While the recruiting focus is currently on the 2025 class – as it should be during a busy month of July – college coaches are always keeping one eye on future classes, trying to build relationships with their top targets to put themselves in a strong position when it comes time for those players to announce their decisions.

One player who certainly has the attention of college staff is linebacker Kosi Okpala, a national top-50 player in the 2026 class who already holds over 20 scholarship offers.

Out of Mayde Creek, Okpala is a player who holds a Texas offer and has been on the UT campus before, most recently for the Longhorns’ elite camp in early June.

“It was just getting a feel for how they coach, how they approach the game,” Okpala said of that visit. “That day was more like drill work. It was just getting used to how they coach, how they play, how they talk, that kind of stuff.”

The 6-2, 215-pound Okpala picked up a Texas offer back in January, and since that time has been building on his relationship with Texas linebackers coach Johnny Nansen.

“I can tell he means business. He’s really football-oriented,” Okpala said. “He knows what he’s talking about, knows what he’s running, knows what he’s doing. He’s a very fiery coach too, gets you right on every play, max effort.”

Okpala, who shares the same trainer as current Longhorn David Gbenda, currently holds offers from programs like Texas, Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Texas A&M and USC, among others. He ranks No. 46 on the Rivals100 and is the No. 5-ranked player in the state of Texas for the 2026 class.