Texas Football 2011 Preseason Position by Position: Safety

by Scipio Tex on Jul 29, 2025 4:27 AM CDT in Texas Longhorns and Other Football

Safety is the inverse of our DE position - lots of experience, less upside on raw talent.

The minimum I want from a solid safety is the ability to create turnovers (whether interceptions or forced fumbles), to not give up anything cheap over the top, and sound tackling underneath and in run support. What they bring beyond those traits are gravy.

Sticking strictly from our current roster designations, here are our four safeties:

Blake Gideon
Kenny Vaccaro
Christian Scott
Nolan Brewster

Blake Gideon has started 39 games for the University of Texas. He's arguably the most experienced player in college football when you calculate not only total starts, but consider the stakes of some of the games he's participated in. Blake is always a source of internet debate, but his year he has a chance to reprise the crucial role he played as a true freshman in 2008 when he held together a young secondary that improved markedly over the course of the year. In 2011, Gideon will be surrounded by youth and inexperience, particularly at CB, all learning a new system that is not without complexity against a schedule that will throw the kitchen sink at them. Gideon has a real chance to be a stabilizing force for us.

The problem with Blake's game is that he doesn't particularly excel in one area (enforcer? coverage guy? ball hawk?) and he's more likely to receive a turnover than to create one. He's not that physical against the running game, doesn't show with authority in the alley, and though he has underestimated range and good ball anticipation, he lacks the ability to man up in the slot and he's not a particularly adept blitzer. He pretty much has to play deep safety, let things develop in front of him, and play pop flies. That makes us predictable. To his credit, he does it pretty well - I can count the number of times he has been beaten over the top on one hand during his career here. He's not a great physical complement to Vaccaro, but his experience and mental prowess are crucial for us and he should eat up Diaz's pattern matching instruction and turn it into some easy picks.

If he can hold together a young secondary and help restore us to our winning ways, he'll leave here with our gratitude.

Junior Kenny Vaccaro brings an element of dynamism and intensity to the defensive backfield and this should be the year he really blossoms. Kenny is a brutal tackler who relishes contact, enjoys mixing it up in the run game and over the middle, and has developed physically into a 6-0 210 pound enforcer. He's basically a former power lifter who can run well. Kenny is also our best coverage safety and we can use him in man situations without too much fear on most receivers in this league. He should be our best player in the defensive backfield. The Diaz fire zone defenses will allow short completions over the middle with the devil's bargain that the receivers are going to get hit. Kenny's job will be to make that arrangement an undesirable one.

To date, his ball skills have only been OK. If he makes a leap there, this may not just be his junior year, but a contract year.

Christian Scott certainly looks the part. He's 6-1, 215, sculpted, and has good straight line speed for a big safety. A long time fan favorite for what he could be. Unfortunately, he's also a cautionary tale on aspects of our previous S&C regime. Like Chykie Brown, Scott has actually gotten less athletic every year he has been here. I don't mean vertical leap, lifts, or gym shorts appeal. I mean lateral movement, agility, quickness, flexibility, and kinesthetic awareness. He missed a dozen tackles last year and quick receivers give him fits. He certainly isn't lacking for experience and he's a valuable guy on the roster, but one can't help but wonder what might have been.

Nolan Brewster is another big safety (how does this current squad pick it's safeties? all of the guys incapable of playing corner) and he too is a mature player that has seen a lot of football. He made the interesting decision to redshirt as a junior and now he's solidly #2 on the depth chart. Brewster has good size, is a willing tackler, and actually moves OK laterally. He has average speed and isn't really someone who can high point a ball. He brings some things to the table, but we don't want him covering 65-70 snaps a game.

The quip about how we choose our safeties for this squad is actually true. Right now we have about ten guys auditioning at CB and nickel and some of them will be making the move to safety by the end of summer drills.

Most talented possibilities include:

Sheroid Evans
Bryant Jackson
Mykkele Thompson
*Adrian Phillips
*Quandre Diggs

Freshman Sheroid Evans is one of the fastest college football players in the country and he doesn't mind contact. He has good size (6-0, 185-190), but is mostly an unknown due to limited high school reps. High upside, to put it mildly. Bryant Jackson is a lanky (6-2, 190) athlete still growing into his body who excels at getting after the ball in the air and has the look of a future free safety if big corner doesn't pan. Mykkele Thompson might be the best all around athlete in the incoming class and can play anything you ask him to play. I list Phillips and Diggs only because they both have the theoretical capacity to play safety, but they should be our starting nickel and cornerback, respectively.

