TUCSON, Ariz. — Coming off of beating the Oklahoma Sooners in the Valero Alamo Bowl to cap their first 10-win season since 2014, the Arizona Wildcats will be on the hunt for a new defensive coordinator after current defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen left to join the Texas Longhorns coaching staff.
Nansen will be Texas' Co-Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach, according to a social media post from the team. Nansen will be working with Pete Kwiatkowski as co-defensive coordinators. They will be taking over for Jeff Choate, who left Texas to take the head coaching job at Nevada.
Nansen joined head coach Jedd Fisch and the Wildcats after Fisch's first season in Tucson in December 2021.
He helped turn Arizona's defense from the 100th-best defense in the nation in 2021 to the 30th-best in 2023.
Nansen led the Wildcats' defense during the turnaround from a one-win team in 2021 to a 10-win team in 2023 and saw Arizona's defense improve in almost all categories.
Arizona was the 102nd-best scoring defense in the nation in 2021, giving up 31.4 points per game. This past season, they were the 32nd-best, giving up 21.1 points per game, according to Sports Reference.
The Wildcats' rush defense improved from 99th in the nation (182.4 yards per game) to 27th (118.2 yards per game) and they jumped from being the worst in the nation in turnovers in 2021 (0.5 turnovers per game) to 49th in 2023 (1.5 turnovers per game).
Before joining the Wildcats, Nansen had spent two seasons coaching at UCLA and six seasons coaching at USC. Nansen worked with current Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian from 2009-15 when Sarkisian was the head coach at Washington (2009-13) and USC (2014-15).
"Johnny is a guy I've known for a long time, and I have so much respect for," Sarkisian said in an article on TexasSports.com. "He has a wealth of knowledge and experience, is highly regarded in our business and is a tremendous recruiter."
"When Coach Sark called it was an easy decision," Nansen said. "It's a dream come true to work at a place like Texas — with all its rich history and tradition — and reuniting with Sark is a big part of it, too. He gave me a chance at Washington and USC, and I've been fortunate to grow as a coach through him and look forward to doing that again."
Nansen was named the Pac-12 recruiter of the year by 247Sports in 2017. He has also coached at Idaho (2004-08), Idaho State (2001-03), Montana State (2000) and Louisville (1999).
Nansen played college football at Washington State from 1992-96.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale. The Coyotes play at Mullett Arena on ASU's Tempe campus.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
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