OTF Premium The importance of the 2021 recruiting class to Steve Sarkisian's Texas program

[Jeff Howe]

Barryn Sorrell’s mind was grasping how close Texas had come to a berth in the College Football Playoff National Championship while simultaneously processing the end of his Longhorn career when he reflected on the four seasons he spent in burnt orange.

Experiencing a whirlwind of emotions after the 2024 season ended with a heartbreaking 28-14 Cotton Bowl loss to Ohio State, Sorrell’s response to a loaded question — if coming to Texas was everything he thought it would be — was detailed and purposeful. It appropriately summed up the four-year odyssey of the Longhorns’ recruiting class from the 2021 cycle.

“It's just been a journey,” Sorrell said from within the bowels of AT&T Stadium. "There's so many great memories that I'll always have and I'm thankful for it. I'm just so blessed and happy to realize that walking away from this, I'm leaving it better than I found it.”

Along with helping Texas improve from a 5-7 record in Steve Sarkisian’s first season to a team that won at a championship-caliber clip, including a Big 12 title, a berth in the SEC Championship and consecutive trips to the CFP semifinals, Sorrell was one of seven draft picks to emerge from a transition class.

Of the 22 signees in the cycle, 20 committed to former coach Tom Herman’s staff. Sorrell was among the 19 recruits who signed with Texas before Herman was fired and replaced by Sarkisian on Jan. 2, 2021.

Unlike his predecessors, Sarkisian didn’t go scorched earth when assessing what he inherited from the previous regime. Sarkisian’s organization carefully examined the cupboard, eventually learning the Longhorns had a group of newcomers long on football character and strong developmental traits.

Sorrell was among the young Texas players who bought into Sarkisian’s vision from the jump, which laid the foundation of the juggernaut the current regime has built.

“We got along from Day 1,” Sorrell said of his relationship with Sarkisian. “He wanted to win. I'd seen that from the first meeting. Throughout the first year, hearing what he was saying and guys not really picking it up, I wanted to put those things in place. I feel like that’s what I’ve done and that’s what we’ve done and it’s why we are where we are.”

One of the first declarations Sarkisian made in his introductory press conference was that he wanted to oversee a program capable of developing talent at an elite level. Xavier Worthy is the first recruit Sarkisian plucked from the high school ranks who went on to become an NFL draft pick.

With that said, the Longhorns won 25 games over the last two seasons because the Sarkisian regime did a magnificent job developing the players they inherited.

A fourth-round selection by the Green Bay Packers in last month’s draft, Sorrell’s recruiting class features two first-rounders (Worthy and Byron Murphy II), one second-round pick (Jonathon Brooks), three fourth-rounders (Sorrell, Ja’Tavion Sanders and Gunnar Helm) and one player drafted in the sixth round (Hayden Conner). While Worthy and Sanders were regarded as top-100 prospects by the recruiting industry, the same can’t be said for the rest of the class: Brooks and Murphy were unranked four-star prospects in the 247Sports Composite, and Conner snuck into the top 300 of the On3 Industry rankings, but 247Sports and On3 had Helm and Sorrell among the five lowest-rated non-specialists in the class.

Along with the seven draft picks, two 2021 signees (Morice Blackwell Jr. and Juan Davis) completed their eligibility at Texas without entering the NCAA transfer portal. Charles Wright and Max Merril stayed in the program for multiple seasons and Casey Cain was a contributor on offense before transferring to UNLV.

Sarkisian and company just assembled the No. 1 recruiting class in the country in the 2025 cycle, the most recent roster additions poised to help the Longhorns remain championship contenders for the foreseeable future. Texas will continue to recruit at an elite level and has a lot of unfinished business under Sarkisian, meaning the accomplishments of the 2021 class could eventually pale in comparison to future hauls.

Nevertheless, there might not be a recruiting class more important to Sarkisian’s recent and future success than the group that’s been there every step of the way.

“I came here and the culture was different,” said Sorrell, who added that there were “a lot of ups and downs” throughout his four seasons in the program. “I just focused on, 'How can I get better? How can I impact this team?' I feel like I've done that at a good level to get us to this point. Now, it's [time] for the guys behind me to take my lessons and things that I tried to teach the guys in my room and throughout this team, and, hopefully, they can exceed the standard that we set.”

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[Jeff Howe]

On signing day in 2021, I wouldn't have bet this would've been capable of producing seven NFL draft picks. The number goes up to eight when including Keilan Robinson, who arrived at Texas in 2021 from Alabama.

A truly special group that shows what can happen when you've got a staff that can develop talent.

[Shane]

Excellent read ! Thanks Jeff 🤘🏻

[Pwood]

Great perspective!

[SuperDave0805]

Texas vs A&M will be on Black Friday this season

https://awfulannouncing.com/college-football/cfb-nfl-black-friday-texas-am-egg-bowl.html

[Joe Zura]

This ^^^^^^^^^ @Jeff Howe great write up sir 

[ThatHornsGuy87]

I hope people remember Barryn way down the road. I will, I was a huge fan of that young man

[NothinButDaHorns34]

It’s prolly not realistic with the trajectory this programs on, the NFL will eventually come calling, But i hope sark can retire here. 

[Santiago Agudelo]

Good read @Jeff Howe

[GoHorns1]

Development, development, development…..

[GDI]

26 minutes ago, NothinButDaHorns34 said:

It’s prolly not realistic with the trajectory this programs on, the NFL will eventually come calling, But i hope sark can retire here. 

That's a tough call,  but as much as Sark loves college football I can see him staying until he retires.  

Texas will keep his pocket book full.  

[justwinbaby]

Quite a few players getting drafted from that class, had to start somewhere.  A lot of coaching up and development.