1983-1988  77-98 Record  Coach Weltlich 

COACH WELTLICH COACHING STYLE WAS NEVER ACCEPTED BY THE MEDIA, PLAYERS, OR THE FANS, AND IT HURT HIS ABILITY TO RECRUIT THE GREAT ATHLETES.

What Bob Weltlich inherited from Abe Lemmons 

Bob Weltlich was a successful basketball Coach at Ole Miss. before he was hired by DeLoss Dodds in 1983  at Texas.  How could a Coach of the Year in the SEC, have such a drop off in coaching skills at Texas.  The answer is he didn’t.   While Bob Weltlich did not know it,  the  disparity between  Abe’s coaching style and Bob’s coaching style created a perfect storm that placed Bob Weltlich in  the eye of the storm during his years at Texas. Players, fans, and the media did not like Coach Weltlich “style” .   In his first year as Texas head coach his situation was so dire that he was forced to recruit  7 walk-ons to compliment the 5 lettermen who remained .  Of those 5 lettermen only Bill Wendlandt and Carlton Cooper made the season.   I am surprised he won any games his first year. In his second year his depth chart was so weak he had to recruit a cheerleader to play in some games. 

When he came to coaching philosophy Bob Weltlich and  Abe Lemmons had nothing in common and the players like Abe’s style better.  The Texas players Weltlich inherited  loved  Abe Lemmons because he was not a disciplinarian. Weltlich believed in strict discipline.  The players enjoyed Abe’s exciting fast paced offense.  Bob Weltlich’s offense was slow pace.  The players enjoyed Abe Lemmons  pliable enforcement of  UT’s academic standards. Weltlich believed in grades before  sports.  The players rejoiced at  Coach Lemmons refusal to monitor lights out restrictions  in the dorm rooms. Weltlich enforced lights out.   Abe thought it was the responsibility of the student athlete to control their lives.    Bob Weltlich knew that 19 and 20 year old boys needed monitoring.  Abe allowed his athletes to intermingle with donors at special events. Bob did not because the UT administration told him to  eliminate this commingling of donors with money and amateur athletes.  

If that was not enough, the fans publicly derided his years at Texas.  Fans called  Erwin Center The “Hum Drum”;  composed  an unflattering book titled “Six Years With Weltlich” ;  started rumors that the Weltlich  players were  not Interested In starting a “Let’s-Win-For Bob” Rally; and gave  him  the name “Kaiser Bob”.  Living from year to year in the eye of the storm with so many negative comments surrounding Bob Weltlich had a tough time recruiting the great high school athletes, but he still tied for the SWC championship one time and in 1985 was named SWC coach of the year.      The rest of his story follows. 

1983-1988  77-98 RECORD  COACH WELTLICH 

Coach Weltlich Bio. 

• Assistant coach to Bobby Knight at Army and Indiana

• Hired as head coach of Ole Miss. in 1976 and had a successful tenure

• Coach of the Year in the SEC in 1981

• Coached the United States National Team to a Silver Medal in 1982

• Assistant Coach for the United States Olympic Trials

A.D. Dodds says that “Bob Weltlich is one of the best coaches in the country. … “There is no doubt he will create a winner.   To be fair to Weltlich  inherits  a team that loses several letterman who quit the team and injuries that requires Weltlich to recruit  7 walk-ons to to compliment the 5 lettermen who remained .  Of those 5 lettermen only Bill Wendlandt and Carlton Cooper made the season.   

Coach Weltlich corrects all the issues that led to Abe Lemmons firing. Academics and discipline return to the UT program and contact between boosters and players is eliminated.  Fans nickname him “Kaiser Bob” .

• Coach Weltlich signs a 5 year contract for $95,000. Three times what Coach Lemmons made when Lemmons was hired at $30,000.

• He is from the Bob Knight disciplinarian school of teaching basketball fundamentals, and he believes in man to man defense.

• His directive from UT as stated by Weltlich is “They’ll be students first, players second.. We’re going to do it with with character, not characters.”

• One SWC Championship 

• One NIT Appearance

In the book LONGHORN HOOPS THE HISTORY OF TEXAS BASKETBALL Richard Pennington states that Coach Weltlich communicates with the players by using profanity and insults and conducts brutal charging drills and loose ball drills to develop toughness and discipline. 

1982 6-22 RECORD  COACH BOB WELTLICH 

This team sets a  Record With The Most Losses In A Season (22) In The History Of Longhorn Basketball.  

Coach Weltlich first year is plagued with man power issues due to voluntary and involuntary departures of team members.  He uses 8 Freshman walk-On’s including a UT Cheerleader (Lance Watson)  during the season looking for a winning combination. The Media and fans have a field day with the Use of the  CheerLeader.  When Texas is struggling during a game the fans say “Put In The Cheerleader!!” 

Coach Calls Some Of The Texas Players “As Phony As The Day Is Long”.

Morale Starts To Plummet And So Does Fan Support. 

Basketball Attendance Drops From The Highs Of 15,000 fans per game during Lemmons Tenure To Under 4,100 fans Per Game. Eddie Sutton Says About The 12,000 Empty Seats When Arkansas Played Texas ‘ This Is The Most Depressing Place To Play I’ve Ever Seen. It Looks Like The YMCA Gym On A Saturday Morning.”

Horns Lose To A Ivy League School That Has No Scholarship Athletes.

1983-  7-21 RECORD  COACH WELTLICH  

Wendlandt- The Top Scorer In 1983 Quits The Team

Don Ellis And Mike Hess Quit The Team.  Hess States That Weltlich Used Him As A “Target”  In Charging Drills.  

Nine Scholarship Players Quit The Team under Weltlich’s leadership.  

The Fans Missed The Good Old Days Of Coach Abe Lemmons. 

Attendance At The Basketball Games Is Anemic.

1984- 15-13 RECORD   COACH WELTLICH

The Longhorn Classic Is The First Ever Tournament Supported By 31 Local Sponsors. 

Wacker Returns And Is The Texas First All SWC Player Since 1982.

This is the last year that all 5 members of The All SWC Team are white.   

1985 – 19-12 RECORD   COACH WELTLICH three way tie for the SWc

45 Second Clock is Enacted

After Going 1- 14 Against Top 20 Teams fans changed the name for “SouthWest Conference” to  The “Southworst Conference, or The “Sad And Weak Conference” or the “So-What Conference”

Texas Is 12-2 In Conference Play And CBS Runs A Two Minute Spot On The Texas Basketball Success. 

Brownlee Is SWC Player Of The Year And Weltlich Is Coach Of The Year.

Willock was the SWC defensive player of the year.

Horns were invited to the NIT but lost to Ohio State in the 2nd round. 

1986- 14-17 RECORD   COACH WELTLICH The season had some close games but Weltlich was struggling and recruiting was his biggest problem

MOMENT NO. 74
Nov. 30, 1986: Patrick Fairs scores 18 points while Travis Mays adds 15 points and seven boards to pace Texas to a 74-70 upset of defending national champion and No. 2 Louisville in the seventh-place game at the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage, Alaska. This marks the highest ranked AP opponent that the Horns have defeated in school history.

Three Point Shot Is Officially Approved. 

Suzanne Halliburton Of The Austin American Statesman Says She Hopes Weltlich Succeeds Because “He Had Paid More Dues Than Any Other Texas Coach”.

The Longhorn Women average per game attendance is 2000 More Than The Longhorn Men.

1987-16-13 RECORD COACH WELTLICH’S LAST YEAR