Five-star LB Xavier Griffin decommits from USC, sets official visit to Texas

The Longhorns are set to host one of the best defenders in the country.

In case you missed it earlier on Wednesday, five-star Gainesville (Ga.) linebacker Xavier Griffin announced that he has decommitted from the USC Trojans and re-opened his recruitment heading into the summer official visit window.

Why is this relevant to the Texas Longhorns? Griffin took an unofficial visit to Austin last month and following his decommitment from the Trojans, he has announced that the Longhrons will be one of his four official visits that he takes this summer.

Texas EDGE coach LaAllan Clark has been a very busy man on the recruiting trail since arriving in Austin this offseason, and it seemed that Griffin re-opening his recruitment and scheduling an official to Austin certainly has his attention.

If Clark is the point man on Griffin’s recruitment, it could signal that Texas views him as an EDGE at the next level, which could make for an interesting sales pitch when he makes his way to Austin this summer.

Texas has a great sell in the form of Colin Simmons, who was used in a variety of ways during his freshman All-American campaign, so it isn’t a stretch to say that the defensive staff could envision a similar plan for Griffin.

Griffin is the second-rated linebacker in the country, according to 247Sports’ Composite rankings, and he is the 22nd overall ranked recruit by the same metrics.