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    Gerry Hamilton
    Four-star DB locks in Texas official visit
    Hightower (Texas) High defensive back Kade Phillips has locked in an official visit to Texas. 
    The 6-1.5, 180 pound versatile defensive back with an 80 inch wingspan and 10 inch hands told OnTexasFootball he will make an official visit to Texas June 21-23.
    Phillips was offered by safeties coach and area recruiter Blake Gideon February 17. 
    "The Texas offer meant a lot to me," Phillips told OnTexasFootball last week at Hightower High. "Texas is a big school, big culture and it meant a lot. It felt great. Coach Gideon came to see me multiple times. He came to track practice, came by the field house multiple times just to talk. Texas is going to be up there. Up there." 
    Phillips attended Texas Junior day January 20. He has been on campus multiple times in the last year, including a game visit in 2023. 
    Texas A&M and LSU remain the competition
    Phillips is the younger brother of former Texas A&M linebacker signee Kenneth Phillips, who had his career cut short after a devastating knee injury his senior season. He remains a student at Texas A&M. Kade Phillips was back on campus in College Station January 27 for Junior Day.
    "Coach (Mike) Elko just wants everybody to be part of the recruitment. Not just your position coach, but all of the coaches. He wants it to be one big family. They offered me at corner, but like my versatility. Wherever the team needs me is what they said."
    Phillips will make his first ever trip to LSU this spring. It's a visit that will be very key in the recruitment.
    "I'm in contact with Coach (Corey) Raymond every day. He's just checking in on me, seeing how I'm doing. I just know it's LSU. Big facility, big program. It will be a big visit fore me when I go down there."
    Arkansas, Oregon, Baylor and Kansas as schools also making runs right now. 
    Phillips plans to commit prior to his senior season after June official visits. 
    CJ Vogel
    While I was hoping to get an idea of the current landscape of 2026 DL Tiki Hola's recruitment while on the road at Bastrop High this morning, I wanted to get a first look at what could end up being a very special quarterback coming through the ranks in central Texas.
    2027 QB Weston Nielsen has seen his recruitment really pop over the last few weeks.
    After starting the final eight games of the regular season, the cat is out of the bag with the CenTex gunslinger. Nielsen received his offer from Oregon on September 24, then received nine offers in the months of January and February.
    Texas made two stops by Bastrop during the contact window to evaluate Nielsen as well. The first was Steve Sarkisian on the first day of the contact window, January 12, and then the second was a solo visit from AJ Milwee two weeks later.
    Milwee was able to watch the 2027 quarterback throw in workouts as well.
    We know the Texas staff is rather peculiar when it comes to quarterback recruiting. Sarkisian is not loose with quarterback offers regardless of the talent crop, nor on-roster depth. Texas will have the shortest trek of any major D1 program to keep tabs on the 6-foot-3 quarterback during his development.
    The Bastrop staff is expecting the Longhorn staff to return to campus again to watch Nielsen throw during the spring. Should be interesting to follow with the local kid.
    Gerry Hamilton
    Four-star TE locks in Texas visit
    Jasper (Texas) High tight end Kiotti Armstrong has locked in a trio of spring visits, and one of those is to the Texas Longhorns. 
    Armstrong, 6-5 and 250 pounds, will make an unofficial visit to Texas April 13. That will be the last of three visits currently scheduled. 
    The Southeast Texas native will begin his spring unofficial visits with a trip to LSU March 23. He will follow that with a visit to Texas A&M April6. The Aggies are also working to get Armstrong on campus March 30. 
    Armstrong attended Texas Junior Day January 20, and spent about 20 minutes talking with head coach Steve Sarkisian. Sarkisian also stopped by Jasper High in January.
    The former high school teammate of Texas freshman linebacker Tyanthony Smith made a pair of visits to Texas A&M prior to the quiet period. 
    Armstrong caught 26 passes for 268 yards and nine touchdowns in 2023. 
    Bobby Burton
    Looking back at recruiting classes can be a difficult process. How do you grade them (based solely on college performance and what they did at Texas?), when exactly do you grade them (at the end of four years or five years, or even further out), etc?
    Well, hindsight is 20/20 as they say.
    To remove any ambiguity, I developed this retrospective solely on players who played in the NFL (does not include taxi/practice squad) and take into consideration roster attrition.
