One of the most well known names in SEC coaching circles is taking on a prominent new position.

Former South Carolina head coach and longtime Georgia assistant Will Muschamp has been hired as the Texas Longhorns defensive coordinator, returning to Austin to take on the role he held from 2008-2010.

A former assistant under Nick Saban at LSU, Muschamp is as experienced as they come.

The news was reported by On3 on Wednesday that Steve Sarkisian had fired his defensive coordinator since coming to Texas in 2021, fellow longtime assistant Pete Kwiatkowski.

Passing game coordinator Duane Akina was also relieved of his duties.

“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,” said Sarkisian in a statement.

“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.

“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.” –

After coaching elite defenses the last two seasons, Kwiatkowski’s unit fell off a cliff in 2025, ranking outside the top-100 in the nation in terms of passing yardage allowed per game.

“This is an exciting day for the Muschamp family. We loved our time in Austin and truly enjoyed everything about working with Texas Football,” Muschamp said.

“We’re thrilled to be coming back to a program with one of the richest and proudest histories and traditions in college football. With what Coach Sark has done in rebuilding this program – knowing there are even better days ahead – I was fired up for the opportunity. I have tremendous respect and admiration for Sark, how he leads his program, develops his team and players, builds culture and goes about his business. I’m excited to be a part of it and can’t wait to get started, Hook ‘em!” –Will Muschamp

Prior to taking on the new role, Muschamp has been part of Kirby Smart’s staff at Georgia since 2021 in an on-field role until this past season when he transitioned into an analyst role.