Reason For DC Switch?

[SpaceCityWrangler]

Texas has been sooooo bad on offense, I would hate to call defense the last three seasons.  14-7 at Ohio State.  6-3 at halftime in Dallas.  13-13 at Kentucky going to OT.  That’s last year alone. 

Oh, thE Mississippi State game… we gave a Lebby offense 9 possessions in the first half.  Mainly because we had 5 possessions less than 90 seconds.  That’s the kind of stuff that made Buddy Ryan go over and smack Kevin Gilbride.  Literally, Texas would have been better off taking three knees and punting.  It would have shortened the half. 

Then Georgia… 14-10 and Texas has forced 4 straight three and outs all less than 10 years to start the 3rd and our offense can’t do anything after the D came up big in ten first four Georgia drives  after halftime.

The good news… Texas should be vastly improved on offense.  The defense in turn will play less minutes and be able to take more chances.  A year ago or even the season before, you could lose a game taking chances.  
 

 

[GQ03]

4 minutes ago, SpaceCityWrangler said:

Texas has been sooooo bad on offense, I would hate to call defense the last three seasons.  14-7 at Ohio State.  6-3 at halftime in Dallas.  13-13 at Kentucky going to OT.  That’s last year alone. 

Oh, thE Mississippi State game… we gave a Lebby offense 9 possessions in the first half.  Mainly because we had 5 possessions less than 90 seconds.  That’s the kind of stuff that made Buddy Ryan go over and smack Kevin Gilbride.  Literally, Texas would have been better off taking three knees and punting.  It would have shortened the half. 

Then Georgia… 14-10 and Texas has forced 4 straight three and outs all less than 10 years to start the 3rd and our offense can’t do anything after the D came up big in ten first four Georgia drives  after halftime.

The good news… Texas should be vastly improved on offense.  The defense in turn will play less minutes and be able to take more chances.  A year ago or even the season before, you could lose a game taking chances.  
 

 

I agree but in that Georgia game once the offense finally got into the endzone, the defense immediately goes out and gives a score back. Then the special teams falls asleep and the defense gives up another score. Complimentary football was anything but that last year.

[GQ03]

5 hours ago, Bdub12 said:

Thank you!   Another person who watches the games.  If Sark’s offense was anywhere near our defense we have a natty.  Hopefully this is the year

Would you say the same for the '23 season when PK's secondary was getting carved up by OU, Washington and (checks notes) Houston??

[Here for the Wins]

3 hours ago, GQ03 said:

Would you say the same for the '23 season when PK's secondary was getting carved up by OU, Washington and (checks notes) Houston??

 

[Here for the Wins]

Disregard for context.  The offense threw a pick on possession 1 versus OU.  Very short field.  Texas had 1st and 10 on the OU 30 or so with roughly 3 minutes to go.  One more first down and chances OU scores go down significantly.  That didn’t happen.

Now OU’s TD drive started with the LBers being attacked.  First down, stoppage of clock.  2nd play, Manny misses tackle first diwn.  Starting corner Watts out the whole game.  The big play was the 28 yarder in which the pass rush helped cause the issue.  I believe the TD was a LB miss.  So blaming the secondary is not completely accurate.
 

As for Washington, that was a boatload of offensive talent.  I’m not even sure that the entire regular season in 2024 schedule included as many first round picks as this UW team.  Maybe not even as many NFL guys as that UW team.  I don’t think that’s true cause Georgia.  But no sacks.  Penix had several great throws with pretty solid coverage.  And still the offense had 4 shots inside the 20 in the final minute.

Houston wasn’t good, but Barron and I think Watts were hurt.  M Golden was better than given credit.  And Houston only scored 20- something points.  And one of their TDs came when PK dialed up a free blitzer that missed.

Maybe the defense wasn’t great, but it absolutely gave the offense a chance.  And in the two losses, there were 4 turnovers that impacted the scoreboard.

[SarkFiction]

On 7/22/2026 at 2:31 PM, Bobby Burton said:

The Vanderbilt game reached a boiling point IMO. The front and the secondary just wasn't playing together and there was some chaos on the sidelines.

