brooks told me early on he just didn’t like College Station and couldn’t see himself there. It looked like a Texas/Alabama battle as Nick Saban was coming after Brooks hard throughout the spring. Ohio State offered a month before his announcement and most people we talked to didn’t consider them a threat because of the late entry. Kudos to Ohio State for moving quickly and closing the deal off the bat, but it wouldn’t hold. Starting in the fall, I was pretty open in reporting that Texas was in position to flip him. Though he played things pretty lowkey, Brooks always maintained communication with the staff. Credit to Terry Joseph who never gave in and fought to the very end. The staff closed the deal on their in-home visit just before signing day and it didn’t hurt that Kerry Coombs looked to be on the outs at Ohio State.

There were certainly ups and downs with Jaylon Guilbeau but I don’t think he was the person some of the fanbase thought he was. Consider the fact that Guilbeau made an early commitment to Texas, stuck on as the only commit through a coaching change and tried everything he could to connect with the new staff. As he went through the spring and summer, Guilbeau told me he was having trouble connecting with Terry Joseph who was a stark contrast to Jay Valai. Guilbeau also got the hard press from Gary Patterson and the TCU staff, ultimately leading him to flip to the Horned Frogs. When Patterson was fired, the staff re-initiated contact with Guilbeau and started the process over. Guilbeau told me that the constant turnover he was seeing really messed his head up but he appreciated how the Texas staff came back to him and started from scratch.

Texas hosted Ronald Lewisfor a camp visit during the summer where he dominated competition and put himself on the radar of Terry Joseph and the defensive staff. Shortly after that camp visit, Lewis locked in a spot at Colorado where he remained committed for a few months. However, once it became clear that Texas would miss on Bryce Anderson, the defensive staff immediately pivoted to their primary contingency plan in Lewis. Texas offered and he committed less than 24 hours later.

As the class really started to build in late December, especially on the offensive line, numbers started to become a legitimate concern. We heard some buzz ahead of signing day in December that Lewis would most likely be a numbers casualty and that’s what ended up happening. Lewis has an incredible work ethic and is one of the most level-headed recruits I’ve had the pleasure of covering. I’m excited to see what he can accomplish in Fort Worth with a chip on his shoulder. (Nick)

Jacoby Mathews
(Photo: Andrew Ivins, 247Sports)
 

Like Domani Jackson, there was a time when Kamari Wilson was telling several others about plans to commit to Texas. Wilson loved to play the game in recruiting, so that wasn’t exactly surprising, but Texas never really came close when it came down to it.

If I had 100 dollars for every time a source told me Jacoby Mathews was on the verge of committing, I’d have several hundred dollars. During the spring there was quite a bit of talk that Mathews would be committing to Texas along with Bryce Anderson (more on him later) but it never materialized. There were several times Mathews had visits planned to Texas and other campuses only not to show. Mathews officially visited Austin during the Oklahoma State game, and I was told he was one of the recruits most vocal about believing in the staff. At the Under Armour All-American Game, Mathews told everyone that his final five all had a chance to get him. I thought Texas would need to get him back on campus to have a chance and they never did. Texas A&M had a lot of momentum since the summer and ended up winning out.

From the moment he decommitted from LSU, Bryce Anderson was pretty much pegged to be a Longhorn. Texas made a quick move and landed in the top position for the Beaumont safety. Throughout the spring, Anderson was planning to make his commitment to Texas, arranging videographers and recruiting for the Longhorns. When Nick and I visited West Brook during the spring, we spoke with Bryce off the record about recruiting for Texas and his eventual plans for his announcement. When Anderson pushed his timeline to the summer, I told Nick I was a little bit worried about what that meant for Texas. Credit to Texas A&M who went all in on the first visit week and swung the momentum. From that point, Texas was fighting on their heels. There was a lot of back and forth throughout the summer, but it never felt like Texas recaptured the momentum. We were told that Anderson was basically watching to see how either recruiting class was filling out so he could tell which would be the better group. Texas hosted Anderson in July during their pool party where he told media he would wait until September to make his decision. Anderson’s commitment was already made at that point and he decided to make his commitment in late July. Those in Anderson’s camp kept communication with Texas and kept encouraging them to recruit Anderson through signing day talking about plans for a late flip, but I never got the feeling that was coming from Bryce himself.

(Photo: Collin Kennedy, 247Sports)
 

I anticipated more drama from Bryan Allen Jr. but his recruitment went pretty smoothly. After decommitting from LSU, Texas A&M and Oklahoma were the schools we heard mentioned, but Texas moved in quickly. Blake Gideon did a great job nailing this recruitment down and I’m told Chris Gilbert helped quite a bit as well. When Alabama offered, there were some initial worries, but Allen never wavered after that.

Texas got in on Larry Turner-Gooden from the moment Steve Sarkisian arrived in Austin. Turner-Gooden told me in January of 2021 that Texas would be a school in the mix because of Sark who recruited a few of his family members. When he made his original commitment to Arizona State, Texas never really gave up.

I was told in early June that Turner-Gooden was still keeping regular contact with the Texas staff and there was a lot of confidence in getting the four-star prospect to campus for a visit. As Arizona State’s class crumbled following the visit scandal, things began to heat up with Texas and Turner-Gooden.

Larry made it to Austin on his own in the summer, and he returned in October for an official visit. From there, Texas held the lead and never really relinquished it. Turner-Godoen returned for another unofficial visit, and the Texas staff was monitoring his injury progress while factoring him into the numbers of the class. Turner-Gooden signed in December and made his announcement at the All-American Bowl.

2
COMMENTS
The previous Texas staff pursued Austin Jordan hard, but Oklahoma seemed to have an advantage during the staff transition. When he cut his list to a Top 3 of Texas, Oklahoma and Ohio State, I was told by sources near him that Oklahoma had a healthy lead and he was as close to a silent commit as possible. Terry Joseph and Blake Gideon continued to work through that recruitment, and they did a good job illustrating a need for Jordan on his official visit. We heard less about Jordan than anyone else coming out of the visit, and that usually doesn’t bode well in a recruitment. Leading into Jordan’s decision date, sources near him were in the dark on what he would ultimately do.

Texas seemed to be surging near the end, and sources in Norman started to waver a bit. Jordan decided on Texas and remained strong until the end. Though he had the reputation as a quiet kid who didn’t talk recruiting much, I did see him at one game working on other prospects on the sideline.

 

The second spoilered article is part 2.

[PsychMike 1552]

1 hour ago, Teryor said:

  Reveal hidden contents

The 2022 cycle was a wild ride.

Coming out of the COVID dead period, this was the first class in two years that was able to take official visits and that let loose a hurricane of trips, commitments and flips as the 2022 recruits tried to pack two years' worth of recruiting into six months. 

Texas needed to win big in 2022, and while they didn't get it done on the field, they were able to finish strong landing the No. 5 class in the nation in recruiting. They were also one of the bigger stories in the country during Transfer Portal season when they reeled in Quinn Ewers and several others.

As always, there was drama, intrigue, and plenty of crazy moments behind closed doors. As we do each year, Horns247 has a full rundown of how exactly the 2021 class played out.

So without further ado, we take you behind the scenes of the 2021 Texas signing class in this first of two parts of Horns247's annual post-National Signing Day look back at how things unfolded in the recruiting cycle.

The ballad of Quinn Ewers is something I’ll probably remember forever. I met the five-star passer at a young age and instantly knew we were dealing with a player of elite skills. In the first few years of his recruitment, Ewers told me repeatedly he didn’t want things to turn into a circus. What would follow is a career’s worth of ups-and-downs. As I write this now on what should be Ewers’ original graduation year, he’s already enrolled for a semester and transferred.

Ewers and those around him made no secret that Texas was the dream school from the moment we met. I recall doing a podcast with Ewers during the 2020 quarantine before he’d committed anywhere and could see several Longhorn logos on items in the background. It started with Tim Beck and Tom Herman. Beck wanted to offer as quickly as possible, but the staff had a policy about not offering players who hadn’t played varsity ball as of that time.

