Will Muschamp is returning to the Forty Acres as the defensive coordinator for the Texas Longhorns in a shocking shakeup of Steve Sarkisian’s staff on Thursday as the fifth-year head coach fired longtime coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and defensive passing game coordinator Duane Akine, who made his own return to Austin for the 2025 season.
“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. 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,” Sarkisian said in a statement released by the school.
“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. 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.”
Muschamp takes over as the Texas defensive coordinator for the second time after two years as a defensive analyst at Georgia, two seasons as the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach for the Bulldogs, and one season as the special teams coordinator under Kirby Smart.
As a defensive coordinator, Muschamp’s resume is superlative and well outshines his 56-51 record in nine seasons as a head coach at Florida and South Carolina. Muschamp took over the Gators program in 2011, his first head coaching job, after three seasons with the Longhorns failed to produce his ascension to head coach after serving as Mack Brown’s head coach in waiting.
During Muschamp’s time on the Forty Acres, the defense led the nation with 119 sacks and ranked in the top-10 nationally by allowing 2.9 yards per rushing attempt (third), 96.7 rushing yards per game (fourth), and 297.4 yards per game (seventh).
In producing 12 draft picks between the 2009 and 2011, Muschamp’s defense helped the Longhorns win the Big 12 Championship and make an appearance in the BCS national championship game in 2009 by leading the country in rushing defense (72.4 ypg), third-down defense (26.5%), turnovers gained (37), and interceptions (25) while finishing in the top eight of both sacks and tackles for loss. Additionally, the Texas defense allowed just 251.9 total yards (third), 16.7 points per game (12th), and a 100.5 pass efficiency rating (10th NCAA).
Kwiatkowski’s termination marked a sharp demise for the longtime Chris Petersen assistant, who was hired to Sarkisian’s first staff at Texas — the Longhorns finished last season second in defensive SP+ before falling to No. 20 after the regular season, in large part because of issues with the pass defense, which is 102nd nationally in allowing 237.6 passing yards per game on 6.8 yards per attempt. Miscommunication was a frequent theme late in the year as Texas allowed five passing touchdowns against Mississippi State, three passing touchdowns to Vanderbilt, and four passing touchdowns to Georgia.
Those issues ultimately ended Akina’s second tenure on the Forty Acres after only one season as the 69-year-old architect of DBU was unable to match his previous levels of success in burnt orange and white.
Now Sarkisian hopes that another retread will help the Longhorns make a return to the College Football Playoff by hiring a longtime Smart staffer in the wake of three losses to the Bulldogs over the last year.
