Texas Football: 3 biggest 2020 recruiting misses so far

The TCU Horned Frogs and head coach Gary Patterson flipped the commitment of four-star Temple, TX, native standout wideout Johnston just ahead of the Early Signing Period. Johnston also signed his National Letter of Intent to lock him into TCU on Dec. 18. He chose TCU over other offers including the Longhorns, Baylor Bears, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Oklahoma, and the Virginia Tech Hokies.

At one point, Johnston was the most highly ranked wide receiver in the 2020 Texas football recruiting class. He’s ranked as the nation’s No. 69 2020 high school prospect and the No. 13 wide receiver. This 6-foot-4 and 180 pound Temple High School product has a ton of raw talent, and could be one of the best outside receivers in the Big 12 soon.

This is a rather deep wide receiver class, but all the coaching instability at the position likely caused the detriment on the recruiting trail. Texas lost both wide receivers coaches on Black Sunday, either by way of firing or demotion. Drew Mehringer just took a position on the Florida Atlantic Owls coaching staff under Willie Taggart.

And the other former Texas wide receivers coach Corby Meekins was demoted to an administrative role. Right after those two wide receivers coaches were either fired or demoted, Johnston decommitted from the Longhorns on Dec. 16. He wound up staying closer to home, and he could be playing against the Longhorns in a significant role with TCU in the near future.