Texas Football: 3 defensive players ‘growing’ into new leadership roles
Jerrin Thompson, S
Another defensive back that has impressed the coaches with the way he continues to step up into bigger and bigger leadership roles in the last couple of offseasons is senior field safety Jerrin Thompson. The fourth-year safety has become one of the most important leaders of the back end of this defense over the course of the last two years.
It wasn’t just this offseason that Pete Kwiatkowski, Blake Gideon, and the Longhorns expected Thompson to take a bigger leadership role on this defense.
Last offseason, Thompson took on the role of essentially being the quarterback of the pass defense. And he definitely excelled in that role as Thompson had the best season of his collegiate career to date.
Thompson told the media just before the start of the 2022 season that he likes the way that Gideon coaches him up.
"“I love that he coaches hard. He wants the best out of you. That’s one thing as a player I want, to be coached. Coach Gideon has pushed me really hard and he wants the best out of me.”"
It’s clear that the investment that Gideon and the Longhorns put into Thompson in the last two years has paid off. This investment can also carry onto the next generation of Texas defensive backs.
Among all the returning defensive backs for the Longhorns in 2023, Thompson has taken the most coverage snaps wearing the Burnt Orange. He’s taken more than 1,500 defensive snaps over the course of the last three seasons for the Longhorns, a whopping 903 of which were in coverage.
That type of experience will be valuable as Thompson needs to get ready to pass the torch to the next group of talented starting safeties on the Forty Acres in 2024. The mentorship role he must take on in 2023 is something that will be even more important than it was last year.
He has to help teach up younger safeties in the mix this offseason such as freshman Derek Williams, sophomore BJ Allen Jr., and freshman Warren Roberson.
Thompson has to be one of the vocal leaders in the locker room and on the field in 2023 if this secondary is to reach its peak during the fall.