College Football Recruiting: Houston On the Rise with 5-Star DT Edward Oliver Commitment

It can be a uphill battle for non-Power 5 programs out on the recruiting trail when it comes to attracting elite talent to your program. New Houston Cougars head coach Tom Herman isn’t finding that to be the case, however, after he secured a monumental commitment from 5-star defensive tackle Edward Oliver.

Oliver, at 6-foot-3 and 283 pounds, is the No. 6-ranked prospect in the 2016 class and No. 3 defensive tackle according to ESPN. He ultimately chose the Cougars, his home-town team, over offers from the likes of the LSU Tigers, Texas A&M Aggies, Texas Longhorns and a host of other top programs making him a very rare case of a 5-star prospect spurning the offers from bigger Power 5 programs to sign with a smaller school from the Group of 5 conferences.

At the end of the day, the comfort and familiarity that Oliver had with the Houston program made all the difference. His older brother, Marcus Oliver, is an offensive lineman for the Cougars and his former high school coach is now on the Houston staff. On top of that, Oliver and his family really wanted him to play close to home and you can’t get much closer to Houston than Houston. All of that helped Oliver shift his early lean towards LSU back heavily towards the Cougars since January.

For Houston, Oliver’s commitment gives the program more momentum on the recruiting trail than they have ever had and they will be looking to capitalize on it in their 2016 class. Oliver is teammates with 4-star wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland, who has backed off his verbal commitment to Texas A&M, and quarterback Dillon Sterling-Cole, a rising prospect with offers from five Power 5 programs already. Both players are reportedly very interested in Houston and might be swayed with Oliver now in the fold for the Cougars.

When it comes to college football recruiting, the big programs generally dominate smaller schools. But this time, Houston came out ahead of the pack in the recruitment of an elite defensive talent in Edward Oliver. Could this be the start of a dominant run for the Cougars and Herman?

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