Recruiting

linemen Vernon Jackson and Bobby Brown.

Fisher will recruit even better in 2019 with a full cycle to work on in-state prospects. Texas A&M already holds four commitments from players on the 2019 Fabulous 55, including top-10 talents Brian Williams and Grant Gunnell.

The cycle is far from over and Texas doesn’t mind losing early battles. Herman tends to slow-play in recruiting and could proba- bly already have a five-man 2019 class if he liked to accept early commitments. Instead, he tends to offer fewer pros

pects than most and wait until they’re completely ready to commit before allowing it to go public.

Lack of Houston talent: The 2018 class set up per- fectly for Herman. The best players in the state hailed from the Houston area, and that’s Herman’s comfort zone as a recruiter. He built tre- mendous relationships with the coaching staffs in the city during his tenure at Houston and relied on those bonds throughout 2018.

Many of the signees in the class received early offers from Herman at UH and knew him for three years before signing with Texas.

That won’t be the case in 2019. Only three Houston-area players rank inside the top 10 of the new Fab 55, compared with eight in 2018. The Dallas-Fort Worth area experienced a down cycle in the 2018 class, but that’s not true in 2019.

For Texas to repeat its success in recruiting, Herman must find a way to effectively recruit DFW in a way he already recruits Houston. Programs such as Allen, Fort Worth Nolan Catholic and Dallas Bishop Dunne are loaded with talent Texas wants in 2019.

The 2018 class: Talent can be a double-edged sword in recruiting. On one hand, recruits want to compete for championships. On the other, those same players want to get on the field early. Texas is facing the challenge of recruiting against both. The Longhorns haven’t won a lot in recent years, and the 2018 class will give some prospects pause because of an overloading at certain positions such as cornerback and safety.

Teams such as Alabama and Ohio State jump these hurdles on a yearly basis. The next step for Herman and his program is to keep the pipelines hot. The Longhorns can’t simply wait on the 2018 class to cure the ills of the program. It’ll take more than one class to become a national championship contender.