Summary:

The safety group has a lot of experience, but aside from Vaccaro, the talent level is average. Vaccaro should be a presence and Gideon will provide stability for young secondary.

There are some exceptional athletes among the freshman and 2nd year guys currently trying out at corner who have the potential to be difference makers down the line, but we'll have to wait and see what develops with Jackson, Evans, Thompson etc.

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Read More: blake gideon redemption, kenny beats up lawyers, texas defense, texas football 2011 preseason position by position, Blake Gideon (S - Texas), Christian Scott (S - Texas), Kenny Vaccaro (S - Texas), Nolan Brewster (S - Texas)

Comments

I didn’t see Josh Turner on here. Is he an option this year or is he redshirting? Also is Byndom going to be in the mix next season? I know he has to sit out this season due to injury.

by Jefe on Jul 29, 2025 5:14 AM CDT reply actions

Ok, so it’s confirmed, I’m not the only BC late nighter/early morninger.

I might be overly optimistic, but I can’t help but sense C Scott putting it all together. I won’t cite facts that support my hunch because I can’t really recall more than the game against Kansas a couple years ago, the day he destroyed those poor Jayhawks. It’d be really sweet to see him live up completely to his end of high school potential. A spike in Machete’s stock would also be a soothing occurrence. Those two might not be lock down pass covering safeties, but by god, it’d be entertaining to see them bring the wood the way we’ve seen in the past.

by Lark 47 on Jul 29, 2025 6:25 AM CDT reply actions

list Phillips and Diggs only because they both have the theoretical capacity to play safety, but they should be our starting nickel and cornerback, respectively. [/quote]

Diggs will play nickle and Phillips will play corner.

by Jerry on Jul 29, 2025 7:03 AM CDT reply actions

Nickel not nickle

by Jerry on Jul 29, 2025 7:04 AM CDT reply actions

I think Turner is playing more corner. Redshirts have not been decided.

by papadev on Jul 29, 2025 8:09 AM CDT reply actions

“I didn’t see Josh Turner on here. Is he an option this year or is he redshirting? Also is Byndom going to be in the mix next season? I know he has to sit out this season due to injury.”

Both corners.

by nordberg on Jul 29, 2025 8:12 AM CDT reply actions

Also, Byndom better fucking not be sitting out this year, or we’ve got problems. Maybe you’re thinking of Barnett.

by nordberg on Jul 29, 2025 8:13 AM CDT reply actions

Thanks for the responses. Yes I was thinking of Barnett. I see now that this was just safeties. It threw me off by mentioning Diggs. That’s what I get for posting at 3 a.m.

by Jefe on Jul 29, 2025 9:16 AM CDT reply actions

Jefe, would you say that we have a ‘plethora’ of cornerbacks?

by nordberg on Jul 29, 2025 9:24 AM CDT reply actions

kinesthetic awareness.

I’ve got no idea what this means, but am certain that I lack it too.

by parlin on Jul 29, 2025 9:34 AM CDT reply actions

ScipioTex and Longhorn Scott’s great efforts signal that we are leaving the off-season and easing into the pre-season. Great writing and great insight. I’m reduced to a giggling fanboy, but I have no shame.

I do have a question. Scipio, have you heard anything material about the workouts shifting to increase athleticism?

And another few: Is there a drill for kinesthetic awareness? Does it involve blindfolds, red-glowing iron vases, and a maze of spears? I think Saban uses that drill to keep scholarships available.

by RomaVicta on Jul 29, 2025 10:13 AM CDT reply actions

I slept they attorney.

by Young Williams on Jul 29, 2025 10:21 AM CDT reply actions

“And another few: Is there a drill for kinesthetic awareness? Does it involve blindfolds, red-glowing iron vases, and a maze of spears? I think Saban uses that drill to keep scholarships available.”

