Calling it now , Texas Longhorns special teams will be the single most improved unit in the entire SEC by the time October rolls around. Everyone wants to talk about Arch Manning's deep ball or the new defensive pieces but nobody is paying attention to the hidden yardage battle. Texas ranked 67th in punt return average last season and 54th in kickoff coverage efficiency. Those numbers are unacceptable for a program with this talent pool.
The spring game showed me enough. The new punter they brought in through the portal has a hang time that completely changes field position math. Combine that with a kickoff unit that actually has SEC-level speed now instead of walk-ons chasing down returners and you're looking at a net punting average jump of at least 5 yards per attempt. That's 20-25 yards of hidden field position every single time they punt. Over the course of a season that flips two close games minimum.
Mark my words , Texas finishes top 5 in the SEC in special teams SP+ by season's end. The coaching staff finally invested real practice time into this phase instead of treating it like an afterthought. When you look at what cost them against Georgia last year it was field position battles, not big plays. That gets fixed in 2026.