What is Texas Football Getting in 5-Star Hybrid Defender Jonah Williams?

The Longhorns beat out LSU, Texas A&M and Oregon for the sweepstakes over Jonah Williams, a safety-linebacker hybrid who is also one of the best baseball players in the state.

Jonah Williams / Jonah Williams

Five-star safety and top-10 player in the class of 2025 Jonah Williams committed to the University of Texas over LSU, Texas A&M, Oregon, and USC on Saturday.

The Galveston native is the third highest-rated player in the class of 2025, according to 247Sports, and would be the highest-rated player at either safety or linebacker, depending on what position he plays at the next level.

Williams joins Kaliq Lockett as the second five-star in the Longhorns 2025 class, potentially snowballing a struggling 2025 class back into a more comfortable spot for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the rest of his staff. Williams' commitment will help the Longhorns forget about Michael Fasusi, the No. 5 tackle in the nation, who committed to Oklahoma over the Horns on Thursday.

The ones to thank for the commitment of Williams may not be the people you usually think about with Texas football's recruiting success. Williams' main recruiter on the gridiron was Blake Gideon, the safeties coach, but he has previously mentioned another key name for why Texas was at the top of his list: head baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle.

Recruit Jonah Williams watches Ohio State warm up before playing Penn State Oct. 21, 2023 at Ohio Stadium. / Lori Schmidt / Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Williams is the definition of an athlete: playing on both sides of the ball for Ball High School while also playing center field on the baseball diamond. Williams is seen as someone who could be a first-round pick in both sports given his insane athletic ability, already standing over 6'3 and weighing 205 pounds entering his senior year.

Schlossnagle was the head coach at Texas A&M, one of Williams' other top candidates, until Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte poached him to manage the Horns in 2025 and beyond. With expectations to play both sports on campus, Williams has potentially unmatched potential as an athlete in multiple sports at Texas.

Williams is the second five-star to commit in the month of July, and the Longhorns aren't done yet. Even with the loss of Fasusi, Texas is still in the running for WR Jamie Ffrench, who will commit in a weeks time, and athlete Michael Terry, who has yet to announce his commitment date.

Texas hopes to beat out schools like LSU and Texas A&M once again with the pair of offensive weapons. If the Longhorns were to gain commitments from both Ffrench and Terry, the Longhorns would become one of just three programs with four five-stars in the 2025 cycle, easily shooting them up to the No. 5 spot in the 2025 class rankings.

The safety/linebacker hybrid joins Elijah Barnes as the only four-star or higher off-ball defender in the 2025 class. Williams joins Anthony Hill as the only five stars that Sarkisian has brought in at either position, according to 247Sports, though sophomore Derek Williams and freshman Xavier Filsaime were both very highly touted safeties in the last two classes.

This is now the fourth straight class that Gideon has brought in a top-10 safety in the nation and his third top-five defensive back in as many years, solidifying himself as arguably the best recruiter on the defensive side of the ball.