Texas’ Steve Sarkisian goes all-in with stunning move

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is taking a page from Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day’s playbook. 

Before the start of the 2024 season, Day hired former Oregon Ducks/UCLA Bruins head coach Chip Kelly as his offensive coordinator. This move helped the Buckeyes win the national championship. Sarkisian has pulled a similar one, just on the defensive side of the ball. 

On Thursday, the school confirmed it has fired defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and defensive passing game coordinator Duane Akina, replacing them with former Florida Gators/South Carolina Gamecocks HC Will Muschamp. The coach also served as DC under national championship-winning head coach Mack Brown from 2008-10 and as an analyst for the Georgia Bulldogs this season.  

Steve Sarkisian explains why he made the change

“We appreciate all that Pete Kwiatkowski has done for the program in his five years of coordinating our defense and are grateful for Duane Akina’s efforts in returning to the program this past year,” Sarkisian said, via a statement. “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.”