Once Texas offered, the Longhorns moved quickly to the front of the pack. Though programs like Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma took turns generating momentum, Texas was always the early pick. Ewers made his decision seemingly out of the blue and wanted to be the face of Texas recruiting. Ewers went to work immediately recruiting several others, but his commitment was short-lived.

Once the season started, Texas began to falter. A source I spoke with felt Ewers started to doubt his ability to get other top players to join him in Austin if the program continued to fall. I was also told that Ewers and his father didn’t care for the incident following the Red River Shootout where Sam Ehlinger was left alone on the field to sing The Eyes of Texas following their loss. In some ways, it sounded like the movement for social justice wasn’t of interest to the Ewers family.

I saw Quinn play just a few days before he made his decommitment. Rumors were swirling and I wanted to talk to Quinn and his family up close to see where things really were. Ewers went off that night and even gave me the Hook ‘Em after a touchdown when he saw me shooting video from the end zone. I spoke to Quinn, his family and his coaches who all told me there was no intention to make a decommitment and they wanted to play the season out to see if Herman would turn it around or who the new hire would be.

Quinn Ewers
(Photo: © Texas Football)
 

Despite that, it was clear from Ewers’ father’s social media activity that Ohio State would be the move. Ewers made the flip and Texas started to go its own way focusing on Cade Klubnik and Conner Weigman. When Steve Sarkisian took the job, he and AJ Milwee were on Ewers immediately. Even after Texas held a commitment from Maalik Murphy, the staff continued to pursue.

I’m told there was a time during the spring of 2021 where a flip started to look like it could happen. Though it never got that close, a source near Ewers told me that he loved Sarkisian and Milwee. That same source told me that if the staff were at Texas the year before, Ewers would have never decommitted. Though Milwee and Sarkisian made a good push, Ewers ultimately decided to shut it down and remain committed to Ohio State. While Quinn prepared for his senior year, a source near him told me that they wouldn’t rule out a quick portal move once he got to Columbus because he felt Ewers always wanted to be at Texas. Even those we spoke to associated with Ohio State recruiting said that Ewers had stopped speaking to other prospects on behalf of the Buckeyes. One of our sources felt Ewers had made what he thought was the right business decision to flip to Ohio State even if it wasn’t the best fit for him.

The decision for Ewers to reclassify and enroll early seemingly came out of nowhere. I was told that Ewers seemed to regret the decision almost immediately after arriving in Columbus and started setting plans into motion to get back to Austin via the transfer portal. Midway through the season we heard word and reported that Ewers was planning on entering the portal and that Texas would likely be the pick. Even in talking to some of his high school teammates, they felt he would transfer from the moment he got to Columbus.

Near the end of the year, I was told that Ewers reconsidered and would likely stick through the spring to see where the quarterback race was, but he ended up entering anyway. In the end, his heart just never seemed to be with Ohio State. Several other schools emerged along with Texas, but I was told there was never a plan for him to go anywhere else. Texas Tech was the main school of interest, and I heard a lot of confidence from that side. In fact, I was in a high school coach’s office when a member of the staff told the coach they were getting Ewers.

Steve Sarkisian zeroed in on Ewers from the beginning. As soon as Ewers entered the portal, Sarkisian was on a plane to Dallas to conduct an in-home visit that same night. The recruitment went longer than many expected. When Ewers first went in, I was told by a source near him that it would be Texas and that it would move quickly. Though the family explored other schools, Texas was always slated to be the pick.

A source I spoke with in Lubbock even told me they heard the Texas staff was growing tired of the recruitment and was thinking about pulling out. I was laughed at when I presented that information to someone in Austin. When Ewers made Austin his last visit, it was clear where things would end up. It’s been a long journey for Ewers who has more talent than I’ve ever seen in a passer in all of my time doing this. If his head is right, he is the type of quarterback who can elevate a program.

One of the most frequent questions I got over the last year was why Texas didn’t pursue Cade Klubnik instead of Maalik Murphy. The short answer was that Murphy wanted to make an early decision and Texas wasn’t in a place to turn him down. I think the most dangerous assumption is that Klubnik would have been an easy win. When I spoke to him after the season, Klubnik told me he felt Texas wanted to get someone in the class quickly but he didn’t feel Sarkisian and the staff were really all in on him at that time. Clemson was always going to be a tough school to overcome, and Alabama was also moving on him as well. I think it was possible for Texas to win that recruitment had they dialed in on Klubnik and Klubnik only, but that just wasn’t the reality.

From the time Steve Sarkisian took over, it was clear that Maalik Murphy would be a big target. Murphy was kind of a mythical figure to me as I’d seen Tim Beck and Mike Yurcich both send out offers to the strong-armed passer. I never could reach Murphy but was always told there was an interest in Texas. Once Sarkisian engaged, things moved rather quickly. We started reporting early in February that Texas was a runaway leader for Murphy and could close him soon. Perhaps the biggest indicator was when Murphy’s 7v7 team started bringing on receivers from the state of Texas to work with Murphy and start developing chemistry.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

Armani Winfield told me that Murphy would be making his commitment on his birthday and I received a call confirming that while at dinner with my wife on vacation. Murphy was locked in almost the entire time after he committed. He’s one of the best kids I’ve had the pleasure of covering during my career, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone that will say a bad word about him. Murphy took on a real leadership role in the class. If guys who were committed were flirting with other schools, Murphy took it upon himself to tell them he didn’t think it was a good look. Murphy was totally in the loop when Texas started recruiting a second quarterback in the class and was alright with Devin Brown. The Ewers news was a bit out of nowhere, and Murphy went silent for a few days leading up to signing. After a few unreturned texts, Murphy responded on National Signing Day to tell me he was about to send his letter in.

We zeroed in quickly on Devin Brown as the second quarterback take in the class thanks to a well-placed source near Brown who alerted us. Texas moved quickly and established themselves as a legitimate contender in short order. Despite a less than ideal official visit experience, the Longhorns seemed to be in a position to close the deal. Brown visited during the Kansas game, and he told me that he knew before the game even started Texas was going to lose. He talked with the staff about the need to overturn the roster and he could see a lack of buy-in from the players on the team. Despite that, Brown loved Sark and his offense and believed in that future. Brown was as close to a silent commit as he could be at one point, but a trip to Ohio State changed that. A source I spoke with near Brown said he was considering not even taking the visit because he thought Texas would ultimately be his landing place. He went anyway and everything changed. Brown clicked immediately with the coaching staff, and despite a shortened timeline, it didn’t take much for Ohio State to win him over. Texas waited until the second week to go in home with Sarkisian which was a gamble considering Ryan Day went in the first week. Sark never got to make his visit as Brown decided to shut it down. We had heard that movement in the quarterback room (Ewers) helped nudge him along, but sources near Brown told me they didn’t know any specifics and were going to pick the Buckeyes regardless. In the end, Brown said that Texas finished second.

Had Texas stuck with Herman and Yurcich, Drew Allar could be a Longhorn. The five-star quarterback said that Yurcich was on him early when he didn’t have a ton of interest and Texas would have been tough to beat had they recruited him.

The recruitment of Jaydon Blue ended quickly after Steve Sarkisian took over. The elite back had always leaned toward Texas, and Sarkisian’s offense gave him the push he needed to make an early decision. The recruitment overall was fairly ho-hum until the late spring when Blue announced he wouldn’t play his senior season. I was in Houston the week before to see Blue and others on a spring trip and sensed some weird vibes at Klein Cain when I went by there. The decision to sit out was a personal decision for Blue and his family but it was clear Blue wanted to play. Sark and the coaching staff actually tried to help mediate the issues, but a decision left up to the team captains ended with Blue not returning. There was a period of time where Blue considered decommitting from Texas, but in the end he was talked out of it after some frustrations boiled over. Many people forget that Blue was a borderline five-star and once the number one running back in the nation. He has the chance to really surprise some folks once he gets to Austin.

