Longhorn signee Tausili Akana excited for his role at Texas, shares unique detail about his recruitment
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — 2023 Lehi (Utah) Skyridge EDGE and Texas signee Tausili Akana is playing a little out of position during practices for the All-American Bowl. Due to rules of the high school all-star game, defenses are required to play a classic 4-3 with no blitzing allowed.
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Akana is listed as a linebacker for the game, set to begin Saturday at noon in the Alamodome live on NBC and Peacock. That means his pass rush opportunities will be extremely rare this week considering he’s playing off-ball linebacker.
When he gets to Texas, where his sister Keonilei just won the 2022 NCAA volleyball championship with the Longhorns, he’ll slide into a specified role that better fits his skill set. It’s termed DPR, or designated pass rusher.
“Coming off the edge, sealing the edge, and just going to get the quarterback is one thing I love,” Akana said Tuesday. “Playing into space is another thing I like to do. A lot of O-linemen look at me and they’re like, ’oh, who is this guy? He’s kind of skinny for a D-lineman.’ But once I get out there, I tear things up.”
Akana is listed as the No. 1 player in Utah according to the On3 Consensus. He had 70 tackles for Skyridge during the 2022 season, including 14.5 sacks, 21.0 TFL, 22 pressures, and a forced fumble. He had plenty of schools after his services, with Colorado, Oklahoma, LSU, Texas A&M, and Utah among his finalists.
But there were two main aspects that drew him to Texas. First was what he saw on the field from Steve Sarkisian’s program in Austin.
”Definitely the position they have me at, the Jack, and the culture they’re building there with the new class coming in and the class they have there already,” Akana said.
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The other aspect was not just off the field, but off the mainland United States. Before moving to Utah, Akana lived in Laie, Hawaii on the north shore of the island of Oahu. An important member of his family remained there, and Texas made sure to see her during the recruiting process.
”There was only one head coach who came out to Hawaii to see my mom, which was special to me,” Akana said. “It was Sark.”
During his recruitment, Akana said he was recruited by fellow Laie native and Texas signee Liona Lefau and another fellow signee in Anthony Hill. Akana said Hill was recruiting him to Texas A&M while Hill was committed to the Aggies, but the pitch became burnt orange in color once Hill committed to Texas.
Between communication from Hill, Lefau, Sarkisian, and Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, the Texas message was received and Akana chose to continue an Akana family tradition in Austin.
Akana is ranked as the No. 102 overall prospect, the No. 16 EDGE, and the No. 1 player in Utah according to the On3 Consensus. On3 ranks Akana as the No. 286 overall prospect, the No. 29 EDGE, and the No. 2 player in Utah.
