With three weeks until Early Signing Day, the Texas Longhorns finally added a tight end to the 2026 recruiting class by flipping Portage (Mich.) Portage Central’s Charlie Jilek from the Minnesota Golden
Gophers on Thursday.
The 6’5, 240-pounder helps salvage a difficult recruiting cycle for position coach Jeff Banks, who was unable to land his top targets at the position and suffered the rare decommitment of a silent pledge when Corona (Calif.) Centennial’s Keawe Brown opted to pursue other options in late July before committing to Boise State in September.
At the time, Brown was the only tight end offered by the Longhorns in the 2026 class who hadn’t made a public announcement to another program, a group that included No. 2 tight end Kaiden Pothro, a Georgia pledge, and jumbo athlete Heze Kent, committed to Florida, the only two players at the position who took official visits to the Forty Acres.
A basketball standout for Portage Central, Jilek also played linebacker, recording 100 tackles, eight tackles for loss, three sacks, an interception, and a forced fumble as a junior, drawing interest from schools at both positions.
After taking two tight ends in the 2025 recruiting class, the commitment to landing high school prospects made Jilek a necessity for the Horns, and one who made his decision after receiving his offer from Texas on Thursday and pledging without a visit, which will surely happen for one of the two remaining home games.
Jilek reported 10 total offers — Arkansas State, Ball State, Central Michigan, Cornell, Eastern Michigan, Ohio, San Diego State, UCF, and Western Michigan. An initial pledge to UCF following an offer from the Knights in April lasted until receiving an October offer from the Golden Gophers, making the commitment to the Longhorns the third quick decision made by Jilek during his recruitment.
A consensus three-star prospect, the Michigan product is ranked as the No. 1,451 player nationally and the No. 107 athlete, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
So Banks and the rest of the Texas staff are clearly hoping that their evaluation and eventual development of Jilek looks like Gunnar Helm, the lowest-rated non-specialist in the 2021 recruiting class for the Horns.
