Texas football upends OU for surprise 4-Star S commit Austin Jordan

News that was not expected to come for the 2022 Texas football recruiting class is exactly what arrived in surprising fashion on the afternoon of July 14. Texas got the second safety commit in the 2022 class with four-star Denton-Ryan safety Austin Jordan. Texas was expected to fall short of the rival Oklahoma Sooners and head coach Lincoln Riley in the race to land a commitment from Jordan.

Oklahoma was the presumed front runner to land Jordan for the past couple of months. But this is a big get for the Longhorns as the strong results on the recruiting trail continue at the safety position. The hope for Texas is that four-star West Brook safety Bryce Anderson is still leaning to the Longhorns over the Texas A&M Aggies.

Although the ability to bring Jordan into the 2022 class begs the question about anything changing with Anderson.

For now, though, it’s worth celebrating getting this type of boost at safety in the 2022 class. New head coach Steve Sarkisian, along with cornerbacks coach Terry Joseph and safeties coach Blake Gideon, did not get off to the best start in the defensive backfield for the 2022 class during the dead period.

Numbers getting deeper in 2022 Texas football recruiting class with 4-Star S Austin Jordan

Jordan announced his commitment to Texas on his Twitter timeline early in the afternoon of July 14. He is the 15th commit in the Longhorns 2022 class, and brings the number of blue-chips in the mix to double digits. Texas is also now looking to keep the top spot in the Big 12 class rankings ahead of Oklahoma from here on out.

The nice part about getting Jordan in the 2022 class is the versatility that he brings to the table after missing on someone like the touted four-star John Paul II cornerback Terrance Brooks. Texas is still trying to get the elite five-star North Shore cornerback Denver Harris committed, but Jordan can be a nice insurance policy if the numbers at safety are deep and they aren’t at corner.

Jordan has played at both safety and cornerback during his time at Denton-Ryan High School. And that could continue on into this fall. It’s the excellent physical tools that Jordan brings to the table as a 6-foot and 180-pound defensive back with end-to-end speed on the field.

If he puts on some more size, then Jordan could play as a box safety for the Longhorns. Or he can adapt his current multiple skill set to be a safety that is a bit more wide open and is very effective in pass coverage assignments.

There are a lot of spots in the defensive backfield that Jordan could fit in for Texas. He’s got good enough coverage skills to fill a need at cornerback, if required, for the Longhorns. But he’s got good enough pursuit speed and instincts on the back end to fill either of the Longhorns’ two safety spots under new co-defensive coordinators/linebackers coaches Pete Kwiatkowski and Jeff Choate.

Texas had Joseph as the primary recruiter after Jordan. He got a nice win on the recruiting trail with this addition to the 2022 class. Jordan ultimately gave his commitment to Texas over offers from 19 other schools.

Some of the other notable schools on his offer sheet included the Ohio State Buckeyes, Oklahoma, Auburn Tigers, Baylor Bears, Duke Blue Devils, Georgia Bulldogs, Miami Hurricanes, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Penn State Nittany Lions, Texas A&M, Texas Tech Red Raiders, and USC Trojans.

Jordan is more in the middle of the pack in terms of his ranking with the rest of the Texas commits. He ranks as the nation’s No. 196 2022 high school prospect, No. 10 safety, and No. 33 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranks him as the nation’s No. 165 high school prospect, No. 12 safety, and No. 28 prospect out of Texas.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2022 Texas recruiting class now ranks at No. 5 in the nation and in the top spot in the Big 12 ahead of Oklahoma. July has turned into a huge month on the recruiting trail for the Longhorns 2022 class. Texas now has four commitments since June 28.