40 days until Texas Football: Derion Gullette returning to football form
Inside Texas is putting a new twist on long-time photographer Will Gallagher’s time-honored countdown to Texas football kickoff. In addition to Will’s great pictures, the Inside Texas staff will go through every player on the roster by jersey number and offer a season outlook on each, from five-star to walk-on.
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We’ll also look back at other greats to wear that day’s number, with special reverence to some of Texas’ best.
Today is 40 days until kickoff. No. 40 for the Longhorns this season will be worn by Derion Gullette, a freshman linebacker.
Derion Gullette season outlook
After starting his high school career at Marlin (Texas), Gullette moved to Teague (Texas) and was set to continue his standout prep career before beginning his journey at Texas. But a significant knee injury suffered while playing basketball prior to the season kept him on the sidelines for all of 2022.
Gullette still enrolled early at Texas and rehabilitated his injury with Longhorn trainers in UT facilities. That process continued through the spring and summer and has gone well to this point.
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Before any decision is made by Steve Sarkisian, Pete Kwiatkowski, and Jeff Choate, the first priority for Gullette is to get into football shape both mentally and physically. Even if his knee is healed and fully functional, Gullette needs to get his body assimilated to college football and his mind confident in the work done by doctors and rehab. A redshirt year for Gullette, with the occasional special teams appearance, is in order before the Texas staff figures out what place is best for the explosive athlete.
Derion Gullette as a recruit
Gullette was ranked as the No. 140 overall prospect, the No. 13 linebacker, and the No. 28 prospect in Texas in the 2023 On3 Industry Ranking, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. On3 ranked Gullette as the No. 82 overall prospect, the No. 7 linebacker, and the No. 17 prospect in Texas.
Recent player to wear No. 40: Robert Killebrew
Killebrew played in 50 games, with 38 as a starter, in his four years on the 40 Acres. He amassed 199 tackles (96 of them solo), 16 tackles for a loss, five sacks, four passes broken up, two forced fumbles and three recovered fumbles in his career.
All-Americans to wear No. 40
Cory Redding, DE, 2001 and 2002
Joe Cook co-authored this story
