Texas and Sark keep having to hold off Miami for an elite Longhorns commit

Once again, the Longhorns find themselves fending off other programs from their four-star and five-star commits.

This time around, Steve Sarkisian and Texas are having to hold onto four-star running back Derrek Cooper as Mario Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes continue to push for a flip.

Cooper, who is a Florida native, committed to the Horns just over two months ago, picking Texas over the Hurricanes, the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Florida State Seminoles, and more powerhouse programs.

Despite his commitment, Cristobal has refused to back down, recently attending one of Cooper's high school football games, as did Texas running backs coach Chad Scott.

Before committing to the Longhorns, Cooper took dozens of official and unofficial visits, including 10 trips to Miami. It took just one unofficial visit to Texas and a few great conversations with the Horns' coaching staff for the blue-chip running back to make up his mind.

When he took his official visit to Austin in September, it looked like he had only further solidified his decision to be a Longhorn.

Despite all of that, Cristobal continues to work to try to flip his commitment, especially with the home-state ties to the young RB.

Cooper is part of the No. 5-ranked class of 2026 for Texas, alongside five-star quarterback Dia Bell, five-star linebacker Tyler Atkinson, and five-star athlete Jermaine Bishop, as well as 10 other four-star prospects and seven three-star recruits.

Recently, Texas has produced some of the best running backs in the country, including Bijan Robinson, Jaydon Blue, Quintrevion Wisner, Jonathon Brooks, CJ Baxter, Roschon Johnson, and more.

To put it in layman's terms, Texas could undeniably be considered RBU, and why wouldn't one of the nation's top running back recruits want to play for a program like that?

As of now, Cooper has not announced any additional visits to Miami or Texas, but it wouldn't be surprising if the Horns start putting more effort into cementing his commitment (such as sending Sarkisian himself to one of Cooper's games).