    2011 (21 signees/3 NFL players) - RB, Malcolm Brown; DB, Quandre Diggs; DB, Mykkele Thompson
    Evaluation Rate: 3/21 = 14.29% (No. of players who made the NFL divided by number of signees)
    Hit Rate: 3/21 = 14.29% (No. of players who finished their careers at Texas and made the NFL divided by number of signees)
    Notes: The demise of Mack Brown can be directly tied to his final five recruiting classes. Both the 2009 and 2010 recruiting classes also had just three players make the NFL. Brown, at the time, was truly selecting the players he and his staff wanted. They did not do a good job overall. 
    2012 (28 signees/6 NFL players) - DT, Malcom Brown; OL, Donald Hawkins; DT, Hassan Ridgeway; CB, Duke Thomas; DB, Adrian Colbert (transfer out); WR, Marcus Johnson
    Evaluation Rate: 6/28 = 21.42%
    Hit Rate: 5/28 = 17.86%
    Notes: Better numbers made the league here but as a percentage it was still way too slight. Adrian Colbert became one of only two Mack Brown transfers who eventually made the NFL from elsewhere (JaMarcus Webb was the other).
    2013 (15 signees/4 NFL players) - OL, Kent Perkins; OL, Desmond Harrison (transfer out); TE, Geoff Swaim; ATH, Montrel Meander (transfer out)
    Evaluation Rate: 4/15 = 26.67%
    Hit Rate: 2/15 = 13.33%
    2014 (23 signees/4 NFL players) - DE, Derick Roberson (transfer out); DT, Poona Ford; TE, Andrew Beck; RB, D'Onta Foreman
    Evaluation Rate: 4/23 = 17.39%
    Hit Rate: 3/23 = 13.04%
    Notes: Transition class from Mack Brown to Charlie Strong. Only one of Strong's recruits from the month of January ended up being an NFL player - Poona Ford.
    2015 (27 signees/8 NFL players) - LB, Malik Jefferson; DB, Holton Hill; DB, Kris Boyd; DB, DeShon Elliott; DL, Charles Omenihu; OL, Connor Williams; DB, PJ Locke; P, Michael Dickson
    Evaluation Rate: 8/27 = 29.63%
    Hit Rate: 8/27 = 29.63%
    Notes: This was the best Texas class in nearly a decade and showed that Charlie Strong not only could recruit but his staff also ultimately had an eye for talent; Strong immediately doubled the Hit Rate of any of the previous eight years.
    2016 (28 signees/7 NFL players) - WR, Devin Duvernay, DB, Brandon Jones; DT, Jordan Elliott (transfer out); WR, Collin Johnson; DL, Malcom Roach; QB, Shane Buechele (transfer out); WR, LJ Humphrey
    Evaluation Rate: 7/28 = 25%
    Hit Rate = 5/28 = 17.86%
    Notes: Yet again, Strong showed a relatively strong eye for talent. But his poor on-field performance hurt his recruiting some. 
    2017 (18 signees/4 NFL players) - QB, Sam Ehlinger; DL, TaQuon Graham; OL, Sam Cosmi; DB, Josh Thompson
    Evaluation Rate: 4/18 22.22%
    Hit Rate: 4/18 22.22%
    Notes: Transition Class from Strong to Tom Herman. Like Strong, Herman only added one new signee that would eventually become an NFL player - Sam Cosmi.
    2018 (27 signees/11 NFL players) - DB, Caden Sterns; LB, DeMarvion Overshown; DT, Keondre Coburn; DL, Moro Ojomo; DE, Joe Ossai; CB, D'Shawn Jamison; RB, Keontay Ingram (transfer out); OL, Christian Jones; K, Cameron Dicker; DB, Jalen Green (transfer out); QB Cameron Rising (transfer out) (Players in italics have yet to be selected in NFL draft and make an NFL team)
    Evaluation Rate: 11/27 = 40.74%
    Hit Rate: 8/27 = 29.63%
    Notes: This is the class that should have helped put Tom Herman over the top. Despite recruiting rankings to the contrary, he and his staff simply couldn't put two good classes together back-to-back.
    2019 (28 signees/6 NFL players) - WR, Bru McCoy (transfer out); WR, Jordan Whittington; S, Tyler Owens (transfer out); RB, Roschon Johnson; TE, Jared Wiley (transfer out); DT, T'Vondre Sweat
    Evaluation Rate: 6/28 = 21.43%
    Hit Rate: 3/28 = 10.71%
    Notes: Look at the lowest Hit Rate of the decade. Even Mack Brown's last classes didn't miss on this many. This is part of the reason why Steve Sarkisian was saddled early with a lack of NFL talent. Attrition clearly played a role here but so did evaluation.
