Steve Sarkisian obviously means business.
And business is good.
When the Texas football coach lamented his Longhorns’ lack of depth on the defensive line after the Orange-White spring game, he went out and did something about it.
Texas added four players to the defensive front, including UTSA edge rusher Trey Moore, who Sarkisian praised. Texas then added two linemen in Arizona transfers Bill Norton and Tiaoalii Savea, and this week landed a commitment from former Oklahoma prospect Jermayne Lole of Louisville.
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Lole ranked 40th on ESPN’s Top 55 Newly Released Additions via the Spring Portal, and Norton ranked 49th. Both are expected to have big impacts this fall. They certainly have the experience Texas needs right now, but Lole was just ESPN’s No. 12 defensive lineman out of the portal.
This will be the seventh college season for the 6-foot-5, 310-pound Lole, who spent four years at Arizona State, was injured for one season and played for the Cardinals for two years. He played just one game in 2022 and had 1 ½ sacks and 19 tackles last season, but he had 25 career tackles and lost 11 sacks in three years with the Sun Devils.
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“I think obviously the defensive line depth is not where we need it to be,” Sarkisian said after the spring game. “We don’t have enough bodies. There are not enough great humans. I mean, it’s simple math, so we have to work it out.”
And he did.
Sarkisian insisted on the possibility of 16 or 17 games a year in the future with the College Football Playoff’s new and expanded 12-team format, which he and his staff know they need to play more players to develop talent and resist injuries. He doesn’t want to have to sign new players who didn’t play games at the end of the season.
The addition of Lole offsets the loss of TCU defensive lineman Damonic Williams, who chose OU, and helps offset the losses of first-round pick Byron Murphy II and Outland Trophy winner T’Vondre Sweat. Williams, who is only a junior, was ranked fourth overall in ESPN’s top 55 and the No. 2 defensive lineman.
With the arrival of five-star edge rusher Colin Simmons as well as sophomore Anthony Hill Jr., Texas appears better set with players like Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton.
This article originally appeared in the Austin American-Statesman: Texas Football Adds Another Great Defensive Lineman With Jermayne Lole
