Pete Kwiatkowski Talks State of Texas Longhorns Secondary

Only allowing 15.3 points per game, good for third-best in college football, the Texas Longhorns posed one of the country's most dominant defenses last season.

Credit for that can be spread across the field, including to the secondary, where the Longhorns boasted Jim Thorpe Award winner Jahdae Barron, NFL second-round pick Andrew Mukuba and returning All-American Michael Taaffe. Texas only gave up 173.8 yards per game through the air, which sat at seventh nationally.

Now, ahead of the 2025 season, despite losing Barron and Mukuba, Texas's secondary is expected to impress once again, with Pro Football Focus ranking the Longhorns as its top defensive back group. Loaded with impact returners, defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski weighed in on the outlook of his secondary as preseason camp gets underway in Austin.

Kwiatkwoski's defensive backs group

In addition to Taaffe, the Longhorns have Malik Muhammad, Jaylon Guiilbeau and Jelani McDonald coming back to their secondary after contributing importantly last year.

Add in greater playing time for Derek Williams Jr. and Kobe Black, as well as redshirt freshman Wardell Mack and five-star freshmen Kade Phillips and Jonah Williams, and you have a secondary brimming with talent and ready for competition.

Kwiatkwoski acknowledged that the team can only "put the best four/five guys out there."

“We’ve got a lot of guys who have the ability to (play) and it’s going to come down to how they perform, how they practice, their understanding of the defense, and how they communicate,” he said, per Inside Texas.

The secondary and its position battles will be a storyline to watch as fall camp moves along and we inch closer to the season opener.

The Week 1 game

A month from now, the secondary will jump straight into a major test against the reigning national champion Ohio State Buckeyes. The Buckeyes have one of college football's best receiver duos in Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, and they have also added tight end Max Klare to their pass-catching group through the transfer portal. Texas's pass defense will need to be on point from the first snap.

In last year's College Football Playoff semifinal, Kwiatkowski's defense did exceptionally well in containing Smith, only allowing him one catch for three yards. Preventing Smith from impacting the game will once again be a key on Aug. 30.

A well-rounded defensive performance against the Buckeyes may start and end with covering Smith, which head coach Steve Sarkisian spoke about on The Herd with Colin Cowherd.

“Ideally, you’ve got multiple people with eyes on him and guarding him, but you still have to play great team defense and you’ve got to have the ability to stop the run and you’ve got to cover the other two wideouts they have that are two really good players, too," Sarkisian said. "I do think the multitude of things that you can do well, but you'd better know where No. 4 is at all times.”

Kwiatkowski's secondary will have a tall task at Ohio Stadium, but there is little doubt it's capable of doing what is needed to inspire a winning effort.