Search the Community

OTF is headed to Louisiana for the 2025 Manning Passing Academy this weekend. Arch Manning will represent Texas and we will have updates throughout the week of his performance and media availabilities. Will have the thread updated during my time in Thibodeaux, Louisiana!

4-star++ DL James Johnson announcement thread Miami (Fla.) Northwestern 4-star++ defensive lineman James Johnson is scheduled to announce his commitment today with a decision expected to come down to Georgia, Texas and maybe Miami. The 6-foot-2, 275-pound quick disruptor made official visits to Georgia (May 30-June 1), Miami (June 6-8), Florida (June 13-15) and Texas (June 20-22). Headed into the Texas OV, OTF was told it was 55-45 Georgia leading Texas. Johnson, who made his OV to Texas on his birthday weekend, had a tremendous visit with his mom and at that point it was seen as a neck and neck battle. Early in the week, there was more Georgia chatter than Texas with Miami still fighting. On Thursday, there was a little more Texas chatter. As we head into decision day, this is a recruitment that Texas has gone all in for all week. Johnson transferred to Northwestern High in the spring from North Fort Myers High. Johnson has known Texas lean and 4-star++ DL Kendall Guervil (Fort Myers, Fla./High) for years, as well as Texas freshman defensive lineman Myron Charles (Port Charlotte, Fla./High). Johnson sports an 82-inch wingspan and 10 inch hands. His explosivity on the football field translates to track and field with a 58'0" shot put to his credit as a junior.

Three decisions today for Longhorn targets (all times are CDT): Damari Simeon, DT, St. Augustine Prep (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) Time: 4 p.m. Finalists: Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Texas Link: St. Augustine Prep will stream Simeon's announcement on Instagram The Pick: Ohio State Chace Calicut, S/LB, Galena Park North Shore Time: 3 p.m. Finalists: Georgia, Michigan and Texas Link: Calicut's decision will be streamed live from the OT7 Showcase and Finals The Pick: Georgia Malakai Lee, OT, Kamehameha (Honolulu, Hawaii) Time: 6:30 p.m. Finalists: Alabama, Georgia, Michigan and Texas Link: Lee is announcing his decision on the 247Sports YouTube channel The Pick: Michigan

Texas catcher/infielder Cole Chamberlain has entered the transfer portal, OTF has learned. Chamberlain's profile has already been removed from the program's online roster. Zachary Symm of Orangebloods first reported the departure of Chamberlain, who played in 22 games as a freshman for the Longhorns. Chamberlain went 5-for-37 with two doubles, nine RBI, 15 walks and 15 strikeouts. With Chamberlain's departure, here's the updated list of outgoing transfers from the 2025 squad: C Oliver Service C/INF Cole Chamberlain INF Carson Luna INF/OF Sam Richardson INF Jaquae Stewart OF Tommy Farmer IV OF Will Gasparino OF Donovan Jordan OF Matt Scott LHP Chance Covert II LHP Ace Whitehead RHP Easton Tumis The following is the updated list of incoming transfers Jim Schlossnagle and the Longhorns have added through the transfer portal: C Carson Tinney (Notre Dame) INF Temo Becarra (Stanford) INF Josh Livingston (Wichita State) UTIL Kaleb Freeman (Georgia State) OF Jack Moroknek (Butler) OF Aidan Robbins (Seton Hall) LHP Luke Dotson (Mississippi State) LHP Cal Higgins (Western Kentucky)

2026 New Boston RB Ashton Rowden tells OTF that he has been in contact with Texas running back coach Chad Scott recently. Rowden said he is familiar with Scott, and that there was a conversation about a week ago where Texas was checking in on the New Boston four-star back. The 5-foot-11-inch running back holds 24 offers at the moment, and took four official visits in the month of June: May 30: TCU June 6: Texas Tech June 13: Minnesota June 20: Houston As far as I know, there was no visit conversation, but Rowden certainly becomes a name to monitor on the trail.

