The hiring of COACH JOHN MACKOVIC “Winds of Change” 1993

Tim Layden writes in a Sports Illustrated article that says “Texas coach John Mackovic, a taciturn man” spent his years at Texas “under the blade of a guillotine. “

Texas convened a committee to search for a new coach when it became clear midway through the 1991 season that McWilliams would have to go. A 50-member panel spent an entire day drafting a list of qualifications. But that was just for show. DKR, A.D. Deloss Dodds, U.T. President William Cunningham, and former Royal player and businessman Jim Bob Moffet chose John Mackovic as the new head coach at Texas. Mackovic was selected because he possessed the characteristic that Moffett was looking for: a cold calculation businessman with coaching skills.

Royal liked to size people up based on whether they would be good company on Willie Nelson’s tour bus. For instance, Texas basketball coach Tom Penders will hang out on the bus and drink a couple of beers with you. Of Mackovic, Royal told Penders, “He’s not bus material.” But it didn’t keep Royal from endorsing Mackovic wholeheartedly.

IN MANY PROFESSIONS, MACKOVIC’S TRAITS WOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS BAD, BUT IN LONGHORN FOOTBALL, HIS TRAITS WERE GAME CHANGERS.

 On paper, Mackovic had the football credentials: 

1) Head coach at Wake Forest and the University of Illinois, where he was twice “Big 10 Coach of the Year.” 

2) In the early 1980s, he served as the quarterback coach for Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys, and

3) in 1986, he led the Kansas City Chiefs to their first playoff appearance in 15 years.  

Mackovic’s had cold business sense and coaching skills, but he added too much vinegar to the Texas oil money to be liked in the Texas culture.  

His hubris eventually did him in

Mackovic was aloof, stoic, condescending, snobbish- even worse, a bit of an intellectual. His affection for fine wine did not settle well with the Shiner Bock fajita-eating Longhorn fans. Mackovic wanted to out-smart his opponents rather than beat the other team into submission. Even though he had three great running backs in Ricky Williams, Priest Holmes, and Shon Mitchell, Mackovic emphasized the forward pass.

The Daily Texas published a song called Mack the Knife that went like this:

Jim Bob Moffett, Joe Jamail dear,

will finance his demise,

He will soon hit the trail, dear,

and we’ll hear Texas’Eyes

Ricky Williams and Phil Dawson

Hodges Mitchell and James Brown!

Our cheers will fill the night dear,

Once Coach Macky’s outta town!

In The Book Runnin’ With The Big Dogs, The Author States That Mackovic’s Coaching Failures Are Due To “Death By Personality.” 

Coach Greg Davis states in the book Burnt Orange Nation that Mackovic was “plagued by an inability to relate to football culture…..” or “relate especially well with players,” and he didn’t fit in with the Good Ol’ Boys who funded the Texas football machine.” Add to that Mackovic had a history of micro-managing teams; you have four traits not conducive to Texas’s coaching.

Even Kiki DeAyala (Longhorn football player from 1980- 1982), who played for Mackovic at Kansas City, told anyone who would listen that Kansas City players did not want to play for him. 

No one listened, and Coach Mackovic was hired. In 1997 he was fired after an embarrassing defeat to UCLA and the worse won – Loss record in 50 years. His comment, “last year, we won the Big 12, and everybody lived with that. They will also have to live with this too.” The fans and the UT administration disagreed, and he was fired.

John Mackovic is hired as the University of Arizona football coach.

John Mackovic’s weakness’s also plagued him after Texas. As the head coach at the University of Arizona from 2001-2003, he once again failed to understand the local football culture. He did not relate to the players, and he did not fit in with the good ol’ money Boys from the University of Arizona. 

Coach Mackovic’s downfall at UA starts after telling Justin Lavasseur, an Arizona player, “he was a disgrace to his family.” Mackovic continued to disparage remarks to other players, resulting in 40 players meeting in secret with the President of the University of Arizona to protest the verbal abuse administered by Coach Mackovic.

