OTF Premium Takeaways from post-practice media availability with four Texas defensive players

[Jeff Howe]

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas players took to heart what Steve Sarkisian told them before the start of spring practice.

“We've got a really talented group of people individually,” Sarkisian said Monday, recalling his message to the Longhorns last Friday. “Now, we need to become a really talented team.”

Texas was talented enough to win 10 games in 2025. Its blemishes, however, led to three losses, which prevented the Longhorns from making a third consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff.

Whether it was parting ways with four position coaches (including hiring Will Muschamp as defensive coordinator), turning over the roster by attacking the transfer portal more than any time throughout his coaching tenure on the Forty Acres (almost 40 new faces on campus for spring practice between transfers and freshmen who enrolled for the spring semester), or restructuring the offseason schedule (the return of the spring game and the implementation of the program's “Culture Wednesday” team bonding sessions during the spring), Sarkisian tweaked the process Texas will go through ahead of the 2026 season.

It’s a process the Longhorns trust, defensive lineman Hero Kanu said after Wednesday’s practice. Kanu, who has the phrase “Trust The Process” tattooed across his chest, said the mantra must become the team’s identity to maximize its full potential.

“You can have all the talent in the world. If you can't do the little things right, it doesn't matter,” Kanu said. “So, obviously, you've got to trust the process and go in the right direction every day, going up the hill.”

 

— There are three big changes on defense Kanu has noticed as Muschamp goes about installing his scheme.

Texas will be a more aggressive down-to-down defense. Kanu specifically mentioned the interior defensive line causing more disruption to help the EDGE group get loose more often.

Muschamp’s energy and knowledge of the game, Kanu said, are second to none.

Kanu also mentioned Muschamp’s plans to mix up how often the Longhorns operate out of a three, four or five-man front.

In that regard, the over-the-ball tackles will have a big say in how versatile Muschamp can be. Thankfully, Kanu has been impressed with the strides made by 378-pound Ian Geffrard and 364-pound Zion Williams since arriving from Arkansas and LSU, respectively.

“You don't see a lot of guys at that weight moving this well,” Kanu said. “I'm really proud of them, how far they’ve come.”

 

— Colin Simmons can’t hunt opposing quarterbacks until the fall. In the meantime, he’s searching for the next source of fuel to keep his fire burning.

Before playing a snap at Texas, Simmons was determined to move his family out of where they previously lived. His mother, Monica McCarley, and his 11-year-old brother, Clayton Roberts, relocated to the Austin area last year.

Simmons, who, along with his mother, founded “Clay’s Color Crew” in 2024 “to support the entire Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) community,” said the move has allowed Clayton, who was diagnosed with autism in 2020, to enroll in “a school that's good for him, that he's getting the right attention and the right treatment."

“With me doing that, it was like, 'OK, what's next?’ Simmons said. “I'm looking for what's next. But while I look for what's next, I'm just going out here and having fun.”

Fun is the key to Simmons' success, as far as he's concerned.

After publicly stating his desire to break Kiki DeAyala’s single-season school sack record (22.5 in 1982) last spring, Simmons started pressing. The weight of self-imposed expectations played a big role in Simmons’ slow start (1.5 sacks through the first five games of the season and 10.5 over the team's last eight games), making him determined not to let the pursuit of individual accolades negatively impact his play.

“Knowing myself, I like to have fun. I like to have a smile on my face,” Simmons said. “The best Colin Simmons is when he has a smile on his face.”

 

— Even in a deep EDGE room, Lance Jackson was too good to keep off the field as a true freshman.

According to Pro Football Focus, Jackson played 261 snaps in 2025. That was the fourth-highest total among the EDGE group, behind Simmons (615), Ethan Burke (378) and Brad Spence (264).

Jackson, who is up to 272 pounds after Muschamp told him in December that he wanted the Texarkana Pleasant Grove product to bulk up, knew what he needed to do to get ready for college football by following the lead of his brother, former Arkansas defensive lineman Landon Jackson. Landon put in a lot of hard work to become a two-time All-SEC defender and a third-round draft pick by the Buffalo Bills in 2025.

That's the same mindset Lance brought with him to the Forty Acres.

“Ever since I got here in December (2024), he told me what I needed to do to be able to play,” Lance Jackson said. “I learned the playbook fairly fast and then was able to get on the field.”

Even in a rivalry with the history and renewed vitriol that exists between the Razorbacks, blood is thicker than water when it comes to Landon’s continued influence on Lance.

“I feel like now, he doesn't really look at it as much as a rivalry because he just wants what's best for me,” Lance Jackson said. “He wants me to win every game.

"He just wants me to shine.”

 

— Whether he’s playing cornerback, filling the nickel role in Muschamp’s defense or lining up anywhere else on the field, Graceson Littleton’s expectations for himself when he steps on the field won’t change.

“Dominate in everything I do,” Littleton said. “I want to be the best. I want to excel in everything I do.”

Two of the three secondary coaches from last season’s staff are gone. The one who was retained, Mark Orphey, is someone Littleton trusts to help him reach his ceiling as he begins the process of cross-training at cornerback and nickelback.

“He recruited me out of high school. I loved him,” Littleton said. “He happened to come to Texas. I'm very excited to be able to play under him and then at Star (nickel) as well.”

View full news story

[Joe Zura]

🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼

[CJ Vogel]

Great read,Jeff!

Excited to get some offensive guys in two weeks or so. Ready to hear from Cam Coleman.

[Joe Zura]

Just now, CJ Vogel said:

Great read,Jeff!

Excited to get some offensive guys in two weeks or so. Ready to hear from Cam Coleman.

No you are ready to hear from John MIDTEER 

[HTXHorn]

Talk about wanting to get me to run through a brick wall… that’s good stuff @Jeff Howe

[Jarveaux]

Great article Jeff ! 

[Califashorn75]

Hero Kanu is such a cool dude.