Thursday recruiting update 1. OTF still likes where Texas sits with 4-star++ DL Kendall Guervil 2. OTF likes Georgia more for 4-star+ S/LB Chace Calicut 3. OTF believes 4-star++ DL James Johnson could go either way. 4. OTF likes where Texas sits with 5-star OT John Turntine III 5. Confidence remains for Texas with 5-star LB Xavier Griffin. OTF will continue to check to see if that remains, of course. 6. OTF likes where Texas sits with OT Felix Ojo. Early July decision likely. 7. 4-star++ CB Samari Matthews could go wither way with Texas and South Carolina. A little more Longhorns chatter today. 8. Texas very much in it with 4-star++ DB Davon Benjamin. Oregon is all in, however. This one could play out another month or so.

Texas had been trending for Damari Simeon (Richland, NJ/St. Augustine) since the earlier June OV, and up until last night. That has now changed today. Barring a change, OTF believes the Horns will not likely be the pick June 27.

Whether one agrees with Pete Prisco’s NFL Top 100 players of 2025, published by CBS Sports on Wednesday, or not, doesn’t matter. Prisco did include one Texas product on the list: Bijan Robinson at No. 39. Prisco ranked Robinson, the 2022 unanimous All-American and the Doak Walker Award winner for the Longhorns, behind only Saquon Barkley (No. 3) of the Philadelphia Eagles, Derrick Henry (No. 14) of the Baltimore Ravens and Jahmyr Gibbs (No. 32) of the Detroit Lions among the league’s top running backs. Still, there’s a lot more to glean from the list than giving a tip of the cap to Robinson, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. Specifically, Prisco’s rankings reinforce the importance of the position groups Texas and Steve Sarkisian are prioritizing in high school recruiting. Based on Prisco’s list, 11 of the NFL's top 100 players in 2025 are quarterbacks. Sarkisian was on the Alabama staff in 2016, when Jalen Hurts (No. 52) led the Crimson Tide to the College Football Playoff title game (Sarkisian was Alabama’s play-caller on offense for a 35-31 loss to Clemson). Hurts is one of five quarterbacks on the list who suited up for a college program currently in the SEC, but Hurts and Dak Prescott (No. 90) are the only two who joined the conference as high school recruits, with Joe Burrow (No. 7) and Jayden Daniels (No. 33) transferring to LSU (Oklahoma was in the Big 12 when Baker Mayfield, No. 57 on the list, quarterbacked the Sooners). Other than Quinn Ewers, Sarkisian has identified his potential starting quarterbacks on the Forty Acres through the high school ranks. Arch Manning is first up in what, hopefully, becomes a line of homegrown Longhorn signal-callers to pass through the Texas program on their way to the NFL. Seven of the 11 quarterbacks on Prisco’s list were drafted from the same college program they signed with as high school recruits: Prescott from Mississippi State, Patrick Mahomes (No. 1) from Texas Tech, Josh Allen (No. 4) from Wyoming, Lamar Jackson (No. 6) from Louisville, Justin Herbert (No. 49) from Oregon, Jared Goff (No. 77) from Cal and Jordan Love (No. 92) from Utah State. That bodes well for the odds of the vision Sarkisian and AJ Milwee have — to evaluate, acquire and develop high school quarterbacks en route to producing top-tier NFL quarterbacks, without relying on mercenaries from the transfer portal — coming to fruition. Outside of the quarterback position, Sarkisian and the Longhorns have a premium on recruits who can adequately protect Manning and the other Texas quarterbacks, along with those who are most capable of disrupting the opponent’s quarterback. Prisco’s Top 100 includes 36 line-of-scrimmage players: seven interior defensive linemen, eight interior offensive linemen (including three centers), 10 offensive tackles and 11 edge rushers. One-third of those players (12) came from a current SEC program, further proving why the conference is college football’s ultimate line-of-scrimmage league. Excluding Robinson and Oklahoma’s six players on the list, the 30 players from the SEC considered by Prisco to be among the best of the best in the NFL reflect which schools have been atop the conference over the last decade. Alabama (10 players on the list), LSU (eight) and Georgia (four) have combined for six national championships in the CFP era (since 2014). Regarding the SEC championship, the last 11 conference titles have been split between the Crimson Tide (seven), Bulldogs (three) and Tigers (one). With Sarkisian’s tenure producing 28 picks over the last three drafts after only 24 Longhorns were selected in the 10 previous drafts combined (2013-22), Texas should be better represented on lists like this one in the future. While developing players who go on to be elite in the NFL isn’t the be-all and end-all for a championship-caliber football program, it would be a byproduct of the Longhorns continuing to trend in the right direction regarding player development. With Sarkisian’s tenure producing 28 draft picks over the last three drafts after only 24 Longhorns were selected in the 10 previous drafts combined (2013-22), Texas should be better represented on lists like this one in the future. While developing players who go on to be elite in the NFL isn’t the be-all and end-all for a championship-caliber football program, it would be a byproduct of the Longhorns continuing to trend in the right direction regarding player development. View full news story

