Strutting to the back corner of the Hall of Fame, CJ Baxter looked different. His dreads, the ones that seemed to lag behind his blazing strides, were gone, replaced with a low fade for the 2025-26 season.
For the sophomore running back, it’s a fresh start. New look, new change, new him.
“I’m coming back, so a new start for me,” Baxter said. “The hair was a big part of that. I was growing my dreads for five, six years, so I was ready for a new start, a new change.”
When Baxter went down on Aug. 6, 2024, practice stopped, something unconventional for head coach Steve Sarkisian’s offseason training camps. Everyone on the Texas football field knew what was going on.
His lateral and posterior collateral ligaments were torn, and so was any hope of playing football for the year.
It took a toll on Baxter mentally more than physically, especially at the beginning of his recovery.
“The first two months were very brutal,” Baxter said. “It was hard for me to watch football. It was hard for me to do a lot of things.”
Insert Mia Scott, the star utility player for Texas softball and Baxter’s girlfriend. This July, Scott played in the Women’s College World Series on a torn ACL and led her squad to a national championship despite her injury.
Her trophy has sat right next to Baxter ever since. On his nightstand, it’s the last thing he sees before he falls asleep, and it’s the first thing he sees when he opens his eyes in the morning. To Baxter, if she can do it, why can’t he?
“She pushed me,” Baxter said. “Because I gotta go win one.”
The next thing Baxter sees is written on his mirror: “You do not now understand what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Known as John 13:7, the passage keeps him going.
“I put the work in for the last year to not have this happen again or any setbacks,” Baxter said. “The big thing [was] just relying on my faith and the work I did put in.”
Heading into this season, Baxter insists he feels 100% physically and mentally. His motto is “one day at time,” and he is less focused on his stats and more on being grateful for every step of the game. He doesn’t see himself as his old self, and he doesn’t want to, either.
“It’s not really trying to get back to myself. It’s a new version of myself,” Baxter said. “I don’t want to be my previous self because I’ve grown so much in the last year.”
While dozens of journalists hovered around Baxter as he left his press conference, the cameras, microphones and recorders seemed to be forgotten for just a second. Baxter is back playing football, and as the room quiets down, the strut echoes into something more: excitement.
