9/04/2026 newsletter Volum X Newsletter #18 Psychological warfare wins football games, Lunch at the Bluebonnet Cafe, Corby Robertson , Coach Piblevech, Frank Erwin Awards Banquet – ar
LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!
Click on the Link below.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=mW1dbiD_zDk
The art of turning psychological warfare into football victories has worked for Texas against Arkansas for decades, but not so good for Texas against Oklahoma . Since 1998 Oklahoma leads Texas with 17 wins to Texas 13.
Frank Broyles, former Arkansas coach, says, “The Texas game, for everybody in the conference, is as much as it is scheme and strategy.” “You can define scheme and strategy, but you can’t accurately script morale and attitude in that game.”
Arkansas Coach Jack Crowe says “the Razorbacks seem to change their personality for the Texas game.” “We became tentative because of whom we are playing.” In the 1989 game, “it was like we were walking in sand.” Arkansas has been hampered by a sandbox mentality against Texas for most of the football series. In the 81 games between Texas and Arkansas Texas has won 58 for a .716 winning percentage record. There is no question in my heart that the 1969 game, the Big Shoot-out, when #1 Texas beat #2 Arkansas for the National Championship permanently scarred the Razorbacks mentally for the last 50 plus years, resulting in Arkansas Coach Crowe’s sandbox mentality quote. Psychological scars of losing games with national significance is contagious and passed down from generation to generation.
As bad as O.U. sucks , the Sooners From 1998 to 2013, finished higher in the Big 12 standings than Texas. 10 times the Sooners reigned supreme, while Texas came out ahead 6 times. Texas claimed 2 Big 12 championships under Brown, compared to Oklahoma’s 4 in that span. During many of Mack Brown’s years as head football coach, OU had the upper hand. Browns record against Oklahoma at Texas was 7–9. Three of those losses in 2000, 2003, and 2012 were humiliating for the Longhorn Nation. I don’t think a Division II team would have lost as bad as Texas did to O.U. those three years. It was hard to believe OU could be that much better than Texas, but the scores told the story. For many of the games against O.U. Texas looked like they were trudging through the Monahans Sand Hills while the Sooners ran on a well-manicured artificial turf. Psychological winners over Texas.
THE GOOD NEW IS- Presently, the Sooners are in the mental sandbox and I hope they stay there for many years.
Lunch at the Bluebonnet Cafe with Coach Royal and Coach Brown by Bob Ferguson
From Professor Larry Carlson to Billy Dale . “THIS IS GREAT STUFF, FORWARDED TO ME, FOR YOU, FROM CHARLIE FISS, THE LONGTIME HEAD OF THE COTTON BOWL. HE IS ALSO A COTTON BOWL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE.”
Charles Fiss says: Attached is a hypothetical story about Darrell Royal and Mack Brown. The premise is about a standing Tuesday lunch between the two in Marble Falls. This four-part story was written by Bob Ferguson. Once upon a time, Ferguson was the Director of Communications at SBC/AT&T when the company served as title sponsor of the Cotton Bowl Classic. He is a huge Longhorn fan!
From Billy Dale – The author captures Coach Royal’s deep reasoning skills, and down home football logic, and sincere emotionally engaging speaking style. Although I don’t know Coach Brown personally, I believe that Bob Ferguson also conveys Mack’s conversational style, which makes the story especially compelling to me. The article is quite long consisting of 4 parts of Mack and Darrell reflecting on present and past state of Longhorn football. If you want to read the whole series ( and I hope you will; you will love it! ) the link to content and photos is at https://texaslsn.org/lunch-at-the-bluebonnet/
If you’d rather skip the four-part series, here are some testimonials from readers who enjoyed the full Bluebonnet Cafe story on the TLSN Facebook page, along with a short clip of Royal and Brown discussing the 2026 team and other subjects.
Mike Smith says Billy! This is the best piece I’ve ever read! Just incredible! Amazing! Captures both of them to a Capital UT! And Kiffin! I was screaming I was laughing so hard!
