Will Muschamp Hired as Texas DC, Steve Sarkisian Parts Ways with Pete Kwiatkowski

The Texas Longhorns are hiring former Florida and South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp as Steve Sarkisian's defensive coordinator, replacing Pete Kwiatkowski.

Muschamp most recently spent five years with Georgia, operating in a number of roles during that time including special-teams coordinator, co-defensive coordinator and defensive analyst.

Muschamp will be a familiar face in Austin after serving as the program's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach between 2008–10.

A change at defensive coordinator isn't the biggest surprise. Texas had excellent units in both 2023 and 2024 and was expected to be one of the top defenses in the country this year but proved poor against the pass, allowing 237.6 yards per game (101st in the nation).

The Longhorns gave up 29 points in a loss to Florida and 35 points in a loss against Georgia, ultimately costing them the chance to play in the College Football Playoff. Texas gave up 30 or more points in four of their last five games.

"At this time, we just felt it was best for our program to move in a different direction, and having the opportunity to hire Muschamp provides us the leadership to take our defense to another level," Sarkisian said in a statement. "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."

In Austin, the expectations are national championship or bust. Muschamp's hiring is a move aimed at achieving that goal.