Muschamp Speaks! New Defensive Coordinator addresses return to Texas

One of the biggest stories in Texas football’s offseason has been the return of defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. The one-time “coach in waiting” is back on the Forty Acres in the same role he had when Texas made it to the BCS National Championship game in 2009.

Muschamp addressed the Longhorns media contingent for the first time since returning to the Forty Acres on Thursday after spring practice. The DC was wearing a shirt that says, “NT = NP.” The excitable Georgia Alum explained.

“This is ‘no thud equals no play’,” Muschamp said. “If you don’t thud at practice, and you don’t throw your face in the fan at practice, then that means you’re probably not going to be a good tackler. So if you don’t thud at practice, that means you’re not going to be a good tackler. And the best defenses I’ve been a part of, they tackled extremely well. And right now in offensive football, you better be able to tackle and play in space. So we’ve got some guys – not many of them – that don’t want to thud at practice. They won’t. I call it a ‘turn down.’ If you turn down too much, you won’t get on the bus to go to the game. You’ll be watching it from home. So if you don’t thud, you won’t play. That’s what this means. It’s very important to me.”

That’s the Muschamp fans remember. Muschamp said it was a “very easy” decision coming back to Austin.

“Very easy decision and a very quick decision,” Muschamp told on3.com this week. “Coach Sarkisian reached out and asked me if I was interested in coming back to Texas. I asked my wife Carol, she looked at me and said ‘let’s go tomorrow.’ We’re obviously empty nesters. My youngest son, Whit, is at Vanderbilt playing football. My oldest son, Jackson, is working for CAA in Nashville. We were really excited to get back to Austin.”

Muschamp was Texas’ defensive coordinator under Mack Brown over 15 years ago and two-time head coach in the Southeastern Conference, with stints at Florida and South Carolina. He was officially tabbed the “Head Coach in waiting” at Texas, but Mack Brown decided he wasn’t ready to retire yet after the Longhorns lost the 2009 BCS Championship game to Alabama. That was the game Colt McCoy hurt his shoulder in the first quarter.

Advertisement

Sark brought Muschamp back to replace Pete Kwiatkowski, who was fired on the same day the Muschamp hire was announced. Kwiatkowski’s defenses were solid, but would crack at key times in big games.

Much of the Texas roster was too young to remember Muschamp’s first stint in Austin. But most have seen his iconic viral whiteboard video on social media.

“I’ve obviously heard of him. I’ve seen the video of him hitting the board and stuff,” sophomore edge Lance Jackson told the Daily Texan. “I knew when he first came in here, he was the real deal.”