I first met Raleek Brown when he was a sophomore, and he wanted to visit Texas but they weren’t recruiting him. The staff at the time wouldn’t offer him unless he visited and Oklahoma was opening up a big lead. Texas engaged once Steve Sarkisian arrived but there just wasn’t a lot of time. Brown will be a day one difference maker in college.

Jamarion Miller
(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

The current staff loved Jamarion Miller, but they had some ground to make up after the previous staff failed to show much interest. Texas tried throughout the spring but couldn’t get Miller to respond much. The Longhorns weren’t even in the picture until the summer when Miller started planning visits. On the last visit weekend of June, Miller decided to make a trip to the school he grew up watching. Texas closed the deal quickly and Miller committed soon thereafter. It looked like it would be a fun story as Miller repeatedly said he was tired of recruiting and wanted it to be over. I was reminded that actions speak louder than words in the recruiting world, and it was odd to see a kid who was vocally tired of the recruiting process take a few under the radar visits. Miller’s tune changed in the fall as he decided he’d take all of his officials. A few voices near him urged him to continue to look at Alabama, as Nick Saban continued to push personally for the east Texas back. Miller ultimately flipped close to signing day and never spoke about why, but I feel the lack of NFL Draft production played a role.

Texas seemed to be in a good spot for TreVonte' Citizen early and hosted him on an official visit. LSU won out initially, but Texas was in a spot to flip him. Citizen was always somewhat borderline for Texas depending on his senior season performance. In the end, I think Texas felt the need to move on and let Citizen go.

The Longhorns were in a power position to land Tavorus Jones, and it looked like that would happen until Texas decided not to host him just days before Jones got on the plane for his official visit. We fully expected a commitment following that trip, but there was a lot of indecision when it came to the second running back spot. Jones probably would have been the guy, but Texas held him off for DeAnthony Gatson who ended up picking USC and ended up with Jamarion Miller anyway. Jones didn’t have a great junior year and I think Texas wanted to wait and he didn’t. He took his only official visit to Missouri the following weekend and shut it down soon after.

I’ve heard from several sources that Texas received a commitment from DeAnthony Gatson following his official visit, but they didn’t want to take it at the time. After some thought, the Longhorns circled back around Gatson’s commitment date and started to push again, but USC used the window they had to get in and close the deal. As the evaluation process is ongoing, Texas continued to monitor Gatson but never felt the need to push for a commitment.

Evan Stewart
(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

Texas was one of the first schools to offer Evan Stewart before he really rose to prominence prior to his junior year. That early offer ingratiated Texas with him and the Longhorns were an early leader, but Stewart was fairly indecisive his entire recruitment. Last January, I spoke to him and he told me Texas was probably 4th or 5th on his list. A few weeks later, he made his commitment to the Longhorns.

I said at the time of his commitment that Evan was the biggest wildcard in the class, and he proved that. After decommitting, there was a period where Texas drifted because of communication issues. Those could probably best be tied to some hurt feelings from the coaching staff following his decommitment.

Steve Sarkisian and Brandon Harris went about personally repairing that relationship and got Texas back into a strong position during the summer. Florida briefly grabbed headlines as a leader, but Texas never faded and constantly stayed at the head of the pack. During the summer, Stewart took a trip to College Station. Texas A&M was emerging in his recruitment, but he told me at the time that he didn’t like College Station and didn’t feel it was a fit.

As the fall went on, it only seemed like a matter of time before Texas would eventually reel Stewart in. Alabama was the main point of contention and Texas A&M wasn’t even in the conversation. Had Texas won the Red River Shootout behind an electric Xavier Worthy effort, I believe Stewart might have pulled the trigger that day. Had they been able to come back the next week and beat Oklahoma State while Stewart was in Austin, they might have had a second chance to win him over again.

After the visit for the Oklahoma State game, Stewart told me he was visiting Texas A&M the following week in what was a surprise to many. After attending several student events and the game, A&M made a big move for him. It seemed like it was headed downhill from that point for Texas, but there were times when Stewart told Texas they were still in the lead and that he still wanted to be a Longhorn.

In the end, Stewart made it clear he didn’t want to be part of a rebuild at Texas and he told me after the season that the potential to be part of a class like the one that Texas A&M had put together was too good to turn down. I also don’t think his parents and some of those around him were sold on Texas. I heard from a few sources that his mother didn’t click with the Texas staff and I know he had a couple of other voices in his corner encouraging Texas A&M.

It did get a bit interesting near signing day. Going back to Ewers’ original commitment, Quinn was a quarterback Stewart always wanted to play with. When Quinn transferred to Texas, Stewart reiterated that he wanted to play with Quinn but he was firm in his decision to stick with A&M.

On National Signing Day when Stewart’s letter was delayed, there was a period of time where he was in contact with the Texas staff and commits, but nobody near him ever indicated any sort of flip was close.

The race for four-star wide receiver Shazz Preston was an illusion of sorts. Texas did a strong job and finished second in Preston’s own admission following his decision to sign with Alabama. Still, the recruitment always seemed like Preston was attainable yet always out of reach. Texas did just about everything they could do, and there was a time in the early fall where it looked like Texas could be victorious. Even down the stretch, Texas did everything it could to bring him in, but they always seemed to be behind one school or another. LSU always seemed like the favorite, but the coaching change didn’t leave the Tigers enough time and Alabama grabbed control following his visit to Tuscaloosa.

Put Kevin Coleman down as yet another odd recruitment that probably could have gone different. In the spring, Texas was in as good of a position for Coleman as anyone. As we entered the summer, a canceled visit from Coleman seemed to turn Texas off a bit. In many ways, Texas seemed to pull out of the recruitment and focus on others. Coleman told me during All-American Bowl week that he always envisioned himself at Texas and his family even thought about moving there. Coleman did tell me Texas reached out after Brennan Marion was hired and he was thinking about taking a visit later in the month. In the end, Coleman pulled off a surprise commitment to Jackson State and told me he planned to enroll early.

"<b
Chris Marshall" 
(Photo: Andrew Ivins, 247Sports)
Texas coveted the talent of Fort Bend Marshall wide receiver Chris Marshall early in the cycle. What happened after that depends on who you talk with. Throughout the spring I saw Marshall at several events and he told me that Texas was high on his list during all of those occasions. USC and Texas A&M were always the two schools most talked about with Marshall, but Texas seemed like they would hang around. Following a Top 5 cut that excluded Texas, I checked around to see what happened. One side of the story was that Marshall just simply wasn’t interested in Texas and decided to move on. The other side of the story included Texas pulling out of the recruitment because of some concerns with content they’d seen on Marshall’s social media. Who knows what the true story really is? To be fair, a lot of recruitments end with a he-said/she-said attitude.

From the beginning, Caleb Burton seemed like the type of kid who didn’t want to be pigeonholed to Texas just because he lived in Austin. He was often quick to remind many people that he was not born in Austin and had come from Houston. Burton never really considered Texas even after Ewers made his first commitment. In fact, Burton’s reticence with Texas following Ewers was a big part of Quinn feeling he couldn’t attract talent with him. Burton’s name came up in rumors several times, but we never found anything concrete. Even when Ewers was rumored to be headed to Texas, we heard that as long as Andre Coleman was the receiver coach, Burton wanted to be elsewhere.

The Longhorns also finished second for Mater Dei wide receiver CJ Williams during his first recruitment when he picked Notre Dame. Though he was committed to the Irish, he kept me in the loop on his plans and his contact with Texas. I think the Longhorns could have made a strong push for him, but I think there were some questions about his overall explosive ability that caused Texas to zero in on others. When Brian Kelly left Notre Dame, Texas wanted to make an in-home visit to make one last pitch to him. Williams told me he would have been very open to Texas as he loved Austin, the education and the offense. He was told they wouldn’t make the in-home visit unless he was decommitted, and while that was coming, he wasn’t officially decommitted at the time. Could Texas have overcome the hometown pull of USC with Lincoln Riley at the helm? Perhaps, but Williams did seem mystified that they didn’t try harder down the stretch.

