Jackson Jeffcoat went burnt orange this morning.

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By Travis Stewart/Texas Football

There's a pretty good argument that no uncommitted recruit nation-wide was garnering as much attention as Plano West DE Jackson Jeffcoat. For months, Texas' top recruit has quietly mulled his numerous options -- UH, UT, OU, AZ-State, USC, etc. -- without the typical fanfare of modern day diva life. He was just patiently waiting, and, consequently, so did the entire southwest United States.

Wait's over.

Jeffcoat pledged to Texas this morning, drastically upping the Longhorns' 2010 clout and possibly bumping their class up to No. 1 in the national rankings. Jeffcoat's twin sister had pledged out to OU for athletics, and despite his father's coaching position at the University of Houston, Texas was too strong an option to turn down. That wildly successful decade UT just completed helped, too.

There's is literally no shortage to the positives you can offer on the kid -- to his on-field explosiveness to his off-field character, he's as close to a sure-fire prospect as you're going to find. He's an excellent pass-rusher with the strength and length to stand up against the run game, and his intelligence and football IQ make him a candidate to start (or at least contribute) right away. His father, former Dallas Cowboy Jim Jeffcoat, has taught him every trick in the book. He was a highly coveted recruit, but after Jeffcoat narrowed the field to UT, UH and OU, the Longhorns won the sweepstakes. Jeffcoat was the last major in-state recruit left on the board. And guess what? Hours after Jeffcoat pledged to Texas, so did Jordan Hicks, arguably the top linebacker in the nation. He comes from Lakota West, in Ohio. This has to be Texas' best linebacker crop of the past two decades, with both Hicks and Tevin Jackson on board and Aaron Benson also in the shuffle. This Hicks kid is the real deal ... and I can't remember a day like this in Longhorn recruiting history. Wow.

In firmer news, TCU has earned its 19 pledge -- Little Elm DE Clifton Murphy, a long-time TCU fan. He's a late addition to this class, but he offers one thing TCU did not recruit in abundance this year: a sure-fire defensive end talent that likely won't be changing positions anytime soon. TCU is now well over the number of scholarship seniors its graduating, but the best schools can always find a way to make it work through grayshirting, etc. If the talent and interest is there, maybe TCU can add even more.

And UTEP has added, too -- and it's quite a name. Caddo Mills' Nate Jeffery, the second-most prolific scorer in state history, is now a Miner. There had been talk earlier in the year that he had pledged to El Paso, but now it looks like it's for sure, and UTEP will surely love to have his 136 career touchdowns on the roster. He's listed as an athlete, so he could play at a number of spots. Odds are, he ends up in the secondary, an area he excelled at for Caddo Mills. But don't overlook running back, where he's a head-down, power runner.

SEASTRUNK SAGA OVER (1/29/10)
Is it appropriate to say "Finally"?

Temple RB Lache Seastrunk, one of the top prospects in the nation and the top back out of Texas, has finally ended months of speculation and settled on his college of choice -- Oregon. That's an interesting choice, as Aldine's Dontae Williams is already pledged out there and has been for some time. But Seastrunk is an interesting fit for Chip Kelly and the Duck offense.

Seastrunk is one of the fastest and most agile players you'll ever see, and even though his offense at Temple didn't utilize those traits often, he can be dangerous in the extreme in the open field. Bubble screens and short routes from the slot would be particularly effective. Right now, he's a little slim, though not as much as people think. He'll probably need to add a little weight for the college game, but he can get up to the 20-25 carries a game fighting weight in a college weight room. Some people say they can only see him as a role player, which could still end up to be true. But his most trendy comparison is Reggie Bush, and he certainly has the stop-and-go agility and lightning quick movements to make that realistic.

The Big Ten took it on the chin yesterday when Dallas Skyline RB Tony Drake switched from Michigan to Colorado State. FM Marcus back Stephen Hopkins was also pledged to Michigan, and as I wrote a ways back (I can't find it now!), the Big House has not been good to our state. Most of the kids transfer or don't play. So thinking two guys at one position would both see the field was unlikely. Drake has a much better time of getting the ball with the Rams, and his elite speed and quickness make him a favorite to see time in the backfield immediately.

Though you don't see it on our chart, Manvel's Two Willis, a Top 300 DE, has pledged out to Northwestern State. We'll publish all of those non-FBS lists on Signing Day. But in the meantime, Willis is a guy you may see down the road when in-state programs schedule Northwestern State in non-conference. Also, we charted but didn't report that Mesquite Horn QB Emory Miller has pledged out to Wyoming, which is a great choice -- the Cowboys are on the way up but can still afford to let him grow into the position a little bit. Miller was one of the most dynamic dual-threats in the Metroplex area, especially early in the season. He reminds me a bit of TCU-ex Marcus Jackson, just not quite as big.

