Former Texas star 'emotional' over Longhorns' Will Muschamp hiring

Will Muschamp. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Former Texas star Emmanuel Acho 'emotional' over Longhorns' Will Muschamp hiring

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated Dec 18, 2025 10:55 PM ET

Steve Sarkisian saw his Texas Longhorns miss the College Football Playoff for the first time in three seasons, and he's decided to make a change. In a somewhat shocking move, Sarkisian fired defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski after five seasons in Austin on Thursday.

Kwiatkowski has overseen some good defensive units over the years, so Sarkisian's next move was extremely important. By all accounts, he hit a home run by bringing in former Florida and South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp to be Texas' new defensive coordinator.

Former Texas linebacker Emmanuel Acho, a third-team All-American for the Longhorns in 2011, was one of the many voices praising this decision.

“Texas, this isn’t good news. This might be the greatest news in the last three, four years," Acho said in a video posted to X. "Signing Will Muschamp is better than any recruit. Because Will Muschamp can turn any three-star recruit into an NFL Draft pick. Will Muschamp can turn a five-star recruit into a top-10 pick. Will Muschamp, ain’t nothing like him.”

Will Muschamp back at @TexasFootball has me emotional in public…. pic.twitter.com/KIJuPrQZjz
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) December 18, 2025

Will Muschamp an elite defensive coordinator hire for Texas Longhorns

Muschamp's resume as a head coach wasn't great; he went 56-51 combined in four seasons at Florida (2011 to 2014) and five seasons at South Carolina (2016 to 2016). With that said, he's without a doubt an elite defensive coordinator.

He was Nick Saban's defensive coordinator at LSU when the Tigers won the BCS Championship in 2003. He was the defensive coordinator at Texas from 2008 to 2010, where he coached two top-10 defenses.

Lastly, Muschamp won two national championships as part of the coaching staff for the Georgia Bulldogs under Kirby Smart.

He may not have been an elite head coach, but Muschamp is an elite defensive coordinator, so this is a massive move by Sarkisian and the Longhorns.

“Will Muschamp is the greatest teacher of defensive football I’ve ever been around,” Acho said. ”Will Muschamp understands defensive football, I would suggest, greater than any mind in the collegiate game."

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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