Steve Sarkisian: Bringing Will Muschamp back to Texas was 'opportunity I didn't want to pass up'

In 2025, Texas ranked sixth in the SEC in scoring defense and eighth in total defense. But Steve Sarkisian still shook things up in a big way, moving on from defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and bringing Will Muschamp back to Austin.

Kwiatkowski helped build the Texas defense since arriving on the Forty Acres with Sarkisian in 2021. But when he learned Muschamp was available, the Longhorns headman saw an opportunity to take the unit to another level.

Sarkisian admitted it wasn’t easy to move on from Kwiatkowski given their achievements during their time at Texas. But with some new faces on the defensive staff, Sarkisian made the move to bring back Muschamp, who told On3’s Chris Low he’s back in his “wheelhouse.”

“It was not an easy one because I have a ton of respect for PK and the job that he did here from where we were when we started Day 1 to where we got to,” Sarkisian told Greg McElroy on Always College Football. “We had quite a bit of staff turnover on the defensive side of the ball with assistant coaches moving on and taking new roles in the NFL and different things. So with some of that turnover, I just felt like we weren’t as connected where we needed to be.

[ $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage ]

“I felt like if I could get a guy in here that could really, kind of galvanize all of that, allow me to focus a little bit more on offense because I felt like I was more and more defensively. We need to get back to playing offensive football the way we need to play around here, too. When Will was available, it just felt like, man, this is an opportunity that I didn’t want to pass up.”

Texas will be ‘aggressive’ under Will Muschamp

After his first stint at Texas from 2008-10, Will Muschamp became the head coach at Florida from 2011-14, where he went 28-21 overall and 17-15 in SEC play. After his departure, he spent a year as Auburn’s defensive coordinator in 2015. In 2016, Muschamp became South Carolina’s head coach and amassed 28-30 record before his departure in 2020.

Then, Muschamp headed to Georgia, first as special teams coordinator in 2021 and later co-defensive coordinator from 2022-23. He then became an analyst from 2024-25. Now, he’s back at Texas – and a coordinator once again.

As he looked at Muschamp’s career, including his time at LSU with Nick Saban, Steve Sarkisian said the resume speaks for itself. Given Texas’ national title aspirations in 2026, the time was right to bring “Coach Boom” back.

“When that opportunity presented itself, I just said, this is a chance for us to go to another level defensively,” Sarkisian said. “We went for it and so far, so good. It’s been a great addition. … I like the mix on the defensive staff. I like the level of intensity that Will brings. The rapport with the players.

“But I like the style of play. We’re aggressive. We’re in your face. I think that’s what it takes. You’ve got to be versatile enough to navigate your way through the teams that you’re going to have to beat November, December and January and the variety of defenses that you need to have.”