Texas Football: Ranking every recruiting class under Tom Herman

4. 2017

National Ranking: 25

Big 12 Ranking: 2

Top Commit: Sam Ehlinger

The first signing class that Herman reeled in as the Longhorns head coach capped off the 2017 recruiting cycle. He barely got his 2017 class inside the top 25 in the nation. But the Big 12 largely struggled to pull together a deep group of classes in this cycle. The Oklahoma Sooners topped the Big 12 during this cycle, with the No. 8 ranked class in the nation.

Just behind the Longhorns were the TCU Horned Frogs, Oklahoma State Cowboys, and Baylor Bears as the three other classes from the Big 12 that ranked in the top 40 in the nation. Texas didn’t land a single five-star commit in this class, which is something that hasn’t happened in the three cycles for Herman since.

The highest rated commit was four-star Westlake dual-threat quarterback Sam Ehlinger. Ranking as the nation’s No. 119 2017 high school prospect and No. 4 dual-threat quarterback, Ehlinger wasn’t the most highly touted top signee that the Longhorns could’ve snagged. But Herman didn’t have a full body of work to go off of for this cycle.

Other key contributors from this 2017 signing class includes four-star weak-side defensive end Ta’Quon Graham, four-star Dodge City C.C. linebacker Gary Johnson, three-star Atascocita offensive tackle Sam Cosmi, and three-star offensive guard Derek Kerstetter. Despite the lower recruiting class ranking, 2017 did have some depth to it over the long haul for Texas.