Will Muschamp didn’t have an official role in the Georgia program in 2025.
But the move by Texas to hire the former Georgia assistant as its new defensive coordinator was noticeable. Especially given how Texas has struggled against the Bulldogs in the past two seasons.
Texas is 0-3 against Georgia in the past two seasons. In two of those three matchups, the Bulldogs have topped 30 points.
When speaking to reporters Friday, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was asked if the hiring of Muschamp was made because of some of the recent struggles against Georgia.
“One of the unintended consequences of this is we do get a little intel into the Georgia theme,” Sarkisian said during a Friday news conference. “Now, I think we’re going to probably play some of those themes of which they play defensive football, too. And so it’s not only about well how do you beat Georgia? Well the reality is we’re going to get to go against that a lot more in practice, whether you want to call it spring football practice, training camp, summer, whatever that looks like, all of our good-on-good sessions.
“Can that help us down the road? Hopefully, that is one of the unintended consequences.”
Texas was picked to win the SEC this season but finished with a 9-3 record. The Longhorns were unable to get back to the SEC championship, unlike the Bulldogs.
Georgia has won the SEC in back-to-back seasons.
In the 2025 and 2026 recruiting cycles, Sarkisian did go into Georgia and landed a 5-star defensive prospect. The Longhorns brought in Justus Terry in the 2025 class and recently welcomed 5-star linebacker Tyler Atkinson. Both were longtime Georgia recruiting targets.
The hope for Sarkisian is that adding Muschamp better prepares the Texas offense for what it might see if and when it next plays Georgia.
“The unintended consequence of all that is, man, I get to go against that every day,” Sarkisian said. “Our offense gets to go against that style and scheme of defense every day. Which hopefully down the road can benefit us if and when we play Georgia again.”
The two schools aren’t scheduled to meet again until the 2027 season.
Muschamp was in Austin on Thursday and will observe the team during its bowl game against Michigan.
Muschamp arrived at Georgia in 2021 as a defensive analyst before being promoted to special-teams coordinator. In 2022 and 2023 he served as the co-defensive coordinator while also working with the safeties.
He took a step back in 2024 to spend more time with his family, serving as an analyst. Muschamp did not have a formal role with Georgia this season, but Kirby Smart shared that he was involved with the program back at SEC media days.
Muschamp put out an official statement regarding his hiring Thursday.
“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.”
Georgia next takes the field Jan. 1 when it plays in the College Football Playoff. The Bulldogs face the winner of the Ole Miss-Tulane first round game scheduled for Saturday.
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