Pure genius! Love it! 
David Miller· A true epic portrayal of both of these great souls. Riveting conversations that leave fond memories. Thank you for sharing
That is the truth. When grown men come up to me now at age 40, 50 or even 60 & thank me for believing in them & pushing them to be better in 8th grade, it makes it worth it. Saw a former player who spent 20 years in prison for murder at a funeral of our assistant coach just last month. He hugged me and thanked me for being a positive influence. I cried.
A most unique writing style and I love it. It is good to hear from Darrell again. Makes me want to drive on down to Marble Falls.
I was in a trance reading this. I truly loved it. Makes me wish my mother in law were here to read it. She grew up with Darrell in Hollis, Oklahoma. He hunted dove on her family’s farm and always asked permission. We buried her last year in Hollis. At the funeral, I realized Darrell wasn’t from Texas. All of my wife’s cousins reminded me he was from Hollis. They would not even recognize his success at Texas. The people of Hollis loved him.
Professor Charles Kaufman A fun and entertaining read. Clever . . . a nice piece of writing.
The author says – July in the Hill Country will cook a man in his own truck, and the Bluebonnet Cafe runs the air conditioner like it has a grudge. Mack Brown was already in the corner booth, second cup poured, sweating a ring onto the table for a fellow who couldn’t feel the heat anymore.
Royal came in out of the glare and slid down across from him and took off the cap and set it crown-down crown-down beside the sugar.
“It’s fixing to be a season,” Royal said. “I can smell two-a-days from where I sit, and I sit a considerable distance.” “You want the team.” “I want the team. Start me at the top. Tell me about the Manning boy.”
Mack took his time, the way you do when you actually like the answer. “Arch. He’s a good kid, Darrell. Genuinely. Raised right, no swagger on him he didn’t earn. Lively arm—he can make every throw and a couple you shouldn’t try. And the pedigree, my Lord, the pedigree. Uncle Peyton, uncle Eli, granddaddy Archie. That boy was reading coverages at the Thanksgiving table since before he could drive.”
“Pedigree’s a funny thing,” Royal said. “I’ve seen it saddle a boy heavier than it ever carried him. Everybody in the stadium knows the name, so the boy’s got to be twice as good just to be even.” “He handles it. Doesn’t seem to weigh him.”
“Good. Now—” Royal pointed his fork, though there wasn’t anything on it yet. “All that talk last year. About how the boy didn’t want to throw it. Didn’t care to call the pass. You remember that noise.” “I remember it.”
“Nonsense,” Royal said. “Pure nonsense. Now, I’ll be the first to own it — I’m the fella who said three things can happen when you throw the ball, and two of ’em are bad. That line has chased me around longer than my own name has. But you want to know the truth of it? I only ever said that on account of who I had taking the snaps.” “Meaning what.”
“Meaning you hand me a Manning — or for that matter a Colt McCoy — and I never say a word like it in my whole life. With an arm like that, two of the three things are good and the third one you can live with. I coached to my personnel. Any man who tells you he coached to a saying and not to his players is lying, or he lost. Usually both.”
“You’d have run him ragged in the wishbone, though.” “I’d have run him ragged and he’d have thanked me at the reunion. Every one of them does. That’s the racket.”
The waitress came, and Royal ordered the chicken fried steak before he caught himself, and then told her whatever Mack was having, and she wrote it without looking up, God bless her, and left.
“Tell me about your coach,” Royal said. “Sarkisian.” “Sark,” Mack said, and here he leaned in, because this was a professional appraisal and he wanted it on the record. “One of the best play-callers I have ever been around. And I’ve been around them all. The man sees the whole field like it’s a chessboard laid flat, three moves out. He’ll set you up in the first quarter for a thing he doesn’t cash until the third. Rhythm, sequence, the way one call makes the next one work—it’s as good as I’ve seen.”
