3-star TE Irvin Smith cancels in-home visit with the Texas Longhorns

Heading into an official visit to see the Alabama Crimson Tide last weekend, New Orleans (La.) tight end Irvin Smith looked like a heavy Texas Longhorns, but that all changed in the last few days and Smith cancelled his in-home visit with Texas head coach Charlie Strong that was scheduled for Thursday evening, according to ESPN's Gerry Hamilton.

Now the family will only host Alabama head coach Nick Saban and an official decision to commit to the Crimson Tide could follow shortly.

A December official visit to Austin that Smith took with high school teammate and Texas pledge Peyton Aucoin, the blocking half of the Brother Martin tight end duo, seemed to help the Longhorns significantly and Smith's decommitment from the Aggies came less than 24 hours after Texas tight ends coach Jeff Traylor had his recent in-home visit with the 6'4, 230-pounder.

Ultimately though, it didn't matter that the Crimson Tide already have two tight end pledges in the 2016 class, will return breakout star OJ Howard, and also have a talented young player in Hale Hentges in the fold -- it appear the depth chart won't influence Smith's decision.

The Louisiana product is a consensus three-star prospect ranked as the No. 523 player overall, the No. 23 tight end, and the No. 25 player in the state of Louisiana, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Throughout his recruitment, he's collected nearly 30 offers.

As a senior, he caught 31 passes for 558 yards and four touchdowns.