Before last season even ended, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian hired former Longhorn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp as the Horns' new defensive coordinator.
Texas parted ways with its former defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and hired Muschamp before the Longhorns faced the Michigan Wolverines in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. That quickly paid off in a dominant 41-27 win for the Horns.
Since then, Sarkisian has doubled down on his move to hire Muschamp, bringing the Mack Brown-era defensive coordinator back to the 40 Acres.
"I have a ton of respect for PK and the job that he did here," Sarkisian recently told ESPN's Greg McElroy. "When Will was available, it felt like this is an opportunity that I didn't want to pass up... This is a chance for us to go to another level."
Sark can focus on Texas offense with Muschamp running the defense
Most notably, Sarkisian said that with Kwiatkowski, the turnovers under his defensive coordinator and at the assistant level made it feel as though he wasn't as connected to his DC as he needed to be. The Horns' head coach was already calling plays on offense and was paying too much attention to the defensive side of the ball as well.
"With some of that turnover, I just felt like we weren't quite as connected where we needed to be," Sarkisian said. "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 bit more on offense, because I felt like I was kind of more and more with defensively, and we need to get back to playing offensive football that we need to play around here too."
"When Will was available, it felt like this is an opportunity that I didn't want to pass up."
— Always College Football (@AlwaysCFB) June 4, 2026
Why Steve Sarkisian brought in Will Muschamp to lead the @TexasFootball defense this season ⬇️#HookEm | #Longhorns pic.twitter.com/z70h4o9NDf
It's a well-known fact on the 40 Acres that Sarkisian has acted as the Longhorns' true offensive coordinator, despite having OC Kyle Flood on his staff.
Sarkisian calls the offensive plays and truly runs that side of the ball for Texas. Whether you agree with him doing so or not, you would have to agree that it would be too much for him to also feel like he was running the defense, which is how he was starting to feel with PK on his staff.
"We went for it, and so far, so good," Sarkisian said of hiring Muschamp. "It's been a great addition."
Muschamp wasn't the only hire that Texas made this offseason. Sarkisian brought in Blake Gideon from over at Georgia Tech. Gideon was a former Longhorns safety who played for Muschamp at Texas who went on to play in the NFL before starting his career in coaching.
Also read: Texas tops the national conference rankings after a monumental 2026 offseason
Yes, Muschamp was the heir-apparent in Austin when Brown was the Horns' head coach, primed to take over the program once Brown retired.
No, it didn't work out that way. Brown stuck around as head coach for a few extra years after losing the 2009 National Championship to Alabama. Muschamp left to chase other opportunities.
However, he was a great hire for Sarkisian to make. the Texas Longhorns are now primed for one of their best seasons yet with Muschamp back in the DC saddle.
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