5-Star Colin Simmons ‘took notice’ of Texas football’s defense vs. TCU

Last weekend was a huge one on the recruiting trail for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program. Despite the loss to the undefeated and No. 4 ranked TCU Horned Frogs at home at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Nov. 12, Texas still managed to leave a positive impression on quite a few of the visiting recruits in attendance for the game.

A singular key recruit that we want to highlight that is one of the biggest priorities for the Longhorns 2024 class is the elite five-star Duncanville edge rusher Colin Simmons. It looks like Simmons left Austin last weekend with a good impression of what he saw on the field under the lights at DKR on Nov. 12.

According to a report from Cole Patterson of Orangebloods on Nov. 18 (subscriber content), Simmons liked what he saw from Texas’ defense against TCU on Nov. 12, despite the loss. But the loss definitely wasn’t any fault of the defense.

Texas’ defense actually outscored the offense last weekend, thanks to a long scoop and score from junior defensive back Jahdae Barron late in the fourth quarter that kept them in the game.

Priority 5-Star EDGE Colin Simmons “took notice” of the Texas football defense during his visit vs. TCU

Simmons reportedly said that the Texas defense was “eating” and that the front seven was “going crazy” against the Horned Frogs. Patterson also mentioned in this report that Simmons “took notice of how the Texas edges played against TCU, coming away really impressed”.

It sounds like Texas did a nice job of making the right impression on Simmons during his first trip to Austin for a game this fall. Texas was looking to make a move over the weekend with Simmons after he had a host of successful visits to see programs like TCU and the LSU Tigers during some game weekends earlier this season.

And it seems like Texas pushed a lot of the right buttons with Simmons during last weekend’s unofficial visit to the Forty Acres.

Moreover, last weekend was the fourth unofficial visit for Simmons to Austin in 2022. And Texas is going to continue to try and get Simmons to campus as much as possible in the next few months.

A return visit probably isn’t imminent this fall, but getting him back on campus in early 2023 will be important for the Longhorns.

For the time being, Texas looks to be sitting in a good spot with Simmons largely thanks to the play of key players along the defensive front such as senior linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and sophomore edge rusher Barryn Sorrell.

Texas has Simmons’ attention at the right time in the midst of a key stretch of his recruitment.

Texas currently holds commitments from three recruits in the 2024 class as of Nov. 19. But none of the three-blue chip recruits committed to the Longhorns 2024 class are ranked nearly as high as the elite edge player Simmons.