ATHENS \u2014 Kirby Smart and Will Muschamp are good friends. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s why when Smart learned that Muschamp would be the next defensive coordinator at Texas,<\/a> the Georgia head coach was thrilled for the former assistant. <\/p>\n \u201cOh, I\u2019m so happy for him.\u00a0He loves coaching,\u201d Smart said on Monday. \u201cHe loved coaching when he was here. It was hard for him to step away, and he felt like he needed to, and I had so much respect for him.\u00a0And, shoot, he helped us replace him with the guys we got, and he helped us tremendously in that role. He helped us tremendously this year throughout the year. And he\u2019s been really good to me personally, and he\u2019s been great to Georgia, and he\u2019s been really good to a lot of players that he\u2019s recruited.\u201d<\/p>\n Muschamp first arrived at Georgia ahead of the 2021 season. He was elevated from defensive analyst to special teams coordinator in August of that year. For the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he served as the co-defensive coordinator, with Glenn Schumann taking over for Dan Lanning. <\/p>\n Muschamp took a step back at Georgia in 2024, serving as an analyst. He did so in part to spend more time with his family. His youngest son, Whit, is a quarterback at Vanderbilt. <\/p>\n Muschamp did not have a formal role with Georgia during this season, but, as Smart notes, he was still an integral part of the Georgia coaching staff. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen he had an opportunity to jump back in, I know he loves it,\u201d Smart said. \u201cI think he missed it dearly. He talked to his family about it, his wife and his boys, and they all supported him.\u00a0And he\u2019s going to a great place to work for a great man. There\u2019s not many better opportunities out there to go coach and play than a place like Texas where you\u2019ve got a lot of infrastructure in place to help you. So wish him nothing but the best.\u201d<\/p>\n Muschamp was replaced on staff by Travaris Robinson, who has been the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach the past two seasons. <\/p>\n Texas fired defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and Duane Akina to make way for Muschamp. Robinson has worked with Muschamp at several stops and it will be interesting to see if he potentially follows Muschamp once again. Doing so would create an opening on Georgia\u2019s on-field coaching staff. <\/p>\n Muschamp has previous experience at Texas, working as the defensive coordinator from 2008 through 2010. In heading back to Austin<\/a>, he\u2019ll look to help a program that has struggled mightily against Georgia. The Longhorns are 0-3 against Georgia in the previous two seasons, including a 35-10 loss this season. <\/p>\n Texas went 9-3 this season. <\/p>\n