Texas Has a SAFETY Problem: The Fatal Flaw in 2026? | Steve Sarkisian | Will Muschamp - On Texas Football

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[00:01]
A
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[00:30]
B
Is safety a fatal flaw for the 2026 Texas Longhorns? We'll discuss that on this latest edition of On Texas Football, brought to you by Poncho and Prize Picks. I'm Jeff Howe, joined by Lifetime Longhorn, Rod Babers. Rod, we talked about this Texas team and you look at this roster we talked about, there's not just that, as you say, that Shakespearean flaw, that fatal flaw with this team. But even after two media windows, safety might be emerging as one of those things that could hold this team back. Because it seems like it's a long hill decline for this team to find that running mate next to Jelani McDonald. There's a lot of options, Rod, but maybe that's not necessarily a good thing.
[01:11]
C
Yeah, it's a great point. Yeah, maybe it'd be better if you kind of just knew that was one person or one player who, who had, who was well rounded enough right. In their skill set to be able to win that job. And I think that's the problem right now. You know, that was a term back in my day when I played called the five tool safety. Now I'll spare you explain all the, all the tools, but essentially you're looking for a safety that can do everything that doesn't really have a, a flaw in their skill set. Right. They're well rounded and the problem right now is you don't have a five tool safety other than Jelani McDonald. You got a lot of one two tool safeties out there, right? Derrick Williams, really good alley cat. He can help stop the run. He's physical be a force run defender for you. But in man coverage, which must champs going to play a lot of man coverage, especially his safeties, he can be a liability. Last season allowed 158 pass rating in man coverage, which is, you know, kind of nearly a perfect NFL pass rating. Right? So that's an issue whether you're talking about, you know, a Jonah Williams high ceiling player. Right. You know, my five star prospect, he's huge too, by the way, and he's got a lot of tools. Just, it's a lot of raw material to work with. But durability is the issue. Right. He hasn't even made it through an entire training camp for for Texas or entire season I should say for Texas healthy. So that's a concern. Right. So you don't want to necessarily put too much on his player, too much responsibility. And then you got a guy like Kobe Black, you're moving there, you know that he can play man coverage coming from the cornerback spot which is great. He's going to be an asset for you there. But can he be a force run defender? Can he be an asset for you in the run game? Nobody really knows that. Can he be an alley cat? So those are the concerns, right? These guys, they couple of things well or they've proven they can do a couple of things well. But you don't have necessarily a guy right now that's a five tool safety other than Jelani McDonald and that's what you're looking for one of these guys to prove during training camp.
[03:02]
B
Rod, we've talked about the scheme and look, you and I are both we're Will Mustamp stands and we're not alone in that among the OTF staff. But I really do believe this. I do think the ceiling for a Will Muschamp defense is higher than the ceiling for a Pete Wachowski defense because of the havoc you can create cause I also think the floor is lower because of that risk reward because you do have a defensive coordinator that will gamble. And Rod, the thing about that I one of the things I liked about PK's defense was and this is no insult to Michael Taft because he's got skins on the wall and the accolades in his career at Texas is what it is. But I thought in PK's defense I felt like you could insulate the safety position a little bit and you saw when that didn't happen or you didn't have that right guy out there I. E. The Vanderbilt game last year everything could go haywire. But for the most part you could put the safeties in a spot where you can accentuate strengths, mask the deficiencies. Playing safety for Will Mushy Rod, there is nowhere to hide. If you can't be that five tool guy you are going to get exposed at some point. That's my concern with the safety position.
[04:06]
C
Yeah, there's no doubt and I was looking at some of the numbers from south last year he coached there at South Carolina where he was calling all the shots. Man rates for safeties were rang ranked and this is for guys who had at least 100 snaps, 11th, 16th, 21st and 62nd. That's what they were ranked among 355 safeties that were in. In that. In that category. Right. So he's. You're. Gonna, you're gonna rely on those guys to play a lot of man coverage. So that in itself, you know, gives advantage to guys like Kobe Black in this competition. Right. And maybe that he can step up and potentially make a move. But he's got to prove and that whenever that first scrimmage comes around, that's what they're watching. With Kobe Blake, I guarantee they're probably going to put him in that situation intentionally much. I was like, no, I want him,
[04:51]
B
I want him there.
[04:52]
C
I want him to face him. I want him in the box. I want him. I want to see how he comes down as an alley cat. Because they have to be able to see when an offense schematically is going to try to shift things formationally and try to get Kobe Black in the box as a run defender or have him as a force run defender, that that is not something that can be exposed and it's not a liability. So the man covers thing is really interesting, but there's no. It's a non negotiable. You have to be physical in must champs defense. He will not have it have a guy on his secondary or in his secondary that is not a physical player. So you know, you can't be a primadonna. So you know Jodo Williams, that's kind of the challenge for him, the physicality that it's going to take. He hasn't had the durability, but he's going to have to be a physical player now. He's got the body and he's got the size to be able to do that so schematically. I don't think much Champ is going to alter his scheme much for the, you know, because of a weakness, a weakness in the secondary. I think he's going to play the scheme. He's going to play which potentially, like I said, that means it's even more important you find a safety that is as well rounded as possible. McDonald is almost an ideal safety in in mushroom defense because of his versatility. He's got ball skills. That's also something that will help you in mush Champ scheme. He's big on getting takeaways. So if you got ball skills a la Earl Thomas, right Jelani McDonald's got that, that also helps you. So a lot of boxes that he's looking to check with the Safety position.
[06:15]
B