When Brenen Thompson blew up on the recruiting trail in the spring of 2020, Texas was quick to pull the trigger for the Panhandle speedster. In the beginning, Thompson kept everything at a true level playing field as he entertained almost every offer he received. As his junior season rolled around, Clemson had begun to get involved and things looked like they could’ve been heading towards an early commitment for the Tigers after Cade Klubnik’s commitment, but Thompson insisted that he wanted to visit his top contenders before making any decision. When visit time did roll around, we reported that Oklahoma State and Texas were going to be the ones battling it out heading into June. Two schools entered the picture following visits: Oregon and Texas A&M. His experience in Eugene blew him away as the family really connected with Mario Cristobal and the entire staff. However, being close to home was a big factor for him. If Eugene wasn’t so far away, he could be donning green and black, but it was just too big of a concern to overcome. While he did flirt with Texas A&M down the stretch and included him in his top three, it ultimately came down to the Cowboys and Longhorns. The concern for Thompson regarding Texas was always if he would be a fit in a city like Austin coming from Spearman, but his official visit experience answered all of those questions. After a long discussion with Jordan Shipley during his visit about transitioning into Austin as a small-town kid, Thompson began to see himself locking things down. The visit concluded with a strong effort from the coaching staff and an assist from Loreal Sarkisian that helped convince the family. Just two weeks later, he was committed and never wavered before Signing Day. (Nick)

Texas was early to offer Garland wide receiver Jordan Hudson and while the Longhorns grabbed some early buzz, Oklahoma was where he made his early commitment. Even after he had committed to the Sooners, Hudson started talking about flipping early. Hudson considered coming out to throw with Quinn Ewers when he worked out with several recruits after committing. Despite taking more pictures with the horns down than any recruit I’d ever seen, Hudson was constantly talking to Texas. In February of last year, Hudson told me he wouldn’t be signing with Oklahoma and just wanted to find the right place. Texas seemed like the move as Hudson was one of the players suiting up with Maalik Murphy’s 7v7 team in an effort to gain some chemistry. For whatever reason, Hudson just kept playing the game and stretched his recruitment out. By the time he did come free, he went into his second recruitment looking to play it low key. I was told repeatedly that Hudson thought Evan Stewart would end up at Texas and he didn’t want to go somewhere that he wasn’t the top priority. Hudson chose SMU to be the small fish in the big pond after seeing the way Mustang receivers developed in the last few seasons. He would have stayed at SMU had the coaching staff not left.

WR Armani Winfield (Photo: Collin Kennedy, 247Sports)
 

There wasn’t a higher maintenance recruitment than that of Armani Winfield. He made headlines by committing to Andre Coleman at halftime of the national championship game before Steve Sarkisian officially arrived in Austin. Though he went through the spring incident-free, Winfield started talking about possibly decommitting and taking other visits. Even after his official visit to Austin, there was still pressure on him to open things up. Texas had calls with Armani and his family on several occasions to save what would have been a decommitment. While Winfield never seemed like he wanted to leave, he had several voices around him telling him that he wasn’t being recruited as a priority the way his friend and training partner Evan Stewart was. Winfield made his decommitment in the middle of the Longhorns’ game against Kansas State that would close the season. I was told he regretted the decision and called the staff back to see if he could re-commit. There was a time where the staff put him on hold because they weren’t happy with the way his decommitment had gone down. After a few meetings, Texas was going to let him back in the class on signing day. Winfield told the staff the night before that he would be signing with them along with many other recruits only to ink with Baylor the next day in a fitting end to that recruitment.

I feel that when we look back in a few years, Matthew Golden will be seen as a big miss. Golden was a guy Texas was early in identifying, but they didn’t pull the trigger during the spring. The staff had some questions about his speed and overall athletic ability. Texas wanted to get Golden in for a workout in the summer, but he didn’t feel he needed to with other offers.

The Longhorns tried to take advantage when Golden decommitted from TCU, and at first, it looked like Texas would be able to close the deal. Golden attended the final game of the season and something in his tone changed when talking about his recruitment. TCU came in heavy after Ra’Shaad Samples and Bryan Carrington were hired and it seemed like they would get him back. I’ll give credit to Golden who told me he wanted to go wherever he felt was the best fit and wherever he had the best relationship. He could have chosen bigger options than Houston, but he was true to his word. Texas could have won him had they engaged earlier.

The decision of Phaizon Wilson to become the first commit in the Texas class for 2022 was a little bit of a shock to those around him. Wilson was a promising sophomore at the time of his commitment, and he decided to decommit soon after Ewers defected. During his junior year, Wilson was suspended and ended up not playing after having seen the field sparingly during his sophomore year. After attempting to transfer before his senior season, Wilson returned to Lancaster where he actually played a great deal. Had he stayed committed he might have had a chance to stick in the class, but decommitting limited his options when he didn’t have much on film other than 7v7.

There isn’t much to say about the way the Savion Red recruitment played out. Texas was looking for a receiver prospect with some versatility late and jumped on Red when SMU had their coaching turnover. I’m told Chris Gilbert was vocal in his support for a player like Red, and Texas closed pretty easily after putting the press on.

It seemed like Texas finished second for Jaleel Skinner, but he told me they actually finished third when he made his commitment to Alabama. There was a time where Skinner and his family were giving the Longhorns positive vibes that made them think they could land him. A big part of that was Jeff Banks who established a great relationship with the family. Skinner made a summer official visit and returned in the fall even after he was committed to Alabama. Skinner told me he almost committed after his official visit to Austin, but decided to hold off. From talking to him, it didn’t sound like Texas did anything wrong. He simply wanted to be part of a winning program and felt Texas would need a few years to build.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

As Texas took aim at Humble Summer Creek offensive tackle Kelvin Banks, it seemed like they were emerging as the favorite in a two-way battle between Texas and Texas A&M. I went to Humble in the late spring to see Banks and all the talk centered around a head-to-head in-state battle for the Longhorns against the Aggies.

As we moved into the summer, several other schools popped up for Banks with a little bit of buzz. His first visit to LSU caused some commotion, but that momentum quickly died. Oregon caused a spark as well, but everyone near the Houston big man said this would come down to the two in-state powers.

The confidence in Austin was high throughout that time as the staff was hearing a ton of strong feedback from Banks and his family. Following his official visits, Banks announced he would make his commitment on July 4. Texas A&M was building a lot of momentum in-state, and it sounded like they made a big splash on his official visit. While most folks expected them to eventually be the pick, Oregon quickly emerged out of nowhere as a strong threat.

Banks told several people that the decision would really come down to Oregon and Texas A&M with Texas finishing third. That news alone was puzzling to folks in Austin who were led to believe they were in the thick of that race if not the lead. Banks eventually chose Oregon and became one of the more vocal commits in the class.

The relationship-building never stopped, and though there were moments where several people in Austin felt it might be a lost cause to continue chasing him.

In October, a source near Banks reached out to me with some fairly big news. Though nobody in Austin seemed to know it, the relationship building was working. Banks was telling those close to him that the door was open in his recruitment and some things that happened within the family could cause him to stay close to home. The source also indicated that if a flip happened, it would be to Texas and nobody else.

On a whim, I drove out to a Thursday night game between Banks and North Shore. After the game, I spoke with Banks for a bit and he told me that while he was fully committed to Oregon, he was definitely listening to Texas. While my source was strong in saying he would eventually flip, Banks downplayed those chances and said he was considering making a game visit that weekend to see Oklahoma State.

I asked him about whether I should report the news or not and offered to keep a lid on it since I knew it was a sensitive subject. Banks was adamant that I needed to do my job and told me to go ahead and report it but to make sure it was stressed that he was firmly committed to Oregon. Sources I spoke with in Austin didn’t have objections to me reporting the news either, and though fans thought it could potentially ruin the recruitment, it never mattered.

