77 days until Texas Football: 17-year-old Andre Cojoe prepares for his freshman season
Inside Texas is putting a new twist on long-time photographer Will Gallagher’s time-honored countdown to Texas football kickoff. In addition to Will’s great pictures, the Inside Texas staff will go through every player on the roster by jersey number and offer a season outlook on each, from five-star to walk-on.
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We’ll also look back at other greats to wear that day’s number, with special reverence to some of Texas’ best.
Today is 77 days until kickoff. No. 77 for the Longhorns this season will be worn by Andre Cojoe, a true freshman offensive lineman
Andre Cojoe season outlook
When Cojoe arrived at Texas as an early enrollee, he was 16 years old. He turned 17 a few days later, and began winter conditioning as a college freshman.
Cojoe won district MVP honors in 5A-5 during the 2022 season. An offensive lineman taking home honors for being the top player in a nine-team district? “My coaches are really surprised because they’ve never seen an offensive lineman become district MVP,” Cojoe told Inside Texas in December.
At 6-foot-6, 358-pounds, Cojoe fits Longhorn offensive line coach Kyle Flood‘s ‘large human’ specs. Cojoe’s youth indicates there’s still room for physical development considering he could be up to five or even six years younger than some of the players he lined up against during UT spring drills.
During those spring drills, Cojoe worked at left tackle but was often with the third team when media was allowed to view the first few minutes of practice. He could have some positional flexibility later in his career, but a lot of that depends on how he physically develops during what his only his age-17 season.
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At 6-foot-6, he may play a role on Texas’ field goal block but that’s a role more likely to go to players who are further along on their developmental clock. A redshirt year is in the cards for Cojoe, one that will help him as he grows and develops into his large-human frame.
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Andre Cojoe as a recruit
Cojoe was ranked as the No. 735 overall prospect, the No. 70 interior offensive lineman, and the No. 118 player in Texas in the On3 Industry Ranking, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services.
Recent player to wear No. 77: Patrick Vahe
Vahe played four seasons for the Longhorns and played in 48 career games with 45 starts. He earned 2015 freshman All-America kudos and honorable mention All-Big 12 honors in 2017 and 2018.
Vahe was named to the Outland Trophy preseason watch list in 2018, the same year he earned a spot on the watch list for the 2018 Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award.
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All-Americans to wear No. 77
Bill Atessis, DE, 1960 and 1970
Brad Shearer, DT, 1977
Kenneth Sims, DT, 1980 and 1981
Joe Cook co-authored this story
