Associated with the University of Texas athletic teams for over 30 years, Stephens began his career as a student trainer in 1967. In 1970, he assumed full-time duties as assistant to then-head trainer Frank Medina. After Medina suffered a stroke in 1978, Stephens took over the duties of head trainer and continued in that role until he retired in January 2000. While at Texas, he supervised or worked directly with all sports, working with hundreds of athletes, five head football coaches, five head basketball coaches, and other sports coaches. He worked with nine Longhorn teams that won national championships and was responsible for a strong student program that sent numerous qualified trainers into high school and college positions. Stephens has received numerous national and regional honors, including being selected to the All-American Football Foundation Hall of Honor, the Southwest Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame, and induction into the 2002 Bellville High School Hall of Fame.

Spanky says, “For 33 years, I worked for the finest university in the world,” and “ I know where my heart is, and I know I bleed Burnt Orange.” As a trainer, Spanky saw thousands of football, basketball, and baseball games. He attended 33 Texas  Relays and numerous College World Series. In fact, In 1975, Omaha’s Mayor made Coach Gus, Bethea, and Spanky honorary citizens of Omaha. He was there during some of the greatest years for the Longhorns in track, football, baseball, and tennis, Including the best college Tennis Tournament with the best 64 tennis players and hosting the USA-Russian Track meet

The Concussion Blog – Natasha’s Law and Spanky Stephens

In July 2001, Michael “Spanky” Stephens became the Executive Director for the Texas State Athletic Trainers Association after working 33 years at the University of Texas, the last 22 as the head athletic trainer. Spanky served 22 years on the governor-appointed Advisory Board of Athletic Trainers and has served on numerous committees and focus groups within the NATA and State Government.

Spanky has spent years setting concussion protocols to protect high school athletes and provide the best health care for the players. His work continues, and the projects he is involved in will continue to improve young athletes’ health care. Anytime someone from an outside organization tries to change a system, they will be perceived as a threat to larger institutions. It took Spanky’s organization a while to convince the UIL and the High School Coaches Association that the Texas State Athletic Trainers Association was an advocate, not a threat to their sports, but the mission was accomplished.

Spanky Stephens was responsible for assembling the professionals to write Natasha’s Law. Spanky says, “Many do not realize that if a student continues to play with a concussion and receives a second head injury, there is a greater chance of severe brain damage or even death.”

“Natasha’s Law is just the beginning, and it has stimulated the need for more research,” Stephens said.

The Texas Governor signed the concussion legislation into law.

The highlights of Natasha’s Law include;

• Concussion Management Team

• Removal from Play

• Waiver and Graded Protocol to Return to Play

• Specific Education/Training for all HCP’s

• State-Wide Tracking/Logging of Concussions

Texas is the 21st state with enacted legislation.

David Andersons says about Spanky, “Spanky became my client at HillCo. during my first year with the lobbying firm in 2003. His work on the concussion legislation, Natasha’s Law, is a textbook case of how to take a good idea and make it the law.  The bill’s author was a first term member from Amarillo, Four Price. While he was a rookie then, Four is now one of the top members in the Legislature and he will tell you how important Spanky was with that bill and how much he learned about the legislative process as he worked on it. That bill became the model for many other states since 2011.

Spanky Stephens tells the story of the Billy Disch sign that said, “The Winning Tradition of the University of Texas will not be entrusted to the timid or the Weak. “

“In 1975, when the Longhorn baseball team moved from the old baseball field to Disch Falk, I found a sign back in an old storeroom in the old field where the ground keepers keep their rakes, lime to line the field and mowers. I took it with me and placed it in the new baseball locker room. Coach Bibb Falk( 1940-1967) the baseball coach who replaced Billy Disch (1911- 1939) came by for a tour and what a hilarious story that is…. Bibb Falk disliked everything about the new baseball facility – locker room, coach office, and showers, but when he saw the Billy Disch sign hanging in the new baseball facility, he raved about it, saying that sign also hung in Uncle Billy Disch’s locker room,” Spanky said.

“So, three days later, Falk brings three of his cronies down to show them the new facility. I was taken aback. Instead of voicing displeasure about the new baseball facility, he was raving about the great facility, but his proudest moment of the tour was the sign. He told them his story and reflected on the special memories of a special time in his life, and he was happy,” Spanky said.

As a final note, I know for a fact that Spanky Stephens was instrumental in convincing Coach Akers to include student managers and student trainers in the T-ring ceremony. Coach Akers thought it was such a good idea that he decided to make the T-ring presentation to managers and trainers retroactive.

James Cooke and David Anderson know a lot about the Statute of Limitations and taking game balls as SOUVENIRS. Please read the article with a sense of humor.

James Cooke was one of the Longhorn managers from 1967-69. During those years, James committed one of the most heinous and worst crimes in the history of college football.

Now that the statute of limitations has expired, Cooke admits that he stole the last game ball used in the 1969 Oklahoma game. He said the football is “used” but still branded with “University of Texas.” He now confesses that he has concealed a video showing the referee tossing the ball to Little Rail after Jack Mildred was tackled on the last play of the game.

“Texas was the home team in 1969, so I ran to the southeast corner of the field to make the switch,” Cooke said with remorse. He justifies his theft years after the fact by saying, “I kept the game ball (it was no big deal back then)… and I wanted it as a keepsake, not because I thought it had value to collectors. Nobody was collecting back then.”

If stealing the OU game ball was not bad enough, he also took the ball for the Navy game. I now know why. James chose to risk his reputation and a life sentence in jail for a second felony for something that has no economic value because he and Little Rail wanted to give the Navy ball to Jim Blaylock.

God rest his soul, but Jim Blaylock scared me more than Royal. James Cooke wanted to give the game ball to Mr. Blaylock because he knew Jim had a special heart, but for many of us on the team, the image shown is as close to a smiling heart as we ever saw. James now wants to atone for his sinful ways and donate the OU game ball last touched by the late great Jack Mildred to someone special or UT.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Spanky+Stephens+&view=detail&mid=58E5C061B9EF5A18BE2B58E5C061B9EF5A18BE2B&FORM=VIRE#

Speaking about atoning for past sins, I think it is time for all managers to purge their demons by visiting the deep crevices of their closets and making the football heritage of Texas whole again. Give back all those “lost” footballs through the decades, and maybe we can sell them to fund a new “T-room at the stadium. Every time I see Gary Mcintosh smile, I think the worst for many lost game balls. And then there is Juan Conde, who allegedly has the 1969 Big Shootout Arkansas game ball in his possession. I now call on Juan to return that ball to the University of Texas so it resides in glory in the pending new Hall of Honor.

Then there is David Anderson’s story that shows how Cooke’s days of infamous corruption infected the younger managers.

Anderson says, “James Cooke was two years ahead of me as a manager, but he served as a role model for the younger managers in many ways, particularly his adept handling of the OU game ball. My senior season was in 1972. UT beat Rice handily in Houston that year. As the game was about to end, the three senior managers, Bill (Sidney), Allison from Woodville, Barrett Gaus from Yoakum, and me, determined that we would expropriate the three Rice game balls when the final gun sounded.

