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Texas senior Jahdae Barron, the leader of the No. 1 pass defense in the country, won the Jim Thorpe Award as the top defensive back in college football in 2024.
Barron, who is a local kid from Austin, is the 3rd Thorpe Award recipient to play at Texas, joining back-to-back winners Michael Huff in 2005 and Aaron Ross in 2006. Barron opted to return to Texas as a 5th-year defensive back, played 4 positions in the Longhorns’ backfield and wore the same No. 7 jersey as Huff did in Austin.
This year’s honor makes Barron the first Longhorns recipient representing the SEC in the award’s history, a distinction that comes in the same year that Texas joined the conference.
Barron led the SEC in interceptions with 4 and piled up 41 tackles during the regular season, which contributed to a Longhorns defense that ranked No. 1 in the country for preventing explosive plays.
In addition to winning the Jim Thorpe Award, Barron was a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and was named first-team All-SEC. Barron beat out a 3-man field for the Jim Thorpe Award that included Ohio State safety Caleb Downs and Georgia safety Malaki Starks.
Barron helped lead Texas to a College Football Playoff berth. The 5th-seeded Longhorns will host 12th-seeded Clemson in a first-round Playoff game on Dec. 21.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
