Elite OOS safety enjoys recent UT visit, has Texas as a top school

Though he now plays for IMG Academy in Florida, Jordon Johnson-Rubell is a native Texan so when Alabama was in Austin a couple weeks ago, Johnson-Rubell took advantage of the opportunity to come home for a bit and see a high-profile football game. He’s glad he did.

The 2024 Rivals100 DB has been a priority target for the Texas coach staff for a while, and he got a chance to reconnect with a lot of the UT coaches before the game started.

“First and foremost, when I came in there, coach (Terry) Joseph, I talked with him. He’s a great coach. We talked about the development he’s done over the past couple years. That was a big step,” Johnson-Rubell said. “Coach (Blake) Gideon, he’s a great safeties coach. He played at Texas so he knows how it goes. Talking to those guys was a big eye-opener for me.”

Texas came out on the losing end of a hard-fought 20-19 contest, but Johnson-Rubell said the environment around the stadium was electric.

“The game atmosphere, it was definitely great. The fans were crazy, the defense played well,” Johnson-Rubell said. “I like coach (Gary) Patterson. He recruited me at TCU so that was good for me.”

Johnson-Rubell played at Fort Worth Brewer before transferring to IMG Academy. A four-star prospect who ranks No. 24 nationally, he’ll have his choice of schools when it comes time to decide. At this early stage, he’s keeping an open mind among his 25-plus offers but he does say Texas is a school that will figure heavily into his recruitment.

“It’s definitely one of my top schools,” Johnson-Rubell said. “My recruiting is still very much open but Texas is showing a lot of love.”

Johnson-Rubell’s transfer to IMG Academy is a pretty good indicator that he’s not locked into staying close to home. That being said, there is a certain allure to the idea of possibly playing for the flagship university in his home state.

“I would go anywhere in the country. But Texas, that’s definitely one of the top schools. If I come back, I would be right back at home,” Johnson-Rubell said.

A 5-11, 180-pound safety with versatility, Johnson-Rubell said the Texas staff has talked to him about playing multiple roles in the UT defensive backfield should Johnson-Rubell pick the Longhorns. That ability to showcase multiple facets of his game is an appealing draw.

“Basically (coach Gideon) talked about the culture and foundation at Texas, just work, work, work. He wanted to put that in my head. And he doesn’t want me to just play safety. He said I’d play the star. That was a big thing for me. That’s very important. In today’s day and age, the star is the premier position. I love playing star.”