There has been something missing from Texas football for the past ten years, and it’s not victories and trophies but a dominant offensive line.
As the football program floundered in mediocrity, the days of tough-nosed offensive linemen such as Justin Blalock and Jonathan Scott disappeared. Between 2009 and 2017, Texas had zero taken in the NFL draft altogether.
Yet, as Tom Herman wrapped up his 2019 recruiting class with his second consecutive top-three ranking, the third-year head coach already began working on the 2020 class that is shaping up to be bigger and better than the stellar 2019 class.
Less than a few weeks away from National Signing Day, when Herman announced the addition of four-star offensive lineman Javonne Shepherd, Texas received five commitments for the 2020 class. Of those five include Jake Majors, Logan Parr and Jaylen Garth, three offensive linemen who will have a huge say in the future of Texas football.
Standing between 6-foot-3-inches and 6-foot-6-inches and weighing roughly between 280 and 290 pounds each, Majors, Parr and Garth seem like your typical linemen. Beyond the four-star ratings, the trio of commits are part of Herman’s makeover, both on the field and off it.
Among the three of them, Parr committed first in October 2018.
“I was always told that every place is going to have crazy facilities and they’re all going to be amazing, but it’s the people at the place that makes it worth your while,” Parr said.
Those “people” include Herb Hand, a second-year offensive line coach at Texas, who has made his presence known everywhere from the recruiting trail to the field.
“(Herb’s) been a great addition to our staff,” Herman said during his National Signing Day press conference. “He did a really nice job of developing the guys that were there. They were able to be much more cohesive.”
In 2017, Texas played eight different offensive line combinations. However, the following season, which was Hand’s first in Austin, there were only three different starting combinations.
“(Hand’s) a coach you can’t pass up on, especially with my desire to go on and play at the next level after college,” Majors said.
After committing in January, Majors cited his relationship with Hand and Parr as instrumental in his decision to commit early.
“(Logan) has the same determination, desires I have and wants to make Texas great again,” Majors said.
But that determination goes beyond just the gridiron.
“We’d love to bring a lot of players from Texas,” Parr said. “We’re working on a couple offensive lineman — we all have a Twitter group chat together — that’d we love to play with at the next level. It’s really cool being able to commit early and being able to shape our recruiting class.”
Included in that group chat is Garth and other 2020 recruits such as Chad Lindberg and Damieon George. One week after speaking with Parr, Garth announced his commitment to Texas as well.
When it’s all said and done, Texas might end up with all three committed, but it’s evident a dominant offensive line could be in the future for Texas behind Majors, Parr and Garth, among others.
“We want to bring back that trench dominance,” Majors said.
Parr added to Majors’ comment, saying, “It’s going to be crazy. Nothing will be able to stop us.”
