Texas Football: 4-Star ATH target Jaylin Smith could be deciding soon

The 2021 Texas football recruiting class might be fading in the pursuit of 4-Star Bishop Alemany athlete Jaylin Smith, who could be deciding soon.

A target that the 2021 Texas football recruiting class was able to keep interested for a while seems like he might be making his commitment decision in the near future. Four-star Bishop Alemany 5-foot-11 and 180 pound athlete Jaylin Smith had included head coach Tom Herman and the Longhorns in his latest round of finalist cuts ahead of whenever his commitment decision was going to come.

This Mission Hills, CA, native holds offers from more than a dozen schools. Given how much raw talent Smith possesses, that’s really not all that much, but he did key in on a few blue blood programs that offered him early on. And the Longhorns were one of those programs.

Texas offered Smith back on Feb. 11, 2020, which was earlier than most other programs considered to be hot on his trail right now. He has also received offers from big time programs like the Alabama Crimson Tide, Michigan Wolverines, Clemson Tigers, USC Trojans, Auburn Tigers, Michigan State Spartans, Oregon Ducks, Virginia Tech Hokies, and Washington Huskies.

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Smith ranks as the nation’s No. 291 2021 high school prospect, No. 20 athlete, and No. 24 prospect out of California (247Sports Composite). He’s one of the more underrated athletes of this recruiting cycle, and Herman and the Longhorns picked up on that early in this calendar year.

And it appears that this key target of the Longhorns 2021 class is starting to narrow down his commitment decision. According to a report from 247Sports, Smith is closing in on a decision that involves USC, Washington, Texas, Alabama, and Clemson. Here’s what Smith had to say on the matter of his interest in Texas.

"“I really like Texas a lot and I’m excited to get out there and visit and see everything close up. I had a great zoom call with the coaches and did a virtual tour that was dope.“Coach (Chris) Ash and coach Jay (Valai) are my lead recruiters and I like both guys a lot. Texas has really recruited me hard throughout this whole process and I can’t wait to see Austin up close. The tradition at the school stands out along with how well they develop defensive backs and get them to the League (NFL) so they’re definitely on my short list.”"

It seems like the pairing of recently hired defensive coordinator Chris Ash and cornerbacks coach Jay Valai is helping to make a big impact in the recruitment of Smith. The coaching staff is working hard to get creative in the recruitment of Smith too.

Although, the Longhorns are fighting an uphill battle in the pursuit of Smith. The 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions have essentially every single one of their experts picking Smith to commit to USC over the rest of the field. The Rivals FutureCast also has all of their analysts and publishers picking him to commit to USC.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2021 Texas recruiting class ranks at No. 10 in the nation and remains in the top spot in the Big 12. Texas doesn’t necessarily need the depth from the commitment of Smith, but it would help. It appears that he is headed to USC, by all indications, though.