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Why Texas football DT Hero Kanu believes bigger will be better for him in 2026 | Golden
Hero Kanu revealed his way of doing business earlier this spring.
In tattoo form, no less.
Texas football's German-born defensive tackle lowered his T-shirt during a spring football conversation with reporters to reveal three words inked right below his collarbone. “Trust the process.”
And what does the ink mean to you, Hero?
“You can have all the talent in the world, but if you can't do the little things right, it doesn't matter,” Kanu said. “So obviously you've got to trust the process and go in the right direction every day.”
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That process can be long and labored, but when executed correctly, fruit can happen.That’s the hope for the Longhorns, who will enter the 2026 season as one of several teams with a legitimate chance to win the whole shooting match after missing the College Football Playoff for the first time in three years in 2025.
While the program will be seeking its first national championship since 2005 and its fifth overall, this fall represents a major test for the team’s most experienced interior lineman on a personal and professional level.
Will bigger be better?
Kanu is in his second year in Austin after deciding against being a one-and-done Longhorn. He put off the NFL draft for another year and made some noticeable changes in his preparation, including a big one on the scale by adding 20 pounds to his 6-foot-5, 300-pound frame after consulting with UT defensive line coach Kenny Baker and strength and conditioning coach Torre Becton.
“We collectively made the decision that I'm going to put on a little bit of weight," Kanu said. "If you’re going to play in the SEC, you’re going to play that real ball.”
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Baker and head coach Steve Sarkisian helped Kanu mull a choice of whether to leave for the NFL or come back to college for another year. When it comes to Baker, Kanu knew he was dealing with a straight shooter and the coach told him that what he did in 2025 wasn’t good enough if he wanted to eventually realize his NFL dream.
So Baker pushed him this spring to get bigger, stronger and hungrier.
In the offseason, the two sat down and watched film of every snap Kanu took last season. The conversations were sugar-free honest, the type of critiques every player with realistic expectations of playing in the NFL needs to hear. Baker describes Kanu as a high-character player who's willing to do whatever it takes to play at the next level, so it came as no surprise that Baker kept it 100 — hip talk for brutal honesty— with his charge.
“I thought there were a lot of plays he's supposed to make that he made, but there weren't those special splash plays that he's capable of,” Baker said. “So it's a combination of confidence and building trust in his ability to go and make a play. But we also really worked a lot of the explosion and a lot of the stuff that he has. He just wasn’t there as much.”
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Baker knows what it takes to cash NFL paychecks. In his first year here in 2024, he pushed defensive tackle Alfred Collins — who had only shown flashes of NFL potential in his first three seasons — to second-team All-America honors. By the end of his rookie NFL season, Collins was one of the brightest young stars with the San Francisco 49ers. In his previous stop with the Miami Dolphins, Baker’s pupil Christian Wilkins registered nine sacks, a franchise best for a defensive tackle.
Texas' DT pipeline to the NFL
Kanu’s position isn’t always about the numbers since tackles often occupy blockers to allow linebackers and edge rushers to make the highlight reel plays, but the program has produced some great disruptors on the interior in recent years like T’Vondre Sweat, Byron Murphy II and Collins.
The goal is to press the pocket more under new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. Baker wants more flash from the middle in the mode or previous DT's around here and if that happens, a defense that slipped from third to 40th over the last two seasons can regain its collective swagger.
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That goes double for Kanu, who had 30 tackles last season — eight were solo and four came behind the line of scrimmage — with a pair of sacks. He and Baker agree another level is attainable.
“(Baker) always tells me, just to keep me humble, ‘You never arrive,'” Kanu said. “It doesn't matter what you do, you never arrive. So I was thinking about that and praying about that and talking to him (and other coaches) to see what I can improve and upgrade.”
After two seasons at Ohio State — where he was part of the 2024 national championship team — Kanu has grown into a locker room leader in his season-plus in the 512. Some don’t even know that Kanu, who grew up loving soccer before his frame outgrew the game, has only been playing organized American football since the spring of 2021, one year after moving from Germany to California.
He’s still learning the game. That said, energy doesn’t stand still and Kanu understands you’re either getting better or getting worse. To that end, he has taken a path that will hopefully lead to a breakthrough and some NFL riches down the line.
Only the work remains.
The process is ongoing.
