Texas football still ‘holding the cards’ for 5-Star EDGE Colin Simmons

Before the start of fall camp, there was one more big week of visits on the recruiting trail for Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian. Texas hosted the late-July pool party/BBQ Bash last week for visiting recruits from the 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027 recruiting classes.

But the Texas pool party/BBQ Bash wasn’t the only big recruiting event that top targets for the Longhorns on the recruiting trail were attending last week. There were other big events for top Texas targets in the 2024 and 2025 classes at competing schools on the recruiting trail last week, including the Bayou Splash and Texas A&M pool party.

Some of the top priority Texas targets on the recruiting trail that visited the LSU Tigers for the Bayou Splash were five-star Duncanville edge rusher Colin Simmons, five-star Lafayette (LA) Acadiana defensive lineman Dominick McKinley, and five-star Duncanville wide receiver Dakorien Moore.

Texas football reportedly still “holds the cards” with 5-Star EDGE Colin Simmons post-LSU visit

And the most notable Texas priority target in the 2024 class in College Station last weekend for Texas A&M’s pool party was the elite five-star Waco (TX) Connally cornerback Kobe Black.

As of late this summer, the most important of that group for the Longhorns, though, is the nation’s top-ranked edge rusher recruit in the 2024 class, Simmons. The elite South Dallas edge rusher is “the” must-get recruit in the 2024 class for the Longhorns.

Thus, the visit to Baton Rouge for the Bayou Splash to see the LSU Tigers last weekend was bound to have a big impact on the Longhorns in this recruitment. And while it does sound like Simmons and his family had a good visit to Baton Rouge last weekend, Texas still looks to be in a good spot for him.

First and foremost, let’s start with the best baseline news regarding Simmons after last week’s LSU visit. Simmons didn’t commit to LSU amid the Bayou Splash visit, which in and of itself bodes well for the Longhorns in this recruitment.

Secondly, there isn’t as much buzz surrounding the Tigers with Simmons coming out of this Bayou Splash visit as there was surrounding the Longhorns coming out of his late-June official visit to Austin. If Texas can firmly get momentum back from LSU in the race to land the No. 1 2024 edge rusher in the coming days and/or weeks, it’s hard not to like the Longhorns here.

Inside Texas reported on July 31 (paid content) that “all indications point to the Horns still holding the cards after his unofficial to LSU”. This IT report noted that LSU has worked to make up ground in this recruitment after its leading recruiter for Simmons, former DL coach Jamar Cain, left for the NFL in the spring. But it sounds like Texas is still in a good spot for Simmons, based on the post-visit report from IT.

A similar tone is set in a report from Horns247 on July 31 (paid content) regarding Simmons’ status coming out of the LSU visit. Horns247 reported that “Texas appears to be sitting in prime position”. You have to like that multiple reports are still putting Texas in a great spot to land Simmons heading into August.

Simmons looks to be closing in on a decision

Simmons has teased a commitment date in the last few weeks. And the fact that he visited LSU after a trip to New York City last week, combined with multiple reports echoing the same sentiment recently, shows that Simmons could be looking to speed up his decision timeline.

Yet, we’re still awaiting a decision date from Simmons. He’s played that close to the vest throughout his recruitment. Simmons’ decision date will be the most highly anticipated of any priority recruit in the 2024 class for the Longhorns heading into the fall.