Throughout the 2023 season, Texas football was synonymous with elite defensive line play. As a unit, the Longhorns’ defense held all of their opponents to a stifling 2.9 yards per rushing attempt and only 82.4 rushing yards per game, ranking them as the fourth-best rushing defense in the country. The line was able to hold down Big 12 teams, such as Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon, who entered the Big 12 Championship as the leader in FBS rushing yards, but finished last season’s game against Texas with a measly 13 carries for 34 yards.
Regardless of whether or not this year’s defensive line can emulate last year’s squad’s success, the unit will look drastically different. The fearsome duo of interior defensive tackles Byron Murphy II and T’Vondre Sweat are now playing for the Seahawks and Titans, respectively. On top of this, Bo Davis, Texas’ defensive line coach and the originator of the notorious bus rant following Texas’ loss to Iowa State in 2021, left the Longhorns back in early January to take up the same position at LSU, his alma mater.
Less than a month later, head coach Steve Sarkisian hired Kenny Baker to take over defensive line duties. Baker brings extensive experience to the Longhorns, especially for a position coach. He has coached for over 15 seasons, 11 of which were at the collegiate level. Most recently, Baker worked as an assistant defensive line coach for the Miami Dolphins, who had the NFL’s seventh-best rush defense with 97.1 yards per game.
For Baker, the decision to take the job was easy.
“When (Sarkisian) reached out, I couldn’t have been more excited, and it was a no-brainer that I wanted the job,” Baker said. “But after getting to know him and his staff, I knew what they had going on here was something I definitely wanted to be a part of. That’s a great group who have a passion for coaching, teaching and developing men.”
There’s no sugarcoating that Baker has his work cut out for him. With the Longhorns moving to the SEC, they’re entering a conference with an increased emphasis on physicality — particularly at the line of scrimmage.
“In the SEC you have two or three special guys on the offensive and defensive line,” an anonymous coach said to On3’s Alex Weber. “Whereas in Big 12 play, you might have one on offense and one on defense.”
Baker and the rest of the defensive line unit will have their first taste of SEC physicality when the Mississippi State Bulldogs come to Austin on Saturday, Sept. 28.
