How Steve Sarkisian's first two full classes compare to those of his predecessors

By the time Steve Sarkisian became Texas’ head coach almost two years ago, most of the Longhorns’ 2021 class had already signed letters of intent thinking that Tom Herman would be their coach. Sarkisian had a little work to do upon his arrival to complete the 2021 class, but his efforts toward recruiting some of the top 2022 prospects from Texas and around the country began in short order.

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Thanks to tenacious cycle-long recruiting efforts, plus some good fortune via NIL announcements, the coaching carousel, and the transfer portal, Texas finished the 2022 cycle with the No. 5 class according to the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings. The 28-man group included five-stars Kelvin Banks and DJ Campbell, 18 four-stars, and eight three-star prospects.

That continued a trend seen at Texas under Sarkisian’s two immediate predecessors, Herman and Charlie Strong. They also had strong recruiting efforts in their first two full cycles.

Strong engaged in some of the fiercest recruiting battles in recent memory with Kevin Sumlin and the Texas A&M Aggies throughout the 2015 cycle. Thanks to late wins like Malik Jefferson, Chris Warren, Holton Hill, Anthony Wheeler, Kris Boyd, John Burt, Ryan Newsome, Davante Davis, Cecil Cherry, Kai Locksley, PJ Locke, DeAndre McNeal, and — yes — Devonaire Clarington, Texas finished with the No. 9 class in the On3 Consensus Team Rankings.

Strong followed the 2015 class up with a 2016 class that included Devin Duvernay, Erick Fowler, Patrick Hudson, Brandon Jones, Jeff McCulloch, Collin Johnson, Shane Buechele, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Malcolm Roach, Chris Brown, and Zach Shackelford. The 2016 class finished No. 8 in the On3 Consensus Team Rankings. Unfortunately for Strong, he would not be able to sign a 2017 class.

Herman arrived in November of 2016 and worked to piece together the 2017 class. The 2018 cycle would be where he would make hay, utilizing his Houston-area connections in a loaded class for the Space City.

BJ Foster, Caden Sterns, Jalen Green, DeMarvion Overshown, Brennan Eagles, Anthony Cook, Joseph Ossai, and Keontay Ingram, plus quarterbacks Cam Rising and Casey Thompson, were part of Texas’ No. 3-ranked haul. Coaching turnover at Texas A&M paired with the first year of the early signing period gave Texas a massive advantage in recruiting the 2018 class.

Herman and company followed that up with another No. 3-ranked class in 2019, headlined by Jordan Whittington.

While all four of those classes were quality on paper, constant coaching turnover and lack of development from the coaches who remained didn’t allow for those classes to live up to their top 10, or even top five, billing.

Thirteen of the 30 class of 2015 signees didn’t finish their careers at Texas, and a handful never even made it to campus. It was worse in 2016, as 18 of 28 didn’t finish out what they started on the Forty Acres. Again, much of that was due to the coaching transition from Strong to Herman.

Similar held true for Herman’s 2018 and 2019 classes. Seventeen of 28 in 2018 didn’t end their careers at Texas. The 2019 class is far worse, with just Jordan Whittington, David Gbenda, Roschon Johnson, and T’Vondre Sweat having suited up for the Longhorns this year out of a class of 25.

Herman’s recruiting brought in higher-ranked classes than Strong. Sarkisian’s recruiting has brought in classes similar to Herman’s best at UT.

Where Sarkisian has a chance to separate himself, is by keeping the talent from his classes on campus. A confluence of events led to many members of those 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019 classes leaving Austin earlier than required.

The on-field results will determine if Sarkisian is able to do that, but so far he is recruiting at an elite level. If he is able to bring a third consecutive top-five class to Texas in 2024, he’ll have put the Longhorn roster in its best condition in arguably over a decade and do something neither Strong nor Herman were able to achieve.