A host of Texas football players commit ahead of signing day

A load of Texas players have made recent verbal commitments in the Dallas area. Signing Day is Feb. 2. Among them are:

Cedar Hill senior defensive end Jude Akpunku has orally committed to Navy, according to Cedar Hill coach Joey McGuire. Cedar Hill had an up-and-down season on defense, but Akpunku (6-3, 215) was one of the bright spots.

Richardson Berkner senior Spencer Edmonds has orally committed to Air Force, according to Berkner coach Jim Ledford. The 6-5, 216-pound tight end and receiver caught 45 passes for 673 yards and nine touchdowns last season.

Woodrow Wilson running back Carl Harris, who rushed for for 1,836 yards and 23 touchdowns last season, has orally committed to Memphis, according to Woodrow Wilson coach Bobby Estes. Woodrow Wilson linebacker Chad Polk and tight end/defensive end Ishmael Thorns gave oral commitments to Sam Houston State.

The Dallas Morning News also reported several oral commitments, including Irving defensive end Horace Arkadie (Arkansas), Kimball defensive tackle Isiah Norton (Colorado State) and A. Maceo Smith defensive tackle Keithen English (Houston).

As expected, some players changed commitments over the last week. The biggest was Euless Trinity star quarterback Brandon Carter, who switched from Oklahoma to TCU. Carter was recruited as a defensive back for Oklahoma, but he might be able to play receiver at TCU.

Some other changes:

Mesquite Horn inside linebacker Kyle Boyd has changed his commitment from Iowa State to Baylor, according to The Dallas Morning News. Duncanville linebacker Josh Hunt, the District 5-5A Most Valuable Player who had committed to Wake Forest, is now orally committed to North Texas, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle. The Record-Chronicle also reported that Lincoln defensive back Kerry Swarn, who in the fall was committed to Arizona, is now committed to North Texas.

PAUL MILLARD GETS SCHOLARSHIP ON HIS FIRST DAY AS WALK-ON
When he didn't get a scholarship offer from a big school, Flower Mound quarterback Paul Millard decided to accept an invitation to walk on at West Virginia. He graduated early at Flower Mound and then enrolled last week at the school in Morgantown, W.V. To Millard's surprise, a scholarship opened up and he was awarded it on his first day there. "That's a cool deal," he said. It also seems fitting for a quarterback who threw for more than 400 yards and four touchdowns per game last season.

FORMER SOUTHLAKE CARROLL COACH NAMED ASSISTANT AT PITTSBURGH
Todd Dodge, the head football coach at Southlake Carroll when the Dragons were 79-1 and won four 5A state titles from 2002 to 2006, has been hired as the quarterbacks coach at Pittsburgh. Dodge was hired as head coach at North Texas in December of 2006, but he was fired last year midway through a fourth straight losing season. Some had speculated that he would return to high school coaching, but he found a spot on the staff of new Pittsburgh coach Todd Graham, who coached Allen High School from 1995 to 2000

FINAL THOUGHT
The Green Bay Packers expect to practice for next week's Super Bowl at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, but if the weather is too cold or wet, they could move down the street to Highland Park High School. SMU doesn't have an indoor facility, but Highland Park does have one for its football team. That shows how big high school football is in North Texas, where many 4A and 5A schools have indoor workout facilities and a few 3A schools even have them.

Matt Wixon is the high school sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He can be reached at mwixon@dallasnews.com or on Twitter @mattwixon.