In the 14 years that Mack Brown has been in Austin, he has dealt with recruiting one way. Offer kids from high school on Junior Days, have them commit immediately and wrap up recruiting early. But in recent history, Mack Brown has been changing up how he recruits.
First it was offering high school recruits in the fall of their senior seasons, then accepting junior college transfers, then he made offers to juniors on Junior Day but then told them to not commit on the spot. Now he has changed the game again.
On August 2nd, 2012, Mack Brown and his staff decided to make official offers to Juniors before their Junior football season begin.
The commitment from today was from Abilene Cooper Wide Receiver Lorenzo Joe.
Official offers went out to the following recruits:
Mount Pleasant wide receiver KD Cannon
Coppell defensive lineman Solomon Thomas
Mansfield Timberview safety Brandon Simmons (Hornsports.com confirmed at 5pm today before any pay site)
Mansfield Timberview safety Ed Paris
Arlington Bowie safety Edwin Freeman
La Porte linebacker Hoza Scott
Aldine Ike running back Donald Catalon
Lancaster athlete Nick Harvey
Arlington Martin defensive end Myles Garrett
Beaumont Ozen defensive back Tony Brown
Denton Guyer quarterback Jerrod Heard
Lewisville Hebron defensive back Jamal Adams
Fort Worth All Saints fullback Daniel Gresham
Fort Worth All Saints offensive lineman Demetrius Knox
Dallas Bishop Dunne defensive back Nick Watkins
Sources are also indicating that Donald Catalon will be the 2nd commitment for the Longhorns in the 2014 class. Some believe it will happen before the end of the weekend.
Recruits like Lewisville defensive back Jamal Adams are excited about the change. When I asked him how he feels about the new official Texas offer, he replied “blessed to have it!” When asked if he had any favorites, he said “all of them.”
This is a seismic change for Mack Brown, he is not one for making radical changes, but the writing was on the wall for the 2014 class and it wasn’t positive for the Longhorns. A Texas offer is a big deal and the “approved for an offer” was pointless to many in the 2014 class. Now that the ball is rolling for the 2014 class, let’s hope Texas can regain some momentum.
