Texas football: Steve Sarkisian hiring Washington’s Pete Kwiatkowski as DC is a home run

Texas football fans should be overjoyed with the hire of former Washington coach Pete Kwiatkowski as Steve Sarkisian’s defensive coordinator.

Steve Sarkisian has found his defensive coordinator at Texas. The new Texas football coach has hired Washington defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski to run the Longhorns defense.

Sarkisian has assembled a nice staff since leaving Alabama, including Kyle Flood and Jeff Banks to leave Nick Saban to come to Austin. But the hire of Kwiatkowski could be the best so far.

The former Boise State All-American defensive lineman has consistently had one of the best defenses since arriving at Washington in 2014. Kwiatkowski has had his units rank among the most stingy in the Pac-12 and in the nation. Additionally, he’s developed a number of first-round picks and NFL players in his time with the Huskies.

Pete Kwiatkowski is a great hire for Texas football

Prior to coming to Washington, Kwiatkowski was the defensive coordinator at Boise State from 2010-2013 and defensive line coach at his alma mater from 2006-2009. His previous coaching stops include Snow College, Eastern Washington and Montana State.

Texas has had problems developing NFL players, especially on defense to coincide with their diminishing returns over the last decade. With a track record like Kwiatkowski has developing NFL talent as well as stopping high-octane offenses in the pass-happy Pac-12, the hope for Texas football fans is that this will be a seamless transition.

If Texas can figure out how to avoid shootouts with their Big 12 foes and at least contain the Oklahoma offense to a degree, it’ll go a long way toward Texas moving back up the standings and competing for conference championships.

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