Mackovic apologized to the players, the university, and the fans and was not fired. But One year later, quarterback Nic Costa stated publicly that many players have lost their love for the game due to Mackovic’s brusque manner. Five games later, Mackovic is fired.    

1992-1997

Mackovic had all the credentials and honors to be a great coach.

The 1992 and 1993 Cactus built up Mackovic as the best coach since Royal. saying he is “a kind, caring, and open-minded man……” with “a charisma that will be a legend in itself.”

According to the Cactus, “Mackovic earned praise and respect from all corners of the game. Coach Tom Landry said, “Texas will benefit tremendously from” hiring Mackovic. Iowa head coach Hayden Fry said, “his teams feature sound fundamental principles and an entertaining style of play. I’m sure he will do an outstanding job at Texas.” The Cactus says he brought “a wealth of knowledge with him to the position. For many, his knowledge of the game was needed to convert Texas from a running team to a passing team.”

UT football expectations had fallen so far that Jason Atchley, an author for the “Cactus,” celebrated Mackovic’s 6-5 record his first year with accolades. He said after “the lost to the Aggies,” the Horns finished the season with a “respectable” 6-5 record. Huh?

While the “Winds of Change” during the Mackovic years resulted in some great recruits -Ricky Williams, James Brown, Mike Adams, and Major Applewhite- and three straight-league championships, Texas football was overall shaken to its core under Mackovic. 

Peter Gardere said, “John was a brilliant coach. He lacked the personal skills, as far as being a player’s coach.” Peter continues, “ it was difficult to transition from McWilliams’s “even-keeled” coaching style to Mackovic’s suffocating intensity.” Peter says that Mackovic’s style added a level of pressure that made him “tight” every practice. He was stressed but kept his starting job.

1995 Captain Stonie Clark said about Mackovic, “At times, it seemed we even had to battle our head coach.”

Major Applewhite was recruited by Coach Mackovic but never played for him. Major said he had a “reputation of creating an offensive think tank but was also perceived- by some- as cerebral and aloof.”

Ricky Williams said that Mack Brown “no matter what was going on (in a game) was still the same guy.” “If we were up 50 points or trailing, he’s still going to tell us to get back out there and stay focused.” “I think that really helped me.” “Coach Mackovic’s demeanor would definitely change according to the score.”

1992 – 6-5 Coach Mackovic

Mackovic does the impossible in his first season at Texas. He breaks with tradition junking the time-honored Longhorn running attack in favor of a pro-style passing game. As Mackovic embraces the future, he also courts the past. He had Royal address the team before its Oct. 10 game with Oklahoma, a resounding 34-24 win.

Mackovic’s pro offense attracts players who would never have considered Texas before. Shea Morenz, the top-rated quarterback in the nation as a Texas schoolboy, and a pair of wide receivers, Lovell Pinkney and Mike Adams signed with Texas. Adams was the highest-rated receiver in the region but expected to go elsewhere to find a passing offense. All American Pinkney from Washington D.C. proves that Mackovic can recruit from out of state.

Aggies beat the Horns for the 8th time in a row.

 A condensed bullet point history of Texas Longhorn football during the Mackovic years follows. 

Mackovic signs a recruiting class of offensive lineman who earned their moniker the “class of beef.”

Coach Mackovic re-hired Leon Fuller from the McWilliams staff. Coach Leon Fuller developed a highly-effective defensive structure under Akers and McWilliams.

During Coach Mackovic’s years at Texas, he concentrates mainly on recruiting receivers, quarterbacks, and backs such as Shea Morenz, Mike Adams, Lovell Pinkey, and Ricky Williams.

Longhorn Hall of Honor inductee, Mike Adams holds the career record for total return yards on kickoff/punts (2,651 yards) and most returns (160). He ranks 3rd behind Ricky Williams and Cedric Benson for most all-purpose yards.

The 1992 team holds the season record for most yards per play (7.4).

This season is average, even though Mackovic inherits 20 seniors and four NFL draft choices.

