SAN ANTONIO — Due to team policy, Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski does not talk to the media during the season.
Kwiatkowski was made available for 20 minutes in August. But he hadn’t spoken publicly since. So when he walked into a press conference for the Alamo Bowl on Monday, Austin-area reporters were waiting with questions about his former school, the class of defensive recruits that Texas signed last week and star linebacker Jaylan Ford.
No. 20 Texas (8-4) will face No. 12 Washington (10-2) in the Alamo Bowl on Thursday. Kwiatkowski worked for the Huskies for seven seasons before new UT coach Steve Sarkisian hired him ahead of the 2021 season. Washington boasted a top-10 scoring defense during the 2016, 2017 and 2018 seasons.
Kwiatkowski, however, was not as successful in his first year in Austin. During a season that was defined by a mind-boggling 57-56 loss to Kansas, Texas surrendered 31.08 points per game. There were 98 FBS-level teams that had a better scoring defense.
Texas kept its defensive staff intact and made strides on that side of the ball in 2022. Nationally, Texas is No. 29 in scoring defense at 21.17 points per game. To start Monday’s press conference, Kwiatkowski was asked to assess how his defense has played this year.
“Starting last winter, the emphasis on the fundamentals, obviously the scheme and all that was a big part of the learning curve from last year to this year,” Kwiatkowski said. “Going back to just the fundamentals, the nuts and bolts of how you play defense, effort, running to the ball, tackling, blocking protection, all the technique and skill that these guys need to do to execute at a high level, started with that, and then as the season went on, we had success. Guys felt it, saw it, and I think as a whole, the confidence level grew and grew and grew.”
Continued Kwiatkowski: “By the end of the year, there were a lot more trust with everybody, and they played — the whole season they played their tails off, played with great effort, physical, played fast, and executed at a pretty high level, and with that came the confidence. I think that’s where you saw the growth in the group as a whole.”
So about that burnt-orange confidence. When asked if he ever had doubts about the defense under this new coaching staff, senior defensive back Anthony Cook admitted that, “honestly, I can tell you that first year, maybe that crossed my mind. Maybe that crossed the minds of a couple guys.”
Cook, though, said the players were able to build their confidence by putting in the work. Last season, players questioned their coaches. But this year? “All belief. We believe,” he said.
This fall, the Longhorns held the top-five scoring offenses at Alabama and TCU to their lowest point totals of the season. Washington is averaging 521.7 yards and 40.8 points per game. Those marks respectively rank second- and fourth-best among the 131 FBS-level offenses.
“Their offense, it starts with that quarterback. (Michael) Penix is an outstanding quarterback, very accurate,” Kwiatkowski said. “O-line does a good job of keeping him clean, and they have three really good wide receivers that he can distribute the ball to, and so we’ve got a huge challenge in front of us for sure.”
Cook surmised that one of the reasons Texas has succeeded on defense is the play of the veteran leaders. “A lot of the times when we needed a play, one of the leaders on the defense stepped up,” he said.
Cook himself provided a game-sealing forced fumble in the 24-21 win over Iowa State. Keondre Coburn’s strip of Kansas State quarterback Adrian Martinez wrapped up UT’s 34-27 victory in Manhattan, Kan. Jahdae Barron scored two defensive touchdowns. During a season in which he contended for the Big 12 defensive player of the year award, Ford compiled 109 tackles, intercepted four passes and recovered both of those fumbles forced by Cook and Coburn.
On Monday, each of those players joined Kwiatkowski. Ford, a junior linebacker, said he hasn’t yet decided whether he will enter the 2023 NFL draft. He also was noncommittal about a return for his senior year next season.
“That’s not the answer I wanted to hear, Jaylan, but that’s all right,” Kwiatkowski quipped.
Coburn and Cook are seniors. Both were on the roster during the 2020 season that ended in the Alamo Bowl. Ahead of that 55-23 beating of Colorado, five of Texas’ seven team captains opted out of that game. This year, running backs Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson have decided to skip the Alamo Bowl and get a head start on their draft prep. Senior linebacker DeMarvion Overshown made the same call.
Coburn didn’t want to criticize the opt-out decisions that his teammates made. The defensive lineman, however, was going a different route. Cook echoed those sentiments.
“I’m not harping on anybody else; I just felt like in my position I felt like I needed to do this, and plus it just shows the NFL that I can consistently play weeks and weeks and just showcase some more skills,” Coburn said. “Plus I love them. I love Texas. Why not finish with a bang? I don’t want to be 30 or 40 going, I should have played in that game, so I’m playing in it now.”
Alamo Bowl
8 p.m. Thursday, Alamodome, San Antonio, ESPN, 104.9
