Wednesday was a potentially huge day for Texas recruiting
A lot of work goes into recruiting. Fans notice the big win of gaining a commitment, but staffs must experience numerous incremental wins along the way to earning a commitment. Those wins don’t just occur overnight.
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First thing’s first, an offer needs to be extended.
Two 2026 quarterback offers went out
Steve Sarkisian is known for being quite selective and judicious when it comes to making quarterback offers. The fact he handed out two on Monday should have caught every recruitnik’s attention.
In 2023, Sarkisian only offered Arch Manning. Sark and AJ Milwee were laser focused on the the NOLA product and everyone knows how that played out, especially IT readers.
In 2024, Sark offered three ‘elite’ prospects in the event Texas missed on Manning and needed a ‘can’t miss’ quarterback in that class. Texas likely would have landed five-star Julian Sayin if it missed on Manning. With Manning in the 2023 class, Sark went all in on underrated Trey Owens and landed his commitment with little fanfare. Despite his lower ranking, Owens has significant upside as a pocket passer.
For 2025, Texas offered Bryce Underwood and KJ Lacey. Julian Lewis is also reflected as a 2025 offer but he reclassified from 2026. Underwood committed to LSU, Lacey is committed to Texas.
So, you can see, from Sark’s quarterback hit rate it’s big news when he offers a signal caller. On Monday he and Millwee offered Jared Curtis and Troy Huhn.
Curtis, from Nashville, is one of the top rated players in the entire 2026 class. Huhn, from Southern California, has not been rated by any of the networks. With Sark’s stamp of approval, that will surely change soon.
Huhn, who is mentored by Maalik Muprhy‘s quarterback trainer Danny Hernandez, camped at Texas last June and visited for the Kansas State game this season. Showing that much willingness to travel to Texas surely played a big part in receiving his offer.
We’ll see if more offers go out, but based on Sark’s track record, there’s a decent chance his quarterback commit for the 2026 class will come from this duo.
Riley Pettijohn’s Top 6
It’s an easy case to make that Riley Pettijohn is one of the top three most important defensive prospects in the 2025 class for Texas. I’d throw also throw in Zion Williams and Dorian Brew, though I don’t speak for the Texas staff.
A linebacker from McKinney, Pettijohn is a terrific talent in his own right, but also factor in need after Texas took only one, albeit very good, linebacker in 2024.
Pettijohn broke down his top schools with On3’s Hayes Fawcett:
I like Georgia because I’ve always watched and like them growing up. Coach Schuman and his background definitely is making me consider them.
I like Ohio State because they are always top 5 in developing players and producing draft picks and I have a good relationship with the coach too.
With FSU I love the direction they are going in and everything Coach Norvell stands for and I have a good relationship with Coach Shannon as well.
USC is up there because I like what they are building right now and Coach Entz and Coach Lynn have great coaching backgrounds.
I like Texas and my relationship with Coach Sark is good. Coach Nansen also has a good coaching background too.
Texas A&M really surprised me in a good way and then bringing in Coach Bateman was a plus, especially since he recruited me at Florida.
– Riley Pettijohn to On3’s Hayes Fawcett
With all schools seemingly equal there isn’t a ton to discern from those quotes. Having spoken with Pettijohn, he’s not a big talker.
However, there is some optimism on the Texas side and there has been for a while. Next step will be to get Pettijohn back on campus, perhaps two more times with one being an official visit.
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Pettijohn ranks as the No. 27 player in the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He also tabs in as the No. 3 linebacker and the No. 7 player in the state of Texas.
