Husky Connections Are Sprinkled Throughout Texas Longhorns Football
Whereas the University of Washington football team has a few Texans sprinkled throughout the roster, former Husky coaches and even a one-time player will show up with the Texas Longhorns for the Alamo Bowl.
Coach Steve Sarkisian is the most obvious former Montlake presence, having brought the Huskies out of the crash-and-burn Willingham era and leading them from 2009 to 2013 before USC hired him away.
His Longhorns coaching staff includes defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, who left Jimmy Lake's UW staff following the 2020 season and joined Sarkisian at Texas to run his defense for double the salary; inside linebackers coach Jeff Choate, who was Chris Petersen's defensive-line coach in 2014 and 2015; strength coach Torre Becton, who was a Husky assistant strength coach from 2011 to 2015 for both Sarkisian and Petersen; and a former UW center in Will Pliska, who spent this past spring with Kalen DeBoer's coaching staff before walking on in Austin.
Nine years after leaving Montlake, Sarkisian is in his fourth coaching job after battling some well-known alcohol issues that cost him his position at USC. He's restored his reputation by serving as an offensive coordinator for Nick Saban on two separate occasions (interim and full-time) at Alabama, two seasons as an offensive coordinator for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and now seasons at Texas.
Sarkisian, who has a collective 59-46 college coaching record at the UW, USC and Texas entering the bowl game, carries the distinction of being one of just four coaches in program history who used the Huskies as a stepping stone to take another job.
That group includes big winner Gil Dobie, who left for Navy following the 1916 season; Jimmy Phelan, who went from the UW to St. Mary's in 1942 with World War II raging; and Darrell Royal, who coached the probation-weary Huskies for a lone 1956 season before becoming Texas' most legendary football coach for the next 20 years.
In 133 seasons, all other UW head football coaches either retired or got fired when their time was up.
"I wouldn't say it was a stepping stone," Husky safety Alex Cook said of Sarkisian's coaching move to the Trojans. "I don't know why he left this program. This is the place to be. I don't think the U-Dub is a stepping stone at all. This the grand finale. This is the Grand Prix. This is the best of them all."
Pete Kwiatkowski at UW practice during his seven-year reign.
UW Athletics photo
Kwiatkowski coached at the UW from 2014 to 2020, for all six of Petersen's seasons in Seattle and just one for Lake. He refuted any claims there was tension between him and Lake when he left. A salary bump from $980,000 to $1.7 million offered a much more compelling reason for him switching DC jobs.
"We all have much love for P.K.," said Cook, who started three UW games at safety for him in 2020. "I love Coach K. That dude has done so much for this program and so much for me individually. I'm just excited to see what's he's got going on over there and [show him] what we've got going on."
Jeff Choate while coaching Montana State against WSU in Pullman
USA TODAY Sports
Choate, who carries the Longhorns title of co-defensive coordinator alongside Kwiatkowski, coached the UW defensive line for Petersen for those two seasons before becoming the Montana State head coach for five years. He went straight from his Big Sky job to Austin.
Becton the strength coach left the Huskies to work at USC for one year and at Cal for four seasons before joining Sarkisian at Texas.
Then there's Pliska.
Will Pliska spent four seasons at the UW and now is on the Texas roster.
The 6-foot-5, 295-pound center walked on from Lake Washington High School in Kirkland, Washington, and spent four seasons at the UW. He played in one Husky game, a 51-27 victory at Arizona in 2019, when starter Nick Harris, now in the NFL, got hurt, Matteo Mele replaced Harris in the lineup and Pliska was elevated to back-up and made the travel squad to Tucson. Otherwise, Pliska broke his ankle during 2021 spring practice, on the same day that edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui ruptured an Achilles tendon, and needed six months of rehab.
Last April, Pliska took part in spring football practice run by Kalen DeBoer's staff. In August, he enrolled at Texas, with Kwiatkowski his only logical connection between the two programs. He hasn't appeared in a game for the Longhorns yet.
One other Northwest connection is Malik Agbo, a 6-foot-4, 339-pound freshman offensive tackle from Beamer High High School in Federal Way, Washington, who drew some recruiting attention from the Huskies but made it clear from the beginning he considered himself a national recruit. He's played in two Texas games so far.
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