Royal chewed on that, and on nothing, for a while. “Then he’d better figure out the red zone,” he said. “I’m serious as a heart attack, which, I’ll remind you, I am something of an authority on. You can march a team eighty yards like a brass band and it don’t mean a thing if you get down inside the twenty and start admiring your own scheme. The field shrinks in there. The safety help sits down on you. All that room you were painting with just—closes up like a screen door. And a fellow that clever, sometimes he wants to be clever right when the moment’s begging him to be simple.” “You think he overthinks it.”
“I think sometimes he’s got so many good ideas he can’t bear to pick just one. That’s not a knock, Mack. That’s a rich man’s problem. But I’ll give you the whole thing in one sentence, same one I gave my boys — you can’t be aggressive and confused at the same time. And a defense packed in down there is praying you’ll be a little of both. Too many looks, too many checks, and eleven fellas start half a beat behind their own feet.” “So keep it simple.”
“Down there on the goal line I’d take a plain, mean, downhill idea run by boys who believe it over the prettiest idea in the notebook every day of the week. Points is points. Nobody ever asked me was the touchdown elegant.”
The plates came. They ate a minute in the good quiet of two men who’ve said the important things and can afford to wait on the rest. Here is the link to all 4 essays. https://texaslsn.org/lunch-at-the-bluebonnet/
Corby Robertson is selected to 2026 Southwest Conference Hall of Fame Class
The Southwest Conference Hall of Fame honors legendary athletes, administrators and contributors whose accomplishments helped define one of the most iconic eras in collegiate athletics history. The Induction Ceremony and Luncheon took place Tuesday, August 4, at 11:30 a.m. at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco
Football Longhorn Legend Corby Robertson was inducted at a ceremony and luncheon on Tuesday, August 4, 2026 at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco.
A native of Houston, Robertson played defensive end and linebacker for Texas from 1966 to 1968, earning All-SWC honors as a defensive end in 1966, and first-team All-America recognition at linebacker in 1967. He served as team co-captain in 1968 when Texas shared the SWC Championship and was recognized with the team sportsmanship award that same year.
Over Robertson’s career, UT compiled a 22-9-1 record. That included a 9-1-1 mark in 1968 in a season in which the Longhorns closed on a nine-game winning streak. That was capped by a victory over No. 8 Tennessee in the 1969 Cotton Bowl Classic and a No. 3 final ranking by the Associated Press.
Robertson was also a GTE Academic All-American in 1967 and 1968 and received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship to complete his business degrees. A Board Member of the National Football Foundation, he has spearheaded a number of postgraduate scholarships through that organization over the years.
Following his athletic career, Robertson achieved significant success as an energy sector executive and prominent philanthropist, directing millions in funding toward Texas higher education. He has served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board of Directors of GP Natural Resource Partners LLC since 2002. Inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor in 1993, he remains one of the most respected examples of leadership and student-athlete excellence in University of Texas history. He was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame in 2006.
Women’s Soccer Coach Pibulvech 1994-1998
From my point of view, Texas women’s soccer is still an under-the-radar sport for many. If you can’t afford tickets to basketball, baseball, or football, check out a Longhorn women’s soccer game—these athletes have skills equal to any other Longhorn NCAA team. Plus, admission is free for fans (though there’s a parking fee)!
Why has one of the fastest-growing sports in America been so slow to gain fan support in Texas? The answer isn’t straightforward. Early on, hiring and coaching missteps slowed the growth of a Longhorn soccer fan base. First impressions matter, and Texas Soccer didn’t make a great one. When he was hired by Texas, his résumé was impressive. Coach Pibulvech was 49 and already one of the winningest women’s soccer coaches in NCAA history. His résumé included six NCAA Final Four appearances, nine NCAA Tournament berths, and coaching 25 Division I All-Americans. He was also a three-time West Region and two-time Central Region Coach of the Year, as recognized by the National Soccer Coaches Association .