And I'm not gonna say, Rod, with what I'm about to, to put on the table, that the safety position is why Sark made the corner coordinator change. Because we know it's, it's way more nuanced than that. But if you look at how they've structured the coaching staff and Sarkis said, look, Will Muschamp is the head coach of the defense. The defense, it's his baby to do with as he pleases. But bringing back Blake Gideon, basically that's an extension of Will Muschamp working with the safeties every day. We know Muschamp saw him do it in the spring, seen him do it again in the media windows when everybody breaks out, the group of stars, the nickels, they go with Will Muschamp, he coaches that position and a lot of guys that play safety are in that nickel group. And I also think too, and, and I don't know how big of an impact this is going to be, but it doesn't, it doesn't hurt bringing Mark Stoops on staff as a special assistant. If you look at Mark Stoops background, he was a tremendous defensive backs coach before he became a coordinator and a head coach. Most notably Rod, he was a defensive backs coach at Miami from 2001 to 2003. And think about the safeties that came out of Miami at that time. You're talking Ed, Ed Reed, you're talking Shawn Taylor back to corner, you're talking Mike Rump, Philip Buchanan. There's a lot of first round picks in there, a lot of all time great football players. Mark Stoops knows what he's looking at. When he gets down to helping Will Muschamp if this happens, break down the DB tape. So it does feel, Rod, like. I'm not saying Sark saw this void at safety coming, but it looks like he has put Will Muschamp in a position and done stuff on his own to say, hey, let's make sure this doesn't become a flaw. Let's make sure we've got as many quality sets of eyes looking at this problem as possible. So that way we can figure out the best solution.
[07:57]
A
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[08:27]
C
And that's what it's going to come down to. Right. Ultimately development. Right. Because we know that's what Sark kind of hangs his hat on is development. Blake Gideon getting a great reputation for it. Of course, Will Muschamp. You know, you have options here. There's no doubt. I mean you got a five star safety prospect in the fold here in the competition at Jonah Williams. Let me knock on wood. As long as he stays healthy. Derrick Williams is a guy that, you know, before he got hurt there whiz was starting safety.
[08:53]
B
Right.
[08:53]
C
Start. He started over Andrew Makoba, second round bit before he got hurt. Right. That's the level he was playing at. So if he can get back there, by the way, he's, he's moving much better. He's moving closer to the pre injury Derrick Williams.
[09:05]
B
I agree.
[09:05]
C
And that Derrick Williams actually wasn't a liability in coverage. That Derrick Williams was actually on his way potentially to being a multi year starter for you. So that's, that's the question. Can you get back to that? But you do have options. And of course you got Kobe Blacks, right. Developing. He kind of reminds me of the Ahmaud Brooks story. I tell it all the time, right. Ahmad Brooks lost his job at corner and asked the coaches could he compete at the safety position because it was open at the time and he ended up winning that safety position. Turns out that secondary in 2001, me, Quentin Jammer, Ahmad Brooks and Nathan Basher, you basically had, you know, everybody in that secondary played corner at one point. So you had all guys who were assets in coverage and this secondary would look very much like that. If a Kobe Black is developed into being a guy who can help you in the run game and not be a liability there. And then, you know, you would have four, you'd have four corners. You had four corners in the safety essentially in your second day. You'd have Littleton, you have Phillips, you have Bo Masco and then you'd have Kobe Black. That would make your second year, the coverage in your secondary, in my opinion, elite across the board. You wouldn't necessarily have a liability. It would be all about how those guys could help you in the run game. And that's one thing that about Ahmad Brooks shout out to him. That was really good. He was elite in the run game actually as an undersized safety. He was one of our top tacklers on the team and and so was Nathan Vash right away he was a physical safety even though he was undersized. So that's what you're hoping with these guys at safety, that they prove to be well rounded, even though right now they've got some boxes they've checked that they're proved to be more well rounded than they are right now because that's the issue. So development whether it's whether it's much champ or whether it's Blake Gideon throwing even a co stoops in there. Well, either one of those guys, I don't care where it comes from, the enlightenment, the development, but you need the trajectory of one or more of these safeties competing to really, really hit its. It's high kind of its high side here in the next couple of days.
[11:03]
B
Shout out to Ahmad Brooks. I I don't positively bring up the 2001 Big 12 championship team much, but he's got a hit in there in short yardage. I think it was on Chris Brown from Colorado's getting the ball and Brooks thumps him like a guy that what was Brooks, Rod? Five eight, £180.
[11:20]
C
About that. Yeah. I think he medicine tackles that game.
[11:23]
B
It looks like something you'd see on like a Bob Sanders highlight tape, like just throwing his body around and just being violent at the point of attack. So shout out to Ahmad Brooks. You mentioned the name though, Rod. I want to throw a hypothetical out there here in just a second, but before I do that, I want to thank one of our sponsors here on this edition of on Texas football and give a shout out to Poncho shirts. Welcome our newest sponsor, which is Poncho. Poncho makes the ultimate performance shirts for the outdoors. It's become my go to for all seasons. Definitely the best looking and most affordable shirt I've ever worn. And now they have their game day collection. Poncho has Texas fans covered for college football season. And and we have a special for you. Go to ponchooutdoors.com ontexas Enter your email and get $10 off and free shipping with your first order. That's P O N C H O outdoors.com ontexas and drop in your email. You get $10 off and free shipping. And once you try one, you'll get why my closet is getting full of Poncho shirts. All of our closets here in all Texas football are getting full with Poncho shirts. You're gonna love how these shirts feel in the Texas heat. Gotta love the extra pockets with zippers where you can store your stuff. I know my late father would appreciate that. Again, get $10 off your first order at ponchooutdoors.com on Texas when you enter your email. And thanks to the fine folks at Poncho for sponsoring this edition of On Texas Football. And again, make sure you check out their Game Day collection.
[12:48]
D
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[13:54]
B
