Texas co-DC Johnny Nansen charged with misdemeanor DWI

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Turmoil continues to surround the Texas Longhorns in the wake of Saturday’s comeback victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes in Austin as head coach Steve Sarkisian revealed during a Thursday media availability that co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Johnny Nansen was arrested and charged with misdemeanor DWI.

“We obviously are aware of the of the situation. I’m still gathering facts. I’m still monitoring the situation. We’re obviously disappointed, but that’s all I really have on that at this time,” Sarkisian said.

Nansen was not with the team when it practiced on Thursday morning, according to Sarkisian, who was not immediately sure whether the third-year assistant will be on the sidelines with the team when it takes on UTSA at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday at 7 p.m. Central on SEC Network+.

According to a report from Eric Henry of Horns247, analyst Garrett Cox, who joined new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp from Georgia, was working with the linebackers during Thursday’s practice. New NCAA rules allow an unlimited number of on-field coaches during practices and games.

A coaching veteran of nearly 30 years, Nansen has served in a variety of roles under Sarkisian, including as an assistant head coach, running backs coach, and special teams coordinator at Washington from 2009 to 2013 and as a  running backs coach and special teams coordinator for two seasons at USC when Sarkisian returned to Los Angeles to lead the Trojans program.

Nansen joined the Texas staff after the 2023 season when Jeff Choate took over as the head coach at Nevada.

Texas has also dealt with controversy surrounding Sarkisian’s abbreviated post-game interview with ESPN reporter Holly Rowe and subsequent insensitive comments made by quarterback Arch Manning about an AI video depicting Sarkisian slapping Rowe that required an apology from Manning on Tuesday and from Sarkisian on Thursday.

Now the Longhorns will have to respond to the adversity on Saturday.

“I try to keep the main thing the main thing and focus on what we need to do and that doesn’t mean there’s not lessons learned along the way and I do think that’s important to learn from one another,” Sarkisian said.

“But at the same token, this football team has worked really hard for the last eight and a half months to get themselves into this position, and so staying focused on what we need to do when we’re in the building, from game prep to meetings to walkthroughs to practice to individual periods to post-practice work. I think that’s where our focus is.”

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