Skip to main content
Texas

Video Reheat: Why Texas Is Going Nationwide for Elite D-Line Talent

by: RT Young06/24/25
Kenny Baker, Alex January
Kenny Baker, Alex January (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

Texas is expanding its recruiting footprint to chase the best defensive linemen across the country, and for good reason. In this episode of The Reheat, we break down the strategy behind going national and what it means for the Longhorns’ future in the trenches.

[Sign up for Inside Texas TODAY and get the BEST Longhorns scoop!]

Call your real estate expert, Laura Baker, at 512-784-0505 or email her at [email protected].

David McClellan is a fiduciary financial advisor and partner with Forum Financial. He works broadly and deeply with his clients as a financial life coach. He specializes in financial planning and has contributed numerous articles to Kiplinger on the topic of retirement tax bombs. For a free intro consult, contact him at [email protected] or 312-933-8823.

The video hosted by Joe Cook and RT Young on the Inside Texas Football YouTube channel delves into the current state and evolution of defensive tackle recruiting at the University of Texas under coach Steve Sarkisian. Texas has recently acquired three promising defensive tackles—Corey Wells, Vodney Cleveland, and Dylan Berymon—from regions that the Longhorns historically have not heavily recruited, such as Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

This shift to a more national recruiting strategy marks a departure from previous coaches who primarily focused on in-state talent, constrained partly by relationships with Texas high school coaches and regional loyalties. The rise in Texas’s NFL pipeline success, notably at defensive tackle, has strengthened their recruiting sales pitch nationwide, especially in the SEC-rich Southeast and the West Coast, thanks to Sarkisian’s connections and coaching staff. The discussion is supported by data visualizations analyzing the birth states of first-round NFL defensive tackle draft picks from the last 15 years, illustrating a strong Southeastern and California dominance, which aligns well with Texas’s new recruiting focus.

Join Inside Texas for Market-Leading Texas Longhorns Football coverage!

InsideTexas.com provides just what passionate Texas fans expect: Market-leading coverage of Longhorns athletics and recruiting.

Join the best Texas fan community and receive all the benefits that come with it:

  • Elite team and recruiting coverage of the program you love
  • Immediate access to any Longhorns break news
  • Exclusive insider practice reports and year-round team info as well as board Q&A’s with IT staff
  • High level discourse with the most passionate and informed Longhorns fans across multiple board forums.
  • Market leading team analysis for those who are looking to increase their understanding of Steve Sarkisian and Pete Kwiatkowski’s preferred concepts
  • So much more!

SIGN UP and ensure no Longhorns information gets by you: Join Inside Texas community today!

Talk about this story and many more with fellow Longhorn diehards on the Members Only forum.

You may also like