Texas football has ‘calmed the waters’ with 4-Star WR Ryan Niblett

One of the biggest storylines that emerged on the trail for the 2023 Texas football recruiting a little more than one week ahead of the start of the Early Signing Period (beginning on Dec. 21) involves the highly touted four-star Aldine Eisenhower (TX) wide receiver commit Ryan Niblett. Last weekend, Niblett made the unofficial trip down the road to see the Houston Cougars.

This was the first unofficial visit that Niblett took since he originally committed to Texas back in the spring. The trip generated a lot of buzz surrounding the possibility of Niblett flipping his commitment from Texas to Houston.

It looked as if head coach Steve Sarkisian and wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator Brennan Marion were on the clock in terms of the retainment efforts with Niblett in the 2023 class. The initial word coming out of the visit over the weekend to Houston was that Niblett was seriously considering the idea of flipping from the Longhorns to the Cougars.

But it sounds like Sark and Marion did a nice job of tamping down some of the buzz surrounding Niblett being on flip watch ahead of the early signing day next week.

Texas football reportedly “calmed the waters a bit” with 4-Star WR Ryan Niblett after the trip to Houston

According to a report from Gerry Hamilton of Inside Texas on Dec. 13 (paid content), the Texas staff did a nice job of “calming the waters a bit” after Niblett made the unannounced trip to Houston.

While it sounds like Houston is very much still pressing Niblett to flip his commitment from Texas, it’s good to hear that some of the buzz has calmed down a bit before a key in-home visit later this week.

Texas’ staff is reportedly making an in-home visit with Niblett on Dec. 14 as they look to shut down this recruitment for good. But Houston’s staff is reportedly trying to get an in-home visit with Niblett later in the week.

If Texas can hold off the Cougars heading into Niblett’s unofficial trip to Austin this coming weekend, that would be a great sign as Sark and Marion look to get him to shut down the recruiting process heading into signing day.

We will continue to monitor the situation with Niblett as Texas’ staff prepares to make the in-home visit in roughly 24 hours. Texas is obviously going to go all out to keep a recruit as gifted as the speedy and elusive Niblett committed to this class through signing day.