Texas Football: 4 biggest 2022 recruiting flops of the summer

Jeremy Patton, ATH

A prospect that looked like a slam dunk at one point in time not too long ago for Sark and the Longhorns 2022 class was the three-star Tenaha (TX) athlete/wide receiver Jeremy Patton. Texas was looking to make a good amount of headway with Patton on the recruiting trail back during visit season two months.

At the time, all indications pointed to Patton trending firmly in favor of the Longhorns entering the dead period last month. But those indicators proved to be false as head coach Dave Aranda and the Baylor Bears would eventually make a late rally to win over the commitment of the 6-foot-1 and 210-pound Patton on July 31.

Following the conclusion of visit season in June, Patton dropped a list of his top five schools which included the Longhorns, Baylor, Michigan Wolverines, Arkansas Razorbacks, and LSU Tigers. Texas, Michigan, and Baylor were the three schools that got official visits from Patton in June.

It’s not the end of the world that Texas missed out on Patton. If the plan was to have Patton play at wideout, then Texas still has key prospects on the board such as Stewart, five-star Kevin Coleman, and four-star Brenen Thompson, that could all wind up in the 2022 class.

But the fact that Texas has new co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Jeff Choate and safeties coach Blake Gideon as the top recruiters after Patton would indicate that they likely wanted him to play on the defensive side of the ball. That could’ve played a role in his commitment to Baylor over Texas, but this is still a notable miss considered Sark and his staff prioritized this recruitment.