His win-loss record at Texas never matched his past success’s at the college level, and from 1994 to 1998, his Longhorn record was 40-50-3 record. My curiosity wanted to know why his record at Texas did not reflect his resume’.
In 2017 I found Pibulvech back in his home country of Thailand, where he agreed to an interview via email. He openly reflected on his years coaching the Longhorn women’s soccer team, saying he loved the Longhorn community and worked hard to build the program. However, he faced challenges in recruiting and helping high school girls transition to college play. He never fully adapted his coaching style to Texas culture, favoring a broader national and international approach that just didn’t click with Texas players. In the end, his coaching style at Texas simply didn’t work.
He learned the hard way at Texas that building a successful women’s soccer program takes more than coaching skills—it demands strong people skills and adaptability. His aggressive style with players, lack of finesse with parents, limited understanding of what motivates Longhorn athletes, rocky communication with the athletic department, and poor media instincts were suicidal traits for building soccer at Texas. His efforts to quell angry Longhorn fans and his impatience were traits ill-suited to building a program. Without these qualities, his career became a roller coaster of small highs and big lows, and eventually Texas let him go.
After being let go from Texas, he spent years reflecting on his coaching missteps at Texas and eventually forgave himself. He wrapped up our interview with a thoughtful message for college-level coaches in every sport saying “Losing does not define self-worth or intrinsic character. Success shouldn’t be measured by winning a once-in-a-lifetime national championship, but by building a program that offers the team a lifetime of opportunities to compete for one.”
Coach Pibulvech said, “Texas was a great place….Unfortunately, I was the “WRONGHORN” for the job; I wished and wanted it to be different. After returning to Thailand, I did keep up with the NCAA Championship, and I assume Texas has never won it. I hope they will soon. Gives me reasons for joy! My oldest was a Longhorn, and my youngest was born in Austin! Proud to have been a part of the growing pains process.“
Billy Dale says “I learned with much sadness that Coach Pibulvech passed away. A University of Washington Intercollegiate Athletics announcement reported that they were “saddened to learn of the passing of Dang Pibulvech, the first head coach in the history of the Husky Women’s Soccer program
Coach Pibulvech’ s whole story is at https://texaslsn.org/an-interview-with-dang-pibulvech-2023/
Texas leadership learned a lot about how to hire a women’s soccer coach after the mistakes made hiring Coach Pibulvech. One way to build a successful Longhorn soccer program in America’s fastest-growing sport was to build a new stadium and hire a coach with extensive experience recruiting and coaching women’s soccer players. Texas found a perfect match in Coach Chris Petrucelli, whose record was 175-22-10 when Texas hired him. It was Coach Petruccelli who led Notre Dame to a women’s soccer national championship in 1995. https://texaslsn.org/the-history-of-longhorn-soccer/ Coach Petrucelli’s story will be shared in a future TLSN Facebook article.
Helping Hands are Needed
TLSN donations help former Longhorn Student Athletes when tragedy strikes and pays for podcast and other expenses to share the History of Longhorn Sports. Our mission has assisted 25 qualifying Longhorns with grants varying from $2000 to $45,000.
Donation Form – Texas Legacy Support Network
The key source of funds to fulfill our mission is a annual golf tournament. For more information on how to register to play on a team please visit TLSN Legends Golf Classic (10/19/2026)
Frank Erwin Awards Banquet
Friday September 25th. 6 PM Social, 7:15 Dinner and Awards
Frank Denius Longhorn Hall of Fame and Touchdown Club
If you were a swimmer, diver or coach from 2000-2009 you will not want to miss this reunion remembering and honoring you! Six great Longhorn Legends will be bestowed the Frank Erwin Award. Kris Kubik will be back in his role as MC of this fun event celebrating the greatest aquatic program in the world!
RSVP for the Banquet HERE Remember: 2027 Legacy Donors ($250) are entitled to two Erwin dinners and Century donors ($100) may receive one dinner. Use the code Century or Legacy at check out to receive the discount.
