In this NIL and revenue-sharing era, traditionally strong programs on the recruiting trail have been elevated to another level if they have the resources in place. As soon as NIL entered the college football landscape, everyone pointed to the Texas schools, especially Texas A&M and the Longhorns, as schools that could dominate this era.
Coming into Saturday, the Texas A&M Aggies held the Nation's top ranked recruiting class with 5 5-star commitments while Texas lingered at 8th in the class with just 2 5-star commits after cornerback John Meredith opted to enroll a year early. While Texas A&M has the massive lead in the recruiting rankings, Texas made a move on Saturday Night to help close the gap.
Texas lands elite running back Landen Williams-Callis over Texas A&M
One of the biggest duels on the recruiting trail this year has been the battle for dominant running back Landen Williams-Callis out of Richmond, Texas. At times both Texas SEC schools have led for the highly touted recruit, and on Saturday, the Longhorns made a major splash landing the top-100 recruit.
🚨BREAKING🚨 Elite RB Landen Williams-Callis has committed to Texas🤘
— Rivals (@Rivals) August 2, 2026
Williams-Callis is the No. 3 RB in the 2027 class.
Read: https://t.co/mwrstc9HUs pic.twitter.com/6Vbxras9BM
Landen Williams-Callis has been absolutely dominant at the High School level, rushing for 7,554 yards and 133 touchdowns over the past three seasons. Once Williams-Callis' High School career is over, he'll go down as one of the most productive running backs in Texas High School history.
According to Rivals' Industry Recruiting Rankings, Landen Williams-Callis is the 49th ranked player in the Country, the 3rd ranked running back in the class, and the 5th ranked player in the state of Texas. At 5-foot-8 and 190 pounds, Williams-Callis is a smaller running back who uses his blend of speed and explosiveness to run away from defenses.
The recruiting win gives Texas a 5th top 100 recruit as Steve Sarkisian will look to close out this recruiting cycle with one of the best classes in the Country. The Longhorns also get another explosive weapon who can serve as an insurance policy if elite wide receiver Easton Royal ends up flipping to LSU.
The Longhorns lost a 5-star in this class with John Meredith joining the team a year early, and when you factor that into this cycle, Steve Sarkisian has been dominant. Texas now will need to focus on adding around the edges in this class, and ensuring the flips are held to a small number as this could be building block class for the program.
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