Texas coach Steve Sarkisian should dominate West Coast recruiting without Pac-12 | Bohls
Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian hit on it briefly when he said last week that with the dissolution of the Pac-12, more West Coast talent likely will be available to programs in the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12. And Sarkisian's California roots as a former USC and Washington head coach, as a USC assistant and as a former BYU quarterback along with new linebackers coach Johnny Nansen's time at Arizona will only grease the wheel for more West Coast blue-chippers possibly ending up in Austin.
Not all of those players — or the parents of said players — will be interested in that massive travel to Big Ten destinations or, in the case of Stanford and Cal, ACC locales.
In his first Texas classes, Sarkisian has already made his mark with 15 scholarship signees from Pac-12 country: eight from California and three from Arizona. He also culled two from Hawaii and one each from Washington and Colorado.
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He's lured talent like wide receiver Xavier Worthy (California), tight end Gunnar Helm (Colorado) and offensive lineman Brandon Baker (California), punter Ryan Sanborn (California via Stanford), receiver DeAndre Moore (California) and offensive tackle Malik Agbo (Washington) and quarterback Maalik Murphy (California), who since transferred to Duke.
With the Cardinal and Bears three time zones away from most ACC places, you half-wonder if that league should schedule some neutral-site conference games halfway in the neighborhood of new ACC member SMU and play games at Jerry World or Globe Life Field.
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Recruiting the West Coast
A look at Longhorns signees since 2021, Steve Sarkisian's first year at Texas:
2021: WR Xavier Worthy (Fresno, Calif.) — a national top-100 prospect who shined all three years at Texas
2021: CB Jamier Johnson (Pasadena, Calif.) — appeared in 18 games his first two years (special teams, mostly), then transferred to Indiana at the end of 2022
2021: QB Cole Lourd (Los Angeles, Calif.) — Lourd has yet to see any game action, but is still on the UT roster
2021: TE Gunnar Helm (Englewood, Colo.) — with Ja'Tavion Sanders' departure, is in the mix for significant snaps
2022: QB Maalik Murphy (Gardena, Calif.) — was the nation's No. 9 overall QB prospect that year; now at Duke
2022: ATH Larry Turner-Gooden (Mission Hills, Calif.) — defensive back has gotten into five career games so far
2022: OT Malik Agbo (Federal Way, Wash.) — got into all 14 games this past season as a blocking TE and one catch i the Sugar Bowl
2022: DL Zac Swanson (Phoenix, Ariz.) — reserve has made it into three games so far in two seasons
2022: LS Lance St. Louis (Gilbert, Ariz.) — has settled into the starting deep snapper's role
2023: LB Tausili Akana (Lehl, Utah) — made it into one game this past season (Rice) and reshirted
2023: WR DeAndre Moore Jr. (Bellflower, Calif.) — in Texas' rebuilt receivers room, he'll look for more opportunities this fall
2023: TE Spencer Shannon (Santa Ana, Calif.) — redshirted this season after not getting into any games
2024: OT Brandon Baker (Santa Ana, Calif.) — the nation's No. 3 tackle prospect and possible future fixture at left tackle
2024: WR Aaron Butler (Calabasas, Calif.) — one of four five- or four-star WRs signed this year
2024: RB Christian Clark (Phoenix, Ariz.) — the No. 6 recruit in the state of California this year
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian should thrive recruiting in West
