Year 3 in Pete Kwiatkowski's system a positive for Longhorn football vets
Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron is entering his fourth year in the Longhorn football program. It will also be his third season playing in the same defense coordinated by Pete Kwiatkowski. At this stage in his career, that makes everything a lot easier for the Longhorns’ star defensive back and the other 10 on the field with him.
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“It’s a family,” Barron said Thursday. “We’re all sticking together. We’re all in this together. They aren’t going nowhere and we ain’t going nowhere. It’s just a bond we’re creating right now.”
Coordinator turnover has been an issue for Texas in the past decade. Since Charlie Strong replaced Mack Brown ahead of the 2014 season, the Longhorns have had five different defensive play-callers. Vance Bedford called plays during the beginning of the Strong era before Strong took over for the former Longhorn defensive back. When Tom Herman arrived ahead of the 2017 season, he brought Todd Orlando with him from Houston.
Orlando coordinated Texas’ defense for three seasons before he was dismissed in 2019. Chris Ash took over in 2020, but he was not retained along with most of Herman’s staff upon his firing.
Sarkisian pulled Kwiatkowski, a longtime defensive coordinator in the Pacific Northwest, during the first few weeks of his time in Austin. Though there was a painful year one for Kwiatkowski’s side of the ball, the second year showcased considerable improvement.
Texas made strides last season.. Total defense doesn’t always tell the full story, but it does indicate plenty. After finishing No. 100 in total defense in 2021, Texas improved to No. 53 in 2022. Even advanced statistics said the Horns’ defense was improved. The Longhorns were No. 52 in defensive FEI in 2021. They jumped all the way up to No. 11 in 2022.
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Now, in year three, there’s a lot more comfort within the system. Multi-year veterans like Barron and Jerrin Thompson have a better sense of how things work.
“The whole defense in general, we’re all just locked in,” Thompson said Thursday. “We understand our assignments, and we’re getting after it and having fun out there.”
More signs of continued quality play on that side of the ball have emerged during the spring. With a number of returning starters or veteran players, including much of the back seven, plus upper-tier Power 5 transfers like Jalen Catalon and Gavin Holmes, the Longhorns could have one of the best defenses in the conference.
That would be a continuation of an upward trend that was revealed over the course of the 2022 campaign, a year that showed increased aptitude within Kwiatkowski’s defense thanks to additional familiarity.