Rod, for years you and I had a discussion and I tried in vain to just will this into existence. But I felt like during the Tom Herman era, not trying to Shawn Jameson at safety was doing a disservice to him. Doing a disservice to your football team because I just felt like the instinct, ball skills, everything would have translated to safety. By the way, Deshaun Jameson still in the NFL's built the Panthers, now with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Is it crazy for me to think like maybe the answer considering the talent and the pieces you've got at corner, is it the craziest thing in the world think the answer to safety could be giving Grayson Littleton a look back there.
[14:31]
C
That's interesting because you know there are some guys that I always bring up quandary ditch and I talk about this too. I'll call them football investigators. They're really good at diagnosing plays, kind of picking up the the pre snap clues and being able to diagnose and you know, decipher the play before the snap or at least narrow down the ways an office is going to attack you. And Quandary was really good at that. And that's why he. He at the NFL level, he made most of his plays like his big time plays at. At safety because it gave him a better view. Right. And he got a chance to. Because his kind of expansion of your viewpoint at safety. Right. And your vision. He got a chance to acquire more clues. All right. And because of that, it made him a better football investigator. Right. He solved more plays, if you will. Grayson Wilson. I do wonder if, because he's got a really high football iq, I've talked to young man, really high football IQ going back to Ahmad Brooks was a quarterback in high school. When they put him back there, the same thing happened to him. Really high football iq, football investigator. And then once his vision increased, he got a chance to look at all these clues and acquire more clues. And if you give a good investigator more clues, they gonna solve it. And that's I. So I do wonder if you're on to something there, because I've seen that happen multiple times to multiple guys. Actually. Quantity Dick said he preferred to play nickel because he was a. He's an adrenaline junkie. He just wanted the action to happen fast. He didn't mind.
[16:02]
B
Andre is a different cat like that.
[16:04]
C
Yeah, he didn't. I was like, dude, you're like the safety man. You can get there. You get there a little bit late, but when the tackle's already made, you know, you know, last line of defense and say you. You make all. You make more plays at safety. He's like, no, no, I like being in the action. He said, I don't want to get bored during a game. The safety times. You'll get bored during the game. I don't want that to happen. But anyway, sidebar. I was just. I'll digress. But getting back to it, I think there's something to that theory. Just because Grayson Littleton high football iq, I bet. And he made a lot of plays last season as a true freshman. And you got to have high football IQ at Texas to start at nickel and slot corner as a true freshman. I do wonder if you backed him up, increased his vision, give him access to more clues. I wonder if he'd make more place. It's something to think about.
[16:46]
B
And you know, he could. You know he can handle man coverage because he got tasked running with Jeremiah Smith and his fir his first game as a true freshman in the horseshoe against Ohio State and he's having to cover Jeremiah Smith and did not blink. Rod that is, I don't know if we appreciate how rare that is for a true freshman to be in that situation and not flinch.
[17:06]
C
And according to pff not, he's not a liability in a run game. Actually was one of your better run defenders coming to secondary, so you might be on to something. Another cat to consider maybe is Xavier. Feels to me, I know they're working him at nickel now, but, you know, maybe he's a guy that he's not a liability in coverage. He's actually a pretty good coverage defender. And then I've heard he's got a tenacity to him. You got to to play the slot. Maybe he's another guy you have to consider. But the hope is that one of those three guys that we discussed, those three players we discussed, they start to bloom and blossom here in the next couple of days and the reports are, oh, he's making plays. Oh, he looks like he's an asset here. There looks like he's a more well rounded player. That's what they're going to need at safety. If not, they need contingency plans A,
[17:49]
B
B, C and D. It's almost fear of the unknown because you mentioned Phil to me. He's been hurt. Jonah Williams has been hurt. Zealous six has been hurt. Derrick Williams has been hurt. So a lot of these guys just got to get healthy, get on the field. Rod, as we wrap this up, I'll, I'll put you on the spot when we get to the Sept. 5 opener against Texas State. Jelani McDonald's one of the starting safeties. Let's go ahead and assume you've got Cade Phillips and Bo Masco and Grayson Littleton at your corners and your star. Who's that fifth starting defensive back who's in the spot next to Jelani McDonald in the opener.
[18:21]
C
Oh, that's good. That's a good question. Right now I'm gonna go with the safe pick that Derrick Williams, who's got the job right now, just keeps the job because if he lost the job, that means he's getting toasted in practice a lot. And I'm going to say that if he's getting closer to pre injury Derrick Williams, that he's got better mobility and fluidity in his movement and he won't be a liability in coverage. But you know, that's still tough. I mean that's, it's, it's going to be a heated competition. I think they're going to give Jonah Williams and Kobe Black every opportunity to, to take that job. I'm Just say that Derrick Williams, he fends him off. For now, anyway.
[19:00]
B
All right, we'll see how it unfolds throughout camp. Rod, thank you for the time, the knowledge, the intel, the expertise. As always, huge shout out to producer Matt behind the scenes doing the great job that he does for us here at On Texas Football. Shout out to Poncho and price picks for sponsoring this edition of On Texas Football. If you're not a member over@ontexasfootball.com trust me, now is the time to get over to the site and take advantage of our limited time offer. New members, $3 is all it's going to take for your first three months of access@ontexasfootball.com We've got practice coverage, we've got breaking news, we've got insider access, we've got recruiting intel. If it's happening on the 40 acres, we're talking about it@ontexasfootball.com and with camp underway, there is no better time to jump into the fun. Jump into the message board over on Texas football.com Join the fast growing community we've got over there and take advantage of the limited time offer. Again, $3 for your first three months of access at On Texas Football. Make sure that you like this video. Make sure you're subscribed to the on Texas Football YouTube channel and make sure you've got your notifications set. That way, anytime we go live or drop a new video, you're not missing any of our Longhorn coverage or breaking news. Farad for Matthew. For the entire On Texas Football staff, I'm Jeff Howe. Thank you so much for watching and listening. And until next time, welcome, welcome.

