Texas staff shifts focus to recruiting during bye week

The only bye week of the 2026 season for the Texas Longhorns isn’t just a chance for players to get healthy and for coaches to spend some extra time trying to fix the team’s deficiencies, it’s also an opportunity for the coaching staff to get out on the road recruiting, seeing committed prospects, evaluating late-rising targets in the 2027 class, and honing in on top players in the 2028 class.

“Where your days are and how many days you have in the fall have been limited, and so maximizing those days I think is very important,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said on Monday. “For me, I need to do a really good job in in Dallas and in Houston this week, as well as seeing a couple of our national guys.”

The top national prospect for the Longhorns is one state over in Louisiana — Brother Martin wide receiver Easton Royal, the No. 5 player nationally and the No. 1 wide receiver in the 247Sports Composite rankings who has taken in three big games this fall, traveling to Baton Rouge to watch home-state LSU thump Clemson, making his way to Austin to watch Texas pull off its comeback against Ohio State, and tripping to Gainesville to see Florida deliver a resounding upset of Ole Miss.

Pledged to Sarkisian and his staff since last November, Royal is nearing a decision about his commitment to the Horns.

“Since I’ve been to every school, every game day, every experience, every coaching staff, I’m very close to a decision” Royal told Rivals. “Maybe an announcement could be coming anytime soon.”

“The senior recruiting’s not done. Back in the day, this is when guys used to get recruited. You evaluated them their senior year, and you could see the development of a player from his junior year to his senior year, and then you visit them in December and January, and you signed them in February,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve sped this whole thing up, but players haven’t stopped improving from their junior to the senior year, so we’re constantly evaluating this class of of where we can upgrade the class and where we can find those players that have made that jump.”

The biggest remaining area of need for the 2027 Texas recruiting class, which features 22 pledges and ranks fifth nationally, is at linebacker, as Johnny Nansen has yet to land to land any recruits at the position in this cycle, contributing to last week’s offer extended to Georgia Tech linebacker pledge Jason Crenshaw Jr., who quickly set an official visit for the Ole Miss game on October 25.

Texas also offered Tennessee defensive tackle commit Christian Mays on Monday. The Colorado product is ranked as the No. 1 junior college defensive tackle.

The increase in scholarships to 105 has also shifted how the Horns will evaluate late-rising prospects with more roster spots available for developmental takes who will need multiple years to become contributors like the November flips of running back Jett Walker from Minnesota and offensive lineman Kaden Scherer from Stanford during the last cycle.

The coaching staff will also make strategic visits with prospects in the 2028 class as recruiting begins to heat up in the upcoming cycle.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do this week Wednesday, Thursday, Friday of seeing players, and it’s not just me, it’s the assistant coaches, it’s the recruiting department of of getting all that done,” Sarkisian said. “With only one weekend to do it, we’ve got to be spot on.”