Texas Football: 5 big recruits the Longhorns landed over Jimbo Fisher

Alfred Collins, DE

As one of the most highly-rated signees in the Longhorns 2020 recruiting class, the former elite four-star Cedar Creek strong-side defensive end Alfred Collins was a huge get for Texas. Collins had a similar crew of coaches from the Forty Acres after him compared to what Thomas had during his recruitment.

It was former Texas defensive line coach Giles, along with Herman and Jason Washington, that put in the efforts mainly to recruit Collins to Austin. And clearly, it paid off in the end.

Texas wound up winning over the commitment of Collins over offers from the likes of Texas A&M, Baylor, and a dozen other schools. Some of the other highlighting schools on his offer sheet were the Alabama Crimson Tide, Oklahoma, Arkansas Razorbacks, LSU, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Penn State Nittany Lions, and Texas Tech Red Raiders. And Texas A&M was one of the front runners along with Texas to land Collins near his decision date.

Ironically, one of the primary recruiters pursuing Collins from the Crimson Tide staff at the time was new Texas special teams coordinator Jeff Banks.

The 6-foot-5 and 305 pound Bastrop, TX, native Collins looks to be a big part of the Texas defensive line moving forward. During his true freshman campaign last season, he registered 23 combined tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one interception, and three pass breakups, while playing in all 10 games.

Moreover, Collins ranked as the nation’s No. 63 2020 high school prospect, No. 2 strong-side defensive end, and No. 8 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranked him as the nation’s No. 32 high school prospect, No. 2 strong-side defensive end, and No. 5 prospect out of Texas.