Dylan Sanchez doesn’t want to brag. But he feels he may have predicted his brother Devin Sanchez’s future.

In the world of Texas youth football, Dylan Sanchez can be viewed as a late bloomer. He took the field for the first time at age 9 and blossomed into a four-year defensive tackle at Fort Bend Marshall High School and earned a scholarship to play at Texas A&M Kingsville.

But when Dylan first took the field, so did Devin, a 3-year-old Dylan remembers outrunning 9- and 10-year-olds on the practice field before growing into a 2025 five-star cornerback, the No. 6 overall prospect in the country and an Ohio State football commit. 

“I’ve always said that my brother would get to this point,” Dylan said. “I always said he would be the best in this family when it came to putting the product on the field with this sport. And that’s what it’s turning out to be in front of our very eyes.

“The whole country is watching.”

'God did his part'

Deetra Sanchez says she is not surprised by the stage her son Devin is on.

Deetra, a former sprinter at Texas at El Paso, said Devin is a perfectionist by nature, always eager to outperform the person next to him.

“He always knew that ‘I’m better than you, and I’m going to be better than you,’ ” she said.  “It sounds crazy, but he has always had this attitude that, ‘If they can do it, I can do it better. And I’m going to show you I can do it better.’ ”

Devin followed in the footsteps of his father Daniel, a former UTEP cornerback, and arrived at North Shore High School in Houston as a 6-foot freshman who defensive coordinator Garrett Cross said already had the intangibles recruiters look for.

“We knew right then and there God did his part,” Cross said. “(Sanchez) just needed to do his. And he is.”

After spending his first season on North Shore’s freshman A team and practicing with the varsity team on its run to the state championship, Devin Sanchez shined as a sophomore, earning first-team all-district honors and helping his team return to the state championship game.

In 2022, Sanchez finished with 36 tackles, four interceptions and 18 pass breakups.

Before his sophomore season, Devin had offers from programs such as Alabama, Texas and Georgia.

In his first two seasons at North Shore, he said, he realized he had attributes as a corner that not many players had.

“Being a corner that’s long and rangy, you don’t see many corners that can run like that,” Sanchez said. “A corner that could guard a 5-8 slot receiver who’s shifty and the next week, guard a 6-3, 215-pound receiver, I can do that.”

Why Devin Sanchez picked Ohio State

Sanchez said he knows the kind of cornerback he could be at the college level. And when it came to picking a college program, development was his main priority.

Ahead of his recruitment, Daniel Sanchez said he and Devin came up with a list of schools they separated as "DBUs." To them, these were not a short list of target schools, but offers that showed Devin was on the right track.

Ohio State, which was on that initial list, secured Devin’s attention in January 2023. Sanchez first interacted with former OSU safeties coach Perry Eliano before cornerbacks Tim Walton took over the recruitment and established a close relationship with the Sanchez family,

For Sanchez, Walton was a representation of what his other finalists ,Alabama and Texas A&M, could not provide: a chance to develop into a first-round NFL draft pick and follow the same path as multiple Ohio State cornerbacks before him.

Sanchez said his choice was clear.

“I always knew coach (Nick) Saban was going to (retire)," Sanchez said about Alabama. "I mean, that kind of played a part in it too because I didn’t want to pick Alabama and he’s not going to be there. If you watch any Alabama DB videos, he’s the one doing the developing, he’s the one coaching."

As for Texas A&M, Sanchez said, "they don't have it together over there," and said he didn't have time to build a relationship with Mike Elko and the new Aggies football coaching staff.

With Walton and Ohio State, Sanchez sees a room already filled with first-round talent

"Looking at the corners they got right now, I mean, they got all those guys back, and if all those guys play how they should play — Denzel (Burke) and Davison (Igbinosun), they should go first round; Jordan (Hancock) should go first round, second round," Sanchez said. "Everybody should be getting drafted in that DB group next year."

While Devin was focused on development, Deetra focused on her son being “protected and safe” at whatever program he chose.

After she saw the relationships Devin built with Walton, assistant Gerren DuHart and head coach Ryan Day during one-on-one workouts at a June recruiting camp and at the family’s game-day visit against Penn State on Oct. 21, Deetra saw her son find his home at Ohio State.

“It made him feel comfortable and be able to say ‘I have a home away from home,’ and this home was going to be like home,” Deetra Sanchez said.

Devin Sanchez's recruiting pitch: 'Come to Ohio'

While Sanchez announced his commitment to Ohio State on Jan. 6, he knew well before then he was going to be a Buckeye.

Sanchez said he was recruiting 2025 players to join Ohio State’s class before he was committed, including four-star defensive end Zahir Mathis, who committed four days after Sanchez.

Sanchez’s pitch has been simple.

“if you want to play and put that work in, win it all, come to Ohio,” Sanchez said. “I mean, why go to a school like Alabama where they have a bunch of young guys who will already be there, and you’re going to be sitting. Ohio State, those spots are going to be open. I mean, come on, let’s go play.”

Daniel and Deetra Sanchez have joined Devin on the recruiting trail, saying they are building relationships and pitching Ohio State to parents of multiple players in the 2025 class.

“You are only as good as the guys around you,” Daniel Sanchez said. “We’ve never been the kind of parents to kind of push or give him the misconception that he is the only show in town. It is what it is. We play a team sport. You’re only as good as the guys around you.”

Recruiting is something Deetra Sanchez said she expects out of Devin, saying she taught each of her children to "stand in the front and not in the back," and promoting the message of "if you want to be the best, you have to be around the best."

With her son committing to Ohio State a year before he enrolls, Deetra Sanchez said there is a “misconception” that he can be easily swayed away from the Buckeyes’ 2025 class. But as long as Walton is still on staff, Deetra said, Devin Sanchez is “locked in” to Ohio State.

“We’ve always made it clear that we know what NIL is,” Deetra Sanchez said. “But the one thing that is most important to us is his continued development. If he continues to grow and develop as he’s supposed to or that they expect him to, all that other stuff will come. We’re not looking for that because it’s going to happen anyway, no matter where he goes.”

Devin doesn’t want to wait his turn when he arrives at Ohio State.

“They aren’t scared to throw no true freshman out there,” Sanchez said. “I’m going in with that mindset: I can play. I don’t want to be a backup. I want that spot. I’m coming in there, when I get there next January, to win that spot.”

Dylan Sanchez sees that possibility.

Now a defensive coordinator at Sam Rayburn High School in Pasadena, Texas, Dylan sees Devin as an “island,” a cornerback with height, length and “sneaky strength,” which was quickly clarified as “not stronger than me.”

Dylan said he saw that possibility in Devin at 3 years old. And in the next year, as Devin prepares for life at Ohio State, he sees that possibility again.

“He’s one of the best in the country,” Dylan said. “If there’s a bigger statement to be made, it’s going to be made.

“He’s going to leave it all on the field for all to see.”

Get more Ohio State football news by listening to our podcasts

 cgay@dispatch.com 

@_ColinGay

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Why Devin Sanchez could be the face of Ohio State 2025 class