Derek Williams Jr. could have taken the easy exit when things got messy. Instead, the Texas senior defensive back stayed put, and now he’s cashing in on that choice.
That kind of patience doesn’t come naturally in today’s college football world. With the transfer portal now wide open - first under the 2021 rule that allowed one transfer without sitting out, then under the 2024 rule that lets players transfer as often as they want and play right away - it’s become standard for players to move on at the first sign of frustration. Williams Jr. went the other way, even after briefly entering the portal, and chose to stick with the program he committed to back in high school.
It was a gamble. It was also the right one.
Williams Jr., a former four-star prospect from New Iberia, Louisiana, made an impact as a freshman in 2023 and earned a starting job for Texas in 2024. Then a torn ACL cut his sophomore season short in mid-October, and the road back got tougher in 2025 as he tried to carve out a role in a crowded Longhorns defensive backs room.
When Texas’ 2025 season ended, he had a real decision to make: stay and trust the process, or leave and try to reclaim the playing time his injury had already taken away. Plenty of players in that age range have chosen the second path. The numbers show it, too - nearly twice as many players entered the portal in 2025 as in 2020, before the rule changes reshaped the sport.
Williams Jr. chose Texas anyway, and 10 months later, the payoff is showing up on the field.
“What a decision it has been for him (to stay) because I think he’s playing better today than he was prior to the injury,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said on Monday. “I think he’s playing at a really high level - his level of engagement, his communication skills. He’s doing a lot of really good things for us right now.”
Sarkisian has never sounded like someone against the portal, and he’s certainly benefited from it - some of his best players came in that way this past offseason. But there’s still something satisfying about a player like Williams Jr., someone willing to bet on himself without chasing the next stop that looks greener from a distance.
The results are hard to miss. He already has more than twice as many solo tackles as he had last season, and Texas still has three regular season games left.
One of those games comes this weekend, when Williams Jr. gets to return to his home state for a matchup against LSU.
Arch Manning, another Louisiana native, said he’s looking forward to it.
“That’s my guy,” Manning said. “Derek’s a baller.
He’s been through a lot - he got injured. I think he’s been playing really well lately.
He’s physical. I’m excited for him to go back home.”
Williams Jr.’s college career has been shaped by injury and the frustration that followed it. But he stayed, kept grinding, and now he’s getting the kind of recognition that comes when a tough call finally starts paying off.
On Saturday, he’ll get to show it in Louisiana.
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Derek Williams Has Earned A Bigger Texas Role At The Right Time
Derek Williams has spent much of 2025 trying to reclaim the kind of place he once had in Texas defense, and the road back has not been simple. After a knee injury cut short his 2024 season, he returned to a new landscape, one shaped by competition for snaps and coaching changes that made every rep matter even more.
Williams was close to leaving for the transfer portal before deciding to stay when defensive coordinator Will Muschamp arrived and safeties coach Blake Gideon returned. Since then, his role has grown along with his production, and the timing could not be better for a Longhorns defense looking for reliable answers from a player who has already shown he can handle a bigger load. [Read more 🡒]