Texas Football: 3 defensive players Kwiatkowski will elevate

The start of the regular season is drawing very close for the Texas football program and new head coach Steve Sarkisian. Texas is set to open up the regular season slate on Sep. 4 at home against the Louisiana Ragin-Cajuns.

There is still a long way to go for Sark and the Longhorns on the offensive side of the ball at this point of fall camp. But a good sign has emerged that the defense looks really good throughout fall camp thus far for new co-defensive coordinators/linebackers coaches Pete Kwiatkowski and Jeff Choate.

Texas has a true plethora of talent and experience returning for the Longhorns this year. Most of the starters on defense this fall are returning from last year’s team, which is a good thing for this side of the ball.

Pete Kwiatkoski looking to continue the progress on defense for Texas football in 2021

Expect the former Washington Huskies co-defensive coordinator Kwiatkowski to be the primary play-caller on this side of the ball, with Choate helping to fill in the gaps. But this is surely a solid duo of defensive coordinators for the Longhorns, that can build on some of the progress made under former defensive coordinator/safeties coach Chris Ash.

What Kwiatkowski should be able to do this fall is take some of the players that were talented but underachieved under Tom Herman’s coaching regime, and take their game to the next level. Washington was an elite program in the PAC-12 in terms of developing NFL-caliber defensive players.

If Kwiatwoski can bring even a little bit of that success to the table on the Forty Acres, then the Texas defense is headed down a good path. Here’s a look into three Longhorns defensive players that will be elevated by Kwiatkowski this fall.