Bobby,

I don't recall the chaos on the sidelines during the Vandy game. Can you expound on this point?

[Bdub12]

7 hours ago, GQ03 said:

Would you say the same for the '23 season when PK's secondary was getting carved up by OU, Washington and (checks notes) Houston??

Have to go back to 2023?  We gave up 31 (wash), 24 (Houston) and 34 (OU).  All games with a better offense we win.  I’m not a PK lover but his unit largely performed - his late game defense was frustrating but not as much as Sark’s zero point halves.  

[GQ03]

4 hours ago, Bdub12 said:

Have to go back to 2023?  We gave up 31 (wash), 24 (Houston) and 34 (OU).  All games with a better offense we win.  I’m not a PK lover but his unit largely performed - his late game defense was frustrating but not as much as Sark’s zero point halves.  

You said with better production we would have a national title. The defense, most notably the secondary, let us down in 2023 and kept us from a national title. The offense (mostly due to injuries) let us down in 2024. 2025 was a bit of both. Lack of personnel on Offense & bad coaching on Defense imo.

The defense was not good against Florida & Mississippi State while the offense was hot garbage against Ohio St, UTEP & Kentucky. Then they took turns being inept vs Vanderbilt & Georgia. 

Overall, I liked PK but I prefer a DC that can call the entire defense so that we don't have to worry about this "front not being married to the back" nonsense that we dealt with in '23 & '25. Also, looking at last year's defense, I had high expectations due to the great talent we had but in looking back I don't believe we maximized that talent. Ant Hill should've been put in position to have been much more disruptive and I still can't figure out why we took a great Edge in Trey Moore and moved him to LB while taking a good LB in Brad Spence and moved him to Edge? The result was that both Moore & Spence (along with Hill) had disappointing seasons.

[Califashorn75]

He wanted a guy who would coach with passion, recruit, and understand how to call defensive coverages. He got tired of the bend but don't break style that the former coach employed. How many times did our defense blow 3rd and 8? Too many. That cushion our corners gave was sickening.  

[thatdude2]

7 minutes ago, Califashorn75 said:

He wanted a guy who would coach with passion, recruit, and understand how to call defensive coverages. He got tired of the bend but don't break style that the former coach employed. How many times did our defense blow 3rd and 8? Too many. That cushion our corners gave was sickening.  

He wanted a DC that could command all the defensive coaches without him having to do it. I think it came down to Sark giving up his offense and becoming an overseer of both, or finding someone that could be in totally control of defense.

[Bdub12]

1 hour ago, GQ03 said:

You said with better production we would have a national title. The defense, most notably the secondary, let us down in 2023 and kept us from a national title. The offense (mostly due to injuries) let us down in 2024. 2025 was a bit of both. Lack of personnel on Offense & bad coaching on Defense imo.

The defense was not good against Florida & Mississippi State while the offense was hot garbage against Ohio St, UTEP & Kentucky. Then they took turns being inept vs Vanderbilt & Georgia. 

Overall, I liked PK but I prefer a DC that can call the entire defense so that we don't have to worry about this "front not being married to the back" nonsense that we dealt with in '23 & '25. Also, looking at last year's defense, I had high expectations due to the great talent we had but in looking back I don't believe we maximized that talent. Ant Hill should've been put in position to have been much more disruptive and I still can't figure out why we took a great Edge in Trey Moore and moved him to LB while taking a good LB in Brad Spence and moved him to Edge? The result was that both Moore & Spence (along with Hill) had disappointing seasons.

Great offense will beat great defense so the Washington game doesn’t bother me.  Their QB was on that night - we didn’t hold up our side of the”great offense” against their not so great defense.  The fact we can’t run on anyone with a pulse is deflating.  I’m ok with a new DC that forces more of the action to the offense but until sark lives up to his billing we aren’t winning a natty 

[LTWOTIMES]

Sark hinted again at it during SEC Media days. Not only does he want Champ to be the 'HC' of the D, he wanted someone who was closer with the players and recruits. 

[mmdaytontexas]

14 hours ago, SpaceCityWrangler said:

Texas has been sooooo bad on offense, I would hate to call defense the last three seasons.  14-7 at Ohio State.  6-3 at halftime in Dallas.  13-13 at Kentucky going to OT.  That’s last year alone. 

