AUSTIN, Texas -- Charlie Strong wanted to try something new to stop the run last week against UTEP. So he unleashed the player Texas teammates call their "mad man."

Sophomore defensive end/linebacker Breckyn Hager was put in the role he was born to play. He’d creep up to the line of scrimmage and attack mercilessly.

"He told me, 'Go hype everyone up,'" Hager said. "'Get everyone excited. I put you out there for a reason. Just go do your thing.'"

He responded with a team-high eight tackles and teamed with fellow "Fox" defensive ends Naashon Hughes and Malcolm Roach to wreak havoc on UTEP's run-heavy offense in a 41-7 win.

When Strong got started at Texas in 2014, he wanted a multiple defense capable of producing a lot of different answers and threats. He has the personnel he needs now to start experimenting, like the front he showed UTEP: three down linemen, two linebackers in the middle, two more standing up at the edge.

"We mixed it up," Strong said. "They give you that multiple look because they are kind of hybrids."

He’s letting Hager, a 6-foot-3 and 245-pound missile with endless energy, stick to what he knows: chasing the ball and the quarterback. The kid loves to punish.

Hager proudly tells the story of the time he knocked a quarterback out cold when he was a second-grader. He argues the targeting rule is ruining the game, and says he specializes in a style of football -- "blowing people up" -- that’s being forgotten.

Texas' Breckyn Hager had a team-high eight tackles against UTEP. AP Photo/Eric Gay

Teammates call him "Wild Man" and "Kamikaze." He’s been growing out his long blonde hair for the past year, and vows he won’t cut it until Texas wins a Big 12 title. He wishes he had his dad’s Fu Manchu, but he can’t grow facial hair.

Hager picked up his first personal foul penalty of the season early in the first quarter of the opener. He was flagged for a facemask penalty, but says he did rip the Notre Dame player’s helmet off, then added: "He deserved it."

"He’s really cool off the field, a really chill guy," Texas offensive lineman Patrick Vahe said. "As soon as I see Breckyn hit the field, that boy has a mean look the whole entire time."

The son of Texas legend Britt Hager grew up in Austin, but never thought he would get to be a Longhorn. The three-star recruit went to a junior day event in the spring of 2014 and wasn’t sure anybody there knew his name. He committed to Baylor that spring, but hoped the Longhorns would eventually notice him.

Four weeks into his senior season, after a whole bunch of "blowing people up," Texas' staff figured him out and persuaded him to flip.

"It was a dream come true," Hager said. "It still is. I still thank God every day that I’m here."

He’s a favorite in the locker room, even if players say Hager consistently makes that room messier. He quickly won over Strong last fall with his crushing hits in practice, and he’s a headache for whomever he’s hunting down off the edge.

The Hager-heavy front might not be a fit this week when Texas faces the Davis Webb-led Cal offense that just threw the ball 72 times in a loss to San Diego State. But don’t be surprised if Strong breaks it out again down the road in Big 12 play.

Strong has all the talent he needs now to field a loaded defense that plays sound and stout against any offensive scheme. But sometimes, you just need to let the mad men loose.

"I love it," Hager said. "Just fly to the ball and go."