Texas Lands Top O-Line Grad Transfer Calvin Anderson
Texas followed up its strong 2018 recruiting class with a flourish, getting a commitment from former Rice left tackle Calvin Anderson, arguably the nation’s top grad transfer O-lineman. He picked Texas over Michigan, Oklahoma and Auburn.
Anderson, a three-year starting offensive lineman at Rice, triggered a recruiting frenzy on Jan. 6 with a post from his Twitter account, followed by another tweet of his highlight tape with footage included against standout defensive linemen Harrison Phillips from Stanford and Louisiana Tech’s Jaylen Ferguson.
The 6'5", 302-pound honor student will finish up on May 12 with a major in Mathematical Economic Analysis and told SI on Saturday that he expects to get to Austin right after.
“It’s good to be done with the recruiting process,” Anderson says. “I narrowed it down to those four schools. I prayed on it and the spirit was leading me to Texas.”
Anderson played high school in Austin but says getting the chance to finish his college career at home wasn’t a big factor in his decision. "It’s cool that I get to do that but it really wasn’t part of the decision-making process for me."
The presence of new O-line coach Herb Hand, who had actually started recruiting Anderson for Auburn, though, was significant. Anderson called Hand’s role in the decision “huge.”
“Herb Hand coming to Texas was a large reason for me [choosing UT]. Had he not come, circumstances might be different.”
Hand’s pitch to Andersoin didn’t change from Auburn to Texas. “From the beginning, he’s talked very specifically about why he wants to coach me. He really sold me on why he thinks I’m a good player and on the things he can help coach me to get better at. It was not as much of a recruiting pitch change as you might think. He said he can help fix my stance, get it more square, help me play with better pad level, teach me some technique things as far as double teams and stepping off the ball which will help me to maximize my ability to use my leverage.”
