2025 TCU Football Preview: Safeties

All-Big 12 defensive back Bud Clark returns for one more go-around with the Horned Frogs.

The TCU secondary welcomed back one of its leaders in January, when All-Big 12 free safety Bud Clark announced his decision to return for another season with the Horned Frogs. One of only a few remaining members of the 2022 national finalist team, Clark has been a key piece of the defensive backfield with 30 starts over the last three seasons. With 158 total tackles, 24 pass breakups and 11 career interceptions under his belt, Clark will lead a TCU safety room that will operate under new leadership in first-year safeties coach Tre Watson.

Clark is one of two starters returning at the safety position. The other is strong safety Jamel Johnson, who entered the transfer portal after the 2024 campaign, but opted to remove his name and come back to Fort Worth for his junior season. Like Clark, Johnson is a former four-star high school prospect who made an immediate impact with the team, playing in 10 games and making 12 tackles in 2023 before becoming a starter as a sophomore in 2024. Johnson, who placed third on the team with 73 total tackles last season, will look to take on a bigger role for the Frogs, who fielded one of the Big 12’s top pass defenses in 2024.

While Clark and Johnson are expected to anchor the defensive backfield, TCU is seeking a new nickel after losing veteran Abe Camara to the 2025 NFL Draft. Camara, who signed with the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent, gained a reputation as a hard hitter and played significant reps for the Horned Frogs, making 48 appearances between 2021 and 2024. One player to watch will be former Texas transfer Austin Jordan, one of only two senior safeties on the 2025 roster. Jordan appeared in all 13 games for the Horned Frogs last season, compiling 16 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack in his first run at TCU.

The Horned Frogs are replacing four safeties from the 2024 roster. TCU lost a trio of seniors including Camara, Cam Smith and Jaise Oliver as well as former Nevada transfer Richard Toney Jr. TCU added a pair of notable safeties through the transfer portal this offseason, signing former LSU defensive back Kylin Jackson and former Cal defensive back Ryan Yaites. Jackson, a former four-star recruit from Louisiana, arrives after two years with the Tigers and should be an immediate contender for a spot on the depth chart. Yaites has made 25 appearances over the last two seasons, which were played at Cal and LSU.

Rounding out the safety room are several underclassmen who will battle for playing time as the 2025 season approaches. Among them are sophomores Jordan Lester, Devyn Hidrogo and Kaden McFadden as well as freshmen Rohon Kazadi (the son of TCU Assistant Athletics Director for Football Human Performance Kaz Kazadi), Julius Simms and Joseph Albright. Sebastian Peterson is the lone redshirt freshman on the 2025 roster.