Two weeks after Bo Davis departed for the LSU Tigers, the Texas Longhorns have finally found their next defensive line coach: Steve Sarkisian is hiring Miami Dolphins assistant defensive line coach Kenny Baker, according to a 247Sports story on Thursday. ESPN, among other publications, verified the appointment.
Baker, a Georgia native and three-year starter and team captain at Gardner-Webb, played one season with the Dolphins following 11 years of collegiate coaching and three years at the high school level. Baker began his collegiate coaching career at Berry collegiate in 2013, where he was the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach before spending five seasons at Mercer. Baker spent three years at Western Kentucky before joining Chattanooga in 2019.
Baker’s defensive line led Western Kentucky to second place in Conference USA with 32 sacks in 2022. Baker previously coached Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year DeAngelo Malone, who led all FCS defensive linemen with 88 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, and eight sacks. Malone was a third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
The pressure on Baker to recruit at a high level will be immediate after Texas lost 2024 signee D’antre Robinson following Davis’ departure, and the team has to acquire both quantity and quality in the interior defensive line, as the 2023 class only had one signee.
