Texas Football Recruiting: A Look Back at Recent Commitments/Offers

Fall practice for the 2015 season is just around the corner. Soon we will be immersed in daily position battles and progress reports. Before this happens, let’s take a look back at some of the recent Texas football recruiting news that has shaped the summer months, courtesy of our very own Daniel Seahorn. Follow him @CoachSeahorn.

The Sam Ehlinger offer

Texas needs quarterbacks, plain and simple. Tyrone Swoopes and Jerrod Heard will be battling for the starting job this season, but what about the future? Charlie Strong can’t allow a repeat of the 2014 catastrophe.

Ehlinger is a Westlake product in the mold of Drew Brees. As Seahorn points out, his love for the Texas program makes this a match made in heaven. It will just take a little bit of patience from both parties.

"With all that said, in my opinion it is only a matter of time before Ehlinger makes the call and we get a #LETSRIDE from Coach Strong. It may require a little bit of patience from the Longhorn fans out there, but Ehlinger and Texas make way too much sense for each other, and I think he will end playing his college ball on the 40 Acres."

A big find along the defensive line

Defensive line depth is a need for Texas. Louisana product Gerald Wilbon can fill that void. But the coaching staff shouldn’t stop there.

"Landing Wilbon alleviates some (there is still plenty trust me) of the need to land defensive tackles for this class, but if you are Strong, you still need to recruit guys like Kendall Jones and Jordan Elliott until they sign in February."

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A record-setting wide receiver is ready to call Austin home

Tren’Davian Dickson is a special athlete. Dickson led his Navasota team to a Class 4A Division I state title in 2014. Shawn Watson will need to replace speedsters like Daje Johnson and Jacorey Warrick in the coming years, making Dickson’s commitment all that more important.

"This is an absolutely HUGE commitment for Texas, as they have lacked playmakers at the wide receiver position for awhile now. If you are not familiar with Dickson’s abilities on the football field, just know that he shattered the national record for touchdown receptions with 39 in 2014. That’s what kind of player Texas is getting."

Strong fills a need at Tight End

A long-neglected position is getting attention. First Texas landed Devonaire Clarington. Now the Longhorns have a 2016 commitment from Peyton Aucoin. Aucoin has the potential to grow into an offensive line prospect, but he projects as a blocking tight end in the mold of Geoff Swaim.

"I think things with Aucoin can work one of two ways once he gets on campus. He will either learn to become an asset in the passing game that is not shown on tape at this point in his development, therefore becoming a much more balanced tight end, or he could end up growing out of the position and get slid in to tackle."

Another playmaker joins the 2017 ranks

Securing in-state talent was a Mack Brown specialty. Strong is starting to show he can do the same after getting a commitment from Damion Miller. Miller gives Texas another potential big play receiver.

"Texas got a receiver who projects to have big play ability on the outside as an X or Z receiver and can absolutely get it when the ball is in his hands."

Texas Longhorns /

Texas Longhorns

Strong isn’t afraid to offer recruits already committed to other schools

Some programs won’t spend much time chasing guys already committed to a school. Strong is letting the Texas fan base know that if there is a guy out there he likes, he will go after him. Take Jordan Elliot for example.

"Elliott making a second trip to Austin in a matter of weeks is definitely not a bad sign with the way things are trending with the big fella from H-Town. Personally, I think it is going to come down to USC (a childhood favorite), and Texas ( team with home state advantage)."

Texas continues to tap the Manvel High School pipeline

Manvel has produced a number of D-1 recruits, including several who may end up wearing the burnt orange.

Strong has offered or has commitments from five Manvel players for 2016 and 17 – Reggie Hemphill, Deontay Anderson, Austin Myers, Jordan Carmouche and Derrick Tucker.

"It is clear that Charlie Strong and the Texas staff are being much more proactive when it comes to extending offers to underclassmen. I like this course of action for many reasons, but the main one being that it is better to be early rather than late since recruits these days seem to value the schools who get in early on them."

Shane Buechele commitment energizes the Texas faithful

We know what we have in Swoopes. Heard is an unknown commodity and Kai Locksley may not even line up under center during his time on campus.

So when Shane Buechele committed to Texas it allowed Texas fans to breathe a collective sigh of relief. Buechele is the real deal and gives the Longhorns potentially its best quarterback prospect since Colt McCoy (with all due respect to Heard).

Now let’s get ready for fall practice!

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