We planned our move, executed it well, and arrived in the visitors’ locker room with one ball each. Remembering how James had passed the ball to Little Rail, I wrapped mine in my windbreaker, stepped out of the dressing room, and gave the windbreaker with the game ball hidden in it, to my girlfriend (and now wife of 45+ years). A few minutes later Coach Glen Swenson rounded up the three senior managers and told us in no uncertain terms that he wanted those three balls so he could return them to Rice.  All three of us expressed shock that he would think we had them, but he quickly located two in the area when the managers dressed. Coach Swenson pressed me about the third one, to which I replied quite truthfully, that I didn’t know where it was. That was the truth, as Jan and her friends had left the stadium and were somewhere between Houston and Austin, but I didn’t know exactly where. When I returned to Austin, I had the score and the date painted on the ball and now 47 years later, it sits on the shelf in my study, a few blocks from your house on Mesa Drive. Two Texas fullbacks ran for over 100 yards that night, with Roosevelt Leaks getting about 250 in the first half and Steve Fleming breaking the 100-year mark in the second half. Rice had no answer for the fullback dive that night!” End of David Anderson’s story

Alan Luskey and Brad Shearer friends for a lifetime

Harris Argo

In 2014, 25 years after starting the Greater Houston Athletic Trainers’ Society Hall of Honor with Danny Carrillo (another student trainer for the Horns), Mike Vara, Roy Don Wilson and Harris Argo were inducted into this Hall of Honor.

In the fall of 1975, Argo was student manager for Coaches Joe Howell and John Gabrisch. On the way to play Churchill, the coaches asked Harris if he wanted to be a student trainer: Argo said: “What’s a trainer?”

Argo was introduced to Coach Henry Birdwell, the Athletic Trainer at Holmes High school, and he gave Argo his first assignment: The Holmes Husky Girls Varsity Track team, yes he was hooked.

In 1977 Coach TR St.Charles arrived from Vandy. At some point in his first year, Coach TR asked Harris about his plans after high school. Harris responded that he wanted a business degree and an excellent job. TR said, “What about being an athletic trainer?” Argo, in the present reflecting on his life journey, says, “I might not have found my passion/career,” if he had not been asked that question.

Argo graduated from Holmes in 1979, and on his 18th birthday, he received a call from Michael “Spanky” Stephens, the Head Athletic Trainer at The University of Texas accepting me as a student trainer for the Longhorns. Argo had the honor/pleasure of working as a student trainer for Spanky Stephens and Eddie Day, the Assistant Athletic Trainer at The University of Texas from 1979-1984. He worked football for all five years and cross country and track for two years. From August 1984-1985, he was the Assistant Athletic Trainer of the Houston Gamblers of the U.S.F.L. under Roy Don Wilson.

From 1985-1991 he was the Athletic Trainer at Dulles H.S. in Sugar Land, where he had the pleasure of working with Piper Wagner, who, after graduating from Dulles, played Golf for the Horns. From 1991-2000 he worked in the Rehab department of Athletic, Orthopedics, and knee center for Mark Provenzano, MD. As of October 2018, he has worked with The Orthopedic Sports Clinic with Mark Provenzano, MD, Carl Palumbo, MD, Juan Bustos, MD, and Neil Badlani, MD. Hook ‘Em!

Harris

April 18, 2014 ·

Chris McComb

I still say my best job was $4.25/hour working for UT Football as a student equipment manager! It’s not the salary, but the experiences, lessons learned and the people you meet and learn with them with that make it special! That being said, I’m grateful for every opportunity and dear friends, colleagues, and, of course, the students and student/athletes I work with! We’ve all got to start somewhere!! Chris McComb

Juan Conde

Juan knows photo opportunities. Check it out from 0:00 to 1:11 on the attached link.

http://www.texasarchive.org/library/index.php?title=UT_vs._TCU_Football_and_Bauer_House_Tour

In 2009, when Coach Royal was still alive, he said to Juan Conde, “We are the only two left that were on all three national championship teams.” (1963, 1969, and 1970).

In 2018 Juan is the only one remaining.

Conde is behind President Nixon

In the early ’60s, Coach Royal assigned Conde to issue equipment to the incoming freshmen and take care of their everyday needs while Mr. Jim took care of the sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Conde followed the freshmen through the four years they were at Texas. He loved his job and made lifetime friends with all the football players.

As the assistant equipment manager, he was the attendant for many great players, including :

1 Heisman Trophy Winner – 1 Maxwell Award Winner- 2 Lombardi Award Winners

3 Outland Trophy Winners- 36 All Americans- 1 NFL Hall of Fame Member

10 College Football Hall of Fame Members- 8 Texas Sports Hall of Fame Winners

8 Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame Members- 25 Texas High School Hall of Fame Members

2 UPI Lineman of the Year

2015 Texas Football Letterman golf tournament at Circle C. (Left to right) Juan Conde, A.D,  Jim Hess,  Rodney Doutel, Jeff Crozier.

AND HE WAS PART OF SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT GAMES IN LONGHORN FOOTBALL HISTORY INCLUDING :

1963-Texas 7, Baylor 0                                                         1963-Texas 28,Oklahoma 7

1964-Texas 28, Navy 6                                                         1965-Texas 21,Alabama 17

1968-Texas 26,Oklahoma 20                                               1969-Texas 15,Arkansas 14

1970-Texas 20,UCLA 17                                                       1970 Cotton Bowl-Texas 21,Notre Dame 17

1973-Texas 17,Alabama 13                                                    1977-Texas 13,Oklahoma 6

1977-Texas 57,Texas A&M 28                                              1982-Texas 14,Alabama 12

Coach Royal was not only about football, but he also liked to have fun. He loved country music.

Pictured from left to right – Darrell McCall; Hector Guerra; Louie Murrillo; Darrell Royal; Edith Royal; Juan Conde & Jerry Jeff Walker. We all had a fun night! Picture made at the Silver Dollar South – Circa 1980

The Dark side Of Juan Conde- Allegations that he stole the 1969 Big Shoot-out game. He defends himself but…..

5:08 pm Dec 6

“I do not have the 1969 Texas/Arkansas Shootout game ball,” Conde said. “As you recall, the weather in Arkansas on that particular day was miserable, cold, rainy, and some sleet. So, I had to replace many wet footballs with dry footballs. I placed the wet footballs in a duffle bag. So there were many game footballs used in the game. After the game, I took them to the locker room and placed them with the rest of the equipment. The thought never entered my mind about keeping a game ball, even though there were several. I was too excited about us winning the game. When we returned to Austin, Mr. Blaylock and I put all game equipment in the equipment room, including the wet game ball. That’s the last I saw them. Now, I wish I had kept one. Also, Bill Little, the Texas SID, for the longest time, though I had kept the plaque President Nixon presented to Coach Royal. I told him I didn’t have it. I told Bill I heard President Nixon, while holding the plaque in his hands, tell Coach Royal since the plaque had not been engraved yet he was taking it back to Washington to have it engraved. That’s the last time I saw it. And to think, of the twenty-plus years I was the assistant equipment manager, I could have amassed many collectible items pertaining to Texas Longhorn football, but unfortunately, I didn’t.”

Conde’s accomplishments remind all Longhorns that, in sports and far beyond, his contributions to Longhorn heritage shape the present and empower the future.

Hook’em!

