With a long list of college offers in hand, Guyer junior defensive tackle Taylor Bible went to Austin on Saturday for the Texas Longhorns’ junior day without any of those in mind.

Taylor Bible

When he returned to Denton, Bible had the one offer he’d been waiting on after the 6-3, 287-pound junior gave his verbal commitment to Texas head coach Mack Brown.

The first day recruits from the Class of 2010 can sign a national letter of intent is Feb. 3, 2010.

“I like the fact that I felt at home [at Texas],” Bible said. “I was comfortable there. I thought they respected me, and I respected them. I felt like they trusted me, and I could trust them. That’s what I liked the most.”

Bible earned many accolades for his play last season, as he led a Guyer defense that was, at times, almost impossible to run the ball against. Bible faced constant double- and triple-teaming, but still managed to rack up 88 tackles, including 42 behind the line of scrimmage, in the Wildcats’ 15 games.

He also registered four sacks and 26 quarterback hurries. He was named to the third team of the Texas Sports Writers Association all-state team, and is on the Top 250 list on Rivals.com, which ranks the top college prospects in the country regardless of position.

“He’s an explosive 290-pound defensive lineman — that’s what separated him, is his quickness and explosiveness,” said Guyer head coach John Walsh. “This year, he understood technique and fitting right in our defense. He learned how to make plays and he became a technician, which you can see on film.”

DRC/Gary Payne

Guyer defensive tackle Taylor Bible, left, pulls on the jersey of Longview’s Tyler McCray during a Class 4A Division I state semifinal Dec. 13 at Texas Stadium in Irving. Bible, a junior, committed to Texas over the weekend.

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Aside from Texas, Bible had offers from Kentucky, Arizona, Tennessee, Illinois, and every Big 12 school except for Oklahoma and Missouri. But Texas ended up winning out in the end, thanks to Brown and his well-known knack for recruiting.

“He cares about his players,” Bible said. “He calls his players family. Coaches always say that, but some don’t mean it. With him, I believe it.

“I liked the people there because they remind me a lot of the people around now. That helps me feel that once I leave high school, I’m just going to a bigger high school with more people who are the same.”

Bible’s name began being mentioned in the same breath as some of the top 2010 recruits in the state after Guyer’s Class 4A Region I semifinal win over Wolfforth Frenship on Dec. 6. In that game, he recorded nine tackles, including seven behind the line of scrimmage, a sack and three quarterback hurries while going up against top offensive line recruit Mason Walters (already a Texas signee).

However, Walsh said Bible’s most memorable game was five weeks earlier.

That’s when Bible had 10 tackles with six behind the line of scrimmage against Wichita Falls, forcing Walsh to break out the stamps.

“That was as dominant as I’ve seen a defensive player,” Walsh said. “You watch that film, and all you can say is ‘wow.’ I told [defensive line coach Brian Valenzuela] to look up the Top 10 schools in the BCS poll at that time and send [the film] to every one of them, and we did.”

Walsh said he’s happy to see Bible get his commitment out of the way so he can go into spring football and the 2009 season with a state championship on his mind.

“I’m very happy to be finished with the recruiting process,” Bible said. “Now I can get back to focusing on my school work and not have to worry about going to a college every weekend. Now I have my life back.

“I figure if I go ahead and do it now, I can just all-out go for Guyer and not have to worry about what’s gonna happen or if I get hurt. Coach Brown has already said if I get hurt and can’t play football again, that my scholarship’s still good to Texas.”

ADAM BOEDEKER can be reached at 940-566-6872. His e-mail address is aboedeker@dentonrc.com .