Summary5 min read

On Texas Football Podcast Summary

Episode: Texas Has a SAFETY Problem: The Fatal Flaw in 2026?
Host: Bobby Burton (with Jeff Howe & Rod Babers)
Date: August 7, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode centers on one potentially fatal flaw in the 2026 Texas Longhorns football team: the safety position. Hosts Jeff Howe and Rod Babers dive deep into the current roster, scheme changes under new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, and the developmental challenges facing Texas as fall camp opens. The conversation is both analytical and nostalgic, drawing on Rod’s on-field experience and contemporary concerns about how the safety position could shape the Longhorns' season.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Five-Tool Safety Problem

The Flaw Identified:
The Longhorns lack well-rounded, “five-tool” safeties beyond Jelani McDonald—players who can cover, tackle, play the ball, and support the run with equal effectiveness.
- Rod Babers (01:11):
  
  “You don’t have a five-tool safety other than Jelani McDonald. You got a lot of one or two-tool safeties out there.”
Current Candidates & Their Limitiations:
- Derrick Williams: Great run defender but a liability in man coverage (Allowed a 158 passer rating in man last season).
- Jonah Williams: A big, talented five-star but struggles to stay healthy.
- Kobie Black: Transitioning from corner; great in man but untested against the run.

2. The Muschamp Scheme Shift: Higher Ceiling, Lower Floor

Scheme Philosophy:
Muschamp’s defense plays more man coverage, especially with safeties, and takes more risks. There’s less hiding a weak safety compared to Pete Kwiatkowski’s (PK) previous scheme.
- Jeff Howe (03:01):
  
  “Playing safety for Will Muschamp, Rod, there is nowhere to hide. If you can't be that five-tool guy, you are going to get exposed at some point.”
Statistical Proof from South Carolina:
Muschamp relied heavily on safeties in man coverage—last year, his guys ranked high in man coverage snaps among SEC safeties.
Physicality as a Non-Negotiable:
Physical play is a must in Muschamp’s system; there’s no tolerance for “primadonnas,” only tough, well-rounded players.

3. Staffing & Development Moves

Sarkisian’s Anticipation:
Sarkisian may have fortified this potential weakness by:
- Hiring Muschamp as defensive coordinator (DC) and giving him full autonomy
- Bringing back Blake Gideon (specializes in DB/safety development)
- Adding Mark Stoops (former Miami DB coach—Ed Reed, Sean Taylor)
- Jeff Howe (06:15):
  
  “It looks like [Sarkisian] has put Will Muschamp in a position and done stuff on his own to say, hey, let's make sure this doesn't become a flaw.”

4. Development is Now Critical

Optimism for Competition:
- Jonah Williams (if healthy) and Derrick Williams (if he returns to pre-injury form) both have upside.
- The possibility of a former corner-heavy secondary evokes memories of past elite Texas units (like the 2001 group).
- Rod Babers (09:44):
  
  “This secondary would look like … you’d have four corners in the safety. … The coverage in your secondary, in my opinion, [would be] elite across the board.”

