AUSTIN, Texas— As Texas Longhorns passing game coordinator Blake Gideon prepares for a challenging matchup against the high-powered Texas State Bobcats on Saturday in the season opener, the returning assistant and UT alum has the comfort of knowing he has four safeties he can trust on the back end.
According to head coach Steve Sarkisian, the staff enters the season with confidence in senior Jelani McDonald, senior Derek Williams, junior Kobe Black, and sophomore Jonah Williams in a position room that also features redshirt freshman Zelus Hicks, freshmen Toray Davis and Yaheim Reilly, and another potential option in junior Jordon Johnson-Rubell, who is also receiving reps at linebacker .
Considering the widespread knocks that the Horns suffered at safety last season, similar or worse injury luck will force more than four safeties into action, and Texas could still turn to junior Xavier Filsaime, a contributor last season who is currently playing at nickel back.
But the top four all have high-level ability, and Gideon will need all four on Saturday.
"They're all going to have to play Saturday. I mean, in case anybody didn't get the memo, it's going to be hot at 2:30 in DKR. So we're going to have to play a lot of bodies in this ball game, and so it's not just about getting your starters ready to play — we need to have the two deep ready to play," Sarkisian said.
As a preseason third-team All-SEC selection with over 1,200 snaps over the last two seasons, McDonald needs little introduction.
"Obviously, Jelani is Jelani," Sarkisian said.
But maybe the Waco Connally product does need more introduction given that he was arguably the biggest snub for the Longhorns on the 2025 all-conference teams selected by the media.
"I don't know if he's getting enough notoriety for how good he really is," Sarkisian said at the start of preseason camp. "I thought he had a great year last year. I thought he probably deserved some all-conference honors even at the end of last year, so hopefully he can build off of that season."
In McDonald's first year as a full-time starter, he led the team with 80 tackles, four tackles for loss, three interceptions, three passes broken up, and one fumble recovery for 24 yards, in sum a compelling case as at least a third-team All-SEC selection last season.
With a 5.4 percent missed-tackle rate, 18 defensive stops, and only 133 receiving yards allowed on 39 targets in coverage, some of the other PFF stats posted by McDonald are just as impressive.
One area for growth from McDonald is more consistent playmaking — his fumble recovery and two of his three interceptions came in non-conference home games against overmatched opponents. His other interception was against Arkansas, a conference home blowout.
New defensive coordinator Will Muschamp's scheme may help.
"I think this defense with Coach Muschamp really fits Jelani. I think having Coach Gideon back is is great for Jelani as well," Sarkisian said.
McDonald also attacked the offseason.
"I think he's had a really good offseason. I've been very very impressed with him. Coach [Torre] Becton gives out certain grades for guys in the summer, and he was a gold star. That's huge from where he's grown in our program over the last three four years."
A freak athlete with prototypical size at 6'2, 201 pounds, McDonald is a rangy, sure tackler with coverage skills that scouts are already falling in love with — some believe that he could be the first safety taken in the 2027 NFL Draft .
So Sarkisian expects a huge season from McDonald, along with some of the scouting community. For the Texas defense to have a comparably successful season, McDonald needs to step into the role filled by Michael Taaffe as a team leader and primary communicator on the back end.
"He's trying to make sure everybody's communicating well. He's making sure the back end is on the same page —that's probably the biggest thing," Texas fifth-year defensive tackle Hero Kanu said during preseason camp. "He can step up and lead. Let's say we're going to be out there by ourselves and do some extra work. He's one of the guys that can organize that, that can get everybody together, and he got everybody's respect, as well."
The projected starter next to McDonald is the resurgent Williams, whose initial positive trajectory with a strong freshman season was derailed by a knee injury against Oklahoma in 2024 and Gideon's departure last year when Williams only played 204 snaps, with more than a quarter (58) coming against Vanderbilt when injuries depleted the depth at safety. In the win over the Commodores, Williams led the Horns with eight tackles (five solo).
Before Sarkisian fired passing game coordinator Duane Akina in mid-December, Williams intended the enter the transfer portal and wasn't with the team for the Citrus Bowl. But when Gideon returned to Austin after a year as the defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech, Williams withdrew from the portal and came back for a fourth season on the Forty Acres.
It hasn't been a particularly buzzy preseason for the 6'2, 199-pounder, but if anyone can get the most out of the former top-50 prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, it's Gideon, who recruited Williams out of New Iberia (La.) Westgate.
The expectations for the other Williams in the secondary, Jonah Williams, are certainly higher, although he may receive less playing time this season. Ranked as the No. 10 overall prospect and the No. 1 safety in the 2025 recruiting class, Williams has dealt with injuries since his senior football season was cut short with a collarbone injury. But after missing most of baseball season to have shoulder surgery, Williams is healthy for the first time in his Texas career and flashed with an end-zone interception in the first scrimmage of preseason camp.
"The range that he has at safety is real. He's an outfielder in baseball, he can track the ball, and so the interception that he made was was a very instinctual play. But you saw the ball skills —it was natural, the timing to jump to make that play, those are all just natural instincts and skill set that he has," Sarkisian said.
Williams also made a heartening open-field tackle early in the scrimmage of fourth-year running back Hollywood Smothers, a positive sign that he feels confident in the health of his shoulder.
If the Galveston Ball product can stay healthy, he'll push for significant playing time.
The newcomer in the group is Black, who spent two disappointing seasons at Texas playing cornerback before moving to safety in preparation for the 2026 season.
Like Williams, Black flashed his tackling ability in the first scrimmage, a highlight play coming early against redshirt senior running back Raleek Brown in the open field, where Brown typically excels after forcing 55 missed tackles last season at Arizona State and gaining 607 yards after contact.
It's an area of Black's game that should translate well to safety — in two seasons at Texas, Black has only missed two tackles, according to Pro Football Focus, for a strong missed tackle rate of 7.1 percent.
Black's experience playing cornerback will bolster the Longhorns safety room, too.
"Kobe's been a nice addition for us there because he gives us position flexibility, right? His versatility to play man coverage being a corner. I think he's a very smart player, he's savvy, he's got good instincts, and so far so good, right?" Sarkisian said at the start of preseason camp.
As a top-40 prospect who was ranked as a consensus five-star recruit in the 2024 class, Black faced high expectations when he made his way down I-35 to Austin. And although he was on the verge of becoming a bust, the position change has given Black a fresh start in burnt orange and white.
So far, he's taken advantage of it.
"When you have Kobe, Derek, and Jonah, those guys have all made their own strides in their own way," Sarkisian said.