The team underwent photo day earlier in the week and are just starting to post their photos that will be used for promotional bits and in-game hype clips. As well as finding some out numbers from the newcomers.

The latest on the Large Human Flyin Hawaiian ... Per a source close to the recruitment, this is a Michigan v Texas decision on the 27th. Neither Georgia or Bama have confidence as of today. As OTF first reported this morning, the family plans to move to the state where Malakai plays in college. There is a family in the DFW area already. Michigan has been working from a position of strength since the spring. If there is one minus for them, the family isn't super stoked about the cold weather and winters. But not sure that's a deciding factor in today's day and age of recruiting. This will not be a NIL only decision. There is more in play. Lee can envision himself at Texas. Nather Texas nor Michigan have been informed of a decision behind the scenes as of this morning.

Hearing North Shore safety Chace Calicut may be cutting Georgia's way.

OnTexasFootball has been informed that Texas A&M is out of contention for 5-star OT John Turntine III Texas vs. Michigan is where we hear the most noise right now. There is confidence in Austin ahead of July 4th announcement. Michigan does think they are in it. Stanford is the third team on the list.

Steve Sarkisian’s Texas organization is prioritizing three areas when recruiting high school prospects and devoting resources for talent acquisition: quarterbacks, top-notch linemen who can protect the quarterback and blue-chip defenders who can disrupt opposing quarterbacks. The approach was driven home on a weekend when Dia Bell (Plantation, Fla./American Heritage) was named MVP of the 2025 Elite 11 competition. The Longhorns added another body to what could evolve into a historic defensive line haul, reeling in Vodney Cleveland (Birmingham, Ala./Parker) while maintaining the lead in the race for Kendall Guervil (Fort Myers, Fla.). Richard Wesley’s (Chatsworth, Calif./Sierra Canyon) surprise commitment was arguably a bigger recruiting boon than if Texas had landed Dre Quinn (Atlanta, Ga./Buford) last Thursday. The Longhorns are one of three teams left standing for Trenton Henderson (Pensacola, Fla./Catholic) and remain in the running for Temple’s Jamarion Carlton. Texas also got the last in-person word with North Crowley offensive tackle John Turntine III ahead of his July 4 decision. Melissa’s Max Wright and Klein’s Nicholas Robertson were on campus with Turntine, who, along with Mansfield Lake Ridge’s Felix Ojo and Malakai Lee (Honolulu, Hawaii/Kamehameha), is one of three elite offensive tackles Kyle Flood is aggressively pursuing. It’s fun to listen to Sarkisian, Flood and other coaches on the staff tout the program’s desire to recruit “big humans.” The trope, however, is a way of life. Sarkisian, general manager Brandon Harris, director of player personnel JM Jones and the rest of the organization’s approach to roster building in college football has the staying power needed to keep Texas in the national championship hunt for the foreseeable future. While the Longhorns won’t win every battle for coveted players who line up closest to the football, they’re winning enough of them to keep accelerating the program’s growth from Sarkisian’s forgettable 5-7 debut to producing an FBS-leading 23 NFL draft picks from clubs that won a combined 25 games and reached the College Football Playoff semifinals over the last two seasons. Of those 23 draft choices, 10 of them manned one of the Sarkisian regime’s foundational positions: one quarterback (Quinn Ewers); one EDGE (Barryn Sorrell); four offensive linemen (Kelvin Banks Jr., Hayden Conner, Christian Jones and Cameron Williams); and four interior defensive linemen (Vernon Broughton, Alfred Collins, Byron Murphy II and T’Vondre Sweat). Bell is next in line behind Trey Owens and KJ Lacey to succeed Arch Manning. The offensive line has avoided heavy attrition under Flood and has benefited from evaluation wins with undervalued recruits, particularly what can be gleaned from Trevor Goosby's snaps last season and the early returns on guys like Nick Brooks and Nate Kibble. Now, it's time for Kenny Baker and LaAllen Clark to set up their respective rooms for bright futures. Texas is rightfully taking advantage of a 2026 cycle chock-full of difference-making defensive linemen, building the kind of roster that won't need five tackles from the portal to avoid massive gaps in the talent pipeline. Missing out on Carthage's KJ Edwards was a significant loss, especially considering how much Sarkisian values well-rounded running backs in his offense. The battles for Jalen Lott and Kaydon Finley could end with Texas losing to out-of-state competition (Oregon or USC for Lott and Notre Dame for Finley), which wouldn't be ideal scenarios for recruits with strong family ties to the Forty Acres. Still, since NIL resources aren’t limitless, the Longhorns would rather do what it takes to win line-of-scrimmage recruitments and, if necessary, snag as-needed skill talent from the transfer portal. It's more feasible to go into the portal and come out with Matthew Golden or Adonai Mitchell as opposed to using the significant capital it would take to secure a player capable of immediately impacting the trenches, assuming those types of players are available. There’s no wrong way to build a winning program. Nevertheless, it’s hard to argue against Sarkisian’s plan to keep Texas in the top tier of annual contenders to win the SEC and the CFP. View full news story