Oh, thE Mississippi State game… we gave a Lebby offense 9 possessions in the first half.  Mainly because we had 5 possessions less than 90 seconds.  That’s the kind of stuff that made Buddy Ryan go over and smack Kevin Gilbride.  Literally, Texas would have been better off taking three knees and punting.  It would have shortened the half. 

Then Georgia… 14-10 and Texas has forced 4 straight three and outs all less than 10 years to start the 3rd and our offense can’t do anything after the D came up big in ten first four Georgia drives  after halftime.

The good news… Texas should be vastly improved on offense.  The defense in turn will play less minutes and be able to take more chances.  A year ago or even the season before, you could lose a game taking chances.  
 

 

That's why I asked the question. I love the DC move because I like Muschamp, but I'm no way did I see PK as our main problem.

[Here for the Wins]

35 minutes ago, GQ03 said:

You said with better production we would have a national title. The defense, most notably the secondary, let us down in 2023 and kept us from a national title. The offense (mostly due to injuries) let us down in 2024. 2025 was a bit of both. Lack of personnel on Offense & bad coaching on Defense imo.

The defense was not good against Florida & Mississippi State while the offense was hot garbage against Ohio St, UTEP & Kentucky. Then they took turns being inept vs Vanderbilt & Georgia. 

Overall, I liked PK but I prefer a DC that can call the entire defense so that we don't have to worry about this "front not being married to the back" nonsense that we dealt with in '23 & '25. Also, looking at last year's defense, I had high expectations due to the great talent we had but in looking back I don't believe we maximized that talent. Ant Hill should've been put in position to have been much more disruptive and I still can't figure out why we took a great Edge in Trey Moore and moved him to LB while taking a good LB in Brad Spence and moved him to Edge? The result was that both Moore & Spence (along with Hill) had disappointing seasons.

 

“Overall, I liked PK but I prefer a DC that can call the entire defense so that we don't have to worry about this "front not being married to the back" nonsense that we dealt with in '23 & '25.”

Akina wasn’t here in 2023 or 2024, right?  So it couldn’t have been his doing in those years.  Gideon couldn’t solve it in 2023 but could in 2024?  PK couldn’t figure it out in 2023 but did in 2024 then forgot in 2025.  A defensive coach for decades.  None of that makes sense.  There’s no doubt Sark would prefer someone else to PK.  Obviously PKs style doesn’t suit everyone.

You ignore injuries.  You know who screws up coverages?  Backups that don’t have experience in high leverage situations.  You ignore the pass rush.  Let’s call it the secondary when our LBs don’t get depth.  Our 2023 schedule had roughly 15 top 100 NFL picks in that NFL draft.  That is 15% for those that struggle with math.  That is a lot.  Maybe even historic.  That doesn’t include a fair number of underclassmen drafted the following year.  DFEI provides you and others insight into the relative strength of the opponents offenses yet some people ignore it.   Easy to play defense against WRs that can’t get open when being thrown to by inept QBs being protected by mediocre lines.

The secondary didn’t let us down in 2023.  It was a team effort.  No sacks.  Two turnovers.  The offense inside the opponents 20 with 4 chances at the end of the game.  Washington’s defense was JV level relative to their offense.  The next to last offensive possession we had 1st and 10 from the 13.  We have to kick a FG.  If we score a TD there, all that was needed on the last possession was a FG.

Maybe I’m wrong but thought Moore returned to show the NFL he could be versatile.

 

Spirited football talk.  It’s time.

 

[GQ03]

2 hours ago, Here for the Wins said:

 

“Overall, I liked PK but I prefer a DC that can call the entire defense so that we don't have to worry about this "front not being married to the back" nonsense that we dealt with in '23 & '25.”

Akina wasn’t here in 2023 or 2024, right?  So it couldn’t have been his doing in those years.  Gideon couldn’t solve it in 2023 but could in 2024?  PK couldn’t figure it out in 2023 but did in 2024 then forgot in 2025.  A defensive coach for decades.  None of that makes sense.  There’s no doubt Sark would prefer someone else to PK.  Obviously PKs style doesn’t suit everyone.

