The Texas Longhorns just made a splash 13 days before their appearance in the Cheez-It Bowl on New Year’s Eve.
First and foremost, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian announced that the Longhorns would be firing defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski.
“We appreciate all that Pete Kwiatkowski has done for the program in his five years coordinating our defense and are grateful for Duane Akina’s efforts in returning to the program this past year,” Sarkisian said. “They are both tremendous coaches and people that worked extremely hard for Texas Football and the players they coached. We have had a great deal of success, are thankful for the roles they played in that, and wish them the best.”
Sark then announced the exciting news that Texas would be hiring former University of Florida head coach Will Muschamp as the team’s defensive coordinator.
“But at this time, we just felt it was best for our program to move in a different direction, and having the opportunity to hire Will Muschamp provides us the leadership to take our defense to another level,” Sarkisian continued. “Will is a guy I’ve known for a long time, always admired and is as good of a defensive mind and coach as I’ve ever coached against. His defenses are relentless; he absolutely gets the best out of his staff and players and is such an extremely well-respected coach. I know Longhorn Nation knows him well, he led some incredible defenses here on the Forty, and I’m so fired up to be bringing him back to Texas. He’ll be an awesome addition to our staff.”
Will Muschamp’s Lengthy Coaching Resumé
Muschamp is college football royalty, no matter how you slice it.
Muschamp’s first big break came in 2001 when he was hired by the LSU Tigers to coach the linebackers. One year later, he had earned a promotion to defensive coordinator. A year after that, he hoisted the National Championship trophy alongside then-head coach Nick Saban.
Muschamp then followed Saban to the Miami Dolphins coaching staff in 2005 before returning to college football with Saban the following season.
In 2006 and 2007, he was the DC for the Auburn Tigers.
In 2008, he took his talents to Texas and served as the defensive coordinator for three very successful seasons. His defense made a National Championship appearance in 2009.
He left Texas to accept a head coaching job at the University of Florida, where he remained for four seasons.
After another brief stint at Auburn, he was hired to be the South Carolina Gamecocks HC. His Gamecocks made three straight bowl game appearances.
Muschamp now returns to Texas, where the Longhorns have become one of the nation’s perennial defensive powerhouses.
Texas Hires National Championship Winning Coach As New Defensive Coordinator