National Signing Day Recap As Texas Ascends to No. 1 in the Rankings

National Signing Day has pretty much come and gone with little intrigue remaining in the 2025 Texas class. To put it mildly, it was an exceptional day for Texas Football. Though not every thing went UT’s way today, the Horns did move up from No. 3 in the rankings to No. 1. There isn’t a recruinik among us who wouldn’t have signed up for this class. 

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I’ll offer much deeper thoughts in the coming days but for now let’s recap the successful day.

Florida men become Texas men

Some of the trepidation in recent weeks centered on Florida’s pursuit of two of Texas’ most important recruits — wide receiver Jaime Ffrench and defensive tackle Myron Charles. Ffrench and Charles were having none of the drama and were the first two to send their paperwork into Texas.

Ffrench is somewhat similar to Ryan Wingo while Charles is a very athletic interior defensive lineman. We all know how big of a need that position has been and continues to be for Texas.

Hit and miss

Horns fans have been waiting months for San Antonio athlete Michael Terry to pick his school and the day finally came as Texas held off Nebraska as expected. Terry provides Steve Sarkisian with a large athletic playmaker who could play running back, receiver, or perhaps eventually flex tight end. Shades of Lil’Jordan Humphrey.

As the No. 44 player in the country, Terry gave the class a nice bump.

One negative surprise was Tampa linebacker Kellen Wiley picking instate Miami. This one seemingly caught everyone off guard. Despite being the early favorite, Miami had trailed off as the Horns became the favorite. The Hurricanes showed tremendous kick at the end and were able to keep him home. 

If there’s a knock on this class, it’s that linebacker and defensive tackle didn’t hit targeted numbers, though a rather large DT target remains in Justus Terry.

A nervous moment or two 

There was some outside word that defensive tackle Josiah Sharma was wavering between Texas and USC. Though IT sources felt good about Sharma remaining in the class there was some chatter USC was making a move for the Northern California prospect. Like Charles, as a defensive tackle Sharma is a massive piece in the class. Both were must-get players.

With the miss on Wiley still on everyone’s mind, many were concerned over Elijah Barnes‘ status. Despite being one of the most steadfast commits in the class this tempestuous recruiting climate allows for negative thoughts to creep in. In the end, there was nothing to worry about. His random trip to Oregon earlier in the process sure didn’t ease people’s concerns, though. Did you see what Oregon did today?

Michael Fasusi to OU

There was some very recent back and forth in the recruitment between Oklahoma and Texas for five-star left tackle Michael Fasusi but Texas came up short. Part of me admires Fasusi’s resolve to stay committed to the Sooners. The other part thinks I should move on to the next section before I state the obvious. 

The most important aspect of today 

Everyone gets excited about new additions but most important for a staff is defending against poachers and that’s what the coaches were able to do today. Every player who entered the day committed signed with Texas. Yes, it would have been nice to pull off a flip or two, or to land Wiley, but, just as with the portal, you have got to keep your own people in the fold.

Who did they keep in the fold? In addition to players mentioned above, elite prospects like Edge Lance Jackson, tight end Nick Townsend, wide receiver Kaliq Lockett, esafety Jonah Williams, cornerback Kade Phillips and so many more.

This class is littered with future NFL Draft picks.

Can Texas hold onto the No. 1 ranking?

Did you know Texas plays Georgia twice this week? On Friday the two teams compete for five-star defensive tackle Justus Terry. On Saturday they compete for the SEC Championship.

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If Texas lands Terry it will finish with the No. 1 class. If not, it will finish with a very, very good class.