Texas Football: Impact landing former Utah 2020 3-Star LB commit brings

A solid underrated add-on to the 2020 Texas football recruiting class, 3-Star OLB Jaylan Ford, was flipped from the Utah Utes on Dec. 19.

Finally, more good news for the 2020 Texas football recruiting class in the midst of a bevy of decommitments following all the coaching staff turnover since “Black Sunday” last month. Head Texas football coach Tom Herman started to completely reshape his coaching staff, including demoting or firing both coordinators, after the Week 14 regular season finale win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders by the final score of 49-24.

At least one of the coordinator openings was filled for the Texas Longhorns football program since Black Sunday started the coaching turnover process. Landing former Rutgers Scarlet Knights head coach Chris Ash to be the Longhorns next defensive coordinator, after the Todd Orlando firing, could have impacted the latest high school prospect to commit to and sign with Texas.

That latest commit and signee for the Texas 2020 recruiting class is also a former pledge of the Utah Utes. Three-star Lone Star outside linebacker Jaylan Ford flipped his commitment from Utah to Texas on Dec. 19, and signed on the same day. The Frisco, TX, native originally committed to Utah on Oct. 8. But that didn’t stick for long before the Longhorns pursued him harder.

There seem to be plenty of recruiting battles going down between Herman and the Longhorns and head coach Kyle Whittingham and the Utes at the moment. In the lead-up to a decisive Alamo Bowl, on Dec. 28, between No. 11 ranked Utah and 7-5 (5-4 Big 12) Texas, there’s a lot of recruiting momentum that could swing in either direction.

But Texas swung one from Utah this time around by landing the commitment and signed National Letter of Intent of Ford on Dec. 19. Ford held scholarship offers from more than a dozen schools, including Texas and Utah.

The more significant of the schools, outside of Texas and Utah, to send Ford scholarship offers included the Kansas Jayhawks, Minnesota Golden Gophers, Army Black Knights, Washington State Cougars, and Texas Tech.

Everything was announced on Ford’s Twitter timeline on Dec. 19, from his flip from Texas to Utah, to signing his letter of intent to play for the Longhorns.

Ford is coming off a junior season with the Lone Star High School football program where he racked up 105 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, eight pass breakups, three forced fumbles, and three interceptions. His senior stats aren’t posting yet on his 247Sports recruiting profile.

He ranks as the nation’s No. 1,204 2020 high school prospect and the No. 86 outside linebacker. He’ll be one of multiple outside linebackers in this 2020 Longhorns recruiting class. Adding depth at what was a weaker position this fall is key moving forward for Ash and the Longhorns.

The 6-foot-2.5 and 205 pound Ford is going to have a chance to be a dynamic playmaker for the Longhorns at linebacker. He does possess enough speed and quickness to make an impact in the pass rush, and he sets the edge well while defending the run. His high school numbers and length also proves that he could turn into a force in pass coverage.

Multiplicity and versatility are the name of the game for Herman on both sides of the ball. Having the utility to switch around the looks he has from each incoming recruiting class is key so that he can provide all resources possible to his next set of coordinators and assistant coaches.

Landing a commitment from Ford is the perfect example of providing those resources.