Banks didn’t visit Austin that weekend, and I went back to my source and told him I didn’t think the indications were that strong. This source doubled down at the time and told me Banks would eventually be a Texas commit. It was at that point, I started monitoring the Miami situation and if Mario Cristobal could be hired away from Oregon.

A source in Austin felt they could get Banks regardless, but they were hoping a move for Cristobal could be the ultimate catalyst for it. When Cristobal was hired away, I was told that if something was going to happen for Texas, it would move quickly. Nick went and saw Banks at the Houston Touchdown Club Dinner where he told him his recruitment would be reset and he would probably push things until February. While we initially heard that as well, another source I spoke with near Banks told me that the family could shut it down early to avoid the fatigue of the recruiting process.

When Banks said he would stretch the recruitment out, I kept that source in the back of my mind but chalked it up to a change for Banks. As schools started to change their strategies to push home visits back to January, Texas remained undeterred. The plan was always to go into his home as late as possible in the week before the Early Signing Period and try to make the final impression.

I asked a source in Austin if Sarkisian would save his in-home for January, and was told he didn’t need to as there was confidence that Texas could seal things up on the in-home visit. I’m not sure if they knew Banks was already in the bag or if they just felt that good about the ability to close.

Texas did exactly that and secured a cornerstone for their offensive line class.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

When I met Malik Agbo last February, he was very high on Texas and was forging a bond with Maalik Murphy. Texas seemed like an early leader, but contact fell off through the spring and summer. It looked like the recruitment with Texas was dead until the fall when the Longhorns re-established contact with him. All the Longhorns needed was to get Agbo on campus for an official visit. I was on the field taking pictures on the day of his official visit and trying to make sure not to speak with anyone during a visit, per the rules of what we are allowed to do. Agbo saw me and walked over to talk, and I tried to keep it short without being rude. He had been there a few hours and was already blown away by the trip. A source I spoke with warned me that further visits could sway the impressionable Agbo. Auburn did surge for a while after his trip, but Texas stayed the course and Kyle Flood’s trips to Seattle during the month of December ended up paying off.

Texas came in late on Cameron Williams during the summer but made up quite a bit of ground coming out of his late June official visit. Leading up to decision day, we had a lot of intel that Texas would be the pick. However, Oregon emerged quickly as the decision neared and ended up winning out, continuing a hot streak of victories over Texas. The Longhorns never really gave in and sources at Duncanville told us that they felt Texas would eventually flip Williams as his family wanted him closer to home. Oregon continued to put up a big fight sending coaches out any time it felt like Williams might be leaning a certain way. Down the stretch, Texas continued to do in-home visits and while sources we had spoken with weren’t as confident on flipping Williams, the fact he was still letting them in was encouraging. Once Mario Cristobal defected from Oregon, it was just about a sure thing. Duncanville’s season ended around the same time and Williams made the call for Texas.

For as long and high profile as the recruitment of Devon Campbell was, there weren’t many twists. Texas offered Campbell early when Herb Hand was in Austin and that gave the Longhorns a strong upper hand. For a while, Texas was the only school Campbell had visited and he did so a few times. There was a time before his junior year where Campbell was considering committing to Texas but his family told him to go see other schools and his recruitment stretched out. What’s funny is the way Campbell was talked about by other commits and schools. Despite confidence at times from programs such as Oklahoma, the prevailing sentiment was that Campbell would eventually be a Longhorn. Texas actually signed Campbell at the end of the December signing window, but sources asked us to keep a tight lid on it so Campbell could play his announcement out his way through the month of January. I thought it was going to get out on Monday when a twitter account with very few followers tweeted a picture of the NCAA’s database showing Campbell’s NLI to Texas, but it was taken down within 30 minutes and nobody saw it.

When it came down to it, the recruitment of Earnest Greene looked to be do-or-die for the Texas offensive line. The Longhorns were all in on the four-star California prospect and doing everything they could to win him. Ohio State seemed to be the primary competition, but Texas started to take a bit of a lead in the early fall. When I went to California in the fall, Greene told me that he wanted to play for a championship contender but that the job Kyle Flood and Steve Sarkisian had done establishing a relationship was pushing Texas to the top. The Longhorns pulled out every stop they had for Greene and even involved Andre Coleman who played with Greene’s father for the San Diego Chargers. Georgia just had too much and though Texas tried to pitch the tackle position as a difference maker, the Dawgs won out because of their NFL development and status as a program.

Kam Dewberry (Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

While it seemed like Kam Dewberry was always destined to end up at Texas A&M, he told me that had the current staff been around for more than a year, he’d probably have chosen Texas. Let’s go back to the Tom Herman era. Herb Hand neglected that relationship so much that Dewberry was prepared to drop Texas altogether. He didn’t think Hand could develop, he didn’t think Herman would be around long and he didn’t think Texas really saw him as a priority. Flood changed that almost immediately and Dewberry said that no school recruited him harder throughout the year. In the spring, Dewberry told me Texas was sitting third behind Ohio State and Alabama. As the year went on, Texas continued to push and in the end it came down to Texas and Texas A&M following Lincoln Riley’s departure. Dewberry said it was an incredibly difficult decision and the worst part of his recruitment was making the call to the staff to tell them no. Texas pitched Dewberry on not following the A&M class and making his own legacy. Dewberry told me the difference-maker was the last visit he made to College Station where he drove himself. Being that close to home clicked for him in a different way and he knew his decision then. Even at that point, Dewberry told me the staff made a convincing case when they came in for the last in-home visit. There was even a rumor I heard that Dewberry would end up with his good friend Kelvin Banks, but it ended just like many other package deals.

Perhaps the most unlikely win of the year was that of Neto Umeozulu. From the beginning, Umeozulu didn’t show a lot of interest in Texas. One of the big difference makers in this recruitment was Chris Gilbert who did a great job building the relationship. Still, Texas was never really considered a leader for Umeozulu. Even on his official visit in the fall, I was told Umeozulu requested to leave the trip early, but his one-on-one meeting with Kyle Flood left a big impression on him. Even down the stretch, Oklahoma looked like the biggest team to beat. I was told that even when it came decision time, Oklahoma seemed to be the move until a late push by Texas and the prestige of the McCombs Business School won out for Texas. Even after his commitment, Umeozulu had cold feet on NSD-eve as Baylor had made a strong late push. Both Baylor and Texas were in contact after midnight before Signing Day, but Texas smoothed it over and got his signature early the next morning.

(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
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I’m going to group Cole Hutson and Connor Robertson together because they did just about everything as a pair and were both low drama. Robertson seemed like a sure thing from the moment he was offered, and Hutson was a lean even before he knew it. Hutson’s unofficial visit to Austin a week before his official really helped Texas to seal the deal. Kyle Flood spent time with his family at the Texas baseball game and they got to break the ice in person before the official visit. A return trip the next week sealed it. Hutson told me that Texas treated him like a priority while a few poor visit experiences at other schools helped Texas stand out. Robertson and Hutson did the heavy lifting of recruiting and trying to keep the class together and united throughout the year and never wavered once.

  Reveal hidden contents

The 2022 cycle was a wild ride.

Coming out of the COVID dead period, this was the first class in two years that was able to take official visits and that let loose a hurricane of trips, commitments and flips as the 2022 recruits tried to pack two years' worth of recruiting into six months.

Texas needed to win big in 2022, and while they didn't get it done on the field, they were able to finish strong landing the No. 5 class in the nation in recruiting. They were also one of the bigger stories in the country during Transfer Portal season when they reeled in Quinn Ewers and several others.

As always, there was drama, intrigue, and plenty of crazy moments behind closed doors. As we do each year, Horns247 has a full rundown of how exactly the 2021 class played out.

So without further ado, we take you behind the scenes of the 2021 Texas signing class in this second of two parts of Horns247's annual post-National Signing Day look back at how things unfolded in the recruiting cycle.