I still say my best job was $4.25/hour working for UT Football as a student equipment manager! It’s not the salary but the experiences, lessons learned, and the people you meet and learn with them that make it special! That being said, I’m grateful for every opportunity and for dear friends, colleagues, and of course the students and student/athletes that I get to work with! We’ve all got to start somewhere!! Chris McComb

UT started women’s athletics in 1974. At that time it was Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. Susan Abernathy, Julie Campbell, Susan Davis, and Carol Sheffield would capture the TAIAW state 2-mile relay state championship. In 1981, UT was the host for T&F Champions, Division I. UCLA would dominate the meet. UT women have captured 6 indoor and outdoor national championships. 19 Longhorns have competed in the Summer

Longhorn Olympians have won 18 total medals (9 gold)

https://www.texaslsn.org/michelle-adamolekun-trackl

Horn Olympians

https://www.texaslsn.org/longhorn-women-track-olympians

Erin Aldrich – Volleyball and Track 1999- Hard on herself and hard on teammates

Aldrich says she enjoys individual sports (high jump) more than team sports. Many who know Erin say they have never met anyone as competitive as Erin.” Her years as a Longhorn were focused on school and competing. There was little time for socializing with her schedule and goals. Sports were the focus of her life, and she confirmed that statement in 1999 when she said: “I do believe and hope that I can hold the world record in the high jump.”

The volleyball coach Jim Moore said, “I’m convinced Erin could be the best volleyball player who has ever played in this country.” “She’s so good already, and she only does it four or five months a year. She has gifts for volleyball that no one has ever had.”

 In Sports, Illustrated Erin is quoted as saying, “I find myself in volleyball being so focused on what I need to do, and a little bit closed off from my teammates.” She says about the volleyball team “Our biggest problem is holding each other accountable. ” Aldrich says. “If somebody makes a bad play, we don’t look at her and say, ‘You need to get that ball.’ Instead, we’re like ‘O.K., guys, we’ll do better.’ We are so nice to each other; I can’t believe it. It’s just crazy how cohesive we are. We are way too cohesive.”

04.07.2006

The full article about Sheretta Jones: “Finishing the race strong” is told at Texassports.com .

Sheretta Jones

NCAA champion, All-American, two-time Big 12 champion, six-time All-Big 12, NCAA and Texas record-holder in the distance medley relay, just to name a few highlights.

Moreover, beyond her track accomplishments are another set of achievements in the classroom. The epitome of a student-athletes, Jones also will receive her degree in the highly-competitive major of business administration at the end of the May.

Her collegiate and high school All-American honors go hand-in-hand with her valedictorian honor coming out of high school, where she was ranked No. 1 academically at Houston’s Forest Brook HS. Add to that the Academic All-Big 12 First Team honors and College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District plaudits, and you easily see that Sheretta’s future plans not only include a professional career, but plans for graduate school as well.

“Academically, I’ve achieved more than I ever thought I could achieve. When I got [to Texas], I went above and beyond those obstacles to achieve more than I expected,” Jones said. “But, it wasn’t as hard to achieve, academically as it has been athletically, to be honest. I have to work so much harder to earn athletic accolades. I can’t really say which recognition I enjoy the most, or which one is better. Here at UT, you are on a pedestal in your sport and in the classroom, and being a Longhorn student-athlete just makes you work even harder to do more than you’ve done already.”

One of the biggest struggles athletes face when they arrive on the UT campus is balancing the heavy demands of school and sports. However, Jones has been in the rhythm of multi-tasking for many years.

“I’ve done this [juggled school and track] for so long, ever since I was nine, so it’s kind of second nature,” she explained. “The question which would be hard to answer would be how would I balance not having track in my life, not having the two to compliment each other. Doing both doesn’t even affect me and I don’t even think twice about it,” Jones said.

This shift in priorities proved useful when Texas and head coach Bev Kearney came calling offered a scholarship, to which Jones was eager to sign.

“They had the best academic and athletic combination that was best suited for me. It wasn’t too far from home, and there were two big No. 1’s facing me. My major program was ranked number one nationally in UT’s business school, and Texas had the number one women’s track team, so why not?” Jones said.

“I’m also applying to graduate school, so upon acceptance to graduate school, I would start classes in August,” noted Jones. “I’ll possibly venture into a professional track career if it’s feasible and if a contract is available once I graduate and my eligibility is done.”

Never one to stop learning, it could also be said that these four years have been one long learning experience for Jones. Not only has she learned perseverance and benefits of hard work, but Jones has discovered the secret to success.

Michelle Carter

Shot Diva

By Kate Hull in Nov | Dec 2016, Special, Sports, TXEX on November 2, 2016, at 9:10 am | No Comments

Alcalde Magazine

Shot putter Michelle Carter is at the top of her game.

When Michelle Carter stepped into the throwing circle for her final heave at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the podium was within her reach; she was slotted to win silver. The distance to beat was 20.42 meters, held by two-time gold medalist Valerie Adams of New Zealand. In her third Olympic appearance, Carter was ready and focused—and not willing to settle for second place.

Hey, this is it. You might as well go for the gold, she thought to herself.

Then she unleashed a throw of 20.63 meters that shattered the American record and made Carter the first U.S. woman ever to win gold in shot put. She also became the first American woman to stand on the Olympic shot put podium in more than 50 years.

“I couldn’t believe it happened,” she says. “It is great to let the world know the USA women are competitors internationally in [shot put] and are capable of winning major championships—it opens doors for other women to see that these things are possible.”

A Red Oak, Texas, native, Carter, BS ’07, Life Member, is already setting her sights on the IAAF World Championships next year in London. In 2015, she placed third. Looking ahead to her next feat, she speaks with confidence and energy.

“I believe I have more to give. I want to see how far I can actually throw the shot put,” she says. “The only person who can beat me is myself. Even if I don’t win that day, but I gave 100 percent, I still won.”

Carter trains in Dallas alongside her father and coach, 1984 Olympic shot put silver medalist and former San Francisco 49ers nose tackle Michael Carter. She credits her competitive drive to her father’s coaching and her parents’ support.

“They always pushed me to be my best,” Carter says. “They always said, ‘You have more to give,’ and I’d figure out how to get it done.”

While training for Rio, the duo started at 8 a.m. to beat the high Texas temps, beginning with throwing drills before heading to the gym to lift weights and do physical therapy. A typical training day for Carter lasts 12 hours.

But when she isn’t in the throwing circle, she explores her other passion: beauty and fashion. The champion athlete is also a professional makeup artist. Carter, 31, has always enjoyed incorporating her glam habits into her sport.

“It is a part of me and I take that with me,” she says.

Carter prepared for her gold medal-winning shot put throw just like any other competition: She relaxed and focused on the task ahead. The last step of her preparation routine? Applying her NYX Monte Carlo lipstick in bright matte red, her color of choice when she represents Team USA. Only then was she ready to throw.

“When you feel good and you look good,” Carter says, “you have the confidence to do your best.” It’s a motto she takes to every competition.

While on UT’s track and field team, she earned the nickname Shot Diva for her confident demeanor. The only shot putter on the team, her teammates initially called her Track Diva, but she quickly changed the nickname to reflect her sport, and it’s stuck ever since.

“In sports, you are taught that you are supposed to be rough and tough and you can’t dress pretty,” she says. “Putting on makeup is what I do when I get ready for church, an interview, or a special event to look my best. I like to carry that into my sport. I get my nails done, get put together, and get ready to go to work.”

Carter has combined her two worlds into a body-positive identity she hopes to share with young female athletes. Next February, she will launch her first young girls’ sports camp in Dallas focused on female athletic empowerment and body-positive messaging. It’ll be called You Throw Girl Sports Confidence Camp.

