BASTROP, Texas – National Signing Day for college football isn’t exactly what it used to be. These days, we see a lot of high school stars make the decision on where they’ll be attending school and playing football as early as September. The 2020 National Signing Day earlier this month was a little quieter than usual, but Texas received a last-second surprise when five-star defensive end Alfred Collins chose to join the Longhorns over a handful of powerhouse teams. If you just look at the pure size of this high-school standout, you’ll get an idea of what the Texas native will bring to the ‘Horns next year.
For now, let’s take a look at their newest recruit and his potential. Here are five important things to know about your newest Longhorn, Alfred Collins.
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1. Born Texan
Out of the nineteen recruits that Texas has signed this offseason, 18 of them went to high school in Texas. Tom Herman prides himself on acquiring his talent from in-state. His recruiting methods include attending (personally or through an assistant) high school football games of young Texas stars, letting them know that they’re on the Longhorn’s radar, and bringing them in when it comes time to sign. All but one person from the Longhorns 2020 recruiting class played high school football in Texas…and Texas high school football is no joke. Herman was able to persuade Collins to put on the burnt orange and Texas has just added even more weight to an already-stout defensive line.
2. Decisions, decisions
Defensive end Alfred Collins had his eyes set on playing college football in the state that he grew up in. Similar to Bijan Robinson, Collins received offers from many top-tier schools. This list includes Alabama, Oklahoma, Baylor, and Texas A&M. So, not only was Herman able to steal a recruit from two of the top football programs in the entire country, but he beat out two other Texas teams in doing so. Just because Collins wanted to stay in-state didn’t mean it was going to be a cakewalk to make him a Longhorn. Persuading someone to turn down Alabama and Oklahoma is hard enough, but Collins choosing the ‘Horns over the Aggies and Bears showed that the hub of Texas college football still resides in Austin.
3. A man amongst boys
He might be sitting in a high school classroom right now, but Alfred Collins will immediately become one of the biggest and strongest players on this entire roster once he reports to the team. At 6 feet and 5 inches, Collins is one of the 3 tallest players on the Texas defense and his 284-pound body should certainly help him bulldoze some offensive linemen. If he can get his mechanics right and stay in shape, this unit of a football player is going to be a major source of help for this defense.
4. Defensive help
The 2020 offseason has been one that has revolved around rebuilding the Texas Longhorns defense. Not only did the Texas defense just “struggle” at times last year, they were the sole reason Texas lost many of their games and were quite honestly embarrassing to watch at times. The addition of one five-star defensive lineman might not completely flip the switch, but between Texas’ additions on that side of the ball and swapping Todd Orlando for Chris Ash at defensive coordinator, the weakest part of the 2019 Texas team appears to be improving at a fast rate for the 2020 season.
5. It’s been awhile
While the school’s recruiting has continued to be a strong point for the team year-in and year-out, it’s been nearly 10 years since Texas signed a five-star defensive lineman. Current New Orleans Saint Malcolm Brown was the last five-star lineman to wear the Texas Longhorns uniform on the defensive side of the ball. In the Big 12, games are won in the trenches. One of Texas’ biggest issues last year was their inability to put pressure on the quarterback. The addition of their first five-star defensive lineman since 2012 should help fix this problem, but how fast Collins can adjust to the speed of play will play a factor in just how much he can help this line.
With their recruits for next season locked in, the Longhorns will finish with a Top-10 recruiting class yet again. Whether they can improve on their mediocre season from last year will be determined when the season kicks off in September.