Steve Sarkisian on what each member of his 2024 class brings to the table

After signing a 22-man high school class ranked No. 5 in the country on national signing day, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was excited to talk on Wednesday about every one of the additions made to his roster.

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“I thought our staff did a heck of a job of a few things here with this class,” Sarkisian said. “One, recognizing the needs that we had on the team, some immediate needs and some long term needs predicated on where our depth issues might have been on the roster. Two, identifying players who fit who we are, who fit physically and the way they play, their style of play. But also fit character-wise. These are really good young men. They fit in our culture.”

Throughout an almost hour-long session with the media, Sarkisian spoke about each player who signed up to join the Longhorns ahead of their first season in the SEC.

EDGE Colin Simmons

“I keep saying ‘put them in a lab,’ but (it would) spit out Colin Simmons as an edge rusher. What he’s been able to do at Duncanville, obviously a high-profile recruit, but then you get to meet him and what a humble young man. And what he means to his family, I hope some of you got to watch the video about him or read any stories about him, his family, his brother. Just a great young man. But he can rush the passer and he knows how to get to the quarterback. He’s an NFL pass-rusher. We’ve talked about how we’re trying to build our defense, I think he fits beautifully in that.”

OT Brandon Baker

“Put him in a lab and spit out a left tackle, that’s what they look like. I feel like I’m watching Kelvin Banks all over again. I’ve known Brandon a long time. Awesome, awesome, young man. Very humble, but extremely hard working. Plays the game the right way coming from Mater Dei. An awesome program that way.”

WR Ryan Wingo

“We’re getting your prototypical, if you could go in a lab, how would you want to make a receiver. 6-2, 205. Great length. He has elite speed, great long speed. Unbelievable young man who comes from a great family. Really good high school program. Brother played in the NFL. We’re getting a football player I think is going to fit in well to our system.”

DB Xavier Filsaime

“Playmaker. This guy was born to be a DB. He’s got coverage ability. He’ll hit you. He’s got a really high football IQ. Really good awareness about him. Coming off the injury from his junior year, I think, showed himself to really be healthy and had a heck of a year at McKinney.”

CB Kobe Black

“Fantastic player. Again, we’ve been recruiting Kobe a long time. You can go back to Tre Wisner when he was at school there, to Jelani McDonald now on our team. Now, to get the third piece of that puzzle in Kobe, really versatile player. If you watch him now, the majority of his highlights this year were from the offensive side of the ball and what he did there. A guy who really is a three-position player. Can play corner, could play star if we needed him to. If we were really in a pinch, the guy could probably go play safety because he’s so versatile of a player. Great family. Brother is a heck of a player at Oklahoma State. Love his addition.”

RB Jerrick Gibson

“Jerrick Gibson is a real runner. This guy can run the ball coming out of IMG, another really good program. He is a physical runner. He’s a home run hitter. I think his ability to run between the tackles the way that we like to run the ball is a great fit. Culturally, just an awesome young man that’s going to fit really well into our culture.”

DB Wardell Mack

“What he did at John Ehret, same thing. You go to the school, the principal wants to talk about the person that he is, the leader that he is. Another really versatile player. This guy is tough. He is a football junkie. He loves the game. We hit a real home run right there.”

OL Daniel Cruz

“Interior offensive lineman. I think this guy has position flex. Can play guard. Can play center. Awesome young man. You go to the school, it’s all the stuff that I look for. I see the player on tape. I go to the school, they mention the human being. That’s the things that I’m looking for, that’s exactly who he is.”

DB Santana Wilson

“We all know his dad Adrian Wilson. Great player in the NFL, now an NFL executive in player personnel. This guy has got the genetics with the length. The skill set to play corner. Could be a versatile player. His dad was a great All-Pro safety in the NFL. He’s got that high football IQ that we’re looking for and the versatility.”

DL D’antre Robinson

“D’antre Robinson, very similar (to Alex January) as well. This guy is well over 300 pounds, but the athleticism. You guys probably saw some clips earlier in the year of him catching touchdown passes with one-handed touchdown catches.”