5. Creative Position Shuffling

Is a Corner-to-Safety Move the Answer?
- Jeff floats the idea of moving Grayson Littleton—a high-IQ nickel/slot corner—back to safety, a move Rod compares to previous successes like Quandre Diggs and Ahmad Brooks.
- Rod Babers (14:31):
  
  “There are some guys … I call them ‘football investigators’. They're really good at diagnosing plays… and once his vision increased, he got a chance to look at all these clues and acquire more clues. And if you give a good investigator more clues, they gonna solve it.”
- Littleton’s Credentials:
  - Excelled as a true freshman in the slot.
  - Solid in coverage and run support.
  - May become even more valuable with a bigger field view at safety.
Other Contingency Options:
- Xavier Philsteme (another nickel with physicality, albeit injury prone)
- Injury recovery remains a concern across the board (several top DBs have missed time)

6. Looking to the Opener: The Depth Chart Guess

Who will be the other starting safety opposite Jelani McDonald on September 5?
- Rod Babers (18:20):
  
  “Right now I’m gonna go with the safe pick: Derrick Williams, who’s got the job right now, just keeps the job … but it’s gonna be a heated competition. I think they’re gonna give Jonah Williams and Kobie Black every opportunity to take that job. I’ll just say Derrick Williams fends ’em off. For now, anyway.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Rod Babers (01:11):

“You don’t have a five-tool safety other than Jelani McDonald. You got a lot of one or two-tool safeties out there.”
Jeff Howe (03:01):

“Playing safety for Will Muschamp, Rod, there is nowhere to hide. If you can't be that five-tool guy, you are going to get exposed at some point. That's my concern with the safety position.”
Rod Babers (04:51):

“He will not have a guy in his secondary that is not a physical player. … You can't be a primadonna.”
Jeff Howe (06:15):

“[Sarkisian] has put Will Muschamp in a position … to make sure we've got as many quality sets of eyes looking at this problem as possible.”
Rod Babers (09:44):

“You’d have four corners in the safety. … The coverage in your secondary, in my opinion, [would be] elite across the board.”
Rod Babers (14:31):

“I call them ‘football investigators’. They're really good at diagnosing plays … If you give a good investigator more clues, they gonna solve it.”

Key Timestamps

00:30 – Topic intro: Is safety a fatal flaw for Texas 2026?
01:11 – The roster breakdown of safety candidates
03:01 – Muschamp’s impact on the defensive scheme
04:06 – Man coverage stats and how scheme fits personnel
06:15 – Staff structuring and addition of Mark Stoops for DB expertise
08:26 – Development as the key to solving the safety issue
14:31 – The football investigator analogy; Littleton-to-safety idea
18:20 – Predicting opening day starters at safety

Takeaways for Texas Fans

Safety remains the one position where “upside” hasn't translated to reliability yet.
Muschamp's preferred scheme exposes weaknesses more than previous years.
Staff is constructed to maximize DB development and diagnostic eyes.
The answer at safety could be a healthy Derrick Williams, but watch Jonah Williams and Kobie Black in fall camp.
Creative solutions like shifting high-IQ corners to safety aren't off the table.

This episode offers a comprehensive, candid look at the biggest defensive challenge facing Texas in 2026—an unresolved safety position—and the series of moves, competitions, and developments that could define the Longhorns' success.

