texas: Steve Sarkisian and Texas hit new road block after losing 6'4" 5-star recruit to Big Ten powerhouse

Mark Bowman, a five-star recruit considered the top tight end in the Class of 2026 and a Texas Longhorns target, committed to the USC Trojans on Friday. Bowman broke the news to On3's Hayes Fawcett.

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Perhaps the biggest surprise was not that the tight end picked the Trojans, but that he did it before going through his official visits. While that opens the door for Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns to try and sway the tight end from going to USC, he also hasn't had his official visit to Los Angeles, meaning the school could also make another pitch.

Bowman is a 6-4, 225-pound tight end from Mater Dei. He is considered one of the top players in the class of 2026 and has even been compared to Brock Bowers by some analysts.

Tight end is one of the positions of need for the Longhorns, who saw last season's starter Gunnar Helm head to the Tennessee Titans in the NFL Draft. Redshirt freshman Jordan Washington is slated to start in 2025.

Sark and the Longhorns will likely try to add as much talent as possible in the near future. With quarterback Arch Manning at the controls, Texas is in the short list of favorites for the national title.

The Longhorns have made the College Football Playoff in each of the last two seasons, but ended up losing in the semifinals to Washington in January 2024, and to Ohio State this year.

Steve Sarkisian's squad will have a shot at revenge early in the season, as they open the year with a trip to Columbus to face the defending national champion Buckeyes on Aug. 30.

Steve Sarkisian and Texas, off to slow start in recruiting class of 2026

After landing the top recruiting class in 2025, the Texas Longhorns haven't been able to get going in the Class of 2026, at least not to their standards. So far, the Longhorns have landed eight players, including 4-star recruits Dia Bell and Jermaine Bishop.

While having the No. 26-ranked class, according to 247Sports, is nothing to be ashamed of, it's a significant drop from their top spot from last season.

USC, which beat the Horns for Bowman, is a stark contrast, as they jumped from the No. 13 recruiting class in 2025 to the top-ranked class of 2026 at the moment. Lincoln Riley and the Trojans have 27 commits, including 5-star players Keenyi Pepe and Bowman.

National Signing Day is still months away, and things can change in recruiting in a moment's notice, but Texas will have to push the pace if it expects to finish as one of the top recruiting classes in the nation.

About the author

Allan Wolburg Robles is a College Sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over 17 years of experience in the field writing for publications including Reforma, Yahoo! OddsShark and Apuesta. Allan studied Communications at Anáhuac University, where he learned what would become the basis of a trade that was already a dream of his before starting college.

His favorite team is Army West Point as when he was young, Allan lived in West Point for a couple of years, went to pretty much every home game, a couple of Army-Navy games and even got to meet some of the players.

Allan's favorite players of all time include Tommie Frazier, who was unbelievable during the Nebraska dynasty of the early 90's. Tim Tebow was also a favorite, mainly because of his leadership skills, although he was also awesome on the football field. As a fan of defensive football, (or what's left of it), Sean Taylor could take over a game for Miami.

Allan has always considered himself a student of the game more than a fan of it. So the historical part and evolution of the game, as well as the ins and outs of what happens on the field, and being able to put it into words for the audience, are his biggest strengths.

Besides sports, Allan enjoys reading books, watching movies and spending time with his dogs.

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Edited by Brad Taningco