This season the Longhorns needed to beat the Aggies to pick-up their 6th win against a Division I team to qualify for the John Hancock Bowl. Texas lost the game.

The Second Century of Texas football is about, to begin with, Mackovic in charge. 

Mackovic says of Peter Gardere, ” I don’t know anybody who earned as much respect from his teammates and coaches this year as he did.” The Longhorn fans don’t agree. Bitter fans hold Gardere responsible for the losing seasons. He holds eight school career passing records, but his parents have been hounded so badly that they had to change their phone number. Gardere is booed even as he breaks the records of the revered Bobby Layne.

A hilarious attempt by former Aggie Coach Jackie Sherrill who morphed into the Mississippi State Head Coach’s Desperate attempt to beat the Longhorns.

In order to motivate his football players at Mississippi State to beat Texas, Jackie Sherrill has his team view a bull castration.  MSU administration condemns this technique of “motivation” and Sherrill apologizes.  

1993  5-5-1 Coach Mackovic

Jim Hakes says about Coach Mackovic

I’ve said it before.. but Coach Mackovic was widely known as not being a “players’ coach” and not being a culture fit here at all. Quite a few of the players (and my friends) in my recruiting class quit the team, because they saw it as “he’s screwing us over” by overlooking them and not considering them for playing time. I get all that. HOWEVER, he saw something in me and believed in me. Not only did he NOT screw me over, he started me on all special teams as a sophomore and as a back up tight end my sophomore year (and starting at TE with the goal line package as a sophomore)…. and fully THE starting tight end when I was a junior, as well as a senior. This was even after a group of us broke hotel curfew and went out to a strip club in Louisville, Kentucky the night before that game where we took one of the worst losses I had ever had in me career for any sport. Even after a group of us got pulled into a fight with 30 + members of the Kappa Sigs at their fraternity house, and their president called and spoke with coach Mackovic about it a couple days later. I don’t have anything bad to say about him at all. He installed his pro-style offense here and made me a big part of it. No, he wasn’t a players’ coach. But it was HIS offense. HE designed every single game plan for every game. HE ran every single practice the whole way through. HE called all of the plays during every game. Many years after I graduated and moved on, we were chatting through Facebook and I thanked him. He told me.. “No need to thank me Jim. You turned out to be an important and special player for us. Hope you and your family are doing well.” I’ll never forget that.

This year the Longhorn administration fights to protect the images, words, names, and symbols that distinguish UT from other Universities. Other teams were infringing on UT images by adding remarks to the photos that diminished the UT brand.

Texas and Arkansas football series were close in the ’60s, but overall the series was never close. The series ends with Texas leading 46-14, with The Razorbacks unable to win at the most painful moments. A 15-14 victory settled the national championship in favor of the Longhorns in 1969.

The SWC folds. Four teams from the SWC join the Big 8 to form the Big 12. Those teams are Texas, Texas A & M, Texas Tech, and Baylor. More money from T.V. rights is the main reason for the realignment. There is a core change in recruiting for the Big 8 that requires them to recruit based on the SWC Proposition 48 standards. Unlike the Big 8, the SWC did not accept recruits with a high school GPA below 2.0 and an SAT score below 700.

Phil Brown led the Longhorns in rushing with 814 yards and seven touchdowns.

1994  8-4 Coach Mackovic final ranking #25 SWC Champs

The team loses 4 out of 6 games in the mid-stretch of the season, but they recover to beat North Carolina in the Sun Bowl.

In the 5th game of the season, Shea Morenz suffers a knee injury, and James Brown takes over and is the starter for the OU game.

Texas wins 17-10 after Stonie Clark, the 6-foot-1, 343 pounds nose tackle Crush’s running back James Allen at the goal line with 43 seconds to play. James Brown completed 17 of 22 passes and rushed for 51 yards.

Shea Morenz remained as the starter but was hurt in the Texas A & M game, and Brown had a great game in a losing cause.    Shea Morenz is drafted in the first round by the Yankees and accepts the offer.

