Tom Herman failed on his promise to keep elite Texas players in-state. Can Steve Sarkisian do better?

In late December 2017, Tom Herman met the media to discuss his most notable achievement since taking over the University of Texas football program 13 months earlier.

Herman was introducing the Longhorns’ recruiting class on the opening day of the early signing period — the first of its kind after college football revamped its recruiting calendar, moving away from the traditional national signing day in early February and adding a late-December early signing period. On the heels of a 6-6 debut season, Herman and his staff had signed one of the program’s most decorated classes in quite some time.

The class, ranked No. 3 nationally and tops in the Big 12, was headlined by five-star recruits Caden Sterns and B.J. Foster, a pair of blue chips who played their high school ball in the state of Texas. In fact, six of the state’s seven highest-ranked players all signed with the Longhorns. Nine of UT’s highest-ranked players were all from the Lone Star State.

It was a sign that Herman’s decision to prioritize the state of Texas after a disappointing class the season before, when the Longhorns failed to sign a single player from the in-state top 15, was paying off.

“We had to make sure these players stopped leaving the state, that going out of state was more attractive to them,” Herman told reporters that Wednesday afternoon.

“This needs to be the new normal,” Herman said that same day. “I’m committed to making sure that it is.”

That ended up being a commitment Herman failed to keep. And it ultimately served as one of the key reasons the Herman era failed in Austin. Not only did it not become the new normal, that Class of 2018 for the Longhorns became the exception — with Herman’s 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021 classes serving as the rule.

How much of an outlier was that 2018 class? Herman brought in more elite in-state talent in that 2018 class alone that in his other four classes combined.

Texas signed four top-5 in-state recruits in 2018, with the lone miss being Alabama star WR Jaylen Waddle. The Longhorns signed seven of the top 10 in-state players overall that cycle.

In 2019, Texas whiffed on all in-state top-5 players and signed just two top-10 players: No. 6 Jordan Whittington and No. 9 Tyler Johnson.

The following year wasn’t much better, with the Longhorns once again being shut out of the in-state top 5. They signed Nos. 7, 8 and 10: Hudson Card, Alfred Collins and Ja’Quinden Jackson.

And in the 2021 class signed just a couple weeks ago, Texas’ lone top-5 (and top-10) signee was No. 3 Ja’Tavion Sanders.

When you couple those last three classes with Herman’s first class in 2017 when the Longhorns failed to sign a single top-10 player, the final tally for Herman’s four non-2018 classes was as follows: one of 20 possible top 5 in-state players and six of 40 possible top 10 in-state players.

That leaves the Longhorns tied with programs like Florida State, Stanford and TCU in terms of top 5 in-state signees during the span, and looking up at programs like Ohio State (5), Texas A&M (5), Alabama (3) and LSU (2).

In just the last three classes, there have been 23 in-state players ranked among the national top 50 overall players in their respective classes, regardless of position. Only two — Whittington (No. 34, 2019) and Sanders (No. 21, 2021) have signed with the Longhorns.

All four of the programs listed above that have collected more recent high-end talent have been top-5 programs either this season or last season. LSU won last season’s national championship, Texas A&M found itself No. 5 in the final CFP rankings this season and just won the Orange Bowl. And Ohio State and Alabama will meet in this year’s national championship game.

LSU’s K’Lavon Chaisson, the No. 5 player in the state of Texas in 2017, was a first-team All-SEC defender on the Tigers’ national championship team last fall. Kenyon Green, the state’s No. 1 player in the 2019 class, was a second-team All-SEC offensive lineman this season for Texas A&M. And Ohio State’s and Alabama’s teams have been littered with Lone Star products during their recent runs. Ohio State’s starting lineup has boasted stars like All-Americans J.K. Dobbins (RB) and Jeff Okudah (CB) from the 2017 class who are now starters in the NFL. Presently, its offense features two recent Texas high school football products at wide receiver in Garrett Wilson (a five-star WR in the class of 2019) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (a five-star WR in the class of 2020). And Alabama will be hoping to get the services of Waddle back in time for next week’s national championship game. The No. 39 overall player in the 2018 class was one of the most explosive players in college football this season before going down with an injury.

The Longhorns offered all of those players. But each and every one played elsewhere.

How can new head coach Steve Sarkisian avoid similar missteps? His first big test comes when it comes to building his staff. Proven, energetic and well-connected assistants are crucial no matter where you’re building a program, but it’s especially important for Sarkisian given his lack of ties to the Lone Star State.

During Sarkisian’s seven years as a head coach at Washington and USC, he signed a total of four players from Texas high schools. His lone signee from the state of Texas while at Washington was Mansfield Timberview’s Trevor Walker, a three-star safety in 2013. In 2014, he signed Houston Lamar’s John Plattenburg, a three-star CB. And then he signed a pair of Dallas area running backs in 2015 in McKinney North’s Ronald Jones II (four star) and Cedar Hill’s Aca’Cedric Ware (three star).

Most of the coaches Sarkisian has built a rapport with lack extensive experience in Texas, too. Connections from California and the Pacific Northwest were from teams that rely more on California when it comes to recruiting, rarely making trips into Texas. It’s likely that some of his new staff will come from the current Alabama staff as well. Current Alabama offensive line coach and likely offensive coordinator target Kyle Flood was a long-time Rutgers coach before crossing paths with Sarkisian in Atlanta and sticking with him at Alabama. The same can be said for potential QB coach target AJ Milwee, who also has never coached in Texas One Alabama coach Sarkisian is reportedly considering bringing to Austin who does have experience in state is Jeff Banks, the Crimson Tide’s current tight end/special teams coach who served in that role at Texas A&M for five years under Kevin Sumlin.

Regardless of who he intends to bring along with him to Austin, Sarkisian will have a fine line to walk when it comes to bringing in coaches he is comfortable with and when it comes to creating some continuity with the Herman regime.

The Longhorns’ top-rated recruiter in each of its last two classes has been defensive line coach Oscar Giles — a former Longhorn player in the 80s. Co-defensive coordinators Chris Ash and Coleman Hutzler were the other two Longhorn assistants to be ranked among the top 10 in the Big 12 over the last cycle. The only other assistant to join Giles on the top 10 list during the 2020 cycle was co-offensive coordinator Herb Hand.

An exception, not a rule

Here’s how the Longhorns’ big 2018 class stacked up against Tom Herman’s other four recruiting classes (2021, 2020, 2019 and 2017). All stats are for in-state recruits only:

Greener pastures

Here’s a look at where each top-10 player from the state of Texas has signed over the last five recruiting classes:

Fleeting stars

There have been 22 five-star players from the state of Texas during the last five recruiting cycles. Here’s where they signed:

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