Texas Football Recruiting: Meet the Longhorns' 2015 Class

It was a wild race to the national signing day finish line as the Texas Longhorns inked the No. 12 signing class in the nation.

Second-year head coach Charlie Strong had a rocky start on the recruiting front and struggled to secure early commitments from some of the nation's elite talent. The Longhorns had 10 verbal commitments following the 6-6 regular season record and looked to be heading towards another lackluster signing class.

But Strong and his staff proved their willingness to battle it out until the end and finished with the No. 1 signing class in the Big 12.

"We knew we were not going to back down. We took it all the way up to the last day," Strong said Wednesday. "It was a total team effort for everyone involved and it's so great to see the way we ended with this class. The recruiting process always starts early, but you have to remember that signing day is the first Wednesday in February, so you just have to battle until then."

Name	Position	Star Rating
Kris Boyd	Defensive Back	4-star
DaVante Davis	Defensive Back	4-star
DeShon Elliott	Defensive Back	4-star
Holton Hill	Defensive Back	4-star
P.J. Locke	Defensive Back	3-star
Charles Omenihu	Defensive End	4-star
Quincy Vasser	Defensive End	3-star
Du'Vonta Lampkin	Defensive End	3-star
Cecil Cherry	Linebacker	4-star
Breckyn Hager	Linebacker	2-star
Malik Jefferson	Linebacker	5-star
Cameron Townsend	Linebacker	3-star
Anthony Wheeler	Linebacker	4-star
Brandon Hodges	Offensive Line	3-star
Ronnie Major	Offensive Line	3-star
Tristan Nickelson	Offensive Line	2-star
Garrett Thomas	Offensive Line	3-star
Patrick Vahe	Offensive Line	4-star
Connor Williams	Offensive Line	4-star
Kai Locksley	Quarterback	4-star
Matthew Merrick	Quarterback	3-star (Grayshirt)
Tristan Houston	Running Back	3-star
Kirk Johnson	Running Back	4-star
Chris Warren	Running Back	4-star
Devonaire Clarington	Tight End	4-star
John Burt	Wide Receiver	4-star
Gilbert Johnson	Wide Receiver	3-star
Deandre McNeal	Wide Receiver	3-star
Ryan Newsome	Wide Receiver	3-star

The Marquee Recruit Changed the Game

Recruiting cannot be an easy job when your team is coming off a losing season. It is even more difficult when the program you are trying to sell has not finished in the Top 25 since these prospects were in grade school.

The Longhorns needed to land a big-name recruit in the months leading up to national signing day to help gain momentum on the recruiting trail. Strong just so happened to get his wish when Malik Jefferson, the No. 1 outside linebacker in the country, announced his pledge to Texas.

The 5-star's commitment gave Texas the push it needed to sign other highly touted prospects, which ultimately led to the Longhorns finishing with one of the top 15 recruiting classes in the country.

"Anytime you're in the recruiting process, there has got to be a marquee player and that was Malik Jefferson for us," Strong said. "He jump-started the program when he got on board. He was able to sell the program. There were recruits who were sitting on the fence, and then when they saw Malik jump on board, some of them followed."

Jefferson is the first 5-star player Texas has signed since 2012. He is one of the most well-recognized names in his class but is far from the only athlete who has the chance to make a difference on the field in the coming years.

Best Linebackers in 2015?

Strong is often recognized as one of the best defensive minds in college football. He believes the only way to experience a championship level of success is to have a stout defense.

13 of the 29 Texas signees are on the defensive side of the ball, and many of these athletes have an opportunity to see the field early in their careers.

Of all of the position needs Texas fulfilled, the Longhorns signed arguably one of the best linebacker groups in 2015. Jefferson's commitment may overshadow some of the other linebackers in this class, but it does not mean he is their only talented linebacker heading into next season.

One of the more underrated players is 4-star Cecil Cherry. The Lakeland, Florida native is extremely athletic, plays with ferocity and is not afraid to knock people senseless on the field. Cherry fits the mold of the ideal player Strong wants on his defense and could surprise a lot of people when he puts on his Texas jersey.

4-star Anthony Wheeler is a big-bodied linebacker who has the versatility to play both on the inside and outside. Wheeler chose Texas over Alabama, Ole Miss, Michigan and many others.

Another talented linebacker—one who offers a different skill set than the others—is Cameron Townsend. The 6'1", 206-pound athlete adds speed to the position and has the ability to drop in coverage and play nickel. 

Texas desperately needed to add talent to the linebacker position. The Longhorns will look to replace veterans Jordan Hicks and Steve Edmond and there's a good possibility these youngsters could fill the void at linebacker.

A Flipping Good Class

Wednesday wrapped up one of the more exciting recruiting seasons in recent Texas football history. And a lot of the excitement revolved around the staff's ability to flip recruits.

Strong and Co. managed to convince nine prospects to flip from their commitments to other schools and sign with Texas. The Longhorns had successfully changed the minds of six prospects heading into the week of national signing day, and the flipping party continued through Wednesday morning.

