Texas safety transfer Kitan Crawford commits to Nevada

Former Texas Longhorns safety Kitan Crawford has committed to Nevada, he announced via Instagram on Thursday afternoon. After spending the last four seasons in Austin, Crawford will be taking his talents out West for his final season of eligibility.

Crawford will be in a new program but will have a familiar face as the head coach. Former Texas linebacker coach Jeff Choate is taking over in Reno, his first-ever head coaching gig in the FBS. He was previously at Montana State before leaving to become an assistant under Steve Sarkisian.

“I’m so fired up for him,” Sarkisian said on Choate. “He took a little bit of a leap of faith when he came here. He’s the head coach at Montana State. He had built that program. They were competitive, they were competing for championship. To come here as a linebacker/co-defensive coordinator, was a little bit of a leap of faith, looking for something that could be even better in return. Making the investment that he did.

“I’m sure like all of us, he was thinking, ‘What the heck am I doing?’ when you’re 5-7 after Year 1. Like, ‘I don’t know if this was the right move.’ But now after Year 3, to be the head coach at Nevada, a great program. I know they’re a little down on their times right now. We all get hired for a reason. He’ll do a heck of a job.”

Choate will now have somebody reliable at the backend of his secondary in Crawford. During his four seasons with the Longhorns, Crawford played in 46 games with 61 tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss. His first career interception came this past year in the Big 12 Championship game against Oklahoma State.

Where Crawford really exceeded was on special teams. At the conclusion of the 2023 season, he was named an honorable mention for Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year. If Choate so chooses, the Wolfpack will have an impact player on defense and special teams.

Crawford played high school football at Tyler (TX) John Tyler, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 144 overall recruit in the 2020 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Nevada has taken just one other transfer this cycle, Tapuvae Amaama moving back closer to home via the Virginia Cavaliers. And with Choate’s tenure just getting started, more could be on the way.