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For all those Texas Longhorn fans that get caught up in national recruiting rankings, head football coach Tom Herman's first signing day on the 40 Acres may not be the best news. After missing on a few 11th hour recruits, UT's 18 man class has a composite ranking for 28th nationally. It's the worst ranking for the Longhorns since the services started tracking.
Herman says, "but I think to have a realistic expectation of a transition class that only signs 19, 20 guys, to be in the top 10, I mean that's silly. Are we going to be there next year? Absolutely."
That's not to say that Herman didn't bring some talent to Austin and it includes a couple local gems.
Westlake's 4 star quarterback Sam Ehlinger was an early enrollee who arrived on campus in December and Lake Travis tight end Cade Brewer is a great fit in the small transitional class.
ESPN ranks five UT recruits among the nation's top 300 led by Houston RB Toneil Carter.
Temple defensive end Ta'Quon Graham can get to the quarterback.
Ehlinger is joined by a couple 300 receivers although Montrell Estell will move to DB.
Gary Johnson also comes in as the top rated linebacker in junior college.
"Let's make one thing very clear, we recruit and sign kids at The University of Texas that we think can play for and win us National Championships. And that's what each and everyone of these kids was sign to do," says Herman. "Some may help us in the first year, some may need to be a couple of years developed. Again, we're Texas and we're going to get it back in terms of recruiting the way Texas should, in very short order."
Take that Texas at 28 is second only to Oklahoma among Big 12 teams. Baylor and Oklahoma State are not far behind.
Texas A&M is top 10 while Alabama tops the national rankings for a seventh straight year.