Texas was in and out of the race for Bear Alexander for most of his recruitment, and they never had much of a chance with the new staff. While Alexander spoke with Bo Davis a few times and made a visit, Texas was never considered a serious option. I checked out of that recruitment pretty early, but it sounded like there were some interesting stories from both the Georgia and Texas A&M side.

After Quency Wiggins visited Texas in the summer, the Longhorns were in the top group but it never seemed like they’d be able to overcome other programs like Alabama and LSU. Wiggins came back for an official visit which he said he enjoyed, but he just didn’t feel Texas was a fit. Wiggins was a big fan of Bo Davis, but the losing streak and looming rebuild were too much for Texas to overcome.

Jaray Bledsoe
(Photo: Andrew Ivins, 247Sports)
 

One of the cooler stories in the class was Marlin defensive lineman Jaray Bledsoe. I first met Bledsoe on a Saturday night in 2020 on the way back from seeing Hayden Conner in Katy that morning. Myself and Guy Frazier (who you may know already if you listen to the State of Recruiting podcast) decided to swing by Mart and Bremond that night to just see some good small-town football. While Mart won big, big No. 99 for Bremond stuck out as he totaled multiple TFLs and rushed for over 100 yards on offense with a 6-foot-4, 270 pound frame. After the game, we spoke with Bledsoe to see if he had been hearing from any schools and he mentioned Texas A&M. It was clear that night that he was going to be a Power Five talent. After he dropped his junior year film that next January, his recruitment exploded but hit a quick halt after schools were alerted to an eligibility issue.

Following the winter storm in February, Bledsoe had to make the move back to his hometown of Marlin and it was there that he was able to get his grades back on track. After powering through a rigorous summer school schedule, Bledsoe had put himself back on the map to be recruited and Texas was the first school to notice. The Texas staff welcomed him in for an official visit in late June and were really the only school to push for a commitment in the summer. The effort paid off as Bledsoe locked it down just before his senior school year and never wavered leading up to his signing. Texas A&M and Baylor were always the schools that I felt like would have the inside track, but the loyalty that Bo Davis and the staff showed through Bledsoe’s adversities was what put Texas in the lead through the end. (Nick)

I never got the idea that Ernest Cooper IV was ever seriously interested in Texas. Texas A&M was always the in-state school that held his attention. In early spring, Cooper was talking like Texas would be in his top group, but something changed quickly. I just don’t think Texas saw him as a fit and didn’t feel he was incredibly interested in the first place. I think Stanford is a great fit for him both academically and athletically.

Give credit to Bo Davis for zeroing in immediately on Kristopher Ross and winning him over pretty quickly. Texas was originally in line for a quicker decision but Ross decided to wait it out another month or so after a push from Texas Tech. TCU made a push for him and there was some confidence in Fort Worth that they could flip him. I never sensed anything serious there as Ross seemed pretty locked in from the beginning.

Omari Abor
Omari Abor (Photo: Collin Kennedy, 247Sports)
 

The tale of Omari Abor and his recruitment with Texas really depends on who you talk with. I first met Abor when he was a sophomore with no offers. After a breakout season, Abor put on a show in front of Tom Herman and Bryan Carrington in the playoffs but didn’t receive an offer. Even talking to Abor after that game, he said OU was the program he grew up rooting for. Texas just never seemed to ever gain traction with him even after the new staff took over. Sources I spoke with in Austin regarded Abor as non-responsive while Abor would say he never heard much from the staff. I will say that the non-responsive complaint is one I heard from several schools. The recruitment was pretty much dead in the water until Abor decided to make a summer visit to Austin. Longtime favorite OU was dropping at that time and Texas made a good enough impression to make it look like they would hang around. As we moved into the fall, communication was up and down once again. Ohio State was always the school everyone felt Abor would end up at. Around the state finals, Abor started talking up Texas again, but that was incredibly short-lived. I asked him later what happened and he said Texas had dropped contact once again. In the end, he was probably going to end up at Ohio State anyway. I did run into his parents after the state championship game and asked them about Texas and they said they didn’t even have a handle on what Abor was thinking.

Texas landing J'Mond Tapp was somewhat surprising and I ignored the signs because of the history of players like Tapp staying in-state to play for LSU. I got the warning on his commitment with the caveat that it would probably take a couple of hours to come down. I wanted to write his commitment story then but figured I had some time to eat dinner and write the story after. Tapp ended up committing in the middle of my meal leading to a mad scramble. From the time he committed, Tapp was a guy others talked about as being on flip watch but he never really wavered. Tapp was open about wanting to take visits and attended several LSU games during the fall and even made an appearance at Jackson State in October. Every time rumors would heat up about Tapp, he’d shut them down. Tapp is truly one of the most unique characters I’ve met doing this. The stories from the other commits and their interactions with him are some of the funniest things I’ve heard.

I’ll be honest in saying I had doubts Texas could pull Justice Finkley in. Sources in Austin were always optimistic for him, but there had been some misreads on recruitments causing me to be suspicious. The academic advantages held a lot of sway for Texas, but it was hard to believe they could go head-to-head with Nick Saban and pull a kid out of Alabama. The most interesting part of the recruitment was how secretive and paranoid Finkley was about his decision leaking. In fact, some sources were purposely putting out misinformation to keep things a secret. When we figured out what the decision was, those sources opened up to confirm. There was a fear that any leak could cause Finkley to reconsider, but he’d been committed to Texas for a while leading up to his announcement.

Derrick Brown (Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

Texas was a bit late to the recruitment of Derrick Brown, but the staff did a tremendous job making up ground through Jeff Choate, Pete Kwiatkowski and Chris Gilbert who helped because of his relationship with Texas High head coach Gerry Stanford. Going into the summer, Texas and Texas A&M were the two highest for Brown. Texas got the first visit of the summer, which was a calculated gamble knowing how impressionable Brown was. I think Texas wanted to slam the door on that first visit, and they almost did. Brown canceled his visit to Texas A&M coming out of the weekend after telling some people that the A&M staff was trying to contact him the entire time through the visit. Brown was going to take his time with visits, but he was considered as close to a commit as one could get. Everything was fine until Brown went on a trip to Baylor. The Bears were one of the first schools to offer and Joey McGuire did a phenomenal job on that visit. Coming out of it, Baylor was in the lead and Brown was zeroing in on the Bears as he planned his commitment video. Texas doubled down with communication and they were able to get Brown to hold off and return to Austin in July for the pool party. Once they held Baylor off, momentum started to turn and Brown was going to return to Austin with Jeremy Patton (more on him later) for a dual commitment. Patton didn’t follow through but Brown did. There was some concern he might take other visits, but Brown emerged as one of the faces of the class.

There really wasn’t much to say about the Ethan Burke recruitment. Texas initiated contact late in the year and swooped in at the last minute to offer and flip him from Michigan. It appeared Texas was looking to see how the defensive line would pan out with a couple of other prospects, and they moved on Burke when they had an idea of the way those races were going. Burke was the ultimate senior riser in this class coming out of nowhere to generate some big time interest from around the country.

When Harold Perkins started to blow up, he maintained that he didn’t really have any leaders and it stayed that way through his junior season. Once we entered last spring, LSU, Texas A&M, and USC were schools that I was beginning to monitor, in that order. His interest in Texas was generated basically overnight when USC canceled his official visit days before he was set to fly to Los Angeles and Texas swooped in to get him on campus. A source told me at that time that Perkins never saw himself in burnt orange, but it clicked for him when he put on the jersey for the photo session. However, coming out of the summer it was clear that Texas A&M had a large lead despite ups and downs at times.

