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Texas Football Recruiting: Focus Shifts to 2018 After Losing K’Lavon Chaisson

By Rob Wolkenbrod

Sep 4, 2016; Austin, TX, USA; The Texas Longhorns logo flag flies during the game between the Texas Longhorns and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Texas won 50-47 in double overtime. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 4, 2016; Austin, TX, USA; The Texas Longhorns logo flag flies during the game between the Texas Longhorns and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Texas won 50-47 in double overtime. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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After losing out on one of the top remaining recruits, Texas Football can turn the page to the 2018 process.

National Signing Day had the potential to be significant for Texas Football. However, with Tom Herman having just two months to prepare, there was a chance of Wednesday, February 1 not being entirely successful. This turned out to be the case.

Coming into National Signing Day, the Longhorns had their eyes set on three prospects — defensive end K’Lavon Chaisson, offensive lineman Stephan Zabie, and wide receiver Jordan Pouncey. Cornerback Chevin Calloway had been an option too.

Well, heading into the afternoon on NSD, UT has missed out on three of those four prospects, with Pouncey up in the air. Chaisson is off to LSU, Calloway will be going to Arkansas, and Zabie is going to play for UCLA. These three could have been significant contributors for Texas in 2017 and made this recruiting class intriguing for Herman’s first year. Chaisson had seemed like a decent bet to commit and be maybe the top player of the upcoming group of players. That would take a late left turn, though.

Expectations should have been tempered from the beginning, however, for Texas’ National Signing Day.

2017 is going to be a transition year for the Longhorns. A new coaching staff, a handful of recruits, and a fresh offensive and defensive system will be in place. While this could lead to another slow-moving season with all these adjustments, promise will need to be shown after what happened during the Charlie Strong era.

What doesn’t go in favor of Texas Football are those past three seasons. 6-7, 5-7, and 5-7 seasons won’t inspire confidence in recruits to come play at the school for the upcoming season, especially with their recent lack of postseason history. It lowers the program’s stock, however big UT may be in the national perception. So it’s up to Herman and the team to produce in 2017, get those recruits to believe in being part of the future, and raise Texas’ stock heading into 2018.

Having a short time to put together a new class and get accustomed to players who Herman may not have known didn’t help either. Some schools speak to potential recruits for one, two, or even three years to get to know them. Expecting this to happen within such a short time shouldn’t be the case. So it now lets the 2018 process begin, which has seen the former Houston coach make an offer to a handful of recruits.

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So far, Texas has made an offer to 53 recruits that are part of the 2018 class. Some of these came during the Strong era, but players like Keaontay Ingram, Jalen Green, Brevin Jordan, Casey Thompson, and Ron Tatum have come from the new regime. None are guarantees, as no one has committed. However, there’s someone like four-star wide receiver Joshua Moore. Texas is considered the favorite to land him on 247Sports.com, so this could be an early building block toward next year. The same goes for fellow wideout Jaylen Waddle.

What could be the ultimate way of making 2018 successful is two five-star players from the secondary — BJ Foster and Anthony Cook. While it’s still extremely early, both are projected to go to Austin. Anything to continue improving the secondary would help against the Big 12, and for a school known for its defensive backs. More importantly, if Herman can acquire at least one of Foster and Cook, it would be something to build momentum off of. That could then lead to someone like Moore committing or any of the other previously-mentioned recruits.

Related Story: NSD 2017 Recruiting Tracker

With Texas’ National Signing Day concluding, the attention should be turned to 2018 immediately. It will be the first full year that the new staff can speak to recruits, hype up the new image of the program, and put together a winning season.

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