3 flips Texas football can snag from rival schools this fall

Anthony Hill, LB

Throughout most of the summer, the top defensive target for the Longhorns 2023 class was the elite five-star Denton-Ryan linebacker Anthony Hill. Texas looked to be in a good spot with Hill coming out of a late-June official visit to Austin. But Texas’ hopes in the race to land a commitment from Hill were quickly dashed following a late July unofficial visit to College Station to see the Texas A&M Aggies.

Hill wound up giving his commitment to head coach Jimbo Fisher, LB coach Tyler Santucci, and the Aggies on July 30, the same weekend that he tripped to College Station.

This was a pretty big blow to the linebacker recruiting in the Longhorns 2023 class, as this is a position of need for this staff. Hill was one of the top priorities in the 2023 class throughout the entirety of this cycle.

Yet, Hill is the caliber of recruit that Sark and special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks likely won’t stop pursuing until he puts pen to paper on signing day.

With the level of interest Hill had in Texas prior to committing to Texas A&M late last month, it would only seem fitting for the Longhorns to keep pushing the envelope with him this fall. And Texas could still potentially move the needle in a big way with Hill if they keep the foot on the gas with him while showing ample improvement on the field this season.

Texas does have a good group of linebacker commits in the 2023 class at the moment, between four-stars Liona Lefau and S’Maje Burrell, but Hill would really put the icing on the cake for recruiting at the position heading into signing day.