{"id":377938,"date":"2026-07-18T14:07:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T14:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/377938\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T14:07:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T14:07:11","slug":"an-unexpected-sec-team-is-challenging-texas-for-5-star-rb-landen-williams-callis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/377938\/","title":{"rendered":"An Unexpected SEC Team is Challenging Texas for 5-Star RB Landen Williams-Callis"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Texas Longhorns<\/a> have been on the receiving end of some bad news on the 2027 recruiting trail this week and will hoping to regain momentum as the offseason comes to an end.<\/p>\n

Texas lost out on a five-star wide receiver Monshun Sales,<\/a> who announced his commitment to Indiana. The Longhorns are also in serious danger of losing No. 1 wide receiver Easton Royal, who was recently predicted by On3’s Steve Wiltfong<\/a> to flip to the LSU Tigers.<\/p>\n

However, the Longhorns still appear to be the team to beat for 2027 five-star running back Landen Williams-Callis, but they will have to fight off an aggressive contender in order to land him. <\/p>\n

Missouri Continues Battling Texas for Landen Williams-Callis\"Missouri<\/p>\n

Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz talks to his team during a timeout during the first quarter of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl at EverBank Stadium Saturday December 27, 2025 in Jacksonville, Fla. [Doug Engle\/Florida Times-Union] | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

According to Rivals, the Missouri Tigers are making an aggressive push for Williams-Callis in hopes of landing him over Texas. <\/p>\n

Williams-Callis recently announced his five finalists as Texas, Texas A&M, Houston, SMU and Missouri. With teams like Oregon, Notre Dame and Ohio State no longer in the running, Missouri’s chances of winning the recruitment are higher than they might be otherwise. <\/p>\n

While teams like SMU and Houston are certainly on the rise at the Power 4 level, seeing those two programs instead of perennial title contenders should make Mizzou fans feel a bit more confident, <\/p>\n

Still, Texas is seen as the favorite for Williams-Callis, who is a product of Randle High School in Richmond, TX. He’s already got the Lone Star State ties and clearly views staying in Texas as a possibility.<\/p>\n

But the fact Mizzou is the only non-Texas team in his group of finalists shows that Williams-Callis is serious about potentially heading to Columbia. <\/p>\n

After all, Missouri and head coach Eli Drinkwitz have had some impressive success at the running back position in recent seasons, something that is expected to continue in 2026. <\/p>\n

Though star running back Ahmad Hardy is expected to miss multiple games after recovering from a gunshot wound, he remains the best at his position in the SEC — and possibly the country — until further notice when fully healthy. <\/p>\n

For Williams-Callis, seeing this kind of success at Mizzou will be hard to ignore. Combine that with a potentially handsome-looking NIL package, the Longhorns will need to remain aggressive in their pursuit of him or risk losing another recruiting battle to an SEC team.<\/p>\n

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