Tom Herman knows he can’t give into temptation.

When Herman was hired at Texas, there was an expectation from Longhorn fans that he would go out and recruit every single blue-chip player in the Lone Star State. Nobody would have given the all-in approach a second thought, because that’s what most new coaches do when they land at a blueblood program like Texas or get a job that’s in the nation’s biggest pipeline for high school football talent.

But Herman has seen firsthand what happens when you go chasing stars, and that’s why the Longhorns have taken a slower and steadier approach in his first recruiting class.

“I went back and actually looked at the Class of 2012 when we transitioned to Ohio State and of the 19 kids that were February signees, and only roughly about three of them were actual contributing players,” said Herman, who helped guide the Buckeyes to the 2014 national championship as the program’s offensive coordinator and quarterback’s coach. “That was the fifth-ranked class in the country. That's not very good odds and percentages. We're taking a more calculated, patient approach because of what history tells you.”

That approach has irked some Texas fans, especially since the Longhorns have signed top-10 classes in nine of the last 11 recruiting cycles. Texas currently owns the No. 35 class in the country, and Big 12 rival Oklahoma is reeling in one of Bob Stoops’ best classes ever and is a lock to finish in the top 10. But Herman believes you have to look beyond what a player is ranked, especially in your first recruiting cycle at a program.

“We've done extensive research on transition years and signing classes in transition years,” said Herman, who was hired in late November. “By far the most instances of attrition, the most instances of off-the-field issues -- whether it be drugs, social or academic issues -- and the most instances of guys that quite frankly can't play, happen in the transition year.

“I think that happens for a number of reasons. The biggest being you wind up chasing stars and rankings, rather than getting to know these kids. A lot of it is because of timing. It's so hard to get to know them, so I think you've got to target kids that at least you know a little bit about.”

To limit misses in his first class, Herman said he’s turning to prospects he was familiar with when he was the head coach at Houston. Many of the eight recruits that have committed since Herman took over were players the Cougars were recruiting or wanted to recruit but couldn’t because Houston was a Group of 5 program.

Seventh-ranked running back Toneil Carter of Houston Langham Creek is a perfect example of that. Carter said he visited Houston a number of times, but never gave the Cougars serious attention because they weren’t in a Power 5 conference. Once Herman arrived in Austin, his staff reached out to Carter, who was then committed to Georgia, and he eventually flipped his commitment and is now at UT ready for the spring semester of classes.

“We’ve certainly targeted kids that were on our radar a little bit at the University of Houston that we knew,” Herman said. “Of course, we're going to swing for the fences, but we're going to be very, very selective on the kids that we go after and recruit if we didn't have a relationship before the month of January.

“It's too hard to get to know a kid in three weeks, especially when our jobs will be judged on what happens with the players we bring to the University of Texas. We’re going to get our fair share of impact recruits, I promise you that. But we know we can’t give into the impulse to just sign everybody that has four or five stars next to their name. It’s not the right thing to do in our first recruiting class.”