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Transcript27 lines

[00:01]
A
Football is back. Time to wake up the group chat and catch up with old friends, even the grumpy ones. What a baby. Because when football's back, so are we. Sky Sports is your home of football. Join us for over 1, 500 matches this season across the Premier League, WSL, SPFL and more for only €20amonth for 12 months. Go to Sky AE Sports. New Sky Sports customers only. Standard pricing applies. After 12 months, further terms apply.
[00:30]
B
Is safety a fatal flaw for the 2026 Texas Longhorns? We'll discuss that on this latest edition of On Texas Football, brought to you by Poncho and Prize Picks. I'm Jeff Howe, joined by Lifetime Longhorn, Rod Babers. Rod, we talked about this Texas team and you look at this roster we talked about, there's not just that, as you say, that Shakespearean flaw, that fatal flaw with this team. But even after two media windows, safety might be emerging as one of those things that could hold this team back. Because it seems like it's a long hill decline for this team to find that running mate next to Jelani McDonald. There's a lot of options, Rod, but maybe that's not necessarily a good thing.
[01:11]
C
Yeah, it's a great point. Yeah, maybe it'd be better if you kind of just knew that was one person or one player who, who had, who was well rounded enough right. In their skill set to be able to win that job. And I think that's the problem right now. You know, that was a term back in my day when I played called the five tool safety. Now I'll spare you explain all the, all the tools, but essentially you're looking for a safety that can do everything that doesn't really have a, a flaw in their skill set. Right. They're well rounded and the problem right now is you don't have a five tool safety other than Jelani McDonald. You got a lot of one two tool safeties out there, right? Derrick Williams, really good alley cat. He can help stop the run. He's physical be a force run defender for you. But in man coverage, which must champs going to play a lot of man coverage, especially his safeties, he can be a liability. Last season allowed 158 pass rating in man coverage, which is, you know, kind of nearly a perfect NFL pass rating. Right? So that's an issue whether you're talking about, you know, a Jonah Williams high ceiling player. Right. You know, my five star prospect, he's huge too, by the way, and he's got a lot of tools. Just, it's a lot of raw material to work with. But durability is the issue. Right. He hasn't even made it through an entire training camp for for Texas or entire season I should say for Texas healthy. So that's a concern. Right. So you don't want to necessarily put too much on his player, too much responsibility. And then you got a guy like Kobe Black, you're moving there, you know that he can play man coverage coming from the cornerback spot which is great. He's going to be an asset for you there. But can he be a force run defender? Can he be an asset for you in the run game? Nobody really knows that. Can he be an alley cat? So those are the concerns, right? These guys, they couple of things well or they've proven they can do a couple of things well. But you don't have necessarily a guy right now that's a five tool safety other than Jelani McDonald and that's what you're looking for one of these guys to prove during training camp.
[03:02]
B
Rod, we've talked about the scheme and look, you and I are both we're Will Mustamp stands and we're not alone in that among the OTF staff. But I really do believe this. I do think the ceiling for a Will Muschamp defense is higher than the ceiling for a Pete Wachowski defense because of the havoc you can create cause I also think the floor is lower because of that risk reward because you do have a defensive coordinator that will gamble. And Rod, the thing about that I one of the things I liked about PK's defense was and this is no insult to Michael Taft because he's got skins on the wall and the accolades in his career at Texas is what it is. But I thought in PK's defense I felt like you could insulate the safety position a little bit and you saw when that didn't happen or you didn't have that right guy out there I. E. The Vanderbilt game last year everything could go haywire. But for the most part you could put the safeties in a spot where you can accentuate strengths, mask the deficiencies. Playing safety for Will Mushy Rod, there is nowhere to hide. If you can't be that five tool guy you are going to get exposed at some point. That's my concern with the safety position.
[04:06]
C
Yeah, there's no doubt and I was looking at some of the numbers from south last year he coached there at South Carolina where he was calling all the shots. Man rates for safeties were rang ranked and this is for guys who had at least 100 snaps, 11th, 16th, 21st and 62nd. That's what they were ranked among 355 safeties that were in. In that. In that category. Right. So he's. You're. Gonna, you're gonna rely on those guys to play a lot of man coverage. So that in itself, you know, gives advantage to guys like Kobe Black in this competition. Right. And maybe that he can step up and potentially make a move. But he's got to prove and that whenever that first scrimmage comes around, that's what they're watching. With Kobe Blake, I guarantee they're probably going to put him in that situation intentionally much. I was like, no, I want him,
[04:51]
B
I want him there.
[04:52]
C
I want him to face him. I want him in the box. I want him. I want to see how he comes down as an alley cat. Because they have to be able to see when an offense schematically is going to try to shift things formationally and try to get Kobe Black in the box as a run defender or have him as a force run defender, that that is not something that can be exposed and it's not a liability. So the man covers thing is really interesting, but there's no. It's a non negotiable. You have to be physical in must champs defense. He will not have it have a guy on his secondary or in his secondary that is not a physical player. So you know, you can't be a primadonna. So you know Jodo Williams, that's kind of the challenge for him, the physicality that it's going to take. He hasn't had the durability, but he's going to have to be a physical player now. He's got the body and he's got the size to be able to do that so schematically. I don't think much Champ is going to alter his scheme much for the, you know, because of a weakness, a weakness in the secondary. I think he's going to play the scheme. He's going to play which potentially, like I said, that means it's even more important you find a safety that is as well rounded as possible. McDonald is almost an ideal safety in in mushroom defense because of his versatility. He's got ball skills. That's also something that will help you in mush Champ scheme. He's big on getting takeaways. So if you got ball skills a la Earl Thomas, right Jelani McDonald's got that, that also helps you. So a lot of boxes that he's looking to check with the Safety position.
[06:15]
B
