Can Texas flip 5-Star OT Kelvin Banks after Oregon falls apart?

There is no doubt about it, this is going to be a crazy week on the recruiting trail in about every way possible for the Texas football program. New head coach Steve Sarkisian and offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood are going to be especially busy in the week ahead of the Early Signing Period (which begins specifically on Dec. 15).

As the headlines continue to pour in that hold a high level of relevance for Sark and the Longhorns staff involved the elite five-star Summer Creek offensive tackle and the now-former Oregon Ducks commit Kelvin Banks. News that was likely expected to come later in the week from what it sounded like actually dropped on the evening of Dec. 6.

Banks de-committed from the Ducks following the anticipated departure of their now-former head coach Mario Cristobal to the Miami Hurricanes. All in the same day, Miami officially changed athletic administration, fired former head coach Manny Diaz, and hired Cristobal away from the Ducks.

Banks announced on his Twitter timeline on the evening of Dec. 6 that he will be re-opening his recruitment following the departure of Cristobal from Oregon. Prior to Miami hiring away Cristobal, Banks remained committed to Oregon since July 4.

While Banks did have a couple of visits with Texas and the Texas A&M Aggies, respectively, this door did open up to pursue him all of a sudden. There was the thought that Banks could want to stick close to home, and the coaching staff turnover at Oregon just pushed that notion along faster.

Texas football now has their shot with 5-Star OT Kelvin Banks after de-commitment from Oregon

This now looks to be a two-horse race between the Longhorns and Aggies to essentially flip the commitment of Banks. While the LSU Tigers are likely going to make a pitch to Banks after the hiring of the former Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly, this should really boil down to Texas and Texas A&M.

In fact, both Texas and Texas A&M are now likely to be the top two schools with both former Oregon offensive line commits Banks and Cameron Williams. Texas will get their opportunity to make what could be a final in-person pitch with Banks this week as they are likely to get a reported (from multiple sources, including 247Sports) in-home visit in the next few days.

Texas has Flood and new special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks as the top recruiters after Banks. And while they’ve done a fantastic job by all accounts building this relationship with Banks since the start of them pursuing him on the recruiting trail earlier this year, it won’t be easy to win over his interests from Texas A&M.

It feels like Texas will have to rely on two factors with their pitch, beyond the relationship the staff already built with Banks. The first is the new reported NIL deal that is to be announced involving players along the offensive line. And the second is playing time that he might not be able to get out of the gates with the Aggies.

Texas needs offensive line help in the 2022 class ahead of the Early Signing Period. The top priorities now for the 2022 class are clearly Banks and fellow elite five-star offensive linemen/Bowie product Devon Campbell.