AUSTIN, Texas — Few things scare football coaches more than tackling early in the season. “You ask any head coach around the country, that’s the first thing out of their mouth of what’s your biggest concern going into Week One is how well are we going to tackle because we all can only do it […]
AUSTIN, Texas — Few things scare football coaches more than tackling early in the season.
“You ask any head coach around the country, that’s the first thing out of their mouth of what’s your biggest concern going into Week One is how well are we going to tackle because we all can only do it so much for the betterment of the team,” Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian said on Saturday.
An inherently physical act, tackling puts both the offensive and defensive players at risk of injury, a concern throughout the history of the sport magnified in the current era by the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams.
For Texas, that means the two scrimmages of preseason camp are especially important to practice live tackling in a game-like situation. Sarkisian was happy with how the team tackled during Saturday’s scrimmage, even as the offense got the ball into space more often that forced defenders to make open-field tackles.
“There were some very good tackles made, a couple of them touchdown-saving tackles that forced the offense to have to go execute in the red area. So in the end, we’ve got to find our opportunities to tackle. We’ve got to do a great job in our individual periods of working on tackling — there’s only so much we can tackle to get ourselves ready to go,” Sarkisian said.
During Monday’s availability, the Texas head coach was asked to name his top tacklers, mentioning junior safety Jelani McDonald, junior safety Derek Williams, junior linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., and sophomore linebacker Ty’Anthony Smith.
McDonald is expected to have a breakout season in his first year as a full-time starter after recording 33 tackles, one tackle for loss, and one interception in 2024 with five missed tackles on defense for a missed tackle rate of 12.5 percent, seventh-lowest on the team among players who played more than 100 snaps.
“Jelani is a fantastic tackler,” Sarkisian said. “He’s got range, he’s got speed, he’s got size to get people on the ground.”
After spending the offseason rehabilitating from a season-ending knee injury, Williams has been a scrimmage standout in proving that he’s back to full health.
“I think Derek Williams another fantastic tackler, having him back out there,” Sarkisian said.
A preseason All-American, Hill has a chance to secure his place in the pantheon of the all-time great Texas linebackers after leading the team in tackles with 113 last season while adding 16.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks, four forced fumbles, and an interception.
As the Denton Ryan product has worked on improving his coverage ability, he’s also made strides with his ability to be effective in space.
“I think Anthony is a fantastic tackler. I think he’s really taken another step in the open field,“ Sarkisian said.
Behind Hill and junior Liona Lefau, Smith is pushing for significant snaps in a potential breakout season after earning playing time as a core member of three special teams units and flashing on defense with an interception recorded in the blowout win over Florida as a true freshman.
“Ty’Anthony Smith is another very good tackler as well,” Sarkisian said. “Ty’Anthony forcing himself [onto the field]. He’s playing really good. I’m really proud of Ty’Anthony, he’s really grown up, not only on the field, but off the field, and you can see the level of maturity on the field, his intent every day at practice. He’s not the biggest guy, but the physicality that he plays with and the speed he plays with definitely shows up.”
Category: General Sports
