Lines like this piss me off. Were we not doing Big Boy recruiting the last two years? We were. We just won more of the battles where Texas was the final one or two or three schools left. This year we aren't. It's not a huge thing as we still are sitting solid and we seem (based on the reporting) have a few players lined up that are leaning Texas for now who if we get we would all be ecstatic about. So what else has changed:
I think losing Choice has had an impact. I believe in prior years we had our #1 RB locked in by July 1, but it's not like I have gone off and confirmed that. By all reports, Choice was a very good recruiter.
The Changing NIL Landscape. - The change in NIL with the settlement and its impact this year has created a unique one-off. Schools feel that to some extent NIL rules will be equalized this time next year so they are attempting to get in ahead of some of these changes and grandfather in things they think won't count against a cap/etc. Also in general, Texas was ahead of the game with NIL and support along with a small handful of schools and now other schools are catching up.
I am still not worried in the slightest though because we should hit on a high enough number of elite players to have an elite class overall. Second, I feel that the staff does an exceptional job at evaluation and some of the players we keep recruiting despite a commitment or circled back to after missing on an initial target (late bloomers or players committed to other schools out of the gate) the last two years have been good. I thought TyAnthony Smith, Kobe Black, and Wardell Mack when I was typing this, but truthfully I can't remember. I'm sure someone in here will correct me if I am wrong.
Finally, the staff seems to do an exceptional job of evaluating its roster and finding a transfer player or two or three to lock down at positions of need. So even if we have a hole, we seem to do an exceptional job of finding a transfer as the worst case scenario.