Jaylan Ford, Texas football team daring to dream big as 2023 season approaches

Austin American-Statesman
ARLINGTON — During the recent Big 12 media days at AT&T Stadium, Texas linebacker Jaylan Ford couldn’t help but look upward at the Super Bowl banners hanging high from the rafters.
The newest of those five might hold lots of dust, but they’re all up there as a reminder to a Dallas Cowboys fan base that has subsisted for a generation on warm memories and eternal optimism.
That portrayal could easily describe Longhorn Nation, too, although Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would probably give away one of his handful of billions to add a championship banner from this century. It’s been 18 years since the Longhorns raised the crystal BCS trophy after beating USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl for its last of four national titles, and Ford admits that ultimate dream provides another level of motivation as he nears the start of his senior season.
“How many videos have you seen with Vince Young and the confetti, especially being a Longhorn?” Ford said. “We all want that feeling, you know? There's no greater motivation. And the more confident we get, the more we talk about it, the more we dream about it, and more we try to strive for. So, hopefully, all this work we've been putting in gives us opportunity to go compete for everything we can.”
Big 12 title remains primary motivation
Working hard on the little things allows Ford and the Longhorns to dream big, he said. And that hard work has helped make Ford one of the top defensive players in the nation after coming out of high school as a three-star recruit from the Dallas suburb of Frisco.
Texas linebacker Jaylan Ford walks through AT&T Stadium in Arlington during Big 12 media days this month. Entering his senior season, the All-American says Texas wants to win a Big 12 title and contend for a national championship.
The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Ford racked up 119 tackles and picked off four passes a year ago while keying a defensive turnaround for the Longhorns, who improved from No. 99 in the nation in points allowed in 2021 to No. 27 last season. That performance earned him a third-team All-American nod from The Associated Press, and he is the media's selection as the Big 12’s preseason defensive player of the year.
Not that Ford worries too much about individual accolades.
“Being given a preseason award just shows how much people respect what I've done in the past year, and, honestly, that's what I worked for last year,” Ford said. “But I don't really pay attention to all the preseason stuff. I just focus on what I'm going to show this season.”
This fall, Ford could become the first player to lead the Longhorns in tackles for consecutive seasons since Roddrick Muckelroy did so in 2008 and 2009.
But Ford has something else Muckelroy accomplished in mind. That 2009 bunch that reached the national title game against Alabama remains the last Texas team to win the Big 12 title, and Ford says hanging another conference banner in his own stadium remains a priority on this year’s to-do list.
“We look at them (conference banners) every day,” he said. “It’s a motivator. We know that if we have the opportunity to go and win the Big 12, how much that will affect not only us as players but the alumni and all the players before us and all the players afterwards. It would mean a lot.”
Linebacker Jaylan Ford could become the first player to lead the Longhorns in tackles in consecutive seasons since Roddrick Muckelroy did so in 2008 and 2009.
Sarkisian: Ford, other veterans key to season
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian senses that motivation from Ford and the other experienced players. While the coach acknowledges recruiting commitments and new faces from the portal excite the fans, he points out that veterans often form the backbone of a squad. Ford, defensive back Jahdae Barron, wide receiver Xavier Worthy, offensive lineman Christian Jones and defensive linemen T’Vondre Sweat and Alfred Collins are some of the players who have been in the program since Sarkisian replaced Tom Herman before the 2021 season.
That class, said Sarkisian, will determine whether Texas can live up to its preseason hype as the conference favorite and force its way into the conversation about the College Football Playoff.
“As much as there's a lot of focus on the new players that have come into our program, there should be a lot of focus on the players that are in Year 3 with me now,” Sarkisian said. “We've got a lot of veteran players that came to the University of Texas to win a championship. They bought in to a new coach, a new coaching staff, a new style of play, a new culture, and inevitably they're leaders on our team now, and they get a chance going into — some of them — their final season to compete for a Big 12 championship.
“I think that's their focus, and that in turn permeates throughout our locker room. There's not personal initiatives involved. It's about the team and the team trying to go win a championship, and that's what our focus is.”
That focus didn’t take any days off, even in the summer. When asked at media days whether he stepped away from the grind for a quick vacation, Ford just smiled and shook his head.
“I can have fun later,” said Ford, who bypassed the NFL draft in the spring but projects as an early-round pick in 2024. “I mean, I think this is my last ride, you know? I just wanted to be focused. I’m just trying to figure out ways to improve on and off the field and help this team win a championship.”