Rice beats Texas for the first time since 1965. Mackovic’s record after the Rice game is 16-14-1 and the Longhorn fans start to moo.

Mackovic received seven stitches to both the chin and the elbow after accidentally being run over by Tony Brackens on the side line.

Mackovic beats Mack Brown’s North Carolina team in the Sun Bowl. This is Texas’s first bowl victory in 13 years.

The SEC signs a 5 year 85 million dollar contract with CBS. The big dollar sign was the death knell for the SWC. On March 10, 1994, the Big 12 was formed, and ABC bought the rights for 97.5 million dollars, the most lucrative in college football history at the time.

1995  10-2-1 Coach Mackovic ranked 9th nationally- SWC Champions

The 1995 season represents one of the best running back tandems in U.T. football history. Williams rushed for 990 yards and eight touchdowns as a freshman. Mitchell led the team in rushing with 1,099 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Last game on AstroTurf: Texas 21, Baylor 13 (11/23/1995) Attendance: 58,497

Phil Dawson holds the career record for field goal attempts (79), and most field goals made (59).

  Phil Dawson is the first Longhorn place-kicker to win a game on the final play to beat Virginia, 17-16. This is the first time in Longhorn history that the Horns won at home on the final play and the second time on record, that UT won a game as time expired. The Longhorns’ last series was loaded with exciting plays. A 4th and one conversion by Wayne McGarity. A 4th and ten pass completion from James Brown to Mike Adams and a James Brown gain of 11 yards with only 10 seconds remaining. Brown’s run gets Dawson into field goal range, and the game-winning field goal follows, putting Dawson in the record books.  

Texas wins the SWC championship with a scholarship player who has no college eligibility. Ron McKelvey (Ron Weaver) plays in 11 games at Texas. His mother and father do not know he is on the Texas team. Federal prosecutors charge Ron with “fraudulent misrepresentation” and misuse of a social security number. The result is no NCAA infraction for Texas, and Ron reimburses Texas $5000 for the scholarship cost. 

The Aggies had won 10 of the last 11 games against the Horns but were defeated in 1995 as Texas breaks A & M’s 31 home game winning streak to win the SWC title. 

#16 Texas, #14 Virginia Tech -Texas loses to Virginia Tech 28- 10 in the Sugarbowl.

The 1995 Longhorns finished the season 10-1-1 (the bad beating at Notre Dame and the 24-24 tie with the Land Thieves in the Red River Shootout), winning the Southwest Conference (7-0).  Shon Mitchell ran 1,099 yards, and the kid Ricky Williams added 990 that season. Pat Fitzgerald lead the Longhorn receivers with 8 touchdown catches in 1195.  And Pat had one touchdown in the New Year’s Eve Sugar Bowl, but that catch from James Brown was the only time Texas would get in the endzone.  Ricky ran for 62 (12 carries), Shon got 59 yards on 15 carries, and James Brown ended up minus 43.  5 sacks.  A Texas team with Ricky Williams totaled 78 yards rushing.  A bad night in NOLA, as the Hokies beat the Horns 28-10 (including a punt return for a touchdown and a fumble returned for a touchdown).

Tony Brackens and the hit.

After 80 years, the SWC is dissolved. 

 Backstabbing, cheating, and open pocketbooks, starting in the ’80s, reached their zenith in the 1990s and destroyed the SWC. Other factors were also responsible for the demise of the SWC: 

•  Arkansas’s joining the Southeastern Conference;

• Private schools no longer able to compete financially with state schools;

• too many Division I teams in one state to support a strong fan base for all Texas Universities;

• the SWC was also regional in scope for national exposure;

• The Cotton Bowl contractual obligation to feature the SWC winner against another ranked team became an anchor around the Bowl committee’s neck. At best, the play of the SWC teams was mediocre. 

Ricky Williams is a Freshman

 James Brown and senior wideout Mike Adams are the most dangerous passing combination in school history as of 1995, and Brown is the SWC’s offensive MVP with 2,583 total yards and 20 touchdowns. When James Brown got hurt, Shon Mitchell and Ricky Williams carried the burden of winning. Williams had had an immediate impact at Texas, running for a Longhorns freshman record of 990 rushing yards. 

