Texas Football: 4-Star IOL TJ Shanahan rapidly rising for Longhorns

Although the 2022 Texas football recruiting class is what has come to the forefront of late for new head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff heading into the fall, the 2023 class is still important to hit on too. Texas is falling a bit behind of late on the recruiting trail with the 2023 class. At one point, Texas was off to a nice start in the 2023 class.

The first, and only at any point in time, commit in the Longhorns 2023 class was the elite five-star El Campo running back Rueben Owens. But Sark and the Longhorns lost that lone commit in the 2023 class back on June 17.

But another target is starting to stick out that could help to start to build the foundation in the 2023 class at this point. Recent high school transfer and four-star Westlake interior offensive lineman TJ Shanahan has really come to the forefront of late for the Longhorns.

After moving from Florida to transfer to Westlake High School in Austin, Shanahan is now in the Longhorns backyard. The 6-foot-4 and 300-pound lineman just got his Texas offer back in early April. So, the fall will be a key time for Sark and new offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Kyle Flood to build this relationship.

Texas football keying in on 4-Star IOL TJ Shanahan in the 2023 class

Texas needs to get Shanahan on campus for a visit this fall. Of the four schools he took unofficial visits with since June, none of them were with Texas. The four he did visit were the UCF Knights, LSU Tigers, Texas A&M Aggies, and Florida Gators.

And it looks like there could be some news on the way with Shanahan come the beginning of September. This buzz could be a round of finalist cuts heading into the fall. Considering Shanahan now has nearly 40 schools on his offer sheet, a round of finalist cuts would make sense.

Some of the nearly 40 schools on his growing offer sheet include the Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, Florida, Georgia Bulldogs, LSU, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oklahoma Sooners, Oregon Ducks, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas A&M, and USC Trojans.

We’ll see if this announcement plays in favor of the recruitment of Shanahan for Texas. With him moving into their own backyard, Texas can’t miss on this one.

Shanahan is also one of the higher-rated offers for the Longhorns 2023 class. He ranks as the nation’s No. 125 2023 high school prospect, No. 4 interior offensive lineman, and No. 20 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite).

Texas is still seeking out its first commit in the 2023 class. Granted, Oklahoma and the Baylor Bears are the only two Big 12 programs that hold a 2023 commit as of the morning of Sep. 1.