New TE offer Jason Llewellyn talks UT interest, upcoming trip to Austin

It’s been a busy past few weeks for tight end Jason Llewellyn, with new offers pouring in at a dizzying pace.

In that last month, Llewellyn has picked up offers from the likes of Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Utah, TCU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Colorado and Auburn. A little more than two weeks ago, it was the Texas Longhorns who jumped into the mix with an offer of their own.

“I talked to coach (Jeff) Banks and then coach (Steve) Sarkisian he’s the one who told me they were offering me a scholarship,” Llewellyn said. “It was a great conversation. We talked a little bit about Texas football, what they’re planning on doing, flipping it around. It was really awesome. It means a lot. I’m from Texas, grew up in Aledo and have lived here my whole life. It’s definitely a special offer. It’s the University of Texas, so kind of a hometown offer. It’s just really exciting and humbling to get such a big-time offer.

“It’s always been my dream to play college football. To get that opportunity from the University of Texas, it’s not necessarily overwhelming, but I guess surreal.”

Texas has been pretty diligent under the new coaching staff with its tight end offers under the new coaching staff, only extending offers to a couple prospects. Llewellyn was told by the UT coaches they like what he can do in both the run and pass games, and that’s why he’s one of their top targets.

“(Banks) told me that they’re not going to go out and offer 200 kids. They’re going to be very selective. It’s a very selective process with recruiting,” Llewellyn said. “He said he likes the way I can do it all. I can get guys off the line but can also split out, run routes, stretch the field, be a threat in the passing game.”

Most high school tight ends tend to be one dimensional, and most would tell you they’d prefer the flash of the passing game over the dirty work of being a blocker. For Llewellyn, there’s a certain joy found in both parts of the game.

“I think personally, we have the best offensive line coaches here at Aledo. They pride themselves on finishing blocks through the echo of the whistle, dominating up front,” Llewellyn said. “Aledo is a very good run game team. That’s the big thing, we have to dominate and move people off the line of scrimmage. That pours over to the tight ends.”

The 6-5, 243-pound Llewellyn is now up to close to 20 offers. At this point, he’s keeping an open mind but said he’s close to narrowing his focus.

“I think coming up soon, I’ll probably come out with my first cut. Right now, I’m still very open with recruiting. I’m looking at all my options, doing my own research, building these relationships with coaches,” Llewellyn said. “I think soon I’ll make a cut, narrow it down. I’ve been talking to a lot of places, but I’ll narrow it down soon.”

With the recruiting dead period still ongoing, Llewellyn doesn’t have a firm timeline for a decision. He said he’d like to have a commitment made before his senior season begins if things go well, but his schedule is up in the air since he can’t see coaches in person. One thing he does want to do is take some self-guided campus tours, and he’ll make his first one this weekend when he heads to Austin.

“I’m trying to plan to take a visit down (to Austin) soon, probably this upcoming weekend,” Llewellyn said. “I can’t talk to the coaches while I’m there, but it would be good to just see the campus and get a feel for things.”