Texas received stamps of approval from NFL families in its three straight top-five classes
In three consecutive recruiting classes, Steve Sarkisian‘s Texas football program has received stamps of approval from four different NFL families.
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In the 2022 class, the Longhorns added defensive back and On3 five-star Terrance Brooks via a signing day flip from Ohio State. Terrance is the son of Chet Brooks, who not only enjoyed a multi-year career in the NFL but also was a key part of Texas A&M’s Wrecking Crew defense in the mid-1980s. The Longhorns also signed long snapper Lance St. Louis, son of 10-year Cincinnati Bengals long snapper Brad St. Louis, in that 2022 group.
The 2023 cycle saw Sarkisian add No. 1 overall recruit Arch Manning to his program even after a 5-7 season. Though Arch’s father, Cooper, never played in the NFL, he’s been in football circles long enough with his brothers Peyton and Eli and his father Archie to be considered inherently knowledgeable about high level football. Of course, Archie was also a part of that process, as Sarkisian’s comments in April illustrate.
More recently in the 2024 cycle, four-star cornerback Santana Wilson, son of former All-Pro defensive back and current Carolina Panthers vice president of player personnel Adrian Wilson, signed with the Longhorns out of Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The parental seal of approval is always significant in college football recruiting.
When those parental and familial seals come from people closely affiliated with the highest levels of the sport? That’s a strong indication Sarkisian is doing something right in Austin.
Those families have unique insight into what goes into healthy organizations and being a successful football player. Every family can instill discipline, and an overwhelming majority of families who have sent kids into Sarkisian’s program have done so.
Plus, there are families who played college sports who have sons on the Texas roster. Cole Hutson‘s father Scott played baseball for the 1988 College World Series runner-up Arizona State Sun Devils, who won 60 games and even swept Texas in Austin. Longhorn baseball legend Brooks Kieschnick sent his son, Brooks Kieschnick Jr., to Austin as a walk-on offensive lineman. Brian Vasek, father of freshman EDGE Colton Vasek, played for the Longhorns in the mid-1990s
But the NFL families are keenly aware of the type of dedication and effort needed to succeed on the gridiron. In three straight classes, Sarkisian has won four different NFL families over in believing the Texas football program was the right place to develop their son into the best football player possible.
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Sarkisian’s ability to run a quality football program that appeals to NFL families should come as no surprise. His influences are some of the best to ever don a headset. Sarkisian played for one of college football’s best head coaches ever at BYU in LaVell Edwards. Prior to that, he set records at El Camino College under great junior college head coach John Featherstone.
In his coaching career, he worked for Pete Carroll during USC’s heyday. Sarkisian was under Nick Saban at Alabama during the revitalization of his career following his USC dismissal, even stepping in for the all-time great in 2020 when COVID-19 kept Saban off the sidelines for the Iron Bowl. Sarkisian even worked in the NFL for a handful of seasons, most recently with the Atlanta Falcons as offensive coordinator under head coach Dan Quinn.
Some greats have left their imprint on Sarkisian, who has used those lessons learned to shape his Texas program. The Longhorns are 12-1 and in the College Football Playoff because of Sarkisian’s application of that accrued coaching acumen.
It follows that families from all over Texas and the nation would buy into what Sarkisian has going in Austin.
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But for families with close, and even current, NFL associations to do the same? That speaks volumes, and it’s happened in each of the last three recruiting cycles.
