Why Pete Kwiatkowski should win the Broyles Award

Texas has one Broyles Award winner in its history. In 2005, Greg Davis won the award given annually to the nation’s best assistant coach thanks to his efforts coordinating the Longhorns’ national championship offense. The Longhorns’ head coach, Steve Sarkisian, has even won the honor. He was named the nation’s top assistant just weeks after he took the job in Austin thanks to his sterling 2020 season calling an historic Alabama offense.

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On Thursday, Texas should learn it has another Broyles Award winner. Defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski would be the smartest choice for the 2024 Broyles Award.

Kwiatkowski is the most deserving of a number of quality candidates. Arizona State offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo, Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines, former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden, and Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks are all in contention for the honor, but it should make a return to Austin when the Broyles Award hosts its ceremony Thursday in Hot Springs, Ark.

There have been a number of seasons in Kwiatkowski’s career where he could make a case for being the top assistant in the nation, including time at Boise State and Washington. But 2024 was his magnum opus.

During UT’s first run through the SEC and 16-game journey to the final four of the 12-team College Football Playoff, the Longhorns logged the No. 3 total defense, the No. 3 scoring defense, the No. 13 rushing defense, and the No. 7 rush defense.

Texas had a quality unit in 2023, anchored by Outland Trophy winner T’Vondre Sweat and first-round pick Byron Murphy at defensive tackle, plus veterans like Jaylan Ford, Ryan Watts, and Jerrin Thompson. He elevated Texas’ level of defensive play without those superstars at defensive tackle, raising the quality of his side of the ball by getting the most out of a number of players.

Jahdae Barron, a former nickel corner, moved to boundary corner and became the Jim Thorpe winner and a consensus All-American. Michael Taaffe, a former walk-on, earned second-team All-American honors from the AP. Andrew Mukuba, a Clemson transfer, recorded the best season of his career. Anthony Hill and Alfred Collins earned All-America selections. Colin Simmons earned true freshman All-American status and the Shaun Alexander True Freshman of the Year award.

The defense was consistently excellent even when Texas’ offense sputtered, and saved several games when Sarkisian’s area of expertise faltered. Only two teams reached 30 points against the Longhorns this year, and one of those games required an overtime period for the opponent to reach that score total.

Even when the Longhorns had their backs against their own goal line, Kwiatkowski’s defense was consistently excellent. Texas made stands on the one-yard line on several occasions, notably against Texas A&M in the return of the rivalry and versus Clemson in the first-round game of the College Football Playoff.

The talent was constantly put into a proper place, something Kwiatkowski has done for his entire career aside from the one-year blip in 2021.

The fellow finalists are worthy nominees. Arroyo helped the Sun Devils to the Big 12 championship and pushed Texas to the limit. But he also has the benefit of a play-calling head coach above him in Kenny Dillingham.

Haines was a key part of the Hoosiers’ historic run, but the run was exposed by Jeremiyah Love and the Fighting Irish in the College Football Playoff.

Golden may be Kwiatkowski’s toughest competition, working with a defense that boosted Notre Dame into the national finals against Ohio State. However, he again had the help of a defensive-minded head coach in Marcus Freeman.

While Banks’ Volunteers were great, the Tennessee season failed to reach similar heights to the real UT.

And in Kwiatkowski’s favor, he has complete oversight of the defense while working for an offensive minded head coach in Sarkisian.

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Whoever wins the award will be revealed on Thursday. But the best case is for Kwiatkowski to take home the second Broyles Award in program history.