After appearing in and winning their first New Year’s Six Bowl in a decade, the Longhorns finished the 2018 season with wind in their sails. A long-awaited “we’re back” from Sam Ehlinger offered hope to a fanbase that had endured some of the most mediocre years in the program’s history. Unfortunately, it seems as though Ehlinger may have spoken a little too soon. Poised to be one of the contenders for the Big 12 Championship game, the 2019 Texas football season has been underwhelming, to say the least. With a record of 6–4 with two games to go, big-game losses and rampant injuries show the regression has been obvious.

These struggles have not gone unnoticed by Longhorns in the NFL, and a few players have been open with their thoughts as Texas has faltered throughout the season. Three of the most outspoken critics of the Longhorns this season are Houston Texans defensive end Charles Omenihu, Baltimore Ravens safety DeShon Elliott and Tennessee Titans safety Kenny Vaccaro. The NFL stars began tweeting their thoughts about the team after the loss to TCU and continued to pile on the comments as the Longhorns’ season became bleaker after a narrow victory over Kansas State and loss to Iowa State.  

After conference losses to Oklahoma, TCU and Iowa State, the Longhorns cannot afford any more losses if they wanted to compete for a Big 12 Championship. As these former Longhorns watched the season slip away as their former team played in Fort Worth, they sent out the following tweets.  

“Lol bro who we got playing on the back end? Everyone get hurt?” Vaccaro said.

“Bro it don’t matter y’all know you can’t cover forever rush + coverage can’t have no rush and drop everybody,” Omenihu said. 

DeShon Elliott was unrelenting in his description of the Texas defense as “butt” as they struggled against TCU. Vaccaro responded by airing his frustration about how banged up the defense was and how they were missing many of their best defensive players. Omenihu responded by explaining that it should not matter who is out there playing; rather, the defensive scheme put together by the coaches is what put the team in a position to lose.

Through 10 games, most of the Longhorns’ long-term goals this season have evaporated. With disappointment piling up for Texas, former players have a hard time watching the Longhorns on Saturdays. Omenihu and Elliott weren’t shy about sharing this position, along with many other Texas fans, as they had the following exchange on Twitter after the Longhorns’ gut-punching loss to Iowa State.  

It is worth noting that Vaccaro, Elliott and Omenihu are all defensive players. For elite competitors like themselves, it is likely especially difficult to watch their former team struggle on defense. The Big 12 has long been known for porous defenses, but Texas currently ranks 110th out of 130 FBS teams in total defense. These former Longhorns just can’t accept this from one of the more talented rosters in the Big 12.