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Deryl Comer recently passed away.
Deryl Comer’s hands were like football magnets. Soft lobs and Heat-seeking passes searched for his hands. Deryl could convert a complicated route, bad pass, and challenging catch into a Picasso art form.
A SPECIAL FOOTBALL MOMENT FOR DERYL COMER
In the 1968 Texas-OU game, James Street hooked up with tight end Deryl Comer for pass completions of 18, 21, and 13 yards. Texas won at the last minute of the game.
Royal said we “completed the same pass six or seven times in that long drive.” “Street kept throwing to our tight end, Deryl Comer.” “We read their linebacker. Our tight end just ran across or hooked, depending on which direction their linebacker moved. That pass got us down close, and then we knocked it in.”
Deryl was pro football material until a severe knee injury required an extended time in rehab. He never fully recovered from the injury. Deryl missed the 1969 national championship season, but he played for the 1970 national champions. He averaged 15.1 yards per catch for 1967, 1968, and 1970.
If you like to add a remembrance of Deryl on the TLSN website, send it to Billydale1@gmail.com, and it will be posted.
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Butch Hadnot has been added to the Sentry health watch list at BUTCH HADNOT (squarespace.com)
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BAD BOYS, BAD BOYS, WHAT YOU GONNA DO?
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Doug Dawson, Jeff Leiding, Mark Lang, Eric Holle , Ed Williams, Mike Ruether
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Jeff “Maddog” Madden, the strength Coach under Mack Brown, shares the story of three Longhorn walk-on military tough guys who served our country and the Longhorn Nation. All three were walk-ons.
Mickey Moss is a successful coach and administrator who received a master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin in athletic administration, emphasizing exercise physiology. Any Walk-on should heed his advice that
“goals are good, but without a system of practiced habits in place, goals alone will not lead to success.”
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Carpe Diem
A Walk-on’s road to earned respect begins in unfriendly territory. In the early phases of trying to make the team ATTITUDE is more important than skill set. Failure in practice is a given. However, those who accept and learn from their failures have a better chance of making the team.
Walk-ons should also understand that opportunity knocks on the door are often subtle, not a Gabriel-blowing horn event. So it is essential for walk-ons to listen with their heart instead of their head. DO NOT depend on anyone but yourself to seize the moment when it arrives, and know that if you do not seize it immediately, someone else will. If you catch the eye of the coach for a split second or an unfortunate injury hurts a team’s depth chart, Carpe Diem.
For those walk-ons who seize the day, the links below may be in their future:
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The Walk-on’s Balancing Act
Strong will, intellect, discipline, motivation, mental toughness, athletic skills, and a touch of craziness all worked in harmony for walk-ons” Nathan Kaspar, Nate Boyer, and Ahmard Hall.
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Walk-on Marine Ahmard Hall
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Ahmard worked his way from walk-on status to a starter as a senior on the 2005 national championship team. He was also the Big 12 Male Sportsperson of the Year for his sportsmanship and community service. Ahmard attributes his success to the discipline and toughness he acquired through his experience as a Marine. For the rest of his story, follow the link below:
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Nathan has only positive memories of playing for Texas. Nathan epitomizes a positive attitude. He says, “we had a lot of great guys who walked on” – Mike Ungar, Steve Stigall, Tien Nguyen, Chris Stroup, Brad Hermes, Marcus Walther, and Brad Price. Second, “Nobody in my group of walk-ons ever felt less valued by our coaching staff. Sure, we were told that we had to “know your role,” and that was often playing 100+ reps on the scout team on Tuesday and Wednesday practices, on top of all the other drills”.
For the rest of Nathan’s story and his interview for TLSN with Professor Larry Carlson, follow this link:
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Nate Boyer’s story may be the most unusual of any Longhorn ever.
To paraphrase Longhorn media guru Bill Little :
In a way, it is fitting that Nate Boyer was once an aspiring actor in Los Angeles because the story of his life seems destined for a novel or a movie. Nate has packed a remarkable odyssey into thirty or so years of living as an honor student who is the 2012 winner of the Greater Austin Chapter of the National Football Foundation’s Distinguished Young American Award.
He was a good athlete in high school, but Valley Christian did not have football. But that didn’t stop Nate. He figured as long as he was at Texas, he should try to make the nationally-ranked Longhorn football team. He studied all he could about the game, tried out as a “walk-on,” and made the team as a defensive back and special teams player.
A link to Nate’s never-ending story is at:
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The Longhorns hired Sue Humphrey in 1984 as assistant women’s field event coach. She was part of a coaching contingent that produced 4 NCAA team titles in 5 years. She takes special pride in working with individual National Champions Carlette Guidry, Terri Turner, & Angie Bradburn.
Sue is the only female to coach NCAA individual champions in the Long, triple, and high jumps.
From 1992-1995, Sue assisted Stan Huntsman’s men’s track & field team working with Richard Duncan, the first Longhorn athlete to qualify for NCAA Nationals in the long jump, triple, & high jump.
SUE HUMPHREY was the Head Manager for the USA women’s Olympic track & field team in 1992, an Assistant Coach for the women’s team in 1996, and the Head Coach for the women’s team in 2004. One of the athletes Sue coached, Charles Austin won the 1996 Olympic Gold Medal in the men’s high jump, setting an Olympic Record of 7’10”, which still stands!
Sue returned to UT for the 2010-2011 season as a volunteer coach for Bev Kearney’s women’s team, helping with the high jumpers & pole vaulters.
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For three years, I begged Bobby Snoddy, SWC batting champ in 1967 under Bibb Falk, to share his record-setting year.
Persistence paid off in 2022, and the readers of this site now have a snapshot of a very important year in Longhorn baseball history. Bob was on Bibb Falk’s last team.
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Below is Bob Snoddy’s account of his Senior year playing for Bibb Falk.
Billy –
“It is very kind of you to include our photo and description of the “4 In a Row” event that we were a part of. The event itself is, of course, significant. Having it occur as a part of Coach Bibb Falk’s 25th and last year as Head Coach of Texas Longhorn Baseball with 20 Southwest Conference Championships in 25 years and the first College Baseball Coach to win Back-to-Back National Championships { 1949 & 50} ) made the event even more special.
That entire 1967 Season, at home and especially on the road, was a chance for every school we played to honor Coach Falk. It was a traveling Road Show.
Thank you again for recognizing our incredible “4 consecutive home runs In a Row,” which is still a collegiate record.
The remainder of Bob’s story about Coach Falk is at:
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TLSN is an independent organization celebrating Longhorn Sports History and assisting qualifying Horns who need temporary financial assistance.
The TLSN website and newsletter are free, educational, historical, and insightful, sharing Longhorn sports history through the eyes of those who created it.
TLSN is not associated with the UT Athletics Department or any organization closely aligned with UT.
Https://texaslsn.org
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