Shortly after the Texas Tech football team's 30-22 home victory Saturday against Arizona State, Chapman Lewis's phone buzzed with a familiar ID. Dadrion Taylor-Demerson reached out to his protege to offer a congratulations.

"He told me he loved the way I've been playing. He loved watching me play," Lewis related on Tuesday. "I just texted him back and said, 'I'm just trying to get like you.' "

Taylor-Demerson, the Arizona Cardinals rookie safety, was a mainstay in the Tech secondary for five years. Lewis spent last year as Taylor-Demerson's apprentice and now has the job. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound sophomore from Burleson Centennial intercepted passes in back-to-back games against Washington State and North Texas, then was credited with seven tackles and a pass breakup against Arizona State.

Defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter detailed how Lewis held his own in his first month as a starting Big 12 safety.

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"He's a guy that just has a knack for being a football player who understands the game," DeRuyter said, "so he plays faster than normal. He's not very big, but he's unafraid to go make a tackle physically. He can trigger. He can diagnose a play and know when to go at the right angles.

"And so I think the more playing time he gets, the more comfortable he is, the more food he eats on the training table to get his weight back up to where we want it to be, he's going to be a tremendous football player for us. Losing Rabbit (Taylor-Demerson) in that spot last year was a concern, but I think Chapman's really doing a nice job of filling those shoes."

Texas Tech football safety Chapman Lewis shows diverse skill set

DeRuyter made the observations last week before Texas Tech played Arizona State. Then Lewis provided examples.

Physical tackling: Lewis put punishing hits on scrambling quarterback Sam Leavitt and running back Cam Skattebo on fourth-quarter plays. Though there appeared no malevolent intent on Lewis's part, his helmet-to-helmet collision with Skattebo briefly sidelined the Sun Devils' leading rusher.

Triggering: ASU went for two after scoring with 1:39 left. Lewis broke on a pass over the middle and batted it away in the end zone.

Diagnosing a play and taking the right angle: On a fourth-and-1 in the third quarter, Leavitt pulled the ball on a play-action fake and headed hard to his right, racing to the perimeter. Linebacker Ben Roberts tripped Leavitt and Lewis finished him off for no gain and a turnover on downs.

"Any play to help out my team win the game, I take pride in," Lewis said. "The fourth-down stop. The play at the end in the end zone. They all make you feel good inside, but honestly, it just comes down to doing my job, being in the right place to make a play for my team."

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How Texas Tech football safety Chapman Lewis compares to Dadrion Taylor-Demerson

Taylor-Demerson finished his career with 224 tackles, 33 passes defended, 10 interceptions and three fumble recoveries, earning some level of all-Big 12 distinction his last three years. The Cardinals drafted him in the fourth round.

Taylor-Demerson had edges on Lewis in experience and speed. Lewis is listed as three inches taller and shows a similar playmaking instinct and zest for the game.

"I feel sorry for people whenever he gets to 190-something and 200 (pounds)," Tech coach Joey McGuire said, "because he's a big contact guy and then he's got a really high football IQ."

Tech coaches credit Taylor-Demerson for hastening the development of three safeties: Lewis, Brenden Jordan and Jordan Sanford. Lewis and Sanford are the one-two at free safety. Jordan is second team to A.J. McCarty at Star safety and the sixth defensive back in dime packages. All three joined the program in January 2023 and played in nearly every game as freshmen.

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McGuire said the three showed initiative when they stepped on campus, regularly doing optional, post-workout film study after spring practice last year.

Taylor-Demerson's habits rubbed off.

"Chapman last year saw how much work Rabbit put into it: film study, drill work, all those things," DeRuyter said. "Chap's there as a young guy last year, said, 'Oh, that's how you do it if you want to play in the league.' "

An NFL career might not be what Lewis's mother pictured. Both his parents are school assistant principals. Lewis joked recently that his mother "really wanted me to be a nerd."

Now if he misses an assignment in a college classroom, Lewis said secondary coach Marcel Yates will tell the parents and then he'll hear about it.

"It's always school first," he said, "and then they want me to succeed on the football field as well."

Don Williams has covered Texas Tech sports since 1986. Reach him by email at dwilliams@lubbockonline.com. Follow on X.com @AJ_DonWilliams.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football's Chapman Lewis patterning Dadrion Taylor-Demerson