Texas is a ‘longshot’ to land 5-Star LB target Harold Perkins

After losing their defensive coordinator Mike Elko to the Duke Blue Devils to fill that head coaching job, it looked like the Texas A&M Aggies had lost some group with a big-time target of the 2022 Texas football recruiting class. The elite five-star Cy Park linebacker Harold Perkins is going to be on Texas’ radar after the Early Signing Period, but it doesn’t look like their chances are very good.

Losing Elko to the Blue Devils likely didn’t help the Longhorns 2022 class and special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks (his primary recruiter) in pursuit of Perkins. The lack of progress that the Longhorns showed with their performance on the field this fall is likely something that doomed them in pursuit of Perkins’ commitment.

Texas could obviously use the help of someone as highly touted as the nation’s highest-ranked 2022 linebacker prospect. But it might be worth turning most of the attention at this point to the 2023 recruiting cycle at the linebacker position, especially with the talented five-star Denton-Ryan product Anthony Hill.

Texas football behind again with 5-Star LB target Harold Perkins

While Texas is likely still going to stay in contact with Perkins until he commits and signs elsewhere, it doesn’t look like their chances are very good. A recent report from Orangebloods this week (paid content) mentioned that Perkins is a “longshot” for Texas at this point.

Texas is now likely behind both the Aggies and LSU Tigers in the race to land a commitment from Perkins. Depending on how quickly Perkins can re-establish confidence in LSU righting the ship under the former Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly in the years to come, the Tigers could catch up with the Aggies in his recruitment.

For the time being, though, Perkins is a recruitment that looks to be the Aggies’ to lose. Just like they did with the five-star Frisco-Liberty wide receiver Evan Stewart, it makes sense for the Longhorns coaching staff to stay in contact with Perkins until the very end.

If Texas wants help at the linebacker position this offseason, it is likely going to come from the NCAA Transfer Portal or finding another target for the 2022 recruiting class ahead of National Signing Day in February. One potential blue-chip linebacker target of the 2022 class to watch at this point is four-star TJ Dudley.