Texas secondary rocked as two defensive backs bolt for the transfer portal

According to Matt Zenitz of CBSsports.com, Texas defensive backs Wardell Mack and Derek Williams Jr. have officially let members of the Longhorns' coaching staff know that they'll be entering the transfer portal.

Mack was a 4-star recruit from John Ehret HS (Marrero, LA) in the 2024 recruiting class, and he was ranked as the 19th-best CB according to 247sports.com's composite rankings. Though he was a highly-ranked player, he never really found his footing in Austin. He participated in four games and totaled two tackles for Texas as a true freshman before redshirting in November 2024.

Heading into the spring of 2025, he had some decent hype surrounding him as he looked pretty good on the practice field as a freshman. Unfortunately for him, both Graceson Littleton and Kade Phillips shined early and basically kept Mack off the field throughout the majority of summer practices. It's not difficult to see why he's choosing to look elsewhere in 2026.

On the other hand, Williams Jr. leaving is a pretty big blow for the program seeing as he was probably in line to be Texas' starting strong safety in 2026 depending on Jelani McDonald's NFL Draft decision.

Williams came to Texas as a highly sought-after, 4-star box safety in the 2023 class from Westgate HS in New Iberia, LA.

He's been an excellent rotational contributor since arriving at Texas, and he did well starting in place of Michael Taaffe and Jelani McDonald when he needed to in 2025. With Williams Jr. leaving, and McDonald potentially declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft in April, Jonah Williams better be ready to step up big next seasons for the Longhorns at safety.