Steve Sarkisian made a major bet on defense this offseason when he moved on from Pete Kwiatkowski and brought Will Muschamp back to Texas.
The hire turned plenty of heads for obvious reasons. Muschamp is a familiar name on the 40 Acres, and Sarkisian has already gotten the kind of reaction he wanted from inside the program. Players and staff have praised what Muschamp has brought to the building, with the buzz around the move described as “everything [Texas] thought this hire could be.”
But Muschamp’s message has been even more telling than the praise. He has come in focused on one thing: production.
“Elite, consistent production. Period.
End of sentence. Then I followed it up with, ‘I don’t really care how much NIL money you got," Muschamp said earlier this summer on what he's instilling into players.
"I care about how you practice every day and how you produce every day. Every decision we make is about winning.”
That line fits the reputation Muschamp built during his five years with Kirby Smart at Georgia, where the Bulldogs became known for a hard-edged approach to NIL. He has brought that same mindset to Austin, putting the emphasis on what players do on the field rather than what they’re earning off it.
That doesn’t mean NIL has disappeared from the conversation. It remains a major part of recruiting, and Muschamp has clearly had to work within that reality. But his focus has stayed on the defensive side of the ball, where Texas has high-end talent and big expectations.
That group includes linebackers Colin Simmons and Rasheem Biles, along with incoming five-star freshman John Meredith III. Muschamp’s job is to get the most out of that talent, and his standard is simple: performance in games and practice matters more than anything else.
He’s also not trying to coach every ounce of personality out of his players. Muschamp’s intensity is well known, but he has still made room for players to be themselves.
“He just tells me to be me. He tells me to have fun and be myself. Coach Muschamp is definitely a player’s coach," Simmons said of Muschamp at the SEC Media Days.
For Texas, the hope is that Muschamp can be the final push after Kwiatkowski helped get the defense back into the national championship conversation. The next step is bigger than that, and it’s the one everyone around the program is chasing.
Texas opens its 2026 season on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 2:30 p.m. CT against Texas State. The real early measuring stick comes in Week 2, when the Longhorns host Ohio State.
In Other News...
Texas Fall Camp Could Finally Settle Two Huge Defensive Questions
Fall camp is about to become a defining stretch for Texas as the Longhorns start sorting out a few of the biggest questions on defense heading into the 2026 season. Up front, Lance Jackson is in line to push for a starting role opposite Colin Simmons, giving Texas a chance to firm up the edge of its pass rush and settle a spot that matters every Saturday.
In the secondary, Jonah Williams is trying to carve out his place as the roster and depth chart take shape. Texas also has a starting opening available opposite Jelani McDonald, so the next few weeks should go a long way toward showing which defensive pieces are ready to lock in roles and which battles will carry deeper into camp. [Read more 🡒]
Texas May Be Headed For A Brutal Fight To Keep Easton Royal
Texas has spent months treating Easton Royal like a centerpiece of its future, and for good reason. The five-star wide receiver has been verbally committed since November, giving the Longhorns a high-end offensive building block to sell to the rest of their class, but his recruitment has never fully gone quiet.
Now the challenge looks more complicated than simply holding onto a pledge. Royal is still drawing serious attention from other programs, and Texas has to decide how hard it wants to fight to keep him versus how quickly it should line up other receiver targets if the tug-of-war drags on. Even with a commitment in place, this one has the feel of a recruitment that could keep stretching well into the next cycle. [Read more 🡒]