You ignore injuries.  You know who screws up coverages?  Backups that don’t have experience in high leverage situations.  You ignore the pass rush.  Let’s call it the secondary when our LBs don’t get depth.  Our 2023 schedule had roughly 15 top 100 NFL picks in that NFL draft.  That is 15% for those that struggle with math.  That is a lot.  Maybe even historic.  That doesn’t include a fair number of underclassmen drafted the following year.  DFEI provides you and others insight into the relative strength of the opponents offenses yet some people ignore it.   Easy to play defense against WRs that can’t get open when being thrown to by inept QBs being protected by mediocre lines.

The secondary didn’t let us down in 2023.  It was a team effort.  No sacks.  Two turnovers.  The offense inside the opponents 20 with 4 chances at the end of the game.  Washington’s defense was JV level relative to their offense.  The next to last offensive possession we had 1st and 10 from the 13.  We have to kick a FG.  If we score a TD there, all that was needed on the last possession was a FG.

Maybe I’m wrong but thought Moore returned to show the NFL he could be versatile.

 

Spirited football talk.  It’s time.

 

It wasn't Akina or Gideon's job to solve that. They aren't in charge of the entire defense. Your defensive coordinator should be able to coordinate the entire defense and not just the front or back half. The difference between '24 and '23/'25 isn't that PK figured it out and then forgot. The difference was we had extremely high IQ guys in Mukuba, Taafe & Barron that were basically coaches on the field working together. 

 

I don't disagree with you that the offense has had rough stretches or even that the defense has largely been better than the offense (especially in big games) over the last 3 seasons but I just don't think PK is without blame. The Florida game plan was downright embarrassing and while we held Ohio St down yardage wise, we never made Sayin uncomfortable in his first ever start. Didn't touch him once with all of the gifted pass-rushers this team had last year. 

[Here for the Wins]

1 hour ago, GQ03 said:

It wasn't Akina or Gideon's job to solve that. They aren't in charge of the entire defense. Your defensive coordinator should be able to coordinate the entire defense and not just the front or back half. The difference between '24 and '23/'25 isn't that PK figured it out and then forgot. The difference was we had extremely high IQ guys in Mukuba, Taafe & Barron that were basically coaches on the field working together. 

 

I don't disagree with you that the offense has had rough stretches or even that the defense has largely been better than the offense (especially in big games) over the last 3 seasons but I just don't think PK is without blame. The Florida game plan was downright embarrassing and while we held Ohio St down yardage wise, we never made Sayin uncomfortable in his first ever start. Didn't touch him once with all of the gifted pass-rushers this team had last year. 

Again, the only team with legit pass catching threats in 2024 were Clemson and OSU.  One threw for 330.  Even Clemson had limited skills at Oline, their RBs pedestrian, and the QB had one better than average college season.  ASU was missing their top WR threat.  Qb a frosh.  Middling OLine talent.  That matters.  The Georgia guys had talent but couldn’t catch.  Go watch Barron get his butt torched versus TCU in 2023.  It wasn’t because his IQ grew from nothing to something.  Taaffe was there too.  He was there this year except when hurt.  2023 and 2025 ran up against better offensive talent, and they did it with more significant injuries.  Backups are backups for a reason.  That’s absolutely part of it.

And part of the reason Sayin wasn’t pressured was because we had no points through 3.5 quarters.  I take 14 points allowed on the road versus a top 10 every time.  
 

No one said PK was without blame.

[GQ03]

10 hours ago, Here for the Wins said:

Again, the only team with legit pass catching threats in 2024 were Clemson and OSU.  One threw for 330.  Even Clemson had limited skills at Oline, their RBs pedestrian, and the QB had one better than average college season.  ASU was missing their top WR threat.  Qb a frosh.  Middling OLine talent.  That matters.  The Georgia guys had talent but couldn’t catch.  Go watch Barron get his butt torched versus TCU in 2023.  It wasn’t because his IQ grew from nothing to something.  Taaffe was there too.  He was there this year except when hurt.  2023 and 2025 ran up against better offensive talent, and they did it with more significant injuries.  Backups are backups for a reason.  That’s absolutely part of it.