I spoke with an SEC assistant coach who is involved in the recruitment of North Crowley offensive tackle John Turntine. This coach (and this program) have been recruiting him for quite some time, actually. The coach said that the Longhorns, along with Michigan and Texas A&M, are the three schools with a legitimate shot to land Turntine, which lines up with what @Gerry Hamilton has been saying. When asked which one he felt Turntine would ultimately end up at, he broke it down by percentages. “I’d say Texas leads. I think it’s somewhere around 50% Texas, 30% Michigan and 20% Texas A&M.” Obviously anything can change, but felt it was worth passing along. Turntine is set to announce next Friday, July 4th.

Announcement date of July 11. Texas-South Carolina battle it feels like.

Should be around 3pm

2027 Chandler (Az) running back Noah Roberts took a midweek visit to see Texas this afternoon. Roberts, a 6-foot-1-inch, 210-pound running back was offered by the Longhorns on May 5 and already is showing interest with a visit to Austin. Texas has had plenty of success recruiting success in Arizona recently and Roberts comes in as the highest rated running back from the state of Arizona since Bijan Robinson.

Couple of afternoon recruiting notes Wanted to pass along a couple of afternoon recruiting notes. Confidence around Texas remains with 4-star+ EDGE Dre Quinn and 4-star+ DL Vodney Cleveland. Texas is also doing pretty well with 4-star+ DL/EDGE Bryce Perry-Wright. But the Texas A&M visit looms. Clemson also in it. OTF doesn’t have as much confidence with 4-star++ WR Jalen Lott. Texas had a solid visit, but we believe there is still ground to be made up. USC is strong. Oregon takes their mighty swing this weekend.