“As a female athlete, we don’t look like the average woman,” she says, of shot putters. We have more muscles; our thighs may be bigger or our shoulders may be bigger. I want to break down these stereotypes and teach girls that we can’t all be built the same.”

The camp will focus on healthy eating habits, the importance of stretching and weight lifting, and setting personal goals.

“If Gabby Douglas was built like me, she couldn’t flip, and if I was built like Gabby, I couldn’t throw,” she says. “I want them to learn to appreciate it and learn good habits.”

Michiko Hattori has a storied collegiate career at the University of Texas:

• Four-time All-American

• Southwest Conference Player of the Year (1987-91)

• Two-time National Collegiate Golfer of the Year

• 1988-89 National Golf Coaches and Golf Week National Player of the Year

• Honda Broderick Award Player of the Year (1989-90)

• Southwest Conference Player of the Decade for the 1980s

• Led UT team to three top-10 finishes at the NCAAs

• UT record three top-10 individual NCAA finishes

• winning 10 individual titles , finishing in the top ten in 38 of 40 events during her 4 years as a Longhorn

• Three top 10 finishes at the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship (tied for 1st at the end of regulation in 1989 but lost lost in the playoff).

   

Before all of these honors and accolades a perfect storm of events Leads Hattori down a burnt orange brick road.

In her pre-teens and early teens Machiko did not like golf, but by 16 years of age Machiko’s golf maturity was evident, and she understood her destiny. Golf was part of her genetic make-up. Her mother was the Japanese amateur champion.

In Seattle, Washington in 1984 Coach Weis saw Hattori swing a club for the first time, and the road to Austin began.

In 1985 Hattori won the US amateur and the Asian amateur championship. In her travels, she met Tom Kite, the ex-Longhorn who played on two national championship golf teams at Texas and who was a prominent golfer on the PGA circuit. Hattori respected Kite and listened to him during the next two years as he symbolically whispered in Machiko’s ear “The stars at night are big and bright (clap, clap, clap) deep in the heart of Texas.”

In 1986, Hattori became the first golfer to win medalist honors at the U.S. Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Girls’ Juniors in the same year.

Recruiting, honors and Challenges

In March 1989, Machiko was considered one of the best women amateur golfers in the country. The NCAA ranked her #2, but while she came very close once, Michiko never won an NCAA championship tournament.    

Machiko’s greatness is as a Longhorn sports pioneer. Hattori’s accomplishments are a Reminder of All That is In Sports And Far Beyond. She has earned her equity stake in Longhorn Sports history. She has Shaped The Present And Empowered The Future and set a very high bar for future Longhorns.

Coach Weis

Little information exists about the early years of the Women’s Golf Program at the University of Texas prior to the hiring of Pat Weis as a P.E. teacher in 1957. Weis was instrumental in organizing the Texas women’s golf club in 1969, which competed non-competitively at the collegiate level until 1972. With the passage of Title IX in 1972, Weis was hired as the varsity women’s golf coach.

With increased financial support from the university and the leadership of new head coach, Pat Weis, UT Women’s Golf team began their inaugural season in 1972-1973. Weis, considered “The Architect of the Texas Longhorn Women’s Golf Team” by the Texas Legacy Support Network, coached the women’s golf team to win seven Southwest Conference Championships over the course of her twenty-one-year tenure from 1972 to 1993.

FROM THE BOOK LIFE OF COACH BY MICKIE EDWARDS

COACHES ARE REAL PEOPLE

Piper Wagner l (Longhorn golf 1987-1992) Left the Longhorn nation too soon. She was diagnosed with cancer in March 2011 and passed away in August of 2014.

COACHES ARE REAL PEOPLE
Piper Wagner

Piper Wagner l (Longhorn golf 1987-1992) Left the Longhorn nation too soon. She was diagnosed with cancer in March 2011 and passed away in August of 2014.

Coaches are people, too

In an emotional moment, Coach Weis could not speak because a friend has passed away so she touched Piper. Weis’s eyes teared up, and she could not speak so Coach touched her heart with her hand.

Piper said, ” I was shocked to see her that way”. “In college, all I thought about was me”. “People like Coach, they weren’t real people. Looking back on it now, it is so strange! We were just kids, completely self-centered. I certainly didn’t think about her having a life outside of coaching our team”. 

Piper’s comments are very insightful and reflect many coach/student-athlete relationships. I experienced the same epiphany with Coach Royal after he suffered a family tragedy. It was such a surprise for me to see him grieve. Like Piper- as a young, self-centered person- I was shocked at Coach Royal shedding tears.

Bari Brandwynne

Coach Weis sent Bari a letter stating that U.T. could not recruit her or pay her way to the campus for an interview. Bari understood this distorted rule written by the AIAW, so at 17, she drove from Las Vegas to Austin with her two dogs and met with Coach Weis. Bari became the youngest Longhorn golf member on the team.

The photos are of Bari Brandywine with Coach Weis, Bari’s team, and an action shot of Bari found in the “Cactus.”. In December 2019, Bari added to her story, “I was already recruited to play for Stanford…but was only receiving a partial scholarship. At the last moment, the coach called me up (because of my Vegas connections), and I told my mom that I needed to check out Texas before I committed to Stanford…the next morning, I got a trip ticket from AAA.

I drove with my two dogs in a day and a 1/2, walked into her office (with my dogs), and she yelled across the room… (in her Texas hard, loud accent)… “Well, this is the first time I have ever had a recruit walk into my office with two damn dogs!” I fell in love with her in two seconds… I called Bruce At Stanford and said my heart goes to Texas. I’ve been a Longhorn fan for life! The funny thing is while in Texas, Harvey Penick gave me his little white Maltese Heidi, who lived at Austin Country Club, and I adopted Harvey’s dog.

Bari Brandwynne is a Member of The LPGA Teaching and Club Professional (T&CP) Division. The LPGA T&CP was founded in 1959 and boasted the most prominent membership of female golf professionals worldwide.

LPGA T&CP members are certified as golf instructors, coaches, and business managers through a comprehensive curriculum designed to meet the changing needs of the golfing public. More than 1,500 strong LPGA T&CP members are dedicated to the advancement of golf and serve throughout the golf industry as head professionals, assistant professionals, teaching professionals, directors of golf, owners of golf schools and facilities, golf administrators, college and high school coaches, and more.

LPGA T&CP members support the LPGA’s various grassroots programs that were created to involve women and youth in golf and contribute to the overall growth of the sport. These programs include LPGA-USGA Girls Golf, LPGA Tour Junior Clinics, the LPGA Lesson Zone Presented by Volvik, and LPGA Golf Clinics for Women. Bari is at the Los Angeles Country Club in Los Angeles, CA.

Sophia Schubert –

https://www.kxan.com/sports-general/longhorn-dusty-renfro-gives-ultimate-gift-to-his-father/

Longhorn Dusty Renfro gives ultimate gift to his father

By Andrew Schnitker

Posted Dec 18, 2016 / 4:45 CST / Updated Dec 18, 2016. /4:45 CST

The two photos and one quote were added by Billy Dale.

The bond between father and son is greater than most. Throughout his football career, former Longhorn linebacker Dusty Renfro has relied on his dad.

Renfro played for the Longhorns from 1995 to 1998, leading Texas in tackles in his junior season. During this holiday season, Renfro gave his dad a priceless gift.