And I'm not gonna say, Rod, with what I'm about to, to put on the table, that the safety position is why Sark made the corner coordinator change. Because we know it's, it's way more nuanced than that. But if you look at how they've structured the coaching staff and Sarkis said, look, Will Muschamp is the head coach of the defense. The defense, it's his baby to do with as he pleases. But bringing back Blake Gideon, basically that's an extension of Will Muschamp working with the safeties every day. We know Muschamp saw him do it in the spring, seen him do it again in the media windows when everybody breaks out, the group of stars, the nickels, they go with Will Muschamp, he coaches that position and a lot of guys that play safety are in that nickel group. And I also think too, and, and I don't know how big of an impact this is going to be, but it doesn't, it doesn't hurt bringing Mark Stoops on staff as a special assistant. If you look at Mark Stoops background, he was a tremendous defensive backs coach before he became a coordinator and a head coach. Most notably Rod, he was a defensive backs coach at Miami from 2001 to 2003. And think about the safeties that came out of Miami at that time. You're talking Ed, Ed Reed, you're talking Shawn Taylor back to corner, you're talking Mike Rump, Philip Buchanan. There's a lot of first round picks in there, a lot of all time great football players. Mark Stoops knows what he's looking at. When he gets down to helping Will Muschamp if this happens, break down the DB tape. So it does feel, Rod, like. I'm not saying Sark saw this void at safety coming, but it looks like he has put Will Muschamp in a position and done stuff on his own to say, hey, let's make sure this doesn't become a flaw. Let's make sure we've got as many quality sets of eyes looking at this problem as possible. So that way we can figure out the best solution.
[07:57]
A
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[08:27]
C
And that's what it's going to come down to. Right. Ultimately development. Right. Because we know that's what Sark kind of hangs his hat on is development. Blake Gideon getting a great reputation for it. Of course, Will Muschamp. You know, you have options here. There's no doubt. I mean you got a five star safety prospect in the fold here in the competition at Jonah Williams. Let me knock on wood. As long as he stays healthy. Derrick Williams is a guy that, you know, before he got hurt there whiz was starting safety.
[08:53]
B
Right.
[08:53]
C
Start. He started over Andrew Makoba, second round bit before he got hurt. Right. That's the level he was playing at. So if he can get back there, by the way, he's, he's moving much better. He's moving closer to the pre injury Derrick Williams.
[09:05]
B
I agree.
[09:05]
C
And that Derrick Williams actually wasn't a liability in coverage. That Derrick Williams was actually on his way potentially to being a multi year starter for you. So that's, that's the question. Can you get back to that? But you do have options. And of course you got Kobe Blacks, right. Developing. He kind of reminds me of the Ahmaud Brooks story. I tell it all the time, right. Ahmad Brooks lost his job at corner and asked the coaches could he compete at the safety position because it was open at the time and he ended up winning that safety position. Turns out that secondary in 2001, me, Quentin Jammer, Ahmad Brooks and Nathan Basher, you basically had, you know, everybody in that secondary played corner at one point. So you had all guys who were assets in coverage and this secondary would look very much like that. If a Kobe Black is developed into being a guy who can help you in the run game and not be a liability there. And then, you know, you would have four, you'd have four corners. You had four corners in the safety essentially in your second day. You'd have Littleton, you have Phillips, you have Bo Masco and then you'd have Kobe Black. That would make your second year, the coverage in your secondary, in my opinion, elite across the board. You wouldn't necessarily have a liability. It would be all about how those guys could help you in the run game. And that's one thing that about Ahmad Brooks shout out to him. That was really good. He was elite in the run game actually as an undersized safety. He was one of our top tacklers on the team and and so was Nathan Vash right away he was a physical safety even though he was undersized. So that's what you're hoping with these guys at safety, that they prove to be well rounded, even though right now they've got some boxes they've checked that they're proved to be more well rounded than they are right now because that's the issue. So development whether it's whether it's much champ or whether it's Blake Gideon throwing even a co stoops in there. Well, either one of those guys, I don't care where it comes from, the enlightenment, the development, but you need the trajectory of one or more of these safeties competing to really, really hit its. It's high kind of its high side here in the next couple of days.
[11:03]
B
Shout out to Ahmad Brooks. I I don't positively bring up the 2001 Big 12 championship team much, but he's got a hit in there in short yardage. I think it was on Chris Brown from Colorado's getting the ball and Brooks thumps him like a guy that what was Brooks, Rod? Five eight, £180.
[11:20]
C
About that. Yeah. I think he medicine tackles that game.
[11:23]
B
It looks like something you'd see on like a Bob Sanders highlight tape, like just throwing his body around and just being violent at the point of attack. So shout out to Ahmad Brooks. You mentioned the name though, Rod. I want to throw a hypothetical out there here in just a second, but before I do that, I want to thank one of our sponsors here on this edition of on Texas football and give a shout out to Poncho shirts. Welcome our newest sponsor, which is Poncho. Poncho makes the ultimate performance shirts for the outdoors. It's become my go to for all seasons. Definitely the best looking and most affordable shirt I've ever worn. And now they have their game day collection. Poncho has Texas fans covered for college football season. And and we have a special for you. Go to ponchooutdoors.com ontexas Enter your email and get $10 off and free shipping with your first order. That's P O N C H O outdoors.com ontexas and drop in your email. You get $10 off and free shipping. And once you try one, you'll get why my closet is getting full of Poncho shirts. All of our closets here in all Texas football are getting full with Poncho shirts. You're gonna love how these shirts feel in the Texas heat. Gotta love the extra pockets with zippers where you can store your stuff. I know my late father would appreciate that. Again, get $10 off your first order at ponchooutdoors.com on Texas when you enter your email. And thanks to the fine folks at Poncho for sponsoring this edition of On Texas Football. And again, make sure you check out their Game Day collection.
[12:48]
D
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[13:54]
B
