Texas hires Muschamp as DC after firing Kwiatkowski

Will Muschamp is returning to Texas as defensive coordinator, the program announced Thursday.

Muschamp replaces defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, who was dismissed Thursday after five seasons. Defensive passing game coordinator Duane Akina was also let go.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian said the Longhorns "felt it was best for our program to move in a different direction."

"Having the opportunity to hire Will Muschamp provides us the leadership to take our defense to another level," Sarkisian said in a statement.

He added: "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."

Muschamp served as Texas' defensive coordinator from 2008 through 2010. His best unit was the 2009 squad, which allowed 16.7 points per game.

He left Texas to become head coach at Florida following the 2010 campaign. He put up a 28-21 record at Florida over four years before stepping down. He returned to head coaching in 2016 with South Carolina and posted a 28-30 record over five seasons there.

He most recently served as a defensive analyst at Georgia.

The Longhorns allowed 19.8 points per game this season after surrendering 15.3 last year.