He gave him a future.

On a houseboat in Lago Vista, Dusty Renfro ditched traffic for Lake Travis. In some ways, a return to the quiet calm of his childhood.

Renfro and his entire family moved back to Austin two years ago searching for a renewed way of life. For Renfro’s dad, Terry, it was a necessary pursuit.

“It was a family effort to get him into shape,” Dusty Renfro said.

“I knew that if I was working out with him we’d get it done because you tend to procrastinate when you do it by yourself. I needed that motivation,” Terry Renfro said.

In bad health, Terry Renfro needed a change. He needed a workout partner and no one fit the bill better than his Longhorn linebacking son.

“Every time I’ll say that’s enough well he’ll start giving me those little one-liners that Maddog (Jeff Madden) used to give him. I’ve just always told my son that they could accomplish anything they set their mind to and so it wasn’t going to be fitting to teach them that as little boys and then me as an adult not follow through with it,” Terry Renfro said.

Working out flat-out worked. The Renfro father and son helping each other. In three years, Terry Renfro lost a significant 113 pounds. The significant purpose came with it.

“When that doctor looks you in the face and tells you that you have cancer and your kidney’s are failing it’s just like…well, that’s surely not me he’s talking to,” Terry Renfro said,

The goal– find a kidney transplant. That’s when fate and family stepped in.

“We’re going to get you in shape and I’m going to give you a kidney,” Dusty Renfro said.

Though the intentions were clear, challenges remained for Dusty’s ultimate gift to his dad. Terry Renfro needed to lose weight for a transplant. Dusty needed to shed some of his own to donate. It didn’t even include a father grappling with a son’s sacrifice.

“We just don’t like the idea of a perfectly healthy son going into surgery it’s hard to take a gift like that from your child,” Terry Renfro said. “I called him I said well i’m not going to take the kidney and he said ‘well, dad if I needed one would you give me one?’ I just went with that because I knew that I would give him one.”

With a talk between father and son, a future was extended throughout the Renfro tree.

“I had a talk with my sons and I said look, this is the right thing to do. I just told them…we are supposed to give until it hurts,” Dusty Renfro said.

The Renfro’s underwent successful surgery in early December. Dusty giving of himself for his dad. As for their workout plan– it’s still intact, just with a break for recovery.

“He’ll go oh man, that hurts so bad…I’ll go no, you know what hurts? Having a kidney removed that’s what hurts,” Dusty Renfro said.

“The guilt deal he puts guilt on me. He also said that he never has to buy me a birthday or Christmas gift…that he’s paid up. I agreed to accept that,” Terry Renfro said.

During a holiday based on giving, this is one gift beyond value.

The connection between father and son is a bond greater than most. Throughout his football career, former Longhorn linebacker Dusty Renfro has relied on his dad.

Renfro played for the Longhorns from 1995 to 1998, leading Texas in tackles in his junior season. During this holiday season, Renfro gave his dad a priceless gift.

He gave him a future.

On a house boat in Lago Vista, Dusty Renfro ditched traffic for Lake Travis. In some ways, a return to the quiet calm of his childhood.

Renfro and his entire family moved back to Austin two years ago searching for a renewed way of life. For Renfro’s dad, Terry, it was a necessary pursuit.

“It was a family effort to get him into shape,” Dusty Renfro said.

“I knew that if I was working out with him we’d get it done because you tend to procrastinate when you do it by yourself. I needed that motivation,” Terry Renfro said.

In bad health, Terry Renfro needed a change. He needed a workout partner and no one fit the bill better than his Longhorn linebacking son.

“Every time I’ll say that’s enough well he’ll start giving me those little one-liners that Maddog (Jeff Madden) used to give him. I’ve just always told my son that they could accomplish anything they set their mind to and so it wasn’t going to be fitting to teach them that as little boys and then me as an adult not follow through with it,” Terry Renfro said.

Working out flat out worked. The Renfro father and son helping each other. In three years, Terry Renfro lost a significant 113 pounds. The significant purpose came with it.

“When that doctor looks you in the face and tells you that you have cancer and your kidney’s are failing it’s just like…well, that’s surely not me he’s talking to,” Terry Renfro said,

The goal– find a kidney transplant. That’s when fate and family stepped in.

“We’re going to get you in shape and I’m going to give you a kidney,” Dusty Renfro said.

Though the intentions were clear, challenges remained for Dusty’s ultimate gift to his dad. Terry Renfro needed to lose weight for a transplant. Dusty needed to shed some of his own to donate. It didn’t even include a father grappling with a son’s sacrifice.

“We just don’t like the idea of a perfectly healthy son going into surgery it’s hard to take a gift like that from your child,” Terry Renfro said. “I called him I said well i’m not going to take the kidney and he said ‘well, dad if I needed one would you give me one?’ I just went with that because I knew that I would give him one.”

With a talk between father and son, a future was extended throughout the Renfro tree.

“I had a talk with my sons and I said look, this is the right thing to do. I just told them…we are supposed to give until it hurts,” Dusty Renfro said.

The Renfro’s underwent successful surgery in early December. Dusty giving of himself for his dad. As for their workout plan– it’s still intact just with a break for recovery.

“He’ll go oh man, that hurts so bad…I’ll go no, you know what hurts? Having a kidney removed that’s what hurts,” Dusty Renfro said.

“The guilt deal he puts guilt on me. He also said that he never has to buy me a birthday or Christmas gift…that he’s paid up. I agreed to accept that,” Terry Renfro said.

During a holiday based on giving, this is one gift beyond value.

Blake Brockermeyer – the Reluctant Longhorn.

Blake Brockermeyer is an All-American; a member of UT’s All-Century team; a member of Texas’s All-time team; and the most valuable lineman in the 1994 Sun Bowl game against North Carolina.

Blake’s father, Kay, was an offensive lineman for Texas under Coach Royal in the late 1950s. Blake says about his dad,

“Even though my dad played there, it wasn’t something that was talked about a lot.” In fact, Blake was never even immersed in the UT culture growing up. Blake continues, “ He (dad) was very much about going to college to get an education. He grew up in Fort Worth and was from very humble beginnings. His education was part of his future where , you know , most kids now it’s like football is their major. “ Kay got his law degree.

Blake said, “I was 100 percent going out of state… When I did my official visits, I didn’t have an official college visit in the state of Texas at first.” Blake had other visions for his future in college football. UCLA, Florida State, and Washington were high on his list of dream schools. As with many others, Blake was not impressed with the SWC. A conference composed of Texas schools and Arkansas. He says in the book “The Road to Texas by Mike Roach, “You know, TCU wasn’t very good, and I didn’t want to stay at home anyway. Texas had not been very good the last few years, and so really, I thought if I wanted to get to play somewhere” else…..

But he did not. Due to a combination of factors, including strength coach Dana LeDuc’s influence, his parents’ desires, and David McWilliams’ coaching style, Blake ended up becoming a Longhorn.

