On Tuesday, the Texas football program sent its coordinators out to meet with the media.
Unless an appearance in front of a microphone is mandated by a bowl game, UT head coach Steve Sarkisian does not allow his assistants to participate in press conferences during the season. Texas, though, usually does make its coordinators available at the beginning of fall camp each year. So with football practices set to begin at Texas on Wednesday, offensive coordinator Kyle Flood, defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks spoke on Tuesday.
Here are three things that stood out about Kwiatkowski’s press conference:
So… how does Texas replace T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy?
Texas enters this season with two large holes in the middle of its defensive line. Sweat, who won the Outland Trophy last season, is now a Tennessee Titan. Murphy, who was named the Big 12 defensive lineman of the year in 2023, was selected by Seattle in the first round of the NFL draft.
On Tuesday, Kwiatkowski was asked how he’d replace those two defensive tackles. Texas has some clear front-runners in veterans Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton.
“We’ve got guys but it’s tough to replace those two dudes,” Kwiatkowski said. “How do you do it? Coach your tail off. The guys whose opportunity arises, you’ve got to keep working to get better. The two guys that are coming back, Vernon and AC, played a lot of football and they’ve gotten better. Very encouraged from a leadership standpoint and work ethic and all that. They’ve done a really nice job from the end of last season through spring ball and then this summer working out.”
As for the depth behind Collins and Broughton, Kwiatkowski mentioned sophomores Aaron Bryant and Jaray Bledsoe. Kwiatkowski also noted that Texas had brought in transfers Tiaoalii Savea (Arizona), Bill Norton (Arizona) and Jermayne Lole (Louisiana).
“I think our depth’s going to be good,” Kwiatkowski said. “How productive they’re going to be compared to what those two guys brought last year, we’ll find out.”
Kwiatkowski downplays passing numbers
Led by Sweat and Murphy, Texas boasted the No. 3 rushing defense in the country. Opposing teams still were able to move the football on UT, though. Texas allowed an average of 254.4 passing yards per game, which ranked 113th among the 130 Football Bowl Subdivision-level defenses.
Kwiatkowski doesn’t seem too concerned about how Texas fared against the pass. That was in part because of the offensive strategies that UT faced last year. The Longhorns were one of three FBS teams to defend 500 pass attempts during the 2023 season.
“We gave up some yards but we had the ball thrown on us the third-most in the country, right? When teams throw the ball a lot, they’re going to get yards. We’d like to have those numbers down, but that’s not the end all, be all. Our pass efficiency defense was (47th) in the nation, which is respectable.”
But how can Texas be better than respectable? Kwiatkowski suggested that the Longhorns need to be “a little bit tighter in coverage, break on the ball a little bit better so we’re contesting some more throws and creating more incompletions. How can we affect the quarterback? Doesn’t always have to be sacks but they’ve got to feel us, we’ve got to be around them, we’ve got to make them uncomfortable with the rush and then the other part of it is being able to change up the pre-snap looks. … And then like I said, tackling. Those easy throws, get them on the ground, they don’t get (yards after catch). All that stuff adds up.”
Let’s talk about Longhorn linebackers
Kwiatkowski also fielded a few questions about the linebacker position on Tuesday. When asked about sixth-year senior David Gbenda, Kwiatkowski said that “he’s a Longhorn, he bleeds burnt orange and he’s a really good practice player, going to the meetings, he’s just an awesome guy to have back because of those traits that he brings every day.”
Kwiatkowski also discussed sophomore Anthony Hill, whose 67 tackles ranked second among the Longhorns last season. Specifically, Kwiatkowski explained why Hill will see more playing time as an inside linebacker in 2024.
“Yeah, that’s his natural position. We put him off the edge last year just as a freshman, it’s a little bit less thinking, just go and play ball. You saw him do that, making some big plays in games just rushing the passer and playing defensive end.
“But his natural position is inside linebacker. Moving him into that Jaylan Ford role and we do a pretty good job of moving those guys around so you’re still gonna see him off the edge doing some different things that way. He just has a nose for the ball. I joked with him last year during the offseason, you’re a hell of a football player but you’re not a very good linebacker. It was a compliment because he has a nose for the ball. He makes plays. But the details of playing linebacker, he can get better at it and he has.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski speaks with local media
Austin American-Statesman
