Asked on Tuesday about the goals for the Texas offense this coming season, Kyle Flood had a quick response.
“We want to be the most explosive offense in the country,” Texas’ offensive coordinator said.
Now Flood was participating in a media availability on the UT campus, not an open mic night inside a karaoke lounge. But those 11 words should still be music to the ears of Texas fans.
Last season, Texas gained 477.5 yards and scored 35.8 points per game. Among 130 qualified Football Bowl Subdivision-level teams, those numbers respectively ranked No. 9 and No. 15 nationally. So more of the same — or a slightly improved product — would bode well for a team coming off its first appearance in the College Football Playoff.
Coaches are refamiliarizing themselves
But what about the defense? Longhorns defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski also met with the local media Tuesday. And like Flood, he had some goals to share, too.
This offseason, Kwiatkowski said the Longhorns really wanted to get better at block destruction among all positions and creating turnovers with an emphasis on forcing fumbles. Kwiatkowski said a study showed that Texas had a tackling success rate of 80% in 2023, but he’d like to improve that by five percentage points.
Last year, Texas ranked among college football’s best teams in scoring defense, rushing defense and red zone defense. And only 33 teams allowed fewer yards than the Longhorns, who yielded 336.7 per game.
But during the offseason, Texas lost defensive standouts Byron Murphy II and T’Vondre Sweat to the NFL draft along with middle linebacker Jaylan Ford and cornerback Ryan Watts, and defensive backs Jerrin Thompson (Auburn) and Terrance Brooks (Illinois) transferred out. That’s 70 combined starts from the 2023 season that must be replaced.
The coaching staff also got a mini makeover. In years past, head coach Steve Sarkisian has often credited staff continuity for the successes and strides made on the defensive side of the ball. The first three years of the Sarkisian era featured the same five assistant coaches on defense.
But this offseason, former UT defensive line coach Bo Davis returned to an LSU program that he once played for. And Jeff Choate, who was Sarkisian’s co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach, is now the head coach at Nevada.
To replace them, Texas lured Johnny Nansen away from Arizona and hired Kenny Baker. Baker, 37, spent the 2023 season in the NFL but has coached collegiately at Western Kentucky (2020-22), UT-Chattanooga (2019) and Mercer (2014-18).
“One thing Kenny provides is a ton of energy, a ton of juice,” Sarkisian noted this spring.
“He doesn’t let any of the little details slip,” senior defensive lineman Alfred Collins later added.
Sarkisian, Nansen go way back as coaches
Nansen worked on Sarkisian’s staffs at both USC and Washington. In January, Texas gave him a base salary of $900,000 to be co-defensive coordinator. When describing Nansen during the spring, sixth-year linebacker David Gbenda told reporters that his new coach “brings a burst of energy to it and I like it. It’s been really refreshing.” Sophomore linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. said Nansen had a different kind of intensity.
So Sarkisian and Nansen can obviously work together. But what about Kwiatkowski and Nansen? Kwiatkowski has been coaching on the college level since 1988. Nansen is a 25-year veteran in the profession, but there’s just a one-year overlap on their résumés. Back in 2000, Kwiatkowski was the defensive coordinator at Montana State during a season in which Nansen coached the running backs.
When Nansen’s name came up Tuesday, Kwiatkowski pointed to that 2000 season at Montana State. The Bobcats went 0-11, but the two assistants did get a feel for each other.
“I’ve known Johnny a long time,” Kwiatkowski said. “He’s been awesome. He’s bringing in some stuff that he did at Arizona that’s going to help us. He does a good job with his linebackers and he’s a good recruiter. He’s been awesome.”
On offense, Texas hopes to keep on keepin’ on
On the other side of the ball, Texas retained all five of its offensive assistants. This was the first offseason at Texas in which Sarkisian didn’t need to hire a new one.
“I think that creates a great feel of comfort for the players,” Flood said. “Is that the most important thing to bring back all your coaches? I don’t know that it’s the most important thing. But when you’ve got a room of really great people like we do and you’re able to do it, I think that only makes everything better and certainly allows you to start faster as a staff.”
Sarkisian doesn’t allow his assistant coaches to participate in press conferences during the season, so Tuesday was likely the last time that Kwiatkowski, Flood and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks will meet with the media until a bowl game mandates their appearances in front of a microphone. With the countdown now officially underway for its season opener against Colorado State on Aug. 31, Texas will hold its first practice of…
Austin American-Statesman
