Texas coach Steve Sarkisian is inching closer and closer to finalizing his new staff with the Longhorns after zeroing in on his expected new defensive coordinator hire and adding a key recruiter to his staff at Texas.

On the mid-week episode of The Flagship Podcast, Horns247 columnist Chip Brown and managing editor Taylor Estes deliver the latest on Sarkisian's defensive coordinator search, which has led to the first-year head coach working to finalize a deal with long-time Washington assistant coach Pete Kwiatkowski to takeover as DC with the Longhorns. Upon finalizing a deal with the Huskies defensive coordinator, Sarkisian will be one step closer to wrapping up his first task as head coach at Texas in locking in a solid coaching staff to help him in rebuilding the Texas football program.

While finding a solid DC has been a huge priority for Sarkisian, one could argue one of the most impressive hires went down last week when the head coach added Alabama special teams coordinator Jeff Banks to take on the same role with the Longhorns. Banks is considered one of the top recruiters in college football, and someone Nick Saban was not too thrilled with losing after Sarkisian poached him away to make the move to Austin from Tuscaloosa.

The Flagship Podcast weighs in on what Texas is adding in new DC Kwiatkowski, who has spent the last seven seasons helping lead the defense at the University of Washington, and addresses some of the other members of Sarkisian's staff. The hosts then shift their focus to the weekly 'Love it or Leave it' segment, with this week's topics addressing how Kwiatkowski measures up to some other DC candidates Sarkisian considered, who the best assistant coaching hire has been up to this point and what to think of Texas hoops' first loss of Big 12 play.

Catch all of that and much more on the mid-week edition of The Flagship Podcast.

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