Texas has a number of new positions across the defense, with slight differences between how things have been done in Austin under Pete Kwiatkowski or previous defensive coaches. With Will Muschamp now at the helm and the Longhorns progressing through the summer toward fall camp, we’re going to go over all of the positions on the Texas defense.

If this proves a helpful guide, we can hit the offensive positions as well. In either case, we’ll focus on the overall nature of the position and what the Texas system uniquely asks of each spot.

Today we’re talking defensive end, a position that may be changing a little under Muschamp but is well stocked with exciting young prospects.

Muschamp’s defensive end

Muschamp has always been big on having the flexibility in the defensive front to switch between 3-4 and 4-3 alignments. Of course in today’s game, that really means switching back and forth between a 4-2-5 and a 3-3-5.

Then there was Kwiatkowski, who preferred the 2-4-5 terminology and called either end position an “Edge,” but each position was pretty meaningfully different. The “Jack” was the field side “Edge” who was really something of a hybrid between a traditional defensive lineman and an Edge. At times the Jack might be standing up outside or dropping into coverage, but at other times Kwiatkowski would slide him inside into a 4i-technique on the inside eye of an offensive tackle with his hand in the dirt.

If a team wants to maintain a more traditional Edge, who’s a truly hybrid player that can play off the ball in coverage or rushing the edge, then your 3-down vs 4-down flexibility comes either from substituting or having another hybrid as the defensive end. PK and Muschamp alike prefer the latter.

With a big, strong defensive end who has the ability to set or rush the edge but also slide inside and refuse to give up ground against down blocks, you can rotate between either type of front on any play. If you do have to substitute different players in, you can still achieve some versatility but are more vulnerable to spread teams that operate at tempo without subbing. You also then need to have multiple impact players on the roster. The ability to create headaches for even spread teams by throwing different fronts and looks without subbing your own personnel is a major advantage.

At Georgia this defensive end was often a much bigger, stouter player like Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins (6-5, 290),a but they also had some smaller players like Mykel Williams in that role. In his last time at Texas, Muschamp converted running back Henry Melton into a defensive end before relying on Sam Acho in 2009 and 2010. If Muschamp proves to be more interested in 4-down fronts than Georgia’s 3-down stylings, the right archetype is for a good-sized, traditional defensive end who has the strength and power to slide inside at times.

The 2026 Texas outlook

For years, PK worked to restock the Texas roster with defensive ends after inheriting absolutely nothing on the 2021 football roster. Now the Longhorns are in great shape with the following players available to fill out the depth chart.

Lance Jackson: The 6-foot-5, 272-pound rising sophomore flashed major potential in 2025 and now owns the position for 2026.

Zina Umeozulu: At 6-foot-5, 265 pounds with great length and power, Zina is another really natural fit to play 4-down defensive end and situationally move inside.

Jamarion Carlton: At 6-foot-5, 279 as a true freshman, Carlton is the sort of player that could either stick here and offer more of a 3-down end or just slide inside down the line and be a defensive tackle.

Justus Terry: We haven’t yet seen where Terry will fit along the line and D-tackle is most probable, but he’s currently enough of an athlete and blank slate that we could imagine the 6-foot-5, 287-pound sophomore fitting here.

Colton Vasek: I think Vasek will play both here and at Jack, but he’s got the length and size to play here as well as needed.

Texas has two Acho-esque (6-2, 259) defensive ends ready to go in Jackson and Umeozulu who could have big, breakout seasons in 2026. If Muschamp wasn’t already predisposed to using 4-down fronts, the personnel he’s inheriting would certainly push him in that direction. Jackson and Colin Simmons are two of the Longhorns most exciting talents on defense and both fit like gloves in respective roles as the Edge/lineman hybrid defensive end (Jackson) and end/linebacker hybrid Jack (Simmons).