Always be Closing

 Larry Carlson saw his first orange tower after a victory in 1960 and has been following Longhorn football ever since. He hosted the Fred Akers Pre-game Show and the Longhorn Locker Room for Austin’s KVET Radio and co-hosted Longhorn Pipeline on San Antonio’s ESPN Radio affiliate during Mack Brown’s tenure. Larry recently retired after teaching broadcast journalism for 35 years at Texas State University and lives with his wife in San Antonio.

Write him at lc13@txstate.edu

The ABC’s for Sark

by Larry Carlson

It’s a long time until March 23 if you’re a resident of Longhorn Nation.

That’s when spring football is scheduled to begin. It’s later than usual for good reasons.

Maybe, just maybe, a couple of months gives us time for things to improve on the Covid front. And Steve Sarkisian needs to work with a coaching staff to plot the immediate future of UT football.

With that in mind, armchair quarterbacks and laptop scribes like yours truly can get down to our own serious honey-do lists for tackling winter yard work and that messy garage. First, fortify yourself with the take-out options at Dan’s Hamburgers, Chris Madrid’s, or your favorite burger haven.

Let’s start with the ABC’s of hopes for, I think, many Texas fans. And I’m chuckling now at the pop culture sensation that is Alec Baldwin’s rant in “Glengarry Glen Ross.” It was a dud of a movie in 1992 and I never paid to see it. But one YouTube clip has immortalized the movie.

“A …Always….B…Be….C…Closing….Always be closing!,” is what Baldwin, as the new boss, seethed at his sloth-like real estate agents in a tirade full of serious profanity.

No need for that with Sark’s team-in-waiting.

That said, let’s wade into just a bit of the alphabet. Cue up your old Jackson Five record. A-B-C, it’s easy as 1-2-3, simple as do-re-mi…..

A….Always be feeding Bijan. By land, by air, by whatever it takes to let the biggest Arizona thing since the Grand Canyon get enough touches to deliver havoc for defenses and score touchdowns for Texas.

Those late-season routs of K-State and Colorado showed peeks of what could turn into a Heisman candidacy. Seriously. And the thought of the way Sarkisian utilized Najee Harris at Bama should make Horn followers drool.

B….Be certain to start recruiting offensive linemen from SEC Country and the Midwest. Sad to say, but 7-on-7 has made standout O-linemen as rare in Texas as really good chicken-fried steak or chili.

We talk about the linemen, the CFS and the hot stuff but it’s mostly in the past or very, very hard to locate. All due respect to Connor Williams and Sam Cosmi, the best of the past decade. But UT fans recall the way Bobby Wuensch, Jerry Sisemore, Bob Simmons, Doug Dawson, Blake Brockermeyer, Dan Neil and Justin Blalock took no prisoners. It’s been a long time. Texas needs a dominant offensive line and must expand its O-line recruiting territory. Go where they grow, Sark.

C….Create a package that includes the QB under center for short yardage needs. Sam Ehlinger was built for quarterback sneaks. But Texas, like most programs, has insisted on turning third-and-two into third-and-seven for a number of years. If the analytics are so important, can’t fourth and inches be easier from under center? The good news: Sarkisian even employed a tight end “QB sneak” with former high school quarterback-turned-Alabama tight end, Miller Forristall. Surprised heck out of Florida in the SEC title game. And..pssst….Texas TE Jared Wiley was a king-sized QB at Temple.

I’m jus’ sayin’….

D….Discipline. And Defense. And Development. Texas has been short on all three lately.

Too many penalties. Too much muscle-flexing after big hits that still allowed first downs. Guys who couldn’t stand for “The Eyes” and even might have sabotaged recruiting. There’s been talk of coddling the players since Mack Brown’s heyday. It has to stop. Now.

The defensive units have been shaky for a decade. Whether it’s giving up explosive plays, ridiculous point totals, third-and-17 or taking bad angles and not wrapping up…it’s been bad. But Chris Ash’s “D” of the late season in ’20 showed fire and a fly-to-the-ball want-to combined with talent. Pete Kwiatkowski inherits some players.

Development, or lack thereof, has been at the forefront of diatribes about the football program’s off-decade. It has affected every phase of the game. Texas, until of late, signed as many four-and-five-star recruits as just about anyone not named Alabama, Clemson or Ohio State.

But few of those teenagers matured into “elite” performers, regardless of position. For Texas to succeed, development is a monstrous priority.

E…..Educate. The Longhorn players and staff must learn about and value Texas traditions. To hear former players speak of “The Eyes of Texas” and other cogs in the UT tradition machinery is guaranteed to raise goosebumps. Bring these gents in regularly to share all that’s great and unmatched about Longhorn football. UT’s hearty history was hijacked and re-interpreted by a few malevolent conductors last summer. Those who know better should be utilized to restore the pride and ownership.

Now is the time to really, really imbue players with the mantra that “the pride and tradition of the University of Texas will not be entrusted to the weak or the timid.”

So now I come back to tie in the unlikely rallying call of Baldwin’s character’s rant: A…always, B…be, C…closing.

For eleven largely ungratifying seasons, Texas seldom stomped an opponent in the Big XII conference. Even the wins were scratched out in grim fourth quarter grinds. I well recall heading for the press box elevator to the sidelines in Lubbock in 2018 at the usual six-minute mark of the fourth quarter. Texas was seemingly safe, up by 14 after leading by 17. By the time we got to the Longhorn bench area, Tech had scored seven and then recovered an onside kick. A buddy of mine muttered, “…this team can’t EVER put its foot on anybody’s throat.”

We watched as Tech then tied the game at 34-all. Twenty feet away from where we stood, UT won on a last-minute pass from Sam Ehlinger to a leaping Li’l Jordan Humphrey.

Last fall’s return to Lubbock was an even hairier escape, as we all know.

“Winning is hard,” Tom Herman infamously said after a close call that didn’t quite match the point spread.

But why was Texas, yeah that “We’re Texas” crew, ever in the decade-long reality of taking losses and eking out wins against the Techs, the Baylors, the K-States, Oklahoma States, West Virginias and even Kansases of the pigskin universe? Don’t even think of that 2-7 record against TCU since the Frogs joined the conference. Bad for digestion.

To stake any claim to a real “trajectory,” (boy, I’m tired of that word in UT discussions), Texas has to be strong enough, smart enough and good enough to take charge early against outmanned opponents and then cut off their oxygen. Win big against the also-rans. But before the Horns can focus on de-throning OU, Texas has to stop being one of the also-rans.

Late March, the seeds get planted.

Go to the 2:08 mark of video for a spoof on Always be Closing.

A….Always, B… Be, C… Closing.

Always be closing. Always.

Write to Larry Carlson at lc13@txstate.edu