10 Longhorns Awarded With Preseason Coaches' All-SEC Honors
![Jul 17, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian speaking at Omni Dallas Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Brett Patzke-USA TODAY Sports Jul 17, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian speaking at Omni Dallas Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Brett Patzke-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_6000,h_3375,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/longhorns_country/01j5xs57eywr80k6a6bn.jpg)
The Preseason Coaches All-SEC team honors for the 2024 season were released today with Texas placing third in the SEC for players on the lists with ten.
Only Georgia with 15 and Alabama with 14 had more players than the Longhorns. It appears there is a ton of respect for Texas and its program as they head into their first season in the conference.
2024 Preseason Coaches All-SEC Team honors 🤘 pic.twitter.com/HttV7deKth
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) August 22, 2024
Offensive lineman Kelvin Banks Jr., who comes off winning first-team All-Big 12 in 2023, is one of the two Longhorns on the first team. The junior started all 14 games last season and has already been named to the preseason watch lists for the 2024 Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award.
Kicker Bert Auburn is the other Longhorn featured in the first team. Like Banks, Auburn also earned All-Big 12 first-team honors in 2023 where he set the UT single-season records for field goals made (29) and points scored by a kicker (143).
Five players appeared on the second team. Quinn Ewers was one of them after Georgia QB Carson Beck was placed on the first team. Ewers has been recognized for seven preseason watch list awards including the Walter Camp Player of the Year and the Davey O'Brien Award.
Alabama transfer Isaiah Bond was also placed on the second team. Bond, expected to be a huge target for Ewers this year, led Alabama in receptions last season with 48 for 668 yards. His biggest moment for the SEC champion Crimson Tide came in the Iron Bowl against Auburn when Bond caught a nearly impossible 4th and 30 catch for a game-winning touchdown.
Kicker Will Stone who has handled kickoff duties for the team for the past two seasons was also featured on the second team as well as Crimson transfer Andrew Mukuba. The defensive back recorded 45 tackles, seven pass breakups and a fumble recovery while starting all 10 games last year for the Tigers.
The last player on the second team is fifth-year defensive back Jahdae Barron. Barron has been a reliable defensive back for Texas and had a strong season last year where he posted 61 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, one interception, one fumble recovery and a career-high six pass breakups. Barron was also a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award last year.
Another big transfer landed on the list with edge rusher Trey Moore on the third team. Playing for UTSA last year, Moore was named the 2023 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Moore posted 45 total tackles with 17.5 of the tackles being for loss and a school-record 14 sacks. Moore also made a fumble recovery and interception to fill his dominant year. Moore is joining a stacked front seven that should be one the of the best in the conference.
Linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. joins Moore on the third team. Hill Jr. looks to build off an amazing freshman season where he was awarded co-Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year honors. Hill played in all 14 games and recorded 66 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, five sacks, and one forced fumble.
The last Longhorn on the list was defensive back Malik Muhammad. Also in his second year, Muhammad totaled 31 tackles, one interception, four pass breakups, and a returned block punt for a touchdown in his freshman year.
Out of the ten players on the list, five come from the defensive side, three come from the offense, and two from special teams. Texas has an impressive spread throughout the three parts of the game and is a team looking to build off the best season the team has seen in the last decade.
The season starts on August, 31st, with a matchup against Colorado State at 2:30 at Darrell K Royal Stadium.