Longhorns Country

Sarkisian Tabs Washington’s Kwiatkowski as Longhorns Defensive Coordinator

After an exhaustive search in which multiple candidates were considered for the position, the Texas Longhorns have found their defensive coordinator in Washington's Pete Kwiatkowski

Matt Galatzan

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian added yet another impressive name to his staff in Austin on Tuesday, when Washington’s Pete Kwiatkowski was reportedly named the team’s new defensive coordinator, replacing the departed Chris Ash.

Known as one of the top defensive minds in college football, Kwiatkowski spent four years as the Boise State defensive coordinator under Chris Peterson (his second stint with the team), before following Peterson to the Huskies in 2014.

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During his time with the Peterson and the Huskies, Kwiatkowski's defense's ranked as a top-13 team in the country in scoring defense in five of his seven seasons, including a three-year stretch in the top-10, and back-to-back years in the top-five.

In eight seasons at Washington, Kwiatkowski helped the Huskies to an overall record of 55-26, as well as a College Football Playoff appearance in 2016, where the Huskies fell to Nick Saban and the eventual national champion Alabama Crimson Tide.

Before his time as defensive coordinator Boise State, Kwiatkowski coached the Broncos' defensive line from 2006-2009. He also spent time at Montana State as the defensive coordinator, as well as stints Eastern Washington, Snow College, and his first tenure at Boise State (1988-1996), where he coached defensive line.

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The Longhorns have already assembled a stellar defensive staff around Kwiatkowski, including Blake Gideon (safeties), Terry Joseph (defensive passing game coordinator/cornerbacks), and Bo Davis (defensive line).

With its defensive coordinator position now occupied, Texas can move forward with filling the final spots in the coaching staff, including the inside/outside linebacker coach positions, which remain open.

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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.

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