Texas stuck around and stayed in routine communication with Perkins all the way to the end. In fact, ahead of his commitment to Texas A&M in early January, a source told me that he would be committing to the Aggies but that he would not end up signing with them in the end and that Texas was still very much on the table. The Longhorns fought around up until about a week ago when he decided to focus on LSU, Florida, and Texas A&M. Being originally from New Orleans, it was always gonna be tough for Perkins to tell LSU no, and had they not made a coaching change, I feel Perkins would be headed to Gainesville. However, a solid final visit to Baton Rouge sealed things for the five-star linebacker. (Nick)

Heading into the summer, Sebastian Cheeks was talking to people behind the scenes like he would be committing to Texas. As he entered the summer, North Carolina and Texas stood above Michigan. North Carolina really crushed their official visit, and Cheeks' family had a health issue requiring them to stay in Chapel Hill while Cheeks visited Austin. North Carolina won out and Michigan ended up finishing second. In talking with Cheeks, he told me that most of his Texas interest centered around the relationship he had with Jeff Choate. Choate did an incredible job in the recruitment, but Austin wasn’t what Cheeks thought it would be and he didn’t want to pick a school just for one coach. Outside of Choate, Cheeks said he didn’t have a great relationship with anyone else on the staff and felt Texas “put on a show” during his visit. When I asked what that meant, Cheeks said it just felt like they were going through the motions. Texas made another run at Cheeks during the fall, but he was pretty locked in.

Kobie McKinzie
(Photo: Andrew Ivins, 247Sports)
 

The only way to describe the Kobie McKinzie recruitment is to say it was quite the whirlwind. McKinzie committed to Oklahoma a long time ago and Texas never really pursued for that reason. On the night Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma, I reached out to McKinzie who told me Texas had already reached out. He told me at the time that he always had love for Texas and an offer would make Texas the pick. I went and saw McKinzie play that week and talking to him after the game, he told me of his intentions to take his official visit to Austin and commit when he left. While his father downplayed Texas’ chances on message boards, McKinzie was giving me commitment quotes and telling me it was done to Texas. After making his announcement official, Brent Venables started to put the press on. Oklahoma pushed back, and I heard through several sources that the family was pushing the Sooners. Texas went in-home with Jeff Choate and Steve Sarkisian, and I was told the staff tried to work out any misconceptions or issues with the family at that time but ran into some opposition regarding Texas not offering him earlier. I was told that McKinzie was keeping in constant contact with the Texas staff throughout the week, and he’d voiced some concern to them over going back to Oklahoma for a visit while they were in the state of Oklahoma. Once he made the visit, everyone expected the flip and it ended up coming. One thing that was odd to me and several recruits around the state was the way he decommitted with a caption that read “I would say I’m sorry but I’m not.” It was just read as a bizarre about face from McKinzie and went even further when McKinzie gave an interview saying all Texas pitched him was money. While it was true Texas utilized NIL in recruitments, they were selective in who they used it with and wanted to make sure it was the right pitch. Up until that time, McKinzie talked often about the staff being football junkies and connecting with him through talk of scheme and fit. It was an odd ending for sure, and the most important thing was for McKinzie to find his right fit. I never got the sense he was a bad kid, but he did seem somewhat impulsive and indecisive.

Going into the summer, Texas knew it would have to overcome Notre Dame for Niuafe Tuihalamaka. Jeff Choate had done a really good job getting them in position and Jake Langi pitched in as well according to Tuihalamaka. Texas did a great job on the official visit, and Tuihalamaka said he almost committed to the Horns when he left Austin. Notre Dame had a long relationship with him and he wanted to keep his word and make the official visit. Once he made the trip, Notre Dame eventually won out. Tuihalamaka said that the academic and athletic fit at Notre Dame were what he was looking for more than what he found in Austin.

I had to contain my laughter the first time Lander Barton told me he was excited about Austin because he loved ranching and horses. I didn’t have the heart to tell him he probably wasn’t going to find a lot of that near campus. Barton said that Texas finished second and couldn’t have done anything different. He simply wanted to stay home and near his family’s ranch.

Texas A&M signee Ish Harris never seemed that into Texas and he communicated that to the staff before his official visit so they didn’t waste the trip on him. Harris said he liked Texas but his interest was in agricultural sciences and Texas didn’t offer that degree plan. Harris did make a late visit to Texas, but I was told there was nothing to it as he was just in Austin for his birthday. While Harris did tell other recruits he was considering flipping, a source near him said he was never serious and just having fun.

As I alluded to earlier, the recruitment of Jeremy Patton went from pretty quiet to crazy in the last week. Going back to the Derrick Brown recruitment, Patton and Brown had formed quite a bond and planned on committing together. Texas wanted to get Patton and his mother back on campus for a second visit, but he suddenly cut off communication and planned to commit to Michigan in what was regarded as a fairly big upset. On the day of his commitment, Patton told others he woke up with a feeling that God was leading him to Baylor. After committing to the Bears, I was told Patton reached out to Texas a few times to indicate interest in possibly flipping, but Texas moved on at that point.

Eoghan Kerry
(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

COVID-19’s effect on recruiting lingered into this class. Texas was looking for linebacker options and found Eoghan Kerry but didn’t have a ton to go on. Kerry had only played in the shortened season during the spring, but the staff liked his adjustment to stronger competition and he had some good combine testing numbers. I saw Kerry play a few times during the year and didn’t notice him much in a sea full of stars at Mater Dei. Late in the year, the staff and Kerry made a mutual decision to go their separate ways and Kerry found a home at Colorado. Kerry was an incredible kid to get to know and I hope he finds success in whatever he does.

I don’t have a ton on Isaiah Bond, but the speedy receiver told me he was interested in visiting Austin over the summer. Bond said contact with Andre Coleman just dropped off at one point and he decided not to make the trip after all.

I’m confident that Arlis Boardingham probably would have committed had Texas pushed, but I don’t think they wanted to take the chance in the end. Boardingham is such a high-ceiling athlete with an intriguing future, but I was told his private workout with UT didn’t go well so they didn’t want to spend the spot.

I was an early fan of the potential Xavion Brice had at defensive back and wasn’t surprised when he ripped up the SMU camp in front of a lot of college staffs. Texas offered and hosted him on a visit, but Brice said they never communicated again past that. Brice committed to Oklahoma, but Texas came back around in the end and got him after Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma.

There was a brief moment when Jay Valai was at Texas where Domani Jackson was at least telling those close to him that Texas was near the top. Jackson told several different schools that he was thinking of committing to them. I think Texas had some early momentum but they lost it pretty quickly.

Other than not performing on the field, I’m not sure where things really went wrong with Denver Harris. Throughout his recruitment, Texas was always right there among the top schools and I was told on several different occasions that his mother and those in his family preferred Texas as the pick. Harris always seemed to be just within their grasp but they could never quite take hold. From the spring and through the summer, those closest to Harris described the race as a two-way between Texas and Alabama. I was told throughout that time that Texas A&M would always hold the last spot but weren’t a big threat. I was told that throughout the spring and summer, but in late fall I mentioned on the board that I heard something to make me believe A&M was in a better position than anyone thought. Around the time Evan Stewart started receiving Crystal Balls to Texas A&M, I was told that Harris sent Stewart and Kam Dewberry a message asking if they should all link up in College Station. The person that relayed that information felt it was Harris who was in effect recruiting for them at the time. There was some intrigue and mixed messaging down the stretch in favor of Texas, but it was mostly a smokescreen as Harris picked A&M.

Terrance Brooks
(Photo: Mike Roach, 247Sports)
 

Texas actually started the Terrance Brooks recruitment at an advantage because Brooks had a relationship with Terry Joseph. Texas A&M was seen as the early favorite because of the links to his family, but someone close to Brooks told me early on he just didn’t like College Station and couldn’t see himself there. It looked like a Texas/Alabama battle as Nick Saban was coming after Brooks hard throughout the spring. Ohio State offered a month before his announcement and most people we talked to didn’t consider them a threat because of the late entry. Kudos to Ohio State for moving quickly and closing the deal off the bat, but it wouldn’t hold. Starting in the fall, I was pretty open in reporting that Texas was in position to flip him. Though he played things pretty lowkey, Brooks always maintained communication with the staff. Credit to Terry Joseph who never gave in and fought to the very end. The staff closed the deal on their in-home visit just before signing day and it didn’t hurt that Kerry Coombs looked to be on the outs at Ohio State.

