David Gbenda, Texas' only sixth-year senior, looking to make the most of his final season

Twenty-six players were part of Texas’ 2019 class. Four players — Jacoby Jones, T’Vondre Sweat, Roschon Johnson, and Jordan Whittington — exhausted their eligibility as Longhorns. Twenty-one others completed their college careers elsewhere or left the Longhorn roster for one reason or another.

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Here in 2024, only one member of that 2019 class is a part of the Texas football program: David Gbenda.

Gbenda is a sixth-year senior. He’ll be the last sixth-year senior by way of the season of eligibility relief provided by the NCAA in light of the COVID-19 pandemic at Texas. He could have gone elsewhere, either the transfer portal or to the NFL likely as an undrafted free agent. So why return to Texas for one more year?

“The feeling I had when we were going to and winning the Big 12, going to the Sugar Bowl, and proving everybody wrong, it was a great feeling,” Gbenda said Wednesday. “I was just sitting down thinking to myself, I trusted Coach Sark, I understood that it was going to be a younger team. With what I know and what I brought to the team last year, I felt like I could bring a little bit more and also improve my game. It was just a no brainer for me, honestly.”

Gbenda tallied a career-best 50 tackles with 3.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks in 2023, plus a pass breakup. He’s able to use the year of eligibility relief thanks to redshirting during the 2019 season (a season where he took practice reps at running back due to several injuries at the position). For his career, Gbenda has played in 47 games with 11 starts and recorded 109 tackles, 6.0 TFL, 3.0 sacks, and an interception which occurred in 2020.

In addition to improving in specific areas like pass coverage, vocal leadership, “block destruction,” and creating turnovers, Gbenda said the taste of success after a long five seasons without it also was a reason behind his return for a sixth season.

“You’ve got to understand, we went from years where we were barely contending for the Big 12 to 12 yards away from almost winning a national championship in my hometown,” Gbenda said. “Just that simple fact there, reiterating that fact, allowing the younger guys to understand that we were literally this close to being a part of history. If you’re a competitor, that would piss you off. It pissed me off.”

Gbenda is part of an old guard that will lead the Longhorns into the Southeastern Conference. After times in his career where it was evident by reviewing the game tape that Gbenda was not always trusting what he was seeing, the Katy (Texas) Cinco Ranch product has a belief in his own abilities that he thinks will translate to the field.

“I feel like I’m a lot more confident,” Gbenda said. “I understand a lot more of the scheme. I can talk ball with the coaches. I feel like I’m more confident in that aspect of my game, which is another reason why I came back to get better and learn more football. There’s a lot more you can learn.”

He’s had to acclimate to a new position coach, Gbenda’s fourth as a Longhorn, in Johnny Nansen. Gbenda likes what he’s seen from Nansen, someone he said shares his “straight go” attitude.

“Coach Nansen has been a real great new burst of energy, just teaching us new things,” Gbenda said. “There’s always so much more you can learn, and Coach Nansen has been stressing me on and off the field, getting me on the board, allowing me to learn the X’s and O’s but also allowing me to tap more into my tank. He’s telling me to burst to the ball, teaching me more technique, and he’s harping on the little things and the little details.”

A number of younger players, like sophomore star Anthony Hill and well-regarded second-year players like Liona Lefau, Derion Gullette, and others from the Longhorns’ 2023 class are in line to earn a lot more playing time this season.

Gbenda likes what he’s seen so far from not just that group, but all the Longhorns who have been on the 40 Acres half as long as he has.

“It’s a younger team, honestly, but there’s more energy,” Gbenda said. “There’s a want-to to get better. The younger guys, they’re hungry to learn more. What I’m seeing on the field is correlating with the work outside the field, also.”

Gbenda hopes that all that work, plus his own improvement, is part of the formula for a phenomenal final season as a Longhorn.

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“If we put in the right amount of work, we clean up the little details, we could win the natty,” Gbenda said.