And part of the reason Sayin wasn’t pressured was because we had no points through 3.5 quarters.  I take 14 points allowed on the road versus a top 10 every time.  
 

No one said PK was without blame.

Its cool man.

We're obviously just going to have to agree to disagree on this topic. With the offense, you guys hold them to a certain standard and don't really take injuries or opponent into consideration. If they score 34 vs Vandy but didn't score for a quarter then they should've scored more. 

For the defense it feels like there's a lot of excuses made for pk. Just as the offense could score a td and end the game vs OU in '23, the defense could've also went out there and made a stop after we took the lead to end the game the same way. You would take 14 points given up on the road vs a top 10 opponent every time. So would I. I'd also take outgaining them by over 100 yards and nearly outrushing by 100 at a 4.5 ypr average every time too. But that doesn't take into account the Monstars stealing Arch's talent for the better part of that game and the first half of the season for that matter.

[Here for the Wins]

I’m always a Team guy.  I won’t blame one guy, which happens a fair amount on boards.  As I’ve aged, I’m more “just win” whether that’s ugly, by 1 point, by 30, just win.

2023 OU.  Obviously if the defense shuts them down, we win.  The offense was in position to shut it down completely, but that didn’t happen.  I’m not blaming them for the loss.  Neither unit was blameless.

As for last years offense, injuries matter.  Mosley out early didn’t help.  I think Wisner being out set us back, but the tenor here is that he was expendable.  But my point about DB injuries is that those guys are more easily exposed.  We talk about Taaffe being a high IQ guy but act as though him being out is not impactful then we McDonald goes out early against the # 1 OFEI offense in the country that is more impactful than Mosley being out, who at that time had never even played here.  And I think if you actually look at last years UTEP game - Wisner out, Baxter out after play 1, Moore out, Mosley out - that was part of the reason the offense looked shoddy.  The play calling failed to get the QB in rhythm early then everybody’s confidence tanked.

[Hookem722]

On 7/22/2026 at 1:25 PM, mmdaytontexas said:

Why do you think Sark made a change at DC? Maybe Sark gave a specific answer and I just missed it

If it was just frustration and just a feeling that he could do better than the bend be and not break defense of Coach K, after watching the replays of last season, especially the last quarter of the Vanderbilt game, I can see why. However, there is an argument his inconsistent offense was a lot of the problem with these right games and the 3 losses. Why do you think he ignored that side of the ball except for the turnover of personnel?

Pass defense was unsatisfactory in 4 of the 5 seasons PK was here. They finished outside the top 60 in every season outside of 2024. It cost them a chance to play for a national championship in 2023 IMO when Penix just absolutely shredded the secondary. I don't blame the defense for the Ohio State loss in 2024, but that screen pass right before the half completely shifted the momentum of that game.

The comments Sark made this offseason about Muschamp being able to handle that side of the ball completely is probably the biggest factor though. PK had some troubles tying his fronts to the coverages. He brought in Patterson in 2022 and that seemed to help quite a bit. I don't think it was a coincidence that when he left in 2023 that they took a pretty big step backwards. Then in 2024 PK brought in Nansen to help, and that's when we saw the improvements in the secondary. It also didn't hurt that they were experienced and brought in a guy like Mukuba on top of that.

Lastly, Sark wants to be more aggressive on that side of the ball. The one game that really bothered me the last year was the Florida game. Lagway had a bad calf and was essentially playing on 1 leg. PK decided that not blitzing and playing soft zone coverage that day was what he wanted to do, and inevitably it failed, miserably. The Miss. St. game also stood out to me. Same game plan really to the Florida game, but when they got down by 3 scores in the 4th quarter, it forced him to be more aggressive. When they started bringing pressure and speeding up Shapen, they had a ton of success. Makes you wonder what that game had looked like had PK been more aggressive from the jump. 

I also think Anthony Hill was misused in 2025. He was at his best when he was playing close to or at the line of scrimmage in passing situations. We just didn't see as much of that as we did in 2024 and it shows in his production. It hurt his draft stock a bit IMO.