Octavious Bishop

A four-year letterman (1995-98) and three-year starter at left tackle for the Longhorns.   Bishop was a part of Texas teams that claimed the final Southwest Conference title in 1995 and the first-ever Big 12 Championship in 1996. In Bishop’s final year, Mack Brown’s first at Texas, the Longhorns went 9-3 and won the Cotton Bowl. Octavious is now the Director of Student Leadership/personal development at UT. His oral/history podcast is at https://www.texaslsn.org/dr-octavious-bishop-oral-history

Kwame Cavil – 1997-1999

05.26.2012

Catching up with: Kwame Cavil

 May 26, 2012

Kwame Cavil played wide receiver at Texas from 1997-99. He played in 33 career games, including the 1999 Cotton Bowl and set UT and Big 12 single-season records for receptions (100) and receiving yards (1,188) in 1999. He ranked third on the UT career charts in receptions (174) and fourth in receiving yardage (2,279) at the end of his career. Cavil started the final 27 games of his career and caught at least one pass in 29 of his final 30 games, including his final 21 contests. He teamed with Major Applewhite to become one of the most productive QB-WR duos on UT record (144 completions/1,727 yards). He was a 1999 second-team All-American (Associated Press), 1999 first-team All-Big 12, 1999 UT Darrell K Royal Most Valuable Player) and 1999 UT Most Outstanding Wide Receiver. He posted a UT freshman record of 23 receptions for 316 yards (ranked No. 2 on the UT all-time freshman list) in 1997. He signed as a free agent with the Buffalo Bills following the 2000 NFL Draft and played one season in Buffalo. Cavil then played five seasons in the Canadian Football League with Montreal, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Hamilton. Cavil spoke to MB-TF.com during Letterman’s Weekend.

TLSN: How are you enjoying your time here at Letterman’s weekend?

Cavil: I was always ready to come back and make a fellowship with the guys. Just bringing up old stories and creating new ones on the golf course, people lying on their golf scores. So it is a great deal and I love to come out here and see the guys that I don’t see all the time. Once you leave here, you are back to the regular swing of things. So, coming out here and getting the chance to see these guys is always a great thing.

TLSN: What are you doing now?
Cavil: Currently, I am at Manor High School teaching speech communications, and I am the DB coach. I am just fulfilling my life long dreams of helping kids and watching them be successful. I come from a family of teachers so I love it. It is a great deal and every year it is something different.

TLSN: Tell us about your experience playing in the CFL.
Cavil: It was tremendous. I got the chance to be successful and won two Grey Cups. I got the chance to play for a long time, and I enjoyed it. It was cold being from Texas where it is always warm, but I enjoyed myself. [I] had a great time up there, had the chance to be a champion, and it is always good to come back and tell the guys how good it is up there.

TLSN: What was it like to experience a little bit of the world?
Cavil: It was beautiful. What’s funny is that when you are good to the game, the game is good back to you. The game was taking me to a lot of places, being able to travel the world and see a lot of new things. I tribute all of that to hard work and dedication. This game of football has now been able to bring us all back together right here in [south Austin.] So it is always good to go out and see other things and get more culturally diverse and bring it back to the states. To be here with the young ones, when they get old enough, and then you get to tell them you actually did something.

TLSN: How did attending UT prepare you for your career?
Cavil: Just coming in and being part of a tremendous coaching experience as far as the things Mack Brown permeates through his program. Just the family atmosphere at the University of Texas and going back and seeing that is just a wonderful thing and to see that with all the things you are able to do.

TLSN: Has seeing James Brown and Ricky Williams brought back a flood of memories?
Cavil: The reason why you come back is to tell new stories and relive some old stories that you guys did on the field. It’s like a big ol’ family. It’s just like coming back to family and seeing where everybody is at now and catch up. It is a good thing, and I do it every year.

TLSN: What are your thoughts about being in that select group of great Texas wide receivers?
Cavil: It is a tradition. Before I got here, it was Mike Adams and Eric Metcalf and people like that that set the tone and standard here at the University of Texas. So what we are just trying to do, at each position, is carry on the legacy and pass the torch on to the younger guys and have them follow in the footsteps that we set for them. Hopefully, they can live up to it and be a great success. Like you said, Quan Cosby, Jordan Shipley and his little brother [Jaxon], the tradition just goes on and on. There will probably be someone after him, so it is just about the level of excellence that you set, and I want all of them to live up to it and continue the tradition.

Ricky Brown

RICKY BROWN

Ricky Brown moved into his current role as Assistant Athletics Director for the T-Association in January 2016.

In his new position, Brown focuses on enhancing engagement and mentoring programs for letter winners. After spending the past three years as the Longhorn Foundation’s assistant athletics director for leadership giving, he joined the T-Association, where he oversaw fundraising activities for capital projects and endowments.

Brown is a Texas football letterwinner who earned his undergraduate communications degree from UT and his MBA from SMU.

Brown grew up in Arlington, Texas, and in his free time enjoys cycling, fishing, and hunting.

Tony Brackens-1993

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)

 Brackens the Saddle Again . . . Texas Player Also Real Cowboy

By AP

Article excerpt

The work never stops on a ranch. Just ask Texas Longhorns star defensive end Tony Brackens, who spent the team’s off weekend at his family’s farm in East Texas herding cattle into a pasture for winter feeding.

While his teammates were relaxing, watching other teams play on TV, and challenging each other to video games, Brackens was on horseback, rounding up 150 cows and seven bulls into trailers.

And that’s nothing for the junior from Fairfield, who found time during prolific high school basketball and football careers to make a little extra money in local rodeo competitions.

He no longer has to get up early to bale hay, break a horse or rope an errant calf.

These days, Brackens just has to go to football practice and take on 300-pound offensive linemen on Saturdays.

“It’s easier. Here, I have a time limit. When the whistle sounds, or the buzzer goes off, I’m done,” said Brackens, who began driving tractors when he was 8.

“When I was at home this weekend, I didn’t finish until 9:30 at night. When you’re doing ranch work, you finish whenever you get finished.”

Pro scouts already liken the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Brackens to Dallas Cowboys defensive end Charles Haley. Brackens consistently uses quickness, leverage, and uncanny instincts to get to opposing quarterbacks.

Brackens had 10 sacks as a true freshman while earning Southwest Conference Defensive Newcomer of the Year honors. Last year, he repeated as a first-team All-SWC selection, leading Texas in sacks (7), tackles for loss (10), and quarterback pressures (30) while becoming the focus of double teams.

A hairline fracture in his left leg kept him out of 3 1/2 games this season, but in his first game back against Oklahoma, he had two sacks, three pass breakups, two quarterback pressures, two other tackles for loss, and blocked a field goal attempt.

“Tony forces teams to change their offensive scheme,” said Texas coach John Mackovic. “He constantly draws double teams and still has success. You’ll catch some guys resting on a play now and then. Tony never rests.”

Brackens is quiet and humble, never speaking poorly of opponents and echoing Mackovic’s one-game-at-time approach.

The Florida Times-Union

Who Is Tony Brackens?

By Oehser, John

Article excerpt

He was, as usual, quiet about the whole thing. Tony Brackens told no one because, really, who needed to know?

The public? What did they care about him? Not as a football player, but for him, the person. The University of Texas? No, no one there needs to know because that would mean someone else finding out, then the media, then . . .

Aaarghh. He didn’t need it. So in the spring of 1995, when he began volunteering for Child Protective Services in Austin, a group that works with displaced children from abusive homes, he told no one, which worked. For a while. Until he brought the five-year-old boy, he adopted into the program to practice.

“He was devastated when I found out,” John Bianco, Texas’ sports media relations director, said, “because he knew I’d probably tell everyone, which I did.”

Aaargh.

“He wound up winning a Good Works award from the College Football Association and getting a lot of good publicity,” Bianco said, adding with a laugh, “Tony may not ever have really forgiven me for that.”

