Steve Sarkisian’s defensive coordinator hire was no doubt the most important decision that he had to make while building his coaching staff in Austin.
Sarkisian’s success at Texas will be heavily influenced on how the defensive unit performs. After a thorough search, Washington’s Pete Kwiatkowski was named the next defensive coordinator for the Longhorns.
Although it was a name that not many had on their radar at the time, it was a significant pickup for Sarkisian as other big names such as Georgia’s Dan Lanning, Arkansas’ Barry Odom, and Mississippi State’s Zach Arnett each reportedly interviewed for the job.
No matter what you want to call Kwiatkowski’s base defensive scheme, the only two true defensive linemen are going to be defensive tackles. Their goal is to fill as much space as possible on the line of scrimmage for linebackers and bodies from the secondary to clean up and make tackles.
Although generating a pass rush can be difficult with only two down defensive linemen, Kwiatkowski has designed zone blitzes that come from all over the field — disguising the blitzes and sending four or five players is a staple of his. Middle linebacker, outside linebacker, safety, and even the nickelback could come in hot.
How Texas’ current roster fits with Kwiatkowski’s style of play will be interesting to see throughout spring practices.
Leading up to the season in September, Longhorns Wire will project what the depth chart could look like for Texas. These will often change over the weeks due to transfer players, injuries, or a variety of other reasons.
Here’s our pre-spring defensive depth chart to kick things off.