BAYLOR CLOSE TO DONE (1/27/10)
Baylor graduates 24 seniors this year, meaning, roughly, 24 scholarships to offer for the upcoming recruiting class. The Bears have almost hit the mark.

Art Briles has picked up two more verbal recruits to raise the class total to 23. But the Bears' newest two names are somewhat a mystery, as both are from out of state, and one from way, way west. First up is Midwest City (OK) DT Dominique Jones, who could help make up for the loss of Trey Bryant. It would be surprising for him to beat out Phil Taylor or Nicolas Jean-Baptiste, but he could provide depth at a difficult to provide spot. And the second pledge, Beau Yap, is a defensive end from Honolulu. He's coming in at a crowded position, as Kedrick Dial and Anthony Gonzales are all defensive ends as well. But losing Dominique Henderson to grade issues means there was a little space to recruit there. The defensive line wasn't a strength for Baylor, so adding depth to it is important.

Rice, SMU, UTEP and UNT have all added defensive backs to their classes. Rice has gotten a pledge from Aldine Eisenhower DB Fred Jackson, who has a real chance to play right away, especially with the graduation of Andrew Sendejo. SMU got a similar pickup in Blinn CC Justin Sorrell, who will bolster a DB corps that lost arguably its top three talents. UNT picked up South Garland DB Will Wright, who helped anchor a unit that pushed South Garland three rounds deep when the offense was inconsistent. And UTEP got DeSoto's Traun Roberson, who marks the 7th pledge from that school this year. If you combine Skyline and DeSoto, who faced each other in 2008, you have 18 college signees on the field ... almost a full team. Crazy.

TCU GETS A TRIO (1/26/10)
Remember the good ole' days when the number of seniors a school was graduating was almost exactly equal to the number of scholarships it would be able to offer for the incoming recruiting class? Sigh. A distant memory.

TCU took a giant leap forward in the national rankings last night when it nabbed three pledge switches from kids currently committed to out-of-state programs. The Horned Frogs probably still won't crack the top 20 list for signing classes, but adding QB Matt Brown, WR Chris Hawkins, and ATH Antonio Graves may be able to get them in the top 25 or 30.

You heard that correctly -- all three switched over to Fort Worth last night despite existing commitments. Allen's Brown is the jewel of the trio, and he also fills a quarterback role that was previously unfilled in the 2010 class. Yes, Sam Carter is pledged from Hastings, but I still see him as a safety eventually. Brown, however, is a true quarterback, one of the best in the state, and his dual-threat abilities make him a perfect fit for TCU's run-first, throw-second offense. Think of him as former Frog signal caller Jeff Ballard, except with a stronger arm.

I've been told Hawkins is a grade risk, but he's still one of the top ten wide receivers in Texas and could help bolster a young receiver corps that could use one more vertical threat. The Channelview talent was originally pledged to Minnesota, but his downfield approach will probably be a much better fit at TCU. Hawkins is one of the rare types that can just run right past you -- he's got breathtaking speed, and he's a gamebreaker on fly and deep post routes. That should be his bread and butter for the Frogs.

Graves is a bit more of a mystery, hence the athlete tag. At 3A Texarkana Pleasant Grove, he played as a dual-threat quarterback with great success -- 77-of-146 passing for 1,826 yards and 20 TDs, and 889 yards and 14 TDs on the ground (in the regular season) for a team that was much better than expected, making it all the way to a state semifinal. He was originally pledged out to Louisiana Tech, but now that he's headed to TCU, he might be looking at safety. How many kids can TCU put there this year? Goodness.

It remains to be seen how TCU is going to get all of these kids scholarships with fewer than 18 to offer. I guess either the coaching staff knows something we don't about academic qualifiers (likely), or there's some grayshirts coming (unlikely). We'll see. Meanwhile, one last change to report -- Dallas Madison OL Javious Townsend has dropped Texas Tech for Oklahoma State, furthering the Cowboys' success in Texas and adding to the list of Raider pledges who have jumped ship after Leach and McNeill's departures. Townsend makes six Raider former pledges to look elsewhere. Ouch.

Clear Brook's Brandon Ellison is off to Air Force, which will be a good place for his fullback skills. Ellison's mom, Anjelique, made a good point to me via email -- the fullback is getting obsolete in most football circles. So if you play there, and you sign with the Academy, it's like to going to USC at a skill position -- jackpot. By the way, Temple's Lache Seastrunk is set to announce Wednesday and Plano West's Jackson Jeffcoat Sunday. I'll keep you posted.

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