Who is Tony Brackens? Really? Those who know him best believe the above story as good a glimpse as any into one of the more un-glimpsable players on the Jaguars.

He is more than a Pro Bowl defensive end, more than the guy who spent the summer making big demands and bigger headlines, but what, exactly, that something more is is difficult to define. On the field, he’s phenomenal at times and inconsistent at others. Off the field, he is just as enigmatic. Some teammates call him a valued friend; others say he’s difficult to know. Publicly, he is aloof, intimidating, a mystery, but those who know him best say to remember one thing about his elusive image.

He wouldn’t want it any other way.

“He’s a private person,” said Brackens’ head coach at Texas, John Mackovic. “That’s just how Tony is, and once you realize that, you understand him.”

Mackovic, speaking from his home in Austin, paused, then said, “What, can you not live with that?”

Suspicion was normal in researching this story. Brackens, 24, has been media-wary since being drafted in the second round in 1996, agreeing to interviews only occasionally and rarely letting questions stray from football. In the off-season, he declined all public comment after the Jaguars made him their franchise player in free agency, limiting his ability to sign elsewhere. He declined interviews for this story through his agent.

Some close to him rallied around his anti-media stance. A telephone phone call to Brackens’ coach at Fairfield (Texas) High School, Randy Angel, resulted in a message through a receptionist, “If Tony’s not talking to the media, I’m not, either.” The receptionist said Brackens was a “great kid in high school.”

“He was my assistant in a free period,” she said cheerfully. Asked her name and if she would like to talk about Brackens, she said, “Oh, no, no. I can’t do that to Tony.”

Brackens’ father, Tony Brackens, Sr. did agree to be interviewed and said his son’s reluctance to speak, even before this summer, often has been misunderstood.

Brackens, Sr., is, by nature, outgoing. He has been involved in local politics in Fairfield much of the last two decades and was mayor from 1993-95.

“Tony’s not that way,” Brackens, Sr., said. “He’s like me in a lot of ways, in that he’d rather do something than talk about. As mayor, I’d get a road worked on or something built, and that’s what I liked about the job. As a football player, he likes the ‘doing’ part.

“I can get up and talk a little bit. With Tony talking to a group, it’s just one of his drawbacks. Everybody’s got something they don’t do really well. That’s Tony’s. Speak to him; he’ll talk back, but he doesn’t like crowds, really, and he especially doesn’t like talking to them.”

— — —

Who is Brackens? Who is the guy threatening to skip the season if the Jaguars don’t pay him $7-8 million a year?

Leonard Davis 1997

In 2004 the 44,000 square foot Denton A. Cooley Pavilion was dedicated. The facility is where both the women and men practice on separate courts. It was one of the best workout facilities in the country when built.

Denton Cooley wanted to be a jock, not a doctor in his younger years. Fortunately, the confused younger Cooley at Texas discovered the heart and became one of the most esteemed surgeons in the world.

Denton was a 6-4 walk-on center in 1939 and played an important role in winning the SWC championship and participating in the NCAA basketball tournament.

There were no flights to Madison Square Garden, so the team hopped on a train to play Manhatten College. The Horns won. The next day they played in Temple in Philadelphia and lost.

The Horns started the NCAA playoffs heading by train to San Francisco. Coach Gray noticed that Cooley was in the dining car eating buckwheat pancakes. Gray looked at Denton and said, “No buckwheat for you, Buckwheat!” The name stuck for the rest of his years at Texas.

When a Sooner helped the Horns

Meet Tyrone Branyan 1978

Pastor Gerald Mann at River Bend Church about the only factor athletes can control to achieve success.

Coach Lemons probably would never have seen—or even heard of—Branyan had it not been for George Brewer, a friend of Tyrone’s father and a former football teammate of Texas Athletic Director Darrell Royal. When Branyan was a sophomore at Cypress Junior College in California, Brewer wrote Royal about him, and Royal passed the letter on to Lemons.

Abe had never heard of Branyan, but the letter sounded so interesting that he sought a more detailed evaluation from Tyrone’s junior-college coach. Lemons liked the coach’s report enough that he gave Branyan a scholarship sight unseen. Only then did he dispatch Assistant Coach Barry Dowd to check him out.

Part of a Sports Illustrated article about #31 Tyrone Branyan #31 as told by Sports Illustrated.

IT’S NOT A LONE STAR STATE

THE LONGHORNS AND AGGIES ARE TIED FOR FIRST IN THE SWC, MAINLY BECAUSE OF A FORWARD WHO’S BETTER THAN HE THINKS HE IS AND A CENTER WHO MAY BE AS GOOD AS HE SAYS HE IS

By Larry Keith

FEBRUARY 12, 1979

6’7” Tyrone Branyan does not run fast or jump high or have a perfect shooter’s form but halfway thru the 1978 seasons he was leading the Longhorns with Tyrone averaging 18.2 points and 7.44 rebounds a game. Branyan plays a lot better than he looks

Texas Coach Abe Lemons took Branyan without ever having seen him play, which may have been to Lemons’ advantage.

Lemons probably would never have seen—or even heard of—Branyan had it not been for George Brewer, a friend of Tyrone’s father and a former football teammate of Texas Athletic Director Darrell Royal. When Branyan was a sophomore at Cypress Junior College in California, Brewer wrote Royal about him, and Royal passed the letter on to Lemons. Abe had never heard of Branyan, but the letter sounded so interesting he sought out a more detailed evaluation from Tyrone’s junior college coach. Lemons liked the coach’s report enough that he decided to give Branyan a scholarship sight unseen. Only then did he dispatch Assistant Coach Barry Dowd to check him out.

After watching Branyan play in a junior-college tournament, Dowd called Lemons and said, “Picture a guy who can’t jump, can’t run and shoots funny. Now picture him with 24 points, 17 rebounds and the Most Valuable Player trophy in the championship game.”

Lemons was overjoyed—until he actually saw Branyan himself the next fall. As is his custom, Branyan was in poor shape when he showed up for preseason workouts, and he was anything but impressive on the practice floor. When he got a chance to play, Lemons says, “People were aghast.” However, by the second conference game Branyan was a starter, and he finished the year with respectable averages of 12.8 points and 5.7 rebounds. “If Tyrone could jump up and spin around twice and then score,” says Lemons, “everybody would ooh and aah. But he isn’t that kind of player. He’s exceeded my expectations by about a million.”

The oddest thing about Branyan is the way he shoots his jump shot—off his chest. The best thing about him is the way his teams always win.

Respect is something Branyan has learned to live without. Instead of reveling in his success, he questions it, scoffing at the suggestion that he or his team is anything special. “It’s hard for me to think we’re as good as the top teams,” he says. “I guess I still look up to those people, because I never thought I could play with them.”

And Texas can thank Branyan for its semi-lofty status. He is averaging 18.2 points and 7.4 rebounds and has been the only consistent performer during Texas’ 16-5 season.

Ron Baxter and Abe Lemons- A duo that changed The History of Longhorn Basketball.

In the book Abe Lemons Court Magician by Bob Burke and Kenny Franks, Abe Lemons is quoted as saying I like to recruit “a wild guy, somebody that’s stung by a bee.” “I like a wild horse that just tears up the gym.” “I like people with unusual characteristics that you can calm down and help make something of.” Abe liked players that had been given nicknames from his teammates, such as “adding machine” or the “helicopter.”