EDGE Zina Umeozulu

“We have his older brother here. I think this guy is just scratching the surface. He’s going to grow into a very big man. He has got length. He defends the run well coming from a great program at Allen. Same thing, when I go to the school and I talk to the coach about Zina, for the first 10 minutes he didn’t talk about the player. He talked about the leader. He talked about the person. He talked about how he leads in their program and their offseason program.”

RB Christian Clark

“Fits who we are offensively. I jokingly said, I remember writing my report up on him, I wrote ‘Bijan Robinson?’ Because he almost looks like him. The way that he plays, the color of the uniforms. He runs the ball and has great balance and body control. He catches the ball extremely well out of the backfield. He’s an extremely humble young man. Great family. I just think he’s a great fit for what we do systematically, but also from a culture standpoint.”

WR Parker Livingstone

“Coming from a really good program at Lovejoy. I went and saw him play in person a year ago against Melissa and was extremely impressed. Myself and (Kyle) Flood were at the game. He’s got great length. He has great ball skills. The thing where he surprises you is he will run away from you in a hurry. He’s got a very high football IQ. I think we’re getting a very good player there.”

DB Jordon Johnson-Rubell

“Another really versatile player. Not the biggest guy in this group, but then you turn on the tape at IMG. One of the more physical players on that defense. Position flex. So much that he does, and a real leader. This guy is a natural leader and a great person as well. His family’s awesome.”

TE Jordan Washington

“Jordan Washington has got the ability to stretch the field vertically. He can make all the plays. The passing tree is unlimited for him. It was a position that we felt like we needed to fulfill. The way we play our tight ends, we’ve kind of got that in-line tight end and the tight end that we like to flex out and move around. Jordan gives us the ability to do that. He’s got the basketball background that you look for. Great ball skills. Great length. I think he’s going to become a really big man.”

WR Freddie Dubose Jr.

“I think we’re getting a really competitive young man that comes from a great program in Smithson Valley. Heck of a year. Went to the state championship game. I think we all can see Freddie’s competitiveness, playmaking ability, and one-on-one playmaking ability. We’re excited about what he brings.”

QB Trey Owens

“You guys know me well enough now. I do not recruit based on stars. No offense to anybody who works for any of the companies, but we try to trust our own evaluation. Trey’s been a guy that’s been very impressive to us over the last two years. We have been watching him. We had him in camp. We’ve watched him grow. We’ve watched him play really good football. Had an excellent senior season. Was the Houston Touchdown Club Offensive Player of the Year. I think some of you guys elevated him now to a four-star. Maybe you’re starting to see what we see. The guy’s a heck of a player. Had a couple of really good wins in the playoffs this year. We’re excited to have him.”

DT Alex January

“Alex January is unique. Obviously, coming from Duncanville — and what a program they have and the job that he did. You really look at a guy who’s 6-5, 320 pounds and the guy was a baseball player all the way through his junior year of high school. Every offseason, he didn’t do any weight training because he was playing travel baseball. Two things. Big upside, he finally spent an entire year in the weight room at Duncanville. It talks to the athleticism that this big guy has, the hand-eye coordination and the foot coordination. When you watch him play and the athleticism and the explosiveness that he plays with, we think this guy has got huge upside. Obviously, a dominant year, a player of the year in 6A on the defensive side of the ball.”

OL Nate Kibble

“I got to see him play as a really young player when I was going to evaluate a couple players a couple of years ago. I said that kid’s going to be a player when he starts growing up. He has really grown into himself and his body. Physical guy. Position flex for us. Coming from a really good program. Atascocita has really grown as a program, and he’s been one of the key components to that.”

DT Melvin Hills

“Melvin Hills comes from a great program, Lafayette Christian. He’s a worker. He’s a grinder. We had him at camp. We know what he looks like. He had a very productive senior season. He became a real leader on that team. I think he’s made of the right stuff on that front.”

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P Michael Kern

“We think he’s the best punter in the country. We think this guy has got a skill set for the future. We were fortunate this year with (Ryan) Sanborn coming in as a stop gap, as a transfer. Now we’re getting a high school kid that we’re looking forward to. Think he’s got a bright future for us.”

Note: Sarkisian was not able to mention LB Tyanthony Smith, who signed with Texas after Sarkisian’s press conference on Wednesday.