4-star Chaminade-Madonna HS (Hollywood, FL) running back Derrek Cooper has announced the cancellation of his upcoming Florida State visit, seemingly shutting down his recruitment and reaffirming his allegiance to the Longhorns.
This is absolutely huge for Texas, as Cooper is the No.1 ranked running back recruit in the 2026 recruiting class. He's exactly the type of ball-carrier that Steve Sarkisian loves to use in his offense both as a traditional runner and pass-catcher out of the backfield.
Cooper has had an excellent senior season as well for Chaminade-Madonna High School, rushing for 324 yards, averaging 7.4 yards per carry, and scoring 6 rushing touchdowns in his first 5 games of the season. He's an absolute bruiser who consistently drags tacklers for 3-4 yards before going down and is shifty enough to juke and sidestep defenders at the line of scrimmage.
NEW: Texas 4-star RB commit Derrek Cooper will no longer visit Florida State this weekend, @SWiltfong_ reports🤘
— Rivals (@Rivals) October 1, 2025
Read: https://t.co/BvjHjNzooS pic.twitter.com/q7af3V7z2q
The Longhorns' backfield is going to be stacked going forward, and I'm sure we'll see a transfer or two next season just simply based on the amount of talent in the room. Texas will have Tre Wisner, C.J. Baxter, Jerrick Gibson, Christian Clark, James Simon, Rickey Stewart Jr., and Carson Berger on the roster next season. Having that type of depth and talent in a single running back room is incredibly rare at the collegiate level, and adding Cooper will only make it better.
Texas' coaching staff can't wait to have the 6'1", 210-pound running back join the program, with hopes that he'll be able to enroll in the spring of 2026.