Melbourne, Florida Before defensive line coach Bo Davis left the Forty Acres in early January to join his former mater, LSU Tigers, defensive tackle Brandon Brown of Eau Gallie was committed to the Texas Longhorns for eighteen days.
After making his first trip to the Forty Acres in March and then his official visit to Austin on June 4, Brown stayed committed to the Longhorns for a further 177 days. However, on Friday, Brown switched to Davis and the Tigers in an announcement that was scheduled for Thursday, which always portended poorly for Texas and new position coach Kenny Baker.
Back in December, Brown and Davis had such a great relationship that Brown decided to commit to the Horns before he had ever been to Austin. Brown made an unofficial visit to Alabama in early March before making official visits to LSU, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and USC during the spring visit period, so his verbal commitment to Texas was as weak as it could get when Davis left.
When Brown was narrowing down his choice earlier this week, the Trojans were not among the final four. However, because Brown has now committed to the Tigers, the timing is not as important for the Longhorns, Sooners, and Volunteers.
Losing an early pledge who hadn’t even been to campus when that choice was made isn’t very notable in and of itself. For Texas, on the other hand, Brown’s choice comes after one of the worst recruiting runs for head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff with the Longhorns, going all the way back to the 5-7 season that nevertheless saw Sarkisian sign the top class in the country.
Despite hosting five of the top targets for Texas at defensive tackle entering the spring visit period, five of them have already committed to rival programs. This is not a good start to Baker’s first recruiting campaign at the Power Four level. Only DJ Sanders of Bellville is still single in that bunch.
Early Signing Day was rescheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 4. This means that Baker will have three less weeks to perfect the 2024 cycle at a position where quantity and quality are essential. He will have 152 days to sign Sanders and either trade for players who have already committed or present other defensive tackles for evaluations that usually happen in the spring or at summer camps.
Thus, even with the challenges of fostering relationships long after the majority of the competition in this cycle, defensive tackle recruiting under Baker is a disaster at the moment, despite the Longhorns’ less than optimal overall recruiting tendencies.
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