Quarterback Kai Locksley was the first flip of the week. The 4-star athlete committed to Florida State last July, but that did not stop the coaching staff from continuing to recruit the dual-threat quarterback.

An in-home visit with the coaches sealed the deal for Texas, and Locksley announced his decision to decommit from the Seminoles and sign with the Longhorns Monday evening.

As the fax machines warmed up early Wednesday morning, a buzz began to circulate that Strong was not finished with some remaining targets that were verbally committed to other universities.

The first flip of the day came when 3-star defensive back P.J. Locke, who had been committed to Oregon since last July, announced his pledge to the Longhorns. What's interesting about Locke's decision to sign with Texas is the limited amount of time it took the Longhorns to get in the mix.

Texas extended an offer to Locke Sunday, to which he initially declined. But after speaking with people close to him, the Beaumont, Texas athlete, who had offers from 35 schools across the country, changed his mind.

Locke was one of two signing-day flips for the Longhorns. The second was 3-star wide receiver Ryan Newsome.

Texas was one of two programs in consideration for the speedy athlete. But on Jan. 23, he announced his commitment to UCLA.

Newsome looked incredibly torn when he made his decision to play for the Bruins. He was visibly upset and extremely emotional, even as he put on the UCLA cap. It was apparent the wide receiver was not 100 percent solid in his decision, so the Texas staff continued to recruit him.

Strong waited a few days before he re-opened the lines of communication with Newsome and ultimately convinced the speedster to sign his letter of intent to play for the Longhorns.

"Sometimes we forget that they're [recruits] 17 and 18 [years old]. And if they make a decision, you have to keep battling for them and sell your program and sell what you have. That's what our staff did," Strong said of his success flipping committed players. 

"Our staff was relentless. We had guys who just kept going and going, and they were not going to take no for an answer. You can't take no for an answer until the fax comes across your desk or it goes somewhere else. You can't take no. You just have to keep battling."

Adding Playmakers on Offense

The Texas offense was kryptonite to the Longhorns' success in 2014. Texas lacked big-play guys and had zero depth at the quarterback position.

The obvious need for the Longhorns continues to be under center. Texas has not had competition at the quarterback position for a number of years, which is why adding Locksley to the mix is huge for the Longhorns.

But a quarterback can only be so good if he doesn't have weapons around him. Strong made it a point to find talented skill players to help rebuild the struggling Texas offense.

Newsome is one of the fastest athletes Texas signed and has the potential to be that big-play wide receiver the Longhorns have not had for many years. Texas also filled the need of the long, athletic wide receiver in John Burt, Deandre McNeal and Gilbert Johnson.

Credit: Taylor Gaspar

One of the more overlooked players on national signing day was tight end Devonaire Clarington. A 4-star monster from Miami, Florida, Clarington was the first high school tight end Texas has signed since 2011. At 6'5" and 224 pounds, Clarington will have the chance to play immediately and could potentially revive a position that has been rather non-existent for Texas since in 2008.

Running back Kirk Johnson has the opportunity to replace Malcolm Brown on offense. Johnson is an all-purpose back who is very disciplined, has good vision on the field and can run the ball with power. He also has a great ability to block, which is a trait that can be difficult to find in elite running backs.

Joining Johnson is Chris Warren, who made his decision to sign with the Longhorns Wednesday. The 4-star running back is a big, powerful athlete and was one of the nation's most sought-after backs in 2015.

Overall, the Longhorns added much-needed talent on the offensive side of the ball and many of the signees will have the opportunity to see playing time from the moment they arrive in Austin.

Building the Foundation for the Future

Texas entered December with a .500 record on the field and a lack of verbal commitments for the 2015 class. It was nearly impossible not to think the Longhorns were going to struggle getting any of the nation's top prospects due to the issues Texas displayed on the football field in 2014.

But Strong and his assistant coaches were determined to fight it out until the very end in hopes of signing players who could help the Longhorns build a foundation for the future. The coaches did not focus on what happened on the field in 2014, rather they continued to stress the future on the recruiting front.

"I'm very simple. When I go into a house, I talk about our mission. Our mission number one is to see the young men graduate. Number two, we need to go win football games. The standard here is never to lose seven games. That will never be what we are looking to get done here," Strong said.

"The third thing is to talk about making them a better person. I talk about the core values all the time because I know that's how a lot of them are raised. I tell them that they have a chance to walk into the best program in the country, and they have a chance to put their footprint and handprint on it. They can watch it change and be a part of that change."

Wednesday marked the end of Strong's first complete recruiting cycle as the Longhorns head coach. The journey to the finish line had many ups and downs and featured a few big misses for the Longhorns. But Texas ultimately ended on a positive note and signed a class that could one day be recognized as the foundation of returning the Longhorns back to the top of the college football ranks.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

Recruiting rankings via Rivals.com.

Taylor Gaspar is Bleacher Report's featured columnist covering the Texas Longhorns. Follow Taylor on Twitter: @Taylor_Gaspar.