Texas Football: Analyzing Longhorns’ 5 most important late-July visitors

The dead period for in-person visits lifts on July 25, giving way to an extensive late-summer visitor list for Texas football recruiting class later this week. Texas will likely host at least a dozen visiting recruits from the 2024, 2025, and 2026 classes starting July 25. The late-July visits will primarily take place through July 27 and 28.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns staff will host most visitors this week for the pool party/BBQ on July 27. But some visitors this week will stay through Friday or Saturday this coming weekend.

This week is an opportunity for the Longhorns to set the foundation with the in-person relationships for a handful of 2024 recruits. But it will mainly be a chance to set the groundwork for a big run on the recruiting trail in the next 12 or 18 months with the 2025 class.

Most of Texas’ blue-chip recruits visiting this week are from the 2025 class. And a good portion of the visiting recruits are from the west coast, specifically Mater Dei High School in LA.

Top late-July visiting recruits for Texas football

Here’s a breakdown of five of the most important visiting recruits for the Longhorns around the pool party/BBQ this week.

Solomon Williams, EDGE

The newest 2024 addition to the visitor list for the Longhorns once the dead period lifts later this week is the touted four-star Tampa (FL) Carrollwood Day edge rusher Solomon Williams. The 6-foot-2 and 255-pound Florida native edge rusher will take his first visit to Austin starting July 27.

Williams was initially set to take a midweek official visit to Texas last month. But Texas’ staff wound up canceling all midweek official visits last month.

Texas’ staff likes the speed and athleticism that Williams brings to the table off the edge. He is a productive and explosive edge player that registered over 15 sacks and 32 tackles for loss at Carrollwood Day last season (per MaxPreps).

The only official visit that Williams took during the summer was to Tuscaloosa to see the Alabama Crimson Tide on June 16. He also unofficially visited the Oregon Ducks, Texas A&M Aggies, Florida Gators, and North Carolina Tar Heels during the spring.

Texas’ top priority among edge rusher recruits in the 2024 class heading into the fall is still the elite five-star Duncanville product Colin Simmons. The Longhorns are duking it out with the LSU Tigers and Texas A&M in the race to land a commitment from the No. 1 edge rusher recruit in the nation in the 2024 class.

Williams joins Allen four-star Zina Umeozulu and Oklahoma homeschool four-star Danny Okoye among edge rusher recruits to watch behind Simmons on the big board for the Longhorns in the 2024 class late this summer.