Andrew Mukuba labels himself a 'ball hawk' on the field

Andrew Mukuba has proven that he can be one of the top safeties in college football when healthy. As he enters his first season at Texas, he plans on getting back to being that type of player.

Mukuba joined the Longhorns program this offseason after three seasons at Clemson. He recently sat down with the Behind The Facemask podcast and shared what kind of player Texas is getting.

“I feel like I’m good in coverage. I know how to take the proper tackles. I’d say I know how to communicate when I’m out there. I’d say a ball hawk,” Andrew Mukuba said. “And I feel like I’m just a field general when I’m out there.”

Mukuba was a Freshman All-American and the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021. He then started 21 games over the following two years while dealing with injuries but continuing to make plays.

Mukuba plans to use his experiences from his days at Clemson to help this Texas team, particularly guys in the secondary.

“I’m going to bring a lot of energy, a winning mentality on the back end. I’m going to bring a lot of swagger and just playmaking ability,” Mukuba said. “I feel like that’s what I do best and just being in the room with a lot of younger players, I feel like they can feed off of that and all I can do is just give them the knowledge of the game and hope they take that and apply it to their game. And hopefully as a unit, we go out there and ball.”

Texas reached the College Football Playoff in 2023 and won the Big 12 title during its last year in the league.

The Longhorns will now be in the SEC in 2024, and while the transition is likely to be challenging, Mukuba believes everyone is ready for it.

“It’s going to be fun,” Mukuba said. “There’s a lot of guys in that back end working, that’s all I can tell you. We’ve been working. It’s going to be some new dudes that you’re going to see, people that have been there balling. So we’re coming along, we’re working.”

Andrew Mukuba shares why he left Clemson for Texas

Andrew Mukuba considered committing to Texas out of high school, before ultimately going to Clemson and playing three seasons for the Tigers.

He is now in Austin, playing for the Longhorns, after transferring to Texas this offseason. Mukuba recently joined the “Behind the Facemask” podcast and explained his decision to transfer from Clemson to Texas.

“My time there at Clemson, I just felt like I wasn’t really like getting better,” Andrew Mukuba said. “I wasn’t being pushed enough to where I could reach my potential, my peak. I feel like the program wasn’t where it needed to be for me and the whole team to be successful.

“So I felt like, after my junior year, it was always the same thing. So I felt like after that, it was only right for me to transfer, and Texas was one of the schools that I was definitely looking at.”