Texas' Sarkisian: "We're a Very Aggressive Style Defense"

Steve Sarkisian's era is off on the right note with the University of Texas. After helping Alabama hoist their 18th National Title, it'll be up to the former Crimson Tide offensive coordinator to bring that magic to the Longhorns.

As an OC, Sarkisian spent hours working with Mac Jones and Najee Harris. Those two positions should be covered with either Hudson Card or Casey Thompson under center and Bijan Robinson as the lead the back.

Everyone expects the offense to find its footing. What about the defense?

After the Longhorns' first spring practice, 'physical' is one of the many words Sarkisian would describe the new 4-2-5 approach under new DC Pete Kwiatkowski.

"I think we're a very aggressive style defense," Sarkisian said after the team's practice Wednesday. "We're a penetrating defense upfront. We like to keep our eyes on the quarterback to create turnovers and that definitely showed up today."

Kwiatkowski's new front will have the Longhorns addressing the pass-rush and coverage as priorities. A primary nickel defensive back will play a majority of the snaps over the likes of a third linebacker, meaning the pressure upfront will need to be on-point.

Looking back at Kwiatkowski's success in the Pacific Northwest, it's easy to see how expectations are high in Austin. In seven seasons with Washington, the Huskies' defense ranked 23rd or better nationally in turnovers forced five times.

They also finished 27th in 2020, allowing an average of 5.3 yards per play.

"This system is predicated on attacking and creating turnovers," Sarkisian said. "It was good to see that come to fruition in Day 1."

The Longhorns will be without a focal point of their defense for most of spring camp with the loss of DeMarvion Overshown. The junior linebacker underwent shoulder surgery during the school's spring break to fix a "lingering" problem.

Sarkisian stated that Overshown would miss spring camp, but should be full action by the end of summer in time for fall practice.

Sarkisian is not expecting the new-found defense to be implemented in a matter of days. The Longhorn vets already were forced to switch from Todd Orlando's 3-4 approach to Chris Ash's 4-3 setup over the past 24 months.

Instead, little by little, Sarkisian is hopeful the players will understand what the positional coaches are trying to get done in meetings. After that, it's about reinforcing positive feedback when those plays occur during practice.

“All in all, I thought the guys competed hard,” Sarkisian said. “I thought you could tell that they've put in the time for the day one installation. Now, tomorrow we've got to buy into the meetings, clean up our corrections, and make the necessary corrections so that we go back into install on Thursday and we can continue to grow and get better as a program."

Last season, Texas ranked 64th in FBS total defense, allowing an average of 406.6 yards per game and 5.22 yards per play.

How do you feel about the new defensive approach for 2021? Comment and join in on the discussion below!

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