What Position Will Jermaine Bishop Jr. Play at Texas? Steve Sarkisian Isn't Sure Yet

The Texas Longhorns officially signed 23 commits in the 2026 recruiting class on Wednesday, securing the program's future in a major way.

Arguably the most notable of these additions is athlete Jermaine Bishop Jr., who has done a bit of everything in all three phases of the game during his career at Willis High School. He will be playing in the Texas High School 6A Division II State Playoffs on Saturday

But once he heads to the Forty Acres, it remains up in the air which side of the ball Bishop Jr. will play.

Steve Sarkisian Stil Deciding Jermaine Bishop Jr.'s Position

Bishop helped lead Willis to a 38-32 win over Forney in the regional of the state playoffs in which he finished with an otherworldly statline.

Bishop posted 15 catches for 328 yards and three touchdowns, had seven carries for 19 yards and a score, completed 2 of 3 passes for 42 yards and had an interception.

Oh, and he had a 39-yard punt in the closing seconds that pinned Forney back in its own territory.

No, Bishop won't be punting while at Texas, but there's no reason to think he can't have an impact on both sides of the ball throughout points of his college career. Matching the kind of versatility of someone like Travis Hunter will be a tall task but it certainly appears that the Longhorns have their closest thing to the most recent Heisman Trophy winner.

"Jermaine, obviously, from a high school snapshot, has more than enough ability to play on either side of the ball. The good thing for me is it's not totally foreign to me," Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said.

It's pretty clear that Sarkisian isn't concerned about which side of the ball Bishop will play on, as his impact will be felt regardless.

"We're going to have to get a sense and a feel for him. He has the ability to do either," Sarkisian said. "I'm not so consumed with 'Is he better at one than the other' but somewhere in his heart, which one is it going to be for him? We're going to give him the opportunity to do that, and I'm going to give my honest assessment."

Jermaine Bishop Jr. Will Arrive in Spring

Texas Longhorns helmet on the sideline during the first quarter against the Texas A&M Aggies. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Bishop is one of the 22 early enrollees that will arrive to campus in the spring, giving Sarkisian and the coaching staff a quick look at where Bishop fits best.

"I've got to see him live," Sarkisian said. "I got to work with him and feel where he's better suited early on in his career, and navigate him down one road to do the bulk of what he does, and then offset that with some of the things he does on the other side of the ball."

"Obviously, he's an electric player with the ball in his hands. The guy scores touchdowns like, that's what he does for a living. But yet, you watch him play DB, he can guard people. He's physical and he can play the game. So it's a good problem to have. When you recruit, we can recruit a player of his caliber, and we'll find our way through it. The good thing is, like I said, this isn't totally foreign to us. We've been down this road before."