Rod, for years you and I had a discussion and I tried in vain to just will this into existence. But I felt like during the Tom Herman era, not trying to Shawn Jameson at safety was doing a disservice to him. Doing a disservice to your football team because I just felt like the instinct, ball skills, everything would have translated to safety. By the way, Deshaun Jameson still in the NFL's built the Panthers, now with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Is it crazy for me to think like maybe the answer considering the talent and the pieces you've got at corner, is it the craziest thing in the world think the answer to safety could be giving Grayson Littleton a look back there.
[14:31]
C
That's interesting because you know there are some guys that I always bring up quandary ditch and I talk about this too. I'll call them football investigators. They're really good at diagnosing plays, kind of picking up the the pre snap clues and being able to diagnose and you know, decipher the play before the snap or at least narrow down the ways an office is going to attack you. And Quandary was really good at that. And that's why he. He at the NFL level, he made most of his plays like his big time plays at. At safety because it gave him a better view. Right. And he got a chance to. Because his kind of expansion of your viewpoint at safety. Right. And your vision. He got a chance to acquire more clues. All right. And because of that, it made him a better football investigator. Right. He solved more plays, if you will. Grayson Wilson. I do wonder if, because he's got a really high football iq, I've talked to young man, really high football IQ going back to Ahmad Brooks was a quarterback in high school. When they put him back there, the same thing happened to him. Really high football iq, football investigator. And then once his vision increased, he got a chance to look at all these clues and acquire more clues. And if you give a good investigator more clues, they gonna solve it. And that's I. So I do wonder if you're on to something there, because I've seen that happen multiple times to multiple guys. Actually. Quantity Dick said he preferred to play nickel because he was a. He's an adrenaline junkie. He just wanted the action to happen fast. He didn't mind.
[16:02]
B
Andre is a different cat like that.
[16:04]
C
Yeah, he didn't. I was like, dude, you're like the safety man. You can get there. You get there a little bit late, but when the tackle's already made, you know, you know, last line of defense and say you. You make all. You make more plays at safety. He's like, no, no, I like being in the action. He said, I don't want to get bored during a game. The safety times. You'll get bored during the game. I don't want that to happen. But anyway, sidebar. I was just. I'll digress. But getting back to it, I think there's something to that theory. Just because Grayson Littleton high football iq, I bet. And he made a lot of plays last season as a true freshman. And you got to have high football IQ at Texas to start at nickel and slot corner as a true freshman. I do wonder if you backed him up, increased his vision, give him access to more clues. I wonder if he'd make more place. It's something to think about.
[16:46]
B
And you know, he could. You know he can handle man coverage because he got tasked running with Jeremiah Smith and his fir his first game as a true freshman in the horseshoe against Ohio State and he's having to cover Jeremiah Smith and did not blink. Rod that is, I don't know if we appreciate how rare that is for a true freshman to be in that situation and not flinch.
[17:06]
C
And according to pff not, he's not a liability in a run game. Actually was one of your better run defenders coming to secondary, so you might be on to something. Another cat to consider maybe is Xavier. Feels to me, I know they're working him at nickel now, but, you know, maybe he's a guy that he's not a liability in coverage. He's actually a pretty good coverage defender. And then I've heard he's got a tenacity to him. You got to to play the slot. Maybe he's another guy you have to consider. But the hope is that one of those three guys that we discussed, those three players we discussed, they start to bloom and blossom here in the next couple of days and the reports are, oh, he's making plays. Oh, he looks like he's an asset here. There looks like he's a more well rounded player. That's what they're going to need at safety. If not, they need contingency plans A,
[17:49]
B
B, C and D. It's almost fear of the unknown because you mentioned Phil to me. He's been hurt. Jonah Williams has been hurt. Zealous six has been hurt. Derrick Williams has been hurt. So a lot of these guys just got to get healthy, get on the field. Rod, as we wrap this up, I'll, I'll put you on the spot when we get to the Sept. 5 opener against Texas State. Jelani McDonald's one of the starting safeties. Let's go ahead and assume you've got Cade Phillips and Bo Masco and Grayson Littleton at your corners and your star. Who's that fifth starting defensive back who's in the spot next to Jelani McDonald in the opener.
[18:21]
C
Oh, that's good. That's a good question. Right now I'm gonna go with the safe pick that Derrick Williams, who's got the job right now, just keeps the job because if he lost the job, that means he's getting toasted in practice a lot. And I'm going to say that if he's getting closer to pre injury Derrick Williams, that he's got better mobility and fluidity in his movement and he won't be a liability in coverage. But you know, that's still tough. I mean that's, it's, it's going to be a heated competition. I think they're going to give Jonah Williams and Kobe Black every opportunity to, to take that job. I'm Just say that Derrick Williams, he fends him off. For now, anyway.
[19:00]
B
All right, we'll see how it unfolds throughout camp. Rod, thank you for the time, the knowledge, the intel, the expertise. As always, huge shout out to producer Matt behind the scenes doing the great job that he does for us here at On Texas Football. Shout out to Poncho and price picks for sponsoring this edition of On Texas Football. If you're not a member over@ontexasfootball.com trust me, now is the time to get over to the site and take advantage of our limited time offer. New members, $3 is all it's going to take for your first three months of access@ontexasfootball.com We've got practice coverage, we've got breaking news, we've got insider access, we've got recruiting intel. If it's happening on the 40 acres, we're talking about it@ontexasfootball.com and with camp underway, there is no better time to jump into the fun. Jump into the message board over on Texas football.com Join the fast growing community we've got over there and take advantage of the limited time offer. Again, $3 for your first three months of access at On Texas Football. Make sure that you like this video. Make sure you're subscribed to the on Texas Football YouTube channel and make sure you've got your notifications set. That way, anytime we go live or drop a new video, you're not missing any of our Longhorn coverage or breaking news. Farad for Matthew. For the entire On Texas Football staff, I'm Jeff Howe. Thank you so much for watching and listening. And until next time, welcome, welcome.