Texas Football: 5 biggest flips in Longhorns recruiting history
Jaylan Ford, LB
Flipped from Utah in the 2020 class
It’s hard to argue with early evaluations made by head coach Kyle Whittingham and his staff with the Utah Utes in the last decade. Utah is one of the best schools in terms of making those solid early evaluations.
And that’s exactly what the Utes did with their early evaluation in the 2020 class, finding the criminally underrated three-star Frisco (TX) Lone Star outside linebacker recruit Jaylan Ford. Utah was the third Power Five school to offer Ford during the 2020 cycle.
Ford committed to Utah in the fall of 2019, just a couple of months before he flipped to Texas during the Early Signing Period. Texas flipped Ford from Utah on Dec. 19, 2020.
In his second year on campus, Ford was already surpassing expectations of his recruiting ranking out of high school as a low three-star linebacker. Ford contributed along the defensive front for Texas during his sophomore campaign, registering more than 50 total tackles while taking more than 350 defensive snaps in 2021.
Last season, Texas' Jaylan Ford became the first Big 12 LB ever to register at least 4 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, and 5 passes defended in conference play in a single year. pic.twitter.com/ZfeeAHd6iR
— Hook'em Headlines (@HookemHeadlines) July 7, 2023
Ford broke through during his third year on campus, though. He was the deserved Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year last fall, registering 119 total tackles, double-digit tackles for loss, four interceptions, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.
Heading into the 2023 season, Ford is one of the team’s leaders and the preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Talk about outperforming a three-star recruiting ranking. Ford has done it in three years.