The first commitment in more than one month’s time arrived for the 2022 Texas football recruiting class late in the night of April 26. New head coach Steve Sarkisian and defensive line coach Bo Davis have now landed the last two commits for the 2022 class along the defensive line. The latest commitment arrived in the form of the coveted four-star Brophy College Preparatory 6-foot-4 and 255 pound strong-side defensive end Zac Swanson.
The announcement that Swanson would be committing to the Longhorns came courtesy of his Twitter timeline on April 26.
And the other defensive line commit that the Longhorns landed in the last five weeks came from three-star North Shore defensive tackle Kristopher Ross. Texas now has a pretty solid foundation to build off of in their 2022 class in the front seven. They now have Ross and Swanson committed, along with underrated three-star Arlington-Martin inside linebacker Trevell Johnson.
What’s ahead for Texas football after landing DE Zac Swanson?
The commitment from Swanson also makes it three straight days that Texas added at least one player to the program in each of the last three days. Texas also officially landed former Alabama linebacker Ben Davis, along with four-star wide receiver Xavier Worthy and former New Mexico State linebacker Devin Richardson, all in the past 72 hours.
According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2022 Texas recruiting class now ranks at No. 6 in the nation and in the top spot in the Big 12. They now hold commitments from eight prospects in the 2022 class, with the highest-rated being four-star Klein Cain running back Jaydon Blue.
Who will be the next commitment up for Sark and the Longhorns after getting the Arizona native Swanson early this week? Here’s a look into three prospects that could be next up in this group.
Denver Harris, CB
What could be the biggest commit in the Longhorns 2022 class when it’s all said and done for this recruiting cycle is the elite five-star 6-foot-1 and 180 pound North Shore cornerback Denver Harris. This Houston-area product is one of the absolute top targets for the Longhorns 2022 class, and deserves all of the attention in the world from the likes of Sark and new defensive backs coach Terry Joseph.
But it does appear that at least a little bit of the momentum that Sark and the Longhorns had built up in pursuit of the commitment of Harris has died down of late. Although both of the expert 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions in for Harris have him giving his commitment to Texas when it’s all said and done, the confidence on each pick is low.
The Rivals FutureCast is down to two-thirds of their analysts and publishers picking the commitment of Harris to land with the Longhorns too over the rest of the field.
Texas is namely competing with the likes of the Texas A&M Aggies, LSU Tigers, and Alabama Crimson Tide, to win over Harris. They have some stiff competition, with former Texas cornerbacks coach Jay Valai after Harris for the Crimson Tide and touted LSU secondary coach Corey Raymond in hot pursuit.
The Longhorns are one of nearly 40 schools on Harris’ lengthy offer sheet. Some of the other notable schools on his offer sheet (outside of those four aforementioned programs) are the Clemson Tigers, Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs, Michigan Wolverines, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Oregon Ducks, Tennessee Volunteers, and USC Trojans.
Moreover, Harris ranks as the nation’s No. 6 2022 high school prospect, No. 3 cornerback, and No. 2 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranks him as the nation’s No. 20 high school prospect, No. 3 cornerback, and No. 5 prospect out of Texas.
Devon Campbell, OT
I’ve talked a ton about the insanely highly coveted five-star 6-foot-3 and 310 pound Bowie offensive tackle target Devon Campbell in association with the Longhorns of late. Campbell has remained one of the top targets, along with the talented cornerback Harris, for the Longhorns 2022 class for at least a full calendar year now.
Dating back to the days under the coaching regime of head coach Tom Herman and offensive line coach/co-offensive coordinator Herb Hand, Campbell was a top priority for the Longhorns. Now Sark and new offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood are on the task of keeping Campbell’s interests on landing on the Forty Acres.
It appears at the moment that the Longhorns are doing well to keep the momentum in their favor in pursuit of Campbell’s commitment too. All four expert 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions have the commitment of Campbell landing with Texas over the rest of the competition.
And the Rivals FutureCast has every single one of their analysts and publishers picking Campbell to commit to Texas.
Texas hasn’t landed any commits in their 2022 class yet that play along the offensive line. It would be quite the statement if Campbell was the first.
The Longhorns are one of nearly 30 schools on Campbell’s offer sheet. Some of the other notable schools that offered him include the Oklahoma Sooners, USC, LSU, Alabama, Florida, Florida State Seminoles, Georgia, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Moreover, Campbell ranks as the nation’s No. 8 2022 high school prospect, top overall offensive guard, and No. 3 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranks him as the nation’s No. 23 high school prospect, top overall offensive guard, and No. 6 prospect out of Texas.
Cole Hutson, OG
One prospect that remained on the Longhorns radar for a good while now for their 2022 class, but hasn’t firmly leaned in their favor as of yet, is the four-star 6-foot-4 and 290 pound Frisco offensive guard Cole Hutson. But there are some leading indicators now that Texas could be emerging as the frontrunner to land the commitment of Hutson when it’s all said and done.
Hutson is a three-sport athlete at Frisco High School and is a native of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. This is a big area for Sark to hit on in the Longhorns 2022 class, and one that Herman had mixed results with in the past.
The good news for the Longhorns is that Hutson is in line to have an official visit on the Forty Acres for this summer. Texas has an official visit scheduled with Hutson for June 11. That comes one week before his official visit with the Sooners (set for June 18) and two weeks before his with Texas A&M (set for June 24).
Texas looks to have the usual rival schools on the recruiting trail that they’ll have to duke it out with to land Hutson. Texas A&M and Oklahoma have pursued Hutson for a while now, just like the Longhorns.
Texas A&M, Texas, and Oklahoma are three of more than a dozen schools on Hutson’s growing offer sheet. Some of the other schools on his offer sheet are the Crimson Tide, Baylor Bears, Mizzou Tigers, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Penn State, TCU Horned Frogs, and West Virginia Mountaineers.
Moreover, Hutson ranks as the nation’s No. 340 2022 high school prospect, No. 11 offensive guard, and No. 50 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranks him as the No. 12 offensive guard and No. 57 prospect out of Texas.