If you're a true Longhorn football fan, two things are probably true today:
1) You've been keeping an eye on the happenings of National Signing Day.
2) You've been hearing a lot about how Texas has underperformed in this year's recruting war.
Fear not! I'm here to tell you that all is well in Longhorn Nation.
First, the history: Texas always has a good recruiting class. It's something we've hung our hats on for a while now and for good reason. 6 of the last 7 years Texas came out of National Signing Day with one of the top 5 classes in the country according to Rivals.com. It's one of the reasons Mack Brown has hung on. Coach of the month for February. We've all heard the jokes.
So this year, as the dust settles and the letters are signed, Rivals has Texas #23 in the country while Scout.com has the Horns at 22.
So you see the obnoxious posts from your Sooner and Aggie friends about how Texas' reign at the top of the recruiting heap is finally over and you start to sweat a little. It makes some sense. The Longhorns haven't exactly been flying high on the football field the last couple of years. Maybe it's catching up with them?
Dig a little deeper.
The Horns aren't ranked lower because the good players aren't choosing Texas. They're ranked lower because they don't have that many scholarships to give this year.
Texas only has 15 available scholarships (largely due to LAST year's #2-ranked bumper crop of 28 recruits, most of whom you haven't seen on the field yet). The consensus top 5 classes this year had an average of 26.5 scholarships to give. And the truth is, Texas is making the most of the spots they DO have available.
Recruits are assigned a "star" level. 1-star kids don't get to Texas. 5-star kids are wanted by everyone. According to Scout.com the average Texas recruit this year earns 3.67 stars. Only 7 schools in the nation have a higher average. That's higher than Texas A&M and it's higher than Oklahoma. Rivals has the average at 3.60 stars good for 9th best and still ahead of our neighbors.
It's also important to look at position rankings. Sticking with Scout's numbers Texas is bringing in the 10th-rated offensive guard in the country, the 10th-rated outside linebacker, too. The #6 quarterback in the country is a 6'4", 220-pound dual-threat, run-first kid with a big arm named Tyrone Swoopes. He'll be in Austin this year. The top center in America, Darius James is now a Longhorn. And the #2-ranked offensive tackle (that oh so important QB protector) is a 5-star, 6'6" stud named Kent Perkins. Welcome to the team.
It stands to reason that if the Longhorns had another 5 scholarships to give they'd be in the top 10. If they had 10 more, they'd be right there at the top again.
So chin up, Longhorn fans! Aggies and Sooners may be talking smack, but if you know how to read the numbers, you'll be able to give it right back.