After the Aggies beat the Horns 4 games in a row, it was payback time. Texas beats A & M to end the Aggies 34 home game winning streak and win the SWC.

Roster Imposter and All Ends Well – no jail , no NCAA fines, No probation but a lot of lessons learned

 Texas handed the Aggies their first home loss in 31 games.

1996 8-5 Coach Mackovic big 12 champs- ranked 23rd in the nation.

By 1996 the University of Texas had experienced 20 post-Royal years, which were not up to the standards of U.T. football. Coach Akers was the only coach who fielded a nationally recognized dominating football team. 

Pat Fitzgerald, a two-time All-American, holds the Longhorn season record for touchdown receptions (8) for a tight end and a game with three receptions. Fitzgerald was inducted into the University of Texas Longhorn Hall of Honor.

Texas rolled up 594 yards of offense against Texas A & M. It was the most yardage in the history of the series up to this point (1996).

TOP SONG

Before the Nebraska game, Mike Adams says, “To hell with Nebraska, we have the heart.

Texas’s multifaceted offense exploded for a school-record 5,525 total yards in 1996, led by Rickey Williams, record-setting quarterback James Brown, and a pair of seniors, All-Big 12 wide receiver Mike Adams and All-America tight end Pat Fitzgerald. Despite Williams & Co.’s impressive statistics, the defense allowed 10 players to gain over 100 yards rushing. Texas rushing defense was ranked 86th in the nation.

Texas is a 21 point underdog to Nebraska. Ricky Williams was hurt and not at full speed. Mackovic told his team not to give Nebraska any quotes that would incite the Cornhuskers. James Brown did not listen. He says to the media, “I don’t know…. I think we’re going to win by three touchdowns.”  Dan Neil was not surprised with James’ comment saying, “James was a hard-nosed guy. He was a linebacker in a quarterback’s body.’He would never back down from anybody… and as a player, we all respected him.”

His comment inflames the Nebraska players and fans, but James’ confidence also inspires the UT football team. “Roll Left”- The play that won the game in the last minutes of the 4th quarter is now part of Texas football history. Brown connects with Derrick Lewis to help win the game.  Texas 37  Nebraska 27

In a Sports Illustrated article written by Tim Layden, he says that “Texas coach John Mackovic, a taciturn man who had spent four years in Austin under the blade of a guillotine, eschewed a punt and told Brown, his junior quarterback, to run Steelers Roll Left. Mackovic took all the chips in front of him–the game, the season, his fragile reputation–and shoved them into the middle of the table, all of it riding on one snap.

On Steelers Roll Left, Brown reverse-pivots fakes a handoff to fullback Priest Holmes into the middle and then sprints outside to his left, on a pass-run option.

Texas had practiced this play repeatedly leading up to the game, and Mackovic had belabored Brown about the importance of tearing flat out to the corner, lest the relentless Nebraska pursuit runs him down from behind. “Come to run!” the coach shouted as Brown jogged back to the huddle, a final reminder not necessarily to keep the ball and run with it, but to haul his tail to the outside in a big hurry before choosing. Brown, however, interpreted it this way: “He wanted me to run it.”

On the play Brown kept his eyes up the field and saw tight end Derek Lewis standing alone. Brown’s soft toss found Lewis 15 yards clear of the Nebraska defense at the Texas 42. Holding the ball as if it were plutonium, Lewis rolled to the Nebraska 11, finishing a 61-yard play. On the next down Holmes shot through the middle for the finishing touchdown in the 37-27 win.

The Texas win over Nebraska is voted the most stunning upset of the 1990’s .

Priest Holmes and Ricky Williams represent one of the greatest backfields in the History of college football.

Mackovic hoisted the championship trophy and shouts “Free at Last. Free at Last.” But he was not! Texas was embarrassed by Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl 38-15.

