'Timing Right’ For Kwiatkowski to Take Talents to The Forty Acres
On Tuesday, former Washington Huskies defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski was officially named as Texas’s new defensive coordinator.
Kwiatkowski is widely regarded as one of the best defensive play-callers in the sport. He was selected as a semifinalist for the Broyles Award, which goes to the nation's top assistant in 2017. Furthermore, Washington had the #1 defense in the Pac-12 for five of his seven years as the Huskies' DC.
So what motivated Kwiatkowski to leave Washington? The former Huskie revealed what went into his decision-making process during a chat with Softy and Dick on Seattle's Sports Radio 950 KJR on Wednesday.
You can view his full statements below:
READ MORE: Sarkisian's Longhorns Will Not Hire Mike Stoops As Linebackers Coach
On leaving for Texas:
“I got a call the other day from a coaching buddy that was inquiring about my interest in the coaching job at Texas, and I get these every year from other places, and this guy I know that inquired… Sark called me and we started talking about his vision, direction, the staff, and one thing led to another, and I think you pair that with the staff he’s putting together, the guys I know on the staff… You know I’ve been here seven years, I think the timing was right for me to make this move, and try another adventure and another challenge, and see where it takes me.”
On why he was ready to leave Washington:
“You look at my track record, I think the longest I’ve been somewhere is nine years, and I have not been a guy who is chasing jobs, and I just think, I mean there’s not one answer for that,” Kwiatkowski said. “It’s just, I’ve been here seven years and have had a great run, and I love everybody and had unbelievable relationships with everybody at the University of Washington. I think it was a combination of just getting that itch to try and go do something different, and the University of Texas is an outstanding university. And the Big 12… it’ll be fun to try and go out there and defend all of those high powered offenses.”
On speaking with Sarkisian about stopping the air raid offenses:
“Yea we talked about that, and I think we played sark three times. Twice at Boise and then once when he was at USC, so he’s seen what we’ve done on defense over the years,” Kwiatkowski said, “So, we talked a little bit about that but you know it was more about fit, and personality, and all of the culture stuff more than the X’s and O’s stuff.”
READ MORE: Longhorns Roster Tracker: Another WR Heading to NFL
On Texas's potential to be an elite program again:
“You’re in the state of Texas, you’re the flagship in the state of Texas, and you have all of those resources to go recruit, and hire good people,” Kwiatkowski said. “You’re going to find out here real quick.”
Sarkisian will continue to build out his elite coaching staff in hopes of bringing Texas back to its glory days. After seeing these promising first hires, fans should be excited about the Longhorns’ future.
