To take that next step forward, Steve Sarkisian decided to reach back.
After the Longhorns completed a mildly disappointing 9-3 regular season and before their Citrus Bowl win over Michigan, Sarkisian fired defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and tabbed Will Muschamp as his replacement. Muschamp was Mack Brown’s defensive coordinator from 2008-10, with Texas reaching the BCS championship game of the 2009 season before losing to Alabama.
“He’s been a great addition,” Sarkisian said Thursday as the Southeastern Conference’s media days drew to a close in Tampa. “It was everything I thought this hire could be. Will and I philosophically are very similar. We believe in a style of defense that is in your face, that is tough, and that is hard-nosed.
“We believe in coaching hard, yet we believe in having a relationship and rapport with the players on the team. Will does that. It’s been great having him.”
In Muschamp’s first go-around as Texas defensive coordinator, the Longhorns allowed an average of 297.4 yards per game, 96.7 rushing yards per game and 2.9 yards per carry.
He would parlay that success to become Florida’s head coach from 2011-14, and he earned a second SEC coaching opportunity at South Carolina from 2016-20. He posted a combined record of 56-51 at those stops.
Muschamp became a defensive assistant at Georgia, his alma mater, from 2021-23, when the Bulldogs went 42-2 with two national championships. He was frequently seen in Chattanooga during that time, as his younger son, Whit, was Baylor School’s quarterback in 2022-23.
“He has definitely brought in a new mindset when it comes to defense and when it comes to the style that we play and the aggressiveness,” Longhorns junior edge rusher Colin Simmons said. “I’m not going to lie, I’m happy to be part of this defense, and I’m happy to be coached under him.”
Simmons helped the Longhorns finish third in the SEC in sacks last season. They were sixth in points per game allowed (20.3) and eighth in yards allowed (338.9).
“Where do we need to improve defensively? We have to create more havoc,” Sarkisian said. “We have to create more negative plays, and we should have the capability to get that done. We’ve got to minimize the explosives, right? Then we’ve got to be even better on third down.
“Most notably, we’ve got to be better in the red area, especially on third down, so those are some areas of improvement for us.”
Back in Starkville
Muschamp isn’t the only defensive coordinator making his second stint at the same school.
Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby hired Zach Arnett as defensive coordinator in December to try to fix a unit that ranked 15th within the league in yards allowed (409.3) and points allowed (30.2) per game.
“The biggest thing for me was wanting to add a piece inside that defensive staff room who had run it, who had called it, and who had called it inside this conference,” Lebby said. “That’s what I wanted first. He had the experience of being a defensive coordinator and having to adjust, and he understood the grind of what we do every single week.
“I coached against him, and didn’t enjoy going against him. He made it really, really hard. That for me was just another great stamp and a check-the-box situation where I knew what I was getting.”
Arnett was Mike Leach’s defensive coordinator from 2020-22 and became head coach for the 2023 season after Leach’s death. He would get let go in 2023 before the Bulldogs could even finish out a 5-7 season, and he spent the past two years as an analyst at Ole Miss (2024) and at Florida State (2025).
“I’ve talked a ton about being the aggressor, being able to affect the quarterback, and creating negative plays, and he’s done that,” Lebby said. “He’s been great from a leadership standpoint on that side of the ball for us.”
Steep task ahead
The Arkansas Razorbacks of Bobby Petrino in 2010-11 went a combined 21-5, earning bids to the Sugar Bowl and Cotton Bowl.
In the 14 seasons since, it’s been mostly mediocrity or misery, as Arkansas has produced a grisly 69-103 record. Last year’s Razorbacks, who began the season with Sam Pittman at the helm before yielding to Petrino in an interim role, went 2-10 for a third time in this stretch.
Former Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield is the latest hire in Fayetteville who is tasked with trying to restore the former Southwest Conference power that won the SEC West three times in its first 15 years in the league.
“People ask what attracted me to the University of Arkansas and this job, and it was the rich history,” Silverfield said. “You look over what’s occurred in the last 15 years — obviously there have been some good years — and it’s not been up to the expectations and the standards that Razorback fans want and should expect. You try to do a deep dive, but in that first month on the job, you’re putting your head down assembling a roster and a staff. Then I did, and I asked, ‘Why has it been this way?’
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“I look at the opportunity and the resources that this university has, as well as a great place like Fayetteville. It’s a rabid fan base that showed up at 92% capacity even with last year’s record. I’m not here to point a finger, but there are a multitude of things that need to get fixed and get aligned. All the other sports are having success, and my hope is that when people talk 15 years from now, they’re talking about how similar they are to the rich tradition that we all know and love.”
Television torture
Arkansas has to play at Utah on Sept. 12, with that contest having a 10:15 p.m. Eastern kickoff on ESPN.
The following Saturday, the Razorbacks will host Georgia at noon on ABC.
When asked how he would be handling such a scheduling challenge, former Alabama coach Nick Saban said on the SEC Network, “I’d be trying to fire the AD.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.