Trinity DT Daniels commits to OU
Euless Trinity defensive tackle Chris Daniels cut into a crimson and cream birthday cake Friday at his home on his 18th birthday, verbally committing to play football at Oklahoma next season as he opened the pastry box to reveal his choice on Twitter via recruiting service Rivals’ Jason Howell.
The Sooners’ run to this year’s College Football Playoff has impressed Daniels, but he told Rivals that his official visit to Norman on Nov. 20 ultimately tipped the scale in OU’s favor.
“I think I knew before my official visit,” Daniels told Rivals. “But my official visit was like the cap to the soda. It’s family at Oklahoma.”
Daniels was thought to be deciding between Oklahoma, Michigan and Alabama until Texas offered the 6-4, 299 pound brute at the last minute Thursday. He told Rivals that he still intends to take his remaining three official visits despite asserting that his decision was final and his commitment was solid.
Those visits will be to Alabama, Ohio State and to either Texas or Texas A&M.
“I might have to put Texas ahead of Texas A&M,” Daniels told Rivals after the Longhorns’ late entry into the Daniels sweepstakes. “I had a chance to speak with coach [Charlie] Strong and he pulled the trigger.”
According to his Rivals scouting profile, Daniels fielded offers from 28 programs including three of the four schools in the College Football Playoff. Michigan State, Michigan, Texas, Southern Cal and Nebraska all came calling with scholarship offers.
The consensus four-star prospect is the 19th-ranked defensive tackle in the 2016 recruiting class and the 28th-ranked overall prospect in the state of Texas, according to Rivals.
Daniels has effectively played nose tackle at Trinity, as he has gotten used to lining up between the center and a guard and inviting the double-team from the one-technique. That experience would seem to translate smoothly into the Sooners’ 3-4 defensive scheme.
With all the extra blockers coming his way during his senior season, Daniels had just one sack in a season cut short by a 24-21 loss to South Grand Prairie in the bi-district round of the Class 6A Division I playoffs last month. It was Trinity’s first bi-district loss since 2003.
But when it came to deciding where to play his college ball, the bottom line was clear.
“Oklahoma speaks for itself,” Daniels told Rivals.
Verbal commitments are non-binding. Football players have until National Signing Day on Feb. 3 to sign binding national letters of intent.
This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 9:58 AM with the headline "Trinity DT Daniels commits to OU."