Texas 'high on the list' for new 5-Star 2026 QB offer

For the first day of spring practice on March 19, Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian hosted a handful of key visitors. The highest-rated visiting recruit that visited Texas unofficially for the first day of spring practice this week was the elite five-star 2026 Fort Lauderdale (FL) American Heritage quarterback Dia Bell.

Texas football makes an impression on new 5-Star 2026 QB offer Dia Bell

The No. 2 quarterback recruit in the nation in the 2026 class in the On3 Industry Ranking and Rivals ranking made his first visit to Texas of this offseason. Bell and his father, former NBA guard Raja Bell, got to see campus, the facilities, and the first practice of spring camp for the Longhorns early this week.

Bell also came away from the Texas visit with an offer in hand. He announced on social media on March 19 that he received a scholarship offer from Sarkisian and quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee.

The visit to Texas early this week made a big impression on Bell. He had nothing but good things to say about his visit experience and what he saw during spring practice on March 19.

Bell told Horns247 that "practice was great" and that he "was very excited to be offered by Coach Sark". He liked the "pace of practice" and how evenly the reps were spread around during individual and team drills.

While it's still early in his recruitment, Bell has already built great relationships with Sarkisian and Milwee. He also said that he is close with 2025 Texas four-star quarterback commit and Saraland (AL) High School star KJ Lacey.

Relationships and player development key for Bell

Texas's pipeline of quarterback talent and the talent in this QB room are elite under Sarkisian. Not only has Texas recruited top quarterback talents on the trail in the last few years such as Quinn Ewers (via the portal from Ohio State), Arch Manning, and Lacey, but they've also developed players at a high level on both sides of the ball.

Sarkisian's offense produced multiple projected early-to-middle round NFL Draft picks in 2024 and likely-to-be Day 1 and Day 2 picks in the 2025 draft.

Texas's quarterback room also has multiple likely future first round NFL Draft picks in Ewers and Arch.

Bell said that Texas was "high on my list" entering the visit and before he was offered. After Texas knocked it out of the park during his visit for practice this week, and he has an offer in-hand, the Longhorns are certainly a program to watch moving forward in the early stages of this recruitment.

Other schools that have offered Bell and that he plans to visit this spring are the Auburn Tigers, LSU Tigers, Miami Hurricanes, and Penn State Nittany Lions, among a few others.

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