Two committed prospects to take official visits to Texas this weekend

The recruiting efforts of new Texas Longhorns head coach Tom Herman resulted in two big additions to the official visitor list this weekend — TCU Horned Frogs wide receiver commit Omar Manning and Nebraska Cornhuskers tight end commit Reese Leitao, according to ESPN’s Gerry Hamilton.

Texas A&M defensive tackle commit Jayden Peevy was also originally scheduled to be on campus, but he canceled shortly after the news got out on Friday morning.

Quarterback commit Sam Ehlinger, who signed his financial aid agreement with Texas on Thursday, is expected to take his official visit, along with Wylie East running back Eno Benjamin, who was offered on Thursday, and Scottsdale CC tight end Salvatore Cannella.

While those recent additions to the visitor list weren’t particularly surprising, the news of visits from Manning Leitao were much more unexpected.

Manning is the No. 4 wide receiver in the state and was a key Longhorns target at the position before he committed to the Horned Frogs in late October. Once considered something of a Texas lean heading into the season, the program’s struggles under former head coach Charlie Strong ultimately led to his decision to commit elsewhere.

Now it appears that he is once again a legitimate target with Herman taking over in Austin.

Leitao is much more of a wild card — he’s moved around a lot and doesn’t have any real geographically ties to Texas as a transplant to state power Jenks in Oklahoma, but Herman and assistants Derek Warehime and Corby Meekins did recruit him at Houston before offering earlier this week.

Committed to the Cornhuskers since late September, Leitao is a former basketball player who could see the Longhorns as a big opportunity because there are only two tight ends on the roster. However, Nebraska also lost three senior tight ends this season, so the possibility of early playing time exists at both schools.

Still, getting him on campus is a major win, a statement that also holds true for Manning and Peevy.

Whichever way things ultimately play out for Texas with these prospects, it’s clear that Herman and the four assistants currently assembled on his staff are making some waves in the 2017 class with National Signing Day looming less than two months away.

This should be quite a ride.