There were certainly ups and downs with Jaylon Guilbeau but I don’t think he was the person some of the fanbase thought he was. Consider the fact that Guilbeau made an early commitment to Texas, stuck on as the only commit through a coaching change and tried everything he could to connect with the new staff. As he went through the spring and summer, Guilbeau told me he was having trouble connecting with Terry Joseph who was a stark contrast to Jay Valai. Guilbeau also got the hard press from Gary Patterson and the TCU staff, ultimately leading him to flip to the Horned Frogs. When Patterson was fired, the staff re-initiated contact with Guilbeau and started the process over. Guilbeau told me that the constant turnover he was seeing really messed his head up but he appreciated how the Texas staff came back to him and started from scratch.

Texas hosted Ronald Lewisfor a camp visit during the summer where he dominated competition and put himself on the radar of Terry Joseph and the defensive staff. Shortly after that camp visit, Lewis locked in a spot at Colorado where he remained committed for a few months. However, once it became clear that Texas would miss on Bryce Anderson, the defensive staff immediately pivoted to their primary contingency plan in Lewis. Texas offered and he committed less than 24 hours later.

As the class really started to build in late December, especially on the offensive line, numbers started to become a legitimate concern. We heard some buzz ahead of signing day in December that Lewis would most likely be a numbers casualty and that’s what ended up happening. Lewis has an incredible work ethic and is one of the most level-headed recruits I’ve had the pleasure of covering. I’m excited to see what he can accomplish in Fort Worth with a chip on his shoulder. (Nick)

Jacoby Mathews
(Photo: Andrew Ivins, 247Sports)
 

Like Domani Jackson, there was a time when Kamari Wilson was telling several others about plans to commit to Texas. Wilson loved to play the game in recruiting, so that wasn’t exactly surprising, but Texas never really came close when it came down to it.

If I had 100 dollars for every time a source told me Jacoby Mathews was on the verge of committing, I’d have several hundred dollars. During the spring there was quite a bit of talk that Mathews would be committing to Texas along with Bryce Anderson (more on him later) but it never materialized. There were several times Mathews had visits planned to Texas and other campuses only not to show. Mathews officially visited Austin during the Oklahoma State game, and I was told he was one of the recruits most vocal about believing in the staff. At the Under Armour All-American Game, Mathews told everyone that his final five all had a chance to get him. I thought Texas would need to get him back on campus to have a chance and they never did. Texas A&M had a lot of momentum since the summer and ended up winning out.

From the moment he decommitted from LSU, Bryce Anderson was pretty much pegged to be a Longhorn. Texas made a quick move and landed in the top position for the Beaumont safety. Throughout the spring, Anderson was planning to make his commitment to Texas, arranging videographers and recruiting for the Longhorns. When Nick and I visited West Brook during the spring, we spoke with Bryce off the record about recruiting for Texas and his eventual plans for his announcement. When Anderson pushed his timeline to the summer, I told Nick I was a little bit worried about what that meant for Texas. Credit to Texas A&M who went all in on the first visit week and swung the momentum. From that point, Texas was fighting on their heels. There was a lot of back and forth throughout the summer, but it never felt like Texas recaptured the momentum. We were told that Anderson was basically watching to see how either recruiting class was filling out so he could tell which would be the better group. Texas hosted Anderson in July during their pool party where he told media he would wait until September to make his decision. Anderson’s commitment was already made at that point and he decided to make his commitment in late July. Those in Anderson’s camp kept communication with Texas and kept encouraging them to recruit Anderson through signing day talking about plans for a late flip, but I never got the feeling that was coming from Bryce himself.

(Photo: Collin Kennedy, 247Sports)
 

I anticipated more drama from Bryan Allen Jr. but his recruitment went pretty smoothly. After decommitting from LSU, Texas A&M and Oklahoma were the schools we heard mentioned, but Texas moved in quickly. Blake Gideon did a great job nailing this recruitment down and I’m told Chris Gilbert helped quite a bit as well. When Alabama offered, there were some initial worries, but Allen never wavered after that.

Texas got in on Larry Turner-Gooden from the moment Steve Sarkisian arrived in Austin. Turner-Gooden told me in January of 2021 that Texas would be a school in the mix because of Sark who recruited a few of his family members. When he made his original commitment to Arizona State, Texas never really gave up.

I was told in early June that Turner-Gooden was still keeping regular contact with the Texas staff and there was a lot of confidence in getting the four-star prospect to campus for a visit. As Arizona State’s class crumbled following the visit scandal, things began to heat up with Texas and Turner-Gooden.

Larry made it to Austin on his own in the summer, and he returned in October for an official visit. From there, Texas held the lead and never really relinquished it. Turner-Godoen returned for another unofficial visit, and the Texas staff was monitoring his injury progress while factoring him into the numbers of the class. Turner-Gooden signed in December and made his announcement at the All-American Bowl.

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COMMENTS
The previous Texas staff pursued Austin Jordan hard, but Oklahoma seemed to have an advantage during the staff transition. When he cut his list to a Top 3 of Texas, Oklahoma and Ohio State, I was told by sources near him that Oklahoma had a healthy lead and he was as close to a silent commit as possible. Terry Joseph and Blake Gideon continued to work through that recruitment, and they did a good job illustrating a need for Jordan on his official visit. We heard less about Jordan than anyone else coming out of the visit, and that usually doesn’t bode well in a recruitment. Leading into Jordan’s decision date, sources near him were in the dark on what he would ultimately do.

Texas seemed to be surging near the end, and sources in Norman started to waver a bit. Jordan decided on Texas and remained strong until the end. Though he had the reputation as a quiet kid who didn’t talk recruiting much, I did see him at one game working on other prospects on the sideline.

 

Quote

an assist from Loreal Sarkisian that helped convince the family

Go on...

[Tree Fidy 1174]

20 minutes ago, texifornia said:

 

The second spoilered article is part 2.

Thanks!

[SydneyCarton 48150]

  Hide contents

 I got the warning on his commitment with the caveat that it would probably take a couple of hours to come down. I wanted to write his commitment story then but figured I had some time to eat dinner and write the story after. Tapp ended up committing in the middle of my meal leading to a mad scramble.

 

Allow me to highlight the best part of that fucking tome, and the most classic Mike Roach thing in there. See above. 

Edited February 3, 2022 by SydneyCarton

[RaysBoomBoomRoom 5742]

 

[ClubWhatever 12154]

Roach doesn’t seem to get that we don’t give a shit what happened to HIM or how he felt during these recruitments.  We only care about the player or the coach.

Edited February 3, 2022 by ClubWhatever

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3868]

16 hours ago, Gut Wagon said:

LSU folk consider nutria haute cuisine. They think a lot of bad ideas are good. 

Tastes a lot like rabbit. Very lean.

[Getafix 28778]

 

Here's what Roach didn't realize ... Tapp's commitment DID take a couple of hours to come down.  It still was in the middle of his meal ... 

 

[Tex48 840]

2 hours ago, RGBIII said:

FWIW, Billingsley is intending on being here for two years

Have you and Immamac already reached out to him?  Is he going to come to the dinner or is he not becoming a Burnt End until the fall?

Edited February 3, 2022 by Tex48

[Thiefery 5017]

1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

Is it Roach's fault for not saying anything of substance or relevance on a subject that he never seemed to have a clue on in the first place? Or is it your fault for believing that Roach had anything of substance or relevance to impart in the first place?

I'm going to start covering the 2023 class like Mike Roach, but without visiting any players or schools or talking to any parents or handlers. I will wind up being more entertaining and more informative. That guy is absolutely worthless at what he does. 

[RGBIII 22840]

13 minutes ago, Tex48 said:

Have you and Immamac already reached out to him?  Is he going to come to the dinner or is he not becoming a Burnt End until the fall?

Not till August

[irishtexan 11522]

59 minutes ago, RaysBoomBoomRoom said:

 

It's so absurd that the staff has to play this game where they act surprised at Campbell's big "announcement" yet he's been part of the class for 6 weeks.