A year after fielding one of the most physical and aggressive defenses in college football, San Diego State football is now rebuilding its secondary after a wave of talent departs the program, and an influx of transfers looks to stake their claim.
In 2025, SDSU had one of the highest-ranked defenses in the country, being the Aztecs’ bread and butter, which led to the program’s success last season.
The defense was led by 2025 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Chris Johnson, alongside Trey White and Owen Chambliss, both of whom were named to the Mountain West Defensive First Team in 2025.
SDSU’s defense ranked sixth in both points allowed per game at 15.4 and passing yards allowed per game at 164.2. The unit totaled 32 sacks and 15 interceptions on the year.
The Aztecs’ secondary group of cornerbacks and safeties proved to be among the nation’s best in 2025, with Johnson, who is projected to go within the first two rounds of the NFL Draft later this week, being the anchor.
Other guys like Eric Butler, Dwayne McDougle and Bryce Phillips all played huge roles in the secondary for SDSU in 2025 and are on their way out the door, either to the professional level or through the transfer portal.
Flipping the page to 2026, there will be only one starter from last season in the secondary who is returning, meaning the 2026 secondary for SDSU is an open competition to name starters.
Returning to The Mesa for his senior season is Dalesean Staley, who entered the transfer portal after last season but decided to run it back with the Aztecs for his third season at SDSU.
“The coaching staff and all the guys here have believed in me from when I first got here, and you can’t leave the people who believed in you from the beginning of your journey, hoping to find something better,” Staley said. “It also means a lot to see the young guys look up to me because I was that young guy at one point in my career. I had a lot of guys that I looked up to, and that helped me grow and get my feet wet.”
Staley started all 13 games the Aztecs played in last season, racking up 76 total tackles, one interception, one forced fumble and a team high 10 pass deflections at safety. Coming back for his senior season and being the only returning starter from last year’s secondary has given Staley a new perspective and mantle as a veteran leader.
“It’s awesome to have a kid come back and stay in San Diego after the season that he had, really the last two years,” SDSU defensive pass game coordinator and secondary coach C.J. McGorisk said about Staley. “On the field, he’s unbelievable the way he plays, he’s going to get guys lined up and he’s going to fly to the ball. You know what you’re going to get out of him.”
The Aztecs brought in 12 new players to restock the secondary via the transfer portal and from the high school ranks. The high rate of turnover and inexperience within the program make for wide-open competitions throughout the spring and summer.
One of the new transfers to The Mesa is defensive back Jason Oliver, who, after spending the previous three years at Sacramento State, is looking to earn himself a starting spot at corner in his senior season.
“The biggest thing in spring is learning the system and building that trust with the guys and the coaches,” Oliver said. “Once the guys trust me in doing my job, and I start trusting them to do their job, we’ll just fly around together, communicate, and have fun.”
Oliver is a native of Bakersfield and first committed to the University of Colorado, where he spent his freshman season before hitting the portal to Sac. State. Oliver had some brief overlap with head coach Sean Lewis at Colorado when Lewis was Colorado’s offensive coordinator.
“The biggest factor was kind of the culture, especially getting a little bit with coach Lewis at Colorado that spring semester,” he said. “Coming here, seeing the program that he’s built and the culture that he surrounded us with in the coaching staff and players, that was one of the biggest factors in coming here and just being surrounded by winners.”
Sophomore Prince Williams is looking to elevate himself to a consistent starter within the Aztecs’ defense in 2026. Williams played in 12 games for SDSU in 2025 but spent the majority of his time behind Chris Johnson and Bryce Phillips at cornerback.
“Last year, I got to play behind a lot of high-level minds and high-level talent,” Williams said. “This year I’m just trying to seize my opportunity to go and get it and be a starter.”
Williams has been spending the offseason seeking to improve not only physically but mentally and emotionally while out on the field. He hopes to have more control over who he is and how he can better serve his coaches and teammates.
“I’m not usually the type of guy to be vocal, but I’m trying to branch out and lead more and more,” Williams said. “We are all out here competing for a starting job, so I’m just wanting to make my presence known as a guy on this defense.”
The Aztecs will be fielding a whole new secondary unit in 2026, with multiple starting positions up for grabs throughout the remainder of spring and summer camps as the regular season approaches. For now, the group has to continue to get more connected and efficient at working together.
“We’ve got to be the most connected in the back five, all on the same page as we continue to accumulate reps together, and then we need all 11 hats to the ball all the time, and then taking the ball away when it’s in the air,” McGorisk said.
