Jahdae Barron owes the world to Texas coach Steve Sarkisian. Fortunately for the Thorpe Award winner, the world can be measured in NFL dollars.

This time last year, Barron thought about jumping into the NFL Draft early and leaving the Longhorns. He would have regretted that move the rest of his life.

Barron was essentially told to stay in school by the NFL advisory committee, and while he didn’t want to, it was the best decision possible. Sarkisian convinced Barron that if he returned to school, spent another year getting better, Barron would be rewarded. And he will.

Barron returned to UT and became the best cornerback in America, as evidenced by the Thorpe Award and All-American status. Now, Barron is projected as a late first- or early second-round pick. The long-range difference between that NFL Draft position and going undrafted could mean having an NFL career or not.

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Barron’s lesson is something multiple juniors may think hard about before Wednesday’s deadline to declare for the NFL Draft.

“It's going to be amazing for these guys,” Barron said. “And the reason they’re going to be amazing because coach Sark and what he’s about. It’s nothing about football. It’s nothing about none of this. It’s culture and who you are as a person.

“I know he tells y’all guys all the time, but as soon as he got here, our GPAs got better. He pushed me to graduate. I know that was hard on him. But there are amazing things that he's done, and it's beyond football.

“He truly wants everybody to be a better person, and the better the person, the better the ballplayer. I know these guys, they're going to come back.”

Barron said flat out “I love coach Sark” after the Cotton Bowl loss to Ohio State.

Tight end Gunnar Helm spoke about Sarkisian’s “three gears of life” in the days leading up to the College Football Playoffs semifinals. If one aspect of your life isn’t going well, it’s going to jam up the gears elsewhere.

Longhorns fans will never hear a better explanation of Steve Sarkisian’s culture and ‘three gears of life’ than this

Helm: Texas’ culture turnaround can be tracked by the team’s grade point average

Barron, like other UT players, also speaks openly about his faith and following God’s plan.

“I just want to say one thing,” Barron said at the end of the Cotton Bowl post-game press conference. “I mean, it’s been amazing, just the opportunity, but at the end of the day, I just want everybody to know, you know, usually sometimes you always don't come out on top. But we won. We truly know who our leader is and that's God and Jesus Christ.

“And ultimately, just having the ability to use the gift that He gave us to share to the world, I mean, it's been amazing. And obviously, amazing for me just growing up in Austin and having the opportunity.

“But everybody's not blessed to do things we do, just to be here. People dealing with fires and chaos in New Orleans. So just to have the opportunity to glorify God on the football field has truly been an honor. I appreciate everybody.”