Juco kicker Joshua Rowland commits to Texas

The Texas Longhorns hosted their first big recruiting weekend under Tom Herman's watch, and the early reviews from the weekend have been very positive.

One official visitor who wasn't on a lot of public radars before the weekend was Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College kicker Joshua Rowland, who visited UTSA on Friday and Saturday before heading to Austin on Saturday night for a 24-hour visit with the Longhorns.

Rowland is currently on his way home, but he told Orangebloods.com that the visit to Texas could not have gone much better.

"Everything stood out to me at the University of Texas - their facilities, academic programs, the campus itself, everything was incredible, top of the line. I was blown away looking at the locker room, the weight room, where they walk out to go to the field, the stadium. One of my favorite things about it was the Freddy Steinmark memorial. I've seen that movie a few times. It was really a dream come true to see that, was an incredible experience. I loved every second of it. They treated me well and I have a really good feeling about Texas."

Rowland picked up an offer from the Texas staff on Friday night before making his way to Austin for his visit, and he said his focus right now is on both Texas and UTSA. Mississippi State had been in contact and was in consideration, but the MSU staff has not offered and Rowland said the contact has cooled of late.

"I'm going to go home and think it through more," Rowland said. "Coach (Tom) Herman and (Texas assistant) coach (Jason) Washington are supposed to call me tonight ... I'm going to talk to my parents, pray and see where God leads me."

The 5-10, 180-pound Rowland is eligible to sign with a four-year program on Wednesday, but he intends to have his decision made before that. Wherever he lands, Rowland feels he can be an immediate contributor.

"I think I could come in and do the job, give them what they need, be a really good asset for the team, help them win a lot of games," Rowland said on what he could bring to the Texas program if he chooses the Longhorns. "Coach Herman is going to do a great job of turning the program around, and it would be great to be a part of it."

One of the top junior college kickers in the entire nation, Rowland trains with Brian Jackson (http://www.teamjacksonkicking.com/), and Jackson feels Rowland has all the physical and mental tools to be very successful at the Division I level.

"First and foremost, he has two years of junior college football underneath his belt. He's received all-American honors. He's playing at a high level, so that's attractive to college coaches," Jackson said. "With saying that, he's a very consistent field goal kicker. He doesn't have a Sebastian Janikowski leg, however, he has a strong enough leg to play at the Division I level. What is most attractive about Josh, he's mentally sound, hits a very clean ball, has really good striking ability. You see a lot of clean rotation and he's very accurate."

Jackson estimated that Rowland's range in games is about 52-53 yards, but said in camp settings he can make kicks in the 57-60-yard range. Rowland also displays a consistently strong leg on kick-offs.

"When you look at Josh, he's definitely elite when it comes to the consistent side of kicking. Where most people like to look at how far can you kick, Josh is very reliable. I would say he's among the top three guys or so that I've worked with."

UPDATE: After talking to the Texas coaches on Sunday night, Rowland became the Longhorns' first commitment of the Tom Herman era.