Texas continues to pursue 5-star Florida safety commit Xavier Filsaime

Texas already has three five-star commitments in the 2024 On3 Industry Football Rankings, but the Longhorns aren’t stopping there.

Two of UT’s elite commitments come from the offensive side of the ball, while Five-Star Plus+ EDGE Colin Simmons is the only top-32 prospect on defense in this class for Steve Sarkisian and Co. Eyes are on the secondary now, where Texas is pushing hard to flip McKinney (Texas) five-star safety and Florida commit Xavier Filsaime.

The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder hasn’t yet made it to Texas for a visit this fall, but InsideTexas.com senior recruiting analyst Gerry Hamilton says that McKinney is talking to the Longhorns more frequently as December approaches.

“He lives in the state of Texas, his father is in McKinney. And while his mother lives in Orlando, here’s the thing: He has really started talking to Texas a lot,” Hamilton told On3’s Josh Newberg on the Inside Scoop recruiting show. “He’s looking for that opportunity to be an impact safety. He’s scheduled to be at USC this weekend, we’ll see if he makes that trip. I think he will show up on Texas’ campus before he graduates high school in December and signs on the 20th. I think Texas has a shot with Filsaime, we’ll see if Florida can hold them off.”

Longhorns have ramped up their efforts in a big way

After not pushing for Filsaime the first time around and seeing him commit to the Gators, Texas has turned their attention in a big way to him since the beginning of October. The Longhorns extended him an offer prior to the Red River Rivalry game, and he was on hand to watch the showdown between Texas and Oklahoma.

Since then, defensive backs coach Blake Gideon has made him a top flip priority.

“I like Coach Gideon,” Filsaime told Inside Texas last week. “I like what he’s got going. We talked on the phone a few days after he offered me. He was just telling me why he offered me so late. Seeing it from his perspective, it made sense. Seeing it from my perspective, it was like ‘why so late?’ Finally talking to him, I got the why.”

Filsaime is the No. 30 ranked prospect in the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He checks in as the No. 2 safety in the 2024 cycle, and the No. 7 ranked prospect in the Lone Star State.