In a shocking move a little before their Cheez-It Citrus Bowl date with the Michigan Wolverines, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and co. fired longtime defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski after fielding one of the most consistent units in the nation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the same day, Will Muschamp, a former Texas defensive coordinator under Mack Brown over 15 years ago and two-time head coach in the Southeastern Conference, was hired to replace Kwiatkowski for 2026 and beyond.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The majority of the roster that will be under his tutelage next season were too young to remember his first stint in Austin. But they do remember his iconic whiteboard video that still circulates during football season from time to time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve obviously heard of him. I\u2019ve seen the video of him hitting the board and stuff,\u201d sophomore edge Lance Jackson said. \u201cI knew when he first came in here, he was the real deal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the past couple of seasons, Muschamp served as a defensive analyst for the Georgia Bulldogs, a team that has taken down the Longhorns three times since Texas entered the conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The addition of Muschamp brings a new defensive scheme, much different from the scheme that the returning Longhorns have been used to in the Kwiatkowski system. He has been known for his aggressive, \u201cin-your-face\u201d defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe pushes us every day, he wants nothing but the best,\u201d junior linebacker Colin Simmons said. \u201cHe\u2019s gonna get the best out of you. I\u2019m just glad that we got a dog on our team.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That attitude and mindset also translate to the practice field, with Muschamp expecting a high level of intensity from his defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe energy is a little bit different (from before) \u2014 that\u2019s one thing he\u2019s bringing every day into meetings,\u201d senior defensive linebacker Hero Kanu said. \u201cIt can be 6 a.m. in the morning. It doesn\u2019t matter. He\u2019s bringing energy and obviously the knowledge of the game, and he\u2019s been in this business for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Muschamp has that classic intensity in meetings, at practice or on gameday, his players have rallied around his personality and have full confidence in his new-look defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c(Muschamp) \u2026 that\u2019s my guy, I love him,\u201d Kanu said. \u201cI love the scheme we have here. I feel like everybody\u2019s in the position they\u2019re supposed to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite being on the job for just over three months, Muschamp has already been making changes not only to the scheme, but to the players\u2019 physiques to better fit his defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kanu and Jackson both put on more weight since the Longhorns\u2019 Cheez-It Citrus Bowl victory. It was one of the first things that Muschamp told Jackson when the two first met shortly after his hiring in December.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted me at 270, 275 playing,\u201d Jackson said, \u201cI\u2019m also gonna be moving around, be very versatile this year \u2026 I also feel very athletic at what I\u2019m at right now. So I can still move around. I can still drop if I need to. I can do everything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although the adjustment to Muschamp\u2019s defense is going to be a learning curve for the returners, transfers and freshmen alike, Sarkisian has full confidence in the defensive install already underway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something about Will and his presence,\u201d Sarkisian said Monday. \u201cI can trust in knowing he\u2019s going to get that message conveyed to whether it\u2019s the rest of the defensive staff or the defensive players.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a shocking move a little before their Cheez-It Citrus Bowl date with the Michigan Wolverines, Texas head…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-238128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}