The Longhorns defeat Texas Tech and claim the Chancellor’s Spurs trophy for the first time.

In the next 8 years, Big 12 schools would play in the national championship game 5 times.

Williams rushed for 1,272 yards and Mitchell 626. But they were joined by Priest Holmes – he missed 1995 with a knee injury – who scored 13 touchdowns on just 59 carries in 1996 with 324 yards.

1997 4-7 John Mackovic- Texas proverb “it is only a short distance from the parlor to the outhouse.

The parlor was defeating Nebraska, and one year later, the outhouse was the embarrassing loss to UCLA. It was the worse defeat by a Longhorn football team since 1904. Texas dropped out of the AP poll, making them the highest-ranked team to ever plunge so far, so fast. this year the team surrendered a school-record 366 points.

Major Applewhite signs with Texas and is red-shirted.

Sports Illustrated ranks the Hook’em Horns as the best hand signal in the country.

Well, Casey Hampton and Aaron Humphrey were definitely intimidating characters, but their team was not.

Mackovic switches the defense from a 3-4 alignment to a 4-3, trying to slow down the Big 12 offenses. The defensive line includes Chris Akins, a 300-pound tackle who holds all of Texas’s major strength records. This is one of the strongest teams in Longhorn football’s history, but strength does not necessarily convert to wins as the team learns. In 1995 Texas had 10 players squat over 550 pounds and 15 players record a vertical jump of 32 inches or more. Texas record is 10-2-1. In 1997 Texas had 15 players squat more than 550 pounds, and 21 players jump 32 inches or higher.  The team finishes  4 -7.  

Moral of the story- weight training and conditioning are just two of many factors that winners possess.

Also anchoring the defense are Casey Hampton and Aaron Humphrey at middle linebacker.

James Brown sprains his ankle and is unable to play in the UCLA game. After that game, the wheels come off the football program, and  Longhorn fans and Texas’s donor class had enough of Mackovic. 

A field named for longtime UT benefactor Joe Jamail (Joe Jamail Field at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium):

1997 Last game before track removal: Texas 26, Texas A&M 24 (11/27/1998) Attendance: 83,687

Tackle Chris Atkins Breaks Nearly All Of The  Longhorn Lifting Records.  Atkins records include  The Squat (760 pounds), Bench (556), And Power Clean( 363 pounds)  (No Picture)

Wayne McGarity Holds The Career Record For Yards Per Touchdown (40.3) 

Ricky Williams Breaks Earl Campbell’s Single Season Rushing Mark And Is The First Texas Player To Gain 200+ Yards In Consecutive Games. He scores 25 touchdowns and runs for 200 yards in 4 other games with 4 runs of over 70 yards.

Applewhite commits to  A & M, but Aggie Head Coach Slocum fires the offensive coordinator, so Applewhite changes his commitment to Texas.

Texas is a 22 point favorite to win the OU game but loses in overtime. 

Mackovic convinces Ricky William’s to sign with Texas.

“Something about college football was different from the NFL. It was the idea that you are part of a team, you are part of a university, and you are part of a tradition that is bigger than football.” Ricky Williams

UCLA embarrasses UT, and the defeat is tagged as “Rout 66”.

Ricky Williams here’s a rumor that Mackovic will be fired, and he responds, stating publicly, “if he left, that I was also going to leave.”

REFLECTIONS

A personal reflection from Billy Dale – 7 years into Mack Brown’s reign as Head Coach, I had lunch with Coach Royal, and our conversation focused on football in the ’60s. In the middle of this discussion Coach Royal stops in mid-sentence and says, “You know we could still be looking for a head coach at Texas and never find another Mack Brown.” No truer words have ever been spoken. 

The Mack Brown era is about to start. Mack Brown replaced John Mackovic. At the time of Mack’s hiring, very few people knew anything about him. However, fans quickly realized that Mack Brown was perfect for Texas. Mack Brown knew how to win “by personality” He delegated authority related to recruits and players and “communicated” with the Good Ol’ Boys who funded Texas football.