Will Muschamp has spent time at many different football programs during his college career, including three stops at Auburn.
Now, the 54-year-old Muschamp is heading back to the place he left Auburn for after the 2007 season: Texas.
Currently serving as a defensive analyst at his alma mater, Georgia, Muschamp has been hired by Steve Sarkisian as the Longhorns' new defensive coordinator, the position he held from 2008-10.
This is an exciting day for the Muschamp family,” Muschamp said in a statement put out by Texas. “We loved our time in Austin and truly enjoyed everything about working with Texas Football. We’re thrilled to be coming back to a program with one of the richest and proudest histories and traditions in college football.”
Surprising move by Texas Longhorns, Steve Sarkisian
The move is surprising as Muschamp had spent the previous five seasons in Athens, serving as the Bulldogs’ co-defensive coordinator in 2022-23. More surprisingly, however, was the move by Sarkisian to fire defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski after a season in which the Longhorns allowed 335.7 yards per game, good for 36th in the FBS.
“Having the opportunity to hire Will Muschamp provides us the leadership to take our defense to another level,” Sarkisian said. “Will is a guy I’ve known for a long time, always admired and is as good of a defensive mind and coach as I’ve ever coached against.
When hired by Mack Brown at Texas in 2008, Muschamp became the Longhorns’ head coach-in-waiting. Before Brown would leave the Longhorns, the Rome, Ga., native found himself as the head coach at Georgia’s rival, Florida. After an up-and-down four seasons in Gainesville that included a 11-2 finish in 2012, Muschamp was let go, returning to the Plains as Auburn’s defensive coordinator for the 2015 season.
A year later, South Carolina came calling with an open head-coaching position. Muschamp’s most successful year in charge of the Gamecocks came in 2017 when they finished 9-4. He was fired after a 2-5 start to the 2020 season, following a 4-8 record in 2019.