Ha. Saban also uses real air-raids with live ammo.

by Tipsy Gypsie on Jul 29, 2025 10:55 AM CDT reply actions

Between Vacarro and Gideon I foresee about 9 targeting penalties this year. I’m actually in favor of targeting penalties in games like Rice. Put something on film for the opposing receivers to think about.

by That's what she on Jul 29, 2025 11:47 AM CDT reply actions

Brewster red shirted himself last year? Given the available evidence, he is either the best player on our team. . .

or the smartest.

by roach on Jul 29, 2025 12:12 PM CDT reply actions

You’re being way too harsh on Blake. He’s elite at “putting my head down and try to spear this dude”, hell, he even does it to his own teammates.

by Mad Clapper on Jul 29, 2025 12:18 PM CDT reply actions

Great stuff, Scip. Here’s one kinesthetic awareness drill:

http://video.adultswim.com/robot-chicken/lukes-training.html

by Drew Dunlevie on Jul 29, 2025 12:31 PM CDT reply actions

Parlin,

Kinesthetic awareness? Simple… just an idea of who your better-looking relatives are.

by OldTimeHorn on Jul 29, 2025 1:00 PM CDT reply actions

Lark -

We all remember that play. And if RBs will keep trying to run him over, we’ll see more of them. Scott had an opportunity this offseason to make some improvements so we’ll see what happens.
I like quick football players and Scott’s quickness has decreased every year he has been a Longhorn.

parlin -

I don’t what it means either, but guys who catch bullets in their teeth probably have it. Let’s just go with knowing where your body is in space. The more you perform certain movements, the better you get at it.

RomaVicta -

Thanks, man. I know the offseason workouts have been incredibly intense, partly because Wylie does crazy things like show up to his job, but no one should confuse Wylie with Todd Wright. He’s not going to break a dude down into component parts and then create player specific drills and exercises to address a weakness. He’s basically a hardass who gets a lot of effort out of the guys, but it’s one size fits all and not real sophisticated. That’s a post for another day.

Young Williams -

The “I slept” meme has not gotten old for me at all. I try to use it everyday.

roach -

You have a point.

by Scipio Tex on Jul 29, 2025 1:39 PM CDT reply actions

That has to be the most even-handed appraisal of Gideon I have ever seen. He’s a perfectly adequate safety in a program that has given the world Bill Bradley, Jerry Gray, Michael Huff and Earl Thomas. Right around the mean relative to D-1 college football…not even close to it in the history of UT. Them’s the breaks.

by jonestopten on Jul 29, 2025 1:44 PM CDT reply actions

As I read this I was wondering how many posts before that magical series against Kansas was mentioned.

by Horncasting on Jul 29, 2025 2:39 PM CDT reply actions

He’s not going to break a dude down into component parts and then create player specific drills and exercises to address a weakness. He’s basically a hardass who gets a lot of effort out of the guys, but it’s one size fits all and not real sophisticated. That’s a post for another day.

I’m curious if you think this is do more to Wylie’s training philosophy or the nature of football? When you have to train 100 guys, coming up with specific plans for each is 10 times the challenge of the basketball program.

Of course, Wylie probably has 10 times Wright’s budget too, so maybe that’s not an excuse.

by roach on Jul 29, 2025 3:59 PM CDT reply actions

Landon Collins take note of these guys. You can pass them up on the depth chart fairly easy.

by Jefe on Jul 29, 2025 4:55 PM CDT reply actions

roach -

Wylie has several assistants. And it’s his full time job with, as you point out, 10x the budget.

Creating separate workout programs for OL, LBs, WRs isn’t rocket science. And it’s not hard to identify the 5-8 guys in the program who require special targeting and focus for certain attributes (overweight, underweight, lacks quickness, lacks explosiveness).

More importantly, it’s the nature of the workout itself. Wright understands what basketball really IS. That’s reflected in the programs he creates. And why he laughed out loud at the scouts who fretted that Durant couldn’t bench press anything.

Most football S&C coaches have a tough time leaving the orthodoxy.

by Scipio Tex on Jul 29, 2025 5:33 PM CDT reply actions

[Gideon]’ll leave here with our gratitude.

I’m sure Scipio thought about that wording for a while.

by PatronSaint on Jul 29, 2025 5:42 PM CDT reply actions

I would love to see Phillips playing free safety, because that would mean Byndom, White and Diggs had locked down the corner and nickel spots, with Turner providing some depth. I imagine a bit of cross-training in the defensive backfield for the coming year.

Vaccaro could be starting FS and second string nickel.
Diggs could be starting nickel and second string corner.
Phillips could be second string FS and second string corner.

I think this gets your most athletic guys out there.

by llogg on Jul 29, 2025 7:24 PM CDT reply actions