2026 Miami (Fla.) Northwestern DL James Johnson to OV This Weekend Texas adds yet another massive front seven prospect to its official visit weekend with the re-addition of James Johnson to the list of official visitors. Johnson had previously been expected to take an official visit to Texas, and now he is fully expected to see the campus and city one more time. Other official visits for Johnson include: May 30 - Georgia June 6 - Miami June 13 - Florida June 15 - Florida State

OTF four-star+EDGE Dre Quinn (Buford, Ga.) is expected to make the call on Thursday in a recruitment that’s come down to a battle between Texas and Clemson. Quinn’s decision is the first of many scheduled to be made in the coming weeks by Longhorn targets. The group of blue-chip recruits planning to pull the trigger includes defensive lineman Vodney Cleveland (Birmingham, Ala./Parker) on Saturday, running back Ezavier Crowell (Jackson, Ala.) next Thursday, offensive tackle Malakai Lee (Honolulu, Hawaii/Kamehameha) next Friday, linebacker Xavier Griffin (Gainesville, Ga.) next Saturday and Frisco Panther Creek wide receiver Jalen Lott on July 8. Texas has some margin for error within most position groups ahead of the remaining summer decisions. The staff can withstand a loss or two, and the conditions could still be ripe to secure elite, difference-making positional hauls. Not all recruiting losses are created equal. Some will hurt more than others. There’s no way, for instance, to cushion the blow the Longhorns were dealt on Tuesday, when Carthage running back KJ Edwards committed to Texas A&M. If Crowell picks Alabama, Auburn or Georgia over the Longhorns, Chad Scott's running back board would reset heading into the fall. An uncertain running back outlook aside, CJ Vogel recently hit the nail on the head regarding the current state of recruiting on the Forty Acres. “You’re fighting for the right guys,” he said during last Wednesday’s “Longhorn Livestream” during a discussion regarding the possibility of the Longhorns’ 2026 recruiting class being the program’s third in a row to finish ranked among the top three in the country. I’ve been employed in the Texas market covering recruiting since 2008. Never has the hunt for talent been more widespread, with the Longhorns battling against perennial SEC and College Football Playoff contenders for prospects. The staff’s efforts in the Northeast have Texas in the mix for offensive tackle Grayson McKeogh (Wyndmoor, Pa./La Salle College), defensive lineman Damari Simeon (Richland, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) and EDGE Luke Wafle (Princeton, N.J./The Hun School). The Longhorns are scheduled to welcome two California visitors to campus this weekend, tight end Keawe Brown (Corona, Calif./Centennial) and EDGE Richard Wesley (Chatsworth, Calif./Sierra Canyon). The Longhorns haven’t been shy about mixing it up for recruits within the SEC footprint, either. They’ve made their presence felt from Louisiana, through Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and into Florida. Two of the biggest prospects left on the board are defensive lineman Kendall Guervil (Fort Myers, Fla.) and EDGE Trenton Henderson (Pensacola, Fla./Catholic), who will begin their official visits to Texas on Friday. Steve Sarkisian’s organization didn’t suddenly decide to ramp up its recruiting efforts throughout the Southeast. It’s a benefit to joining the SEC that Sarkisian and the Longhorns have tried to maximize, particularly with consecutive trips to the CFP semifinals, allowing Texas to conduct business from a position of strength. “I think the move into the SEC has probably been more beneficial for us,” Sarkisian said at a Touchdown Club of Houston luncheon in May. "A lot of people are changing conferences right now, but this one really resonated with us.” He mentioned how the program’s ability to recruit from within the Lone Star State and head eastbound along the Interstate 10 and Interstate 20 corridors changed the staff’s approach. “It's easy for those kids, it's natural for those kids to want to come to Texas,” he said. “There's a ton of players, so as much as we value recruiting the state of Texas, which is critical for our success, this made sense for us to work directly east, as opposed to the Big 12.” The Longhorns won’t win every cutthroat recruiting battle for the top talent from a part of the country that’s buoyed almost every national championship-winning roster over the last 25 years. Still, Texas has won enough to claim a place at the top of college football’s talent acquisition food chain. And with a stomach strong enough to withstand the ebbs and flows, Sarkisian has everything he needs to keep the Longhorns there for the foreseeable future. “I love the competitiveness of the SEC, but also love the recruiting aspect of the SEC,” he said. “We're able to go into Georgia and sign three or four players a year. We're able to go into Louisiana, we're able to go into Florida — very talent-rich areas to go along with what we have here in the state of Texas. “It’s been a win-win for us on those two things.” View full news story