    2020 (22 signees/8 NFL players) - RB, Bijan Robinson; DL, Alfred Collins; ATH, Ja'Quinden Jackson (transfer out); OL, Jake Majors; DB, Jahdae Barron; LB, Jaylan Ford; DB Brenden Schooler; WR Tarik Black
    Evaluation Rate: 8/22 =36.36%
    Hit Rate: 7/22 = 25.93%
    Notes: A solid class. The evaluation and hit rate are buoyed by the additions of Schooler and Black as transfers and Black never really did much as a Longhorn.
    **
    NFL Hit Rates of elite programs should average in the 25-35% range, so that's what Texas should focus on achieving. Yet the Horns matched or surpassed that figure just three times in 10 years. And the Horns barely averaged 25% from just an "Evaluation Rate", which doesn't take into account attrition/transfers.
    Overall, poor depth and lack of top-end talent riddled Texas for much of the 2010s.
    So did recruiting inconsistency. Poor years for Strong in 2016 and Herman in 2019 perhaps showed that neither could sustain success at Texas.
    10-year average Evaluation Rate: 25.56%
    10-year average Hit Rate: 19.45%
    **
    A quick look into the 2021, 2022 and 2023 classes thus far.
    First, like his predecessors, Sark added at least one NFL player in his first month on the job in the 2021 class - Xavier Worthy. However, Sark also added Keilan Robinson who has a chance at the NFL as well. (Note to athletic administrators who make coaching changes: adding NFL players late in the process is just unlikely no matter who the coach is.)
    As for the 2022 class, Sark's group looks on par if not better than both Herman's and Strong's second classes, which attracted eight and 11 NFL players, respectively.
    The third class is where Sark diverges from Herman and Strong. While both Strong and Herman spiraled downward with third class, Sark is drastically different.
    His third recruiting class was nothing short of outstanding. In fact, early returns suggest his 2023 recruiting class will be Sark's best yet.
     
    CJ Vogel
    The Latest on 2026 Four-star Bastrop DL Tiki Hola
    Made the quick drive over to Bastrop to catch a workout this morning. There is plenty of talent coming up that I will get into later in the week, but 2026 defensive lineman Tiki Hola is the prize at the moment in Texas circles.
    Hola visited Texas during the January 20 Junior Day, and while Texas had yet to make a hiring at the DL spot, Hola spent a lot of time with Coach Johnny Nansen and came away from the afternoon with rave reviews.
    "I loved it," Hola said of his time on campus. "I got to meet with Coach Sark and talk to him for a little bit. I got to know him a little bit and he got to know me a little bit. Plus the basketball game, it was just a fun day in general."
    The 6-foot-3 and 280-pound defensive lineman has become one of the jewels in the Austin area for the 2026 cycle and Texas is going to be a player here. Coach Sarkisian stopped by in the winter to catch a workout and is expected to return in the spring – most likely with Coach Kenny Baker.
    "(Coach Sarkisian) is a great coach," Hola said. "But he is more than coach, he is a great person in general. He tries to genuinely get to know you and get a good conversation out of you."
    Coach Baker had not yet been hired when Hola visited Austin, but the big takeaway from the trip was actually the time he spent with coach Johnny Nansen. Hola was originally born in California before moving to Bastrop at a young age, plus he is cousins with former Alabama LB Henry To'oto'o.
    Texas has been a player here for a while. The initial offer came last June following a camp during the summer. 
    Since January, Auburn, Miami, Nebraska, Texas A&M and USC have all gotten involved. 
    Recruiting is really beginning to take off for Hola, yet the spring visit schedule is completely wide open. He mentioned a possible return to Austin for a spring practice or two, but has nothing locked in for Texas or anyone else for the time being.
    This was my first time watching Hola in workouts and I was thoroughly impressed. For someone as big as he is at that age, there is so much fluidity in movements and plenty of flexibility. 
    Hola played over the ball straight up last year, though you can expect many coaches to recruit him as a future 3-tech or 4i, which is more right over the guard/inside the tackle. One of the better interior defensive linemen in the state and only a 35-minute drive from campus.
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