On his first recruiting trip to California as the Longhorn head coach, he found an individual that qualified for his “type” of a recruit.

Ron Baxter was Abe Lemons’s first great recruit at Texas. Ron was the high school co-player of the year in Los Angeles. Abe says, “I saw him (Ron) play against the Russians.” “The Russians even brought their official.” “Talk about a crook.” The local paper after the game says, “Russians introduce six-man basketball to the U.S.” Abe saw a lot of potential in Ron during the game, even though Coach Lemons criticized his play, saying, “Baxter passes too much” “Doesn’t shoot enough.” “Shot only twice against the Russian.” “He made one.” Abe knew that Ron was a great athlete, and he just needed a coach who would encourage him to shoot more.

For the rest of Ron’s story, click on the Longhorn icon below, and you will go right to the article.

Ron says he chose UT over other schools because Abe convinced him he could be part of building a great program. In the book “You Scored One More Point Than a Dead Man,” organized by Robert Heard, Ron Baxter says about Coach Lemons style “There was none of this, You’ll have breakfast at seven, and you do such and such at 8:00 and …..” “He did not act like a coach.” Baxter also liked his tart tongue. “He cut me up pretty good for not moving down the baseline one time when I was inbounding against a full-court press, and he told me I couldn’t get open (for a shot) if a dead man guarded me, and that I couldn’t hit the basket with a shotgun.”

In the book, Abe Lemons Court Magician  Ron tells a story about how he learned the difference between Abe coaching at practice and Abe at all other times. He says one day at practice, “From the moment he grabbed my shirt, I knew this man was business in practice. He might have said some funny things to loosen us up, but he demanded my attention every moment in every exercise. I knew if I wanted to play, I had to go all out in practice.”

Baxter Loved The Lemons System Saying “It’s Take The Quick, Good Shot.” “You Just Play Basketball.” “If You Can Get Open Inside 20 Feet, You Take Your Shot”. “We Ran A Stack To Get The Ball To Jim Krivacs On The Baseline.” “If Not, It’s Free Lance And Goes One On One.” Ron Baxter Says Lemon Coached To His Players Ability”. He Does Not “Make Them Fit Into A System.” “He Is The Best Sideline Coach In The Nation.”

Abe was not one to pass out compliments easily. The player had to earn his praise. Abe says about Ron, “From the standpoint of basketball instinct, and the ability to do so many things so well, he’s as good a freshman as I’ve ever had.”

Baxter took some heavy hits from the New York media about his weight. Before the NIT Final Four in New York, Texas was playing Rutgers and Georgetown was playing N.C. State in the semis. It was a public shoot around and Georgetown coach John Thompson is standing with Abe when he points at Ron and says: “Who is the fat kid? Abe answers: “He’s my best player.”

Baxter proved Abe right. Baxter was CO-MVP of the NIT tournament scoring 26 points. In all 4 tournament games he scored 71 points and had a a tournament high 41 rebounds. Marquette’s 6-10” Jerome Whitehead said about Baxter “they had a 6’4” guy (Ron Baxter) who was pounding everybody up.”

“ Ron says about Lemons match up zone defense. His (Lemons) defenses are extremely complex, but they’re effective. A couple of teams ….had no idea of how to attack our defense, they didn’t even know what defense we were running””

Ron Baxter ends his career as SWC player of the year and he sets 7 school records his senior season including all-time leading scorer and rebounder.

Jimmy Blacklock

Blacklock honored as Globetrotters ‘Legend,’ reflects on time at UT

By Jake Garcia

After two years at Tyler Junior College, Blacklock signed with Texas. He joined the Longhorns one year after Sam Bradley. Bradley averaged 6.5 points per game during the 1969-70 season, but Blacklock quickly took on the starring role, averaging 16.6 points per game.

Blacklock was honored as a Globetrotters ‘Legend,’ reflecting on his time at UT.

He was the team’s MVP for the 1970-71 season, and Coach Black named him captain of the 1972 team. The 19 wins in 1972 were the most for a Longhorn basketball team in 24 years. The 1972 team also shared the SWC championship for the first time in seven years.

Blacklock says he developed a respect for a few of his teammates, but that admiration did not lead to any friendships. He wasn’t helped by any teammates when he got into a fight during a game at Mississippi. He told the Austin American Statesman, “I think had I been a player of a different race (the experience) would have been beautiful, incredible, but I wasn’t,” Blacklock said. “I loved the ball-playing. I loved the education. Socially, it was a disaster.”

After graduation, he chose to join the Harlem Globetrotters as a player and then as a coach. He returned to Austin only one time in 30 years. It was only after he was inducted into the Hall of Honor in 2016 that he finally felt appreciated for his accomplishments. For the first time, he realized that he played an essential part in the history of Longhorn sports.

Jimmy Blacklock honored as Globetrotters ‘Legend,’ reflects on time at UT

Blacklock has cemented himself in Harlem history but his place in Texas history was set in stone long ago. Author: Jake García (KVUE)

Published: 2:37 PM CST March 1, 2020

AUSTIN, Texas — Jimmy Blacklock became a Harlem Globetrotter’s “Legend” Friday night, the most prestigious distinction short of jersey retirement that the organization gives. At the University of Texas, he was already a legend – even if it took him and others some time to realize it.

“He was a pioneer,” former teammate Harry Larrabee said. “When you’re in the midst of that, it was hard to see the future, but obviously, it was monumental for the university, the Southwest Conference, college basketball.”

Blacklock was the first African American starter on the Texas men’s basketball team, the first to lead the team in scoring, and the first to be named a captain. His efforts were critical in the steps to full integration and full acceptance at Texas.

“I didn’t see the significance of it, but every year for the last 15, 20 years, I really thought about it, and it’s just been painted into my mind that, yeah, I may have had a lot of things to have done with that,” Blacklock said.

“I stood on somebody else’s shoulders, and that shoulder was my coach Leon Black. This guy was strong and mighty, and he took a chance with me,” he said.

The week had already been a busy one for Texas freshman Lawrence Sampleton. On Sunday he was still treating a sprained ankle that had limited his play to specialty teams for the first four games of the season. On Monday he learned he “would be a starter for the first time—against third-ranked, unbeaten Arkansas. And on Tuesday he was worrying about his mother, who was scheduled to enter a hospital for an operation. But on Saturday Sampleton shucked his cares and caught four passes for 108 yards and a touchdown, as once-beaten Texas upset Arkansas 28-21 before 78,000 fans in Texas Memorial Stadium. It was enough to remind the Southwest Conference that, whatever was occurring in the Cotton Bowl and elsewhere, one should not take tradition lightly.

The 6’6″, 215-pound Sampleton first burst into prominence in the second quarter with the score tied 7-7. At Seguin High School, …. Sampleton once ran the 220 in 21.6 seconds. Now Longhorn Quarterback Randy McEachern was looking for that speed. Arkansas Cornerback Vaughn Lusby had left the game with a fractured cheekbone and McEachern wanted to test his replacement, O. C. Jackson. With a first and 10 on the Texas 32, McEachern threw to Sampleton over the middle. Running in his size 13½ Puma basketball sneakers, Sampleton caught up with the ball at the Arkansas 42. Three plays later McEachern again unloaded in Sampleton’s direction. Sampleton and Jackson went up for the ball at the five. With his 11½