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Texas biggest defensive rising star won't be suiting up for the Horns in 2026, he'll be coaching the cornerbacks

by: Evan Vieth05/19/26

When Texas hired former Rutgers CB coach Mark Orphey ahead of the 2025 season, most fans just didn’t know how to react.

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Observers had become used to the flashy names of Chris Jackson and Kenny Baker from the NFL, or Johnny Nansen and Duane Akina, both of whom were defensive coordinators before taking position coach jobs at Texas.

But joining Akina in the DB room was Orphey, a stark contrast to the older, veteran former DBs coach.

Orphey is still in his 30s, having only held one P4 corner or defensive back coaching job since entering coaching right out of college in 2011. He’d been part of SEC staffs like South Carolina in the early 2010s or Alabama in 2021, but was not a household name around the country.

That didn’t stop him in 2025, however, as he injected something that this cornerback room badly needed: youth.

Texas had established veterans like Malik Muhammad and Jaylon Guilbeau on the roster, but they were the only CBs with real experience, and both were set to be gone after 2025.

Orphey was tasked with finding a capable third cornerback, as well as building for the future in the room through in-season development, as well as recruiting.

Though risky, Orphey trusted true freshman Graceson Littleton to start in Game 1 of the 2025 season at Ohio State, and never looked back.

He started all year, while fellow true freshman Kade Phillips ended up earning the starting job opposite Muhammad to end the season, seeing an uptick in production against Vanderbilt before taking over the job against Arkansas a few weeks later.

As this occurred, Orphey brought in a duo of cornerbacks for 2026, both out of state.

Samari Matthews, North Carolina’s first defensive ‘Mr. Football’, and Hayward Howard from deep in Louisiana. He would’ve also loved a stab at Jermaine Bishop, but he’ll be catching the ball, not swatting it.

But the transfer portal is where you saw Orphey’s biggest wins as a coach at the University of Texas so far.

First, he took to his Rutgers roots, where he had previously produced their highest draft pick in over a decade in 2024, to add veteran CB Bo Mascoe.

Then, despite rumored interest in testing the portal waters, Orphey was able to retain depth CBs Kobe Black and Warren Roberson, both strong athletes with an elite trait that could’ve been tough to replace on the Texas roster.

Mascoe’s returns have already been superb; there’s an argument for him being the best DB on the team already.

In fact, despite the thought that Littleton was better suited to play an outside cornerback role, Mascoe has all but shut the door on that possibility, and new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp knows Texas’ best trio involves Mascoe and Phillips on the outside and Littleton on the inside.

Matthews has also flashed early as a hyper-competitive turnover producer, meaning Texas is five-deep at the outside cornerback position for 2026, all with Orphey’s fingerprints in retention, addition and/or development.

Texas has an elite stockpile of defensive line talent, both in depth and star power, but as you go further in the defense, Orphey’s corners may be the most impressive group of the entire back end in just his second year on campus.

That has to fire up defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, who worked with Orphey in his first year when the CB coach was just a quality control specialist. He’d leave for an upgraded position just one season into Muschamp’s tenure.

Now able to work in tandem once again, Orphey has hit the ground running in recruiting. Texas already has the commitment from the still underrated Greedy James, who we now know will play cornerback under Orphey were he to make it to campus.

But that barely scratches the surface of targets, including the No. 2 player in the class, John Meredith, who has been RPMed to Texas by national recruiting analyst Steve Wiltfong.

Orphey’s board also features strong relationships and joint interest from the likes of Trenton Blaylock, Montre Jackson and Dhillon McGee. In the old world of recruiting, Orphey might be bringing in 4-5 CBs in this class.

So while the eyeballs on this Texas defense will be trained on Colin Simmons, Rasheem Biles and rising stars like Lance Jackson, the real up-and-coming gem might just be standing on the sideline.

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