Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer has had quite a bit of success in recruiting the state of Texas in recent years, though never to the degree of the 2017 recruiting cycle, when the Buckeyes landed three of the Lone Star State's top six prospects.
That inability to keep top prospects home — only one of the Top 20 players in the state signed with the Longhorns earlier this year — and a disastrous 16-21 record led to Charlie Strong's dismissal. Now former Buckeyes offensive coordinator Tom Herman, after a two-year stint at Houston, is tasked with turning around the once-proud program.
There was a time when Texas could land any in-state prospect it wanted, but that's not the case anymore. The Longhorns' struggles on the field have allowed coaches from all over the country to come in and pluck elite talent — something Herman knows all about from his days in Columbus.
"I think the doors to out-of-state recruiting have been opened a little bit, and I kick myself every day because at Ohio State, I think we had a little bit of something to do with that,” Herman told reporters at the Big XII Media Days on Tuesday. “When I came down here and signed J.T. Barrett and Dontre Wilson and Demetrius Knox and Mike Mitchell, I think that was a little bit different than what had been done in the past here in the state of Texas.
“I think a lot of people feel like they can — especially when Texas is down, other schools smell blood in the water a little bit,” he continued. “When we get Texas back, I don't think that you're going to. I can't imagine a scenario where you'd ever see not one team from the state of Texas in the top 25, especially — as well as some of the other non-Power Five schools are playing in our state.”
The Longhorns are doing quite well thus far in recruiting prospects from the Class of 2018, and sit sixth in the 247Sports Composite Team Rankings after landing commitments from four of the top 11 in-state prospects. But if the program doesn't show significant improvement in Herman's first year, maybe that mass exodus will continue — I mean, the current recruiting class was in preschool the last time Texas raised the national championship trophy.
