It started with a joke about a haircut and has evolved into a commitment to play football at the University of Texas.
The first time Longhorns offensive line coach Stacy Searels spoke to 2015 offensive lineman Aaron Garza (Sherman, Texas/Sherman), he broke the ice by cracking a joke about their similar haircuts.
“He liked my haircut and said he gets his haircut twice a year, one in the summer and one in the winter,” Garza laughed. “He said he goes to the porch barber shop in the summer and the bathroom barber shop in the winter. He said his wife cuts his hair. It was funny.”
The two spoke again at Texas’ inaugural sophomore day on Saturday and Garza decided to end his recruitment and commit to Searels and the Longhorns, becoming the first commitment for Texas in 2015.
Garza, who is 6-foot-4 and 307 pounds, chose the Longhorns over an offer from Baylor, which he got without ever playing a down of varsity football.
That’s right, the Bears offered Garza while he was still playing junior varsity ball, which is where he had to play because of a rule that Sherman has about not letting freshman play on varsity.
So what is it about him that has put him in a position to commit to Texas after only one year of varsity ball?
“Maybe they see my frame and body,” Garza said. “My dad is 6-7 and I’m supposed to be just as big as him, so maybe they see a lot of me in him. I’m a fairly thick guy all around. When I spoke with their coaches the other day, he said he really liked my frame. He said I was what they are looking for.”