Brandon Jones, the nation's No. 2-ranked safety recruit and one of the gems of the Texas Longhorns' top-10 rated recruiting class, was back in Austin last weekend to run in the Texas Relays. Jones reflected on his recruiting process, his national signing day decision and life ever since in an interview with ESPN.com.

Now that it’s over, how is life after recruiting?

Brandon Jones: It’s gotten really chill. I’ve finally got time to go back to doing normal high school things, focus on track and school and stuff like that. It’s been a stress reliever. My phone isn’t blowing up nowhere near as much as it was before. It’s been a real chill time ever since I committed.

What kind of reaction did you get after you did make your announcement? I bet your phone blew up.

Jones: It was crazy. You’re not going to get all positive things. I had some people talking bad to me. At the end of the day, I did what’s best for me and my family.

So the Texas A&M fans didn’t take the news too well?

Jones: Oh, not at all. Not at all. I noticed their coaches all unfollowed me on Twitter, too. They’ve got to move on, so I get that.

A lot of people believed you were leaning toward Texas A&M for several years. Is that a fair assessment?

Jones: I want to say I was pretty much open my whole recruiting process. I don’t have anything against A&M, they’re a great school and they were my second option if I didn’t choose Texas. I just had to do what’s best for me.

Your last official visit was to Baylor. How did that affect your decision?

Jones: One thing they promised me was a starting spot at Baylor. That was kind of new, just because a lot of coaches don’t say that. That opened my eyes a little bit, that it might be a great opportunity. I just felt Texas was the best place for me.

When did you know?

Jones: I didn’t know until the night before. It was pretty late. I told all the coaches I’d be calling the school in the morning, before I signed, and let them know around 6 a.m. where I was going. I called Coach (Charlie) Strong. They were fired up. I could tell through the phone, I felt like I was there. All the yelling and hollering, it was a pretty awesome feeling.

What made you confident about that decision?

Jones: Well, I had my top three and I really just thought about it. Besides the football aspect, you’ve got to look at it as, if you didn’t have football, where would you see yourself being? I felt like Austin has a lot of options outside of football. The coaches want to make a better person out of you and not just a football player.

You’re from a small East Texas town. How do you feel about moving to a big city?

Jones: It’s gonna be new. Nacogdoches is a small town. It’s going to be different. But there are way more opportunities here, in football and outside of football. The Big 12 is going to be a pretty great conference, and they like to throw the football. Being a DB, I feel like I fit in perfectly.

After you signed, Clay Jennings replaced Chris Vaughn as Texas’ secondary coach. What did you think of that move?

Jones: That was a big thing. Coach Vaughn was recruiting me for years and has been a guy I really counted on, on and off the field. Him leaving really hurt a little bit. Coach Jennings and I had a really close relationship when he was at Arkansas. Him filling the spot was an eye-opener to me. If it wasn’t going to be Coach Vaughn, I’m glad it was Coach Jennings.

You’re coming in with a freshman class full of guys who could play right away, especially on defense. Were those guys a big factor for you?

Jones: We made really good relationships during the recruiting process. They were a pretty significant part in me committing. I wanted to make sure I was with the right group of people, and these guys are it. They wanted what was best for me, and Texas was the best for me.

So what did you do with all your clothes and gear from the schools you didn’t choose?

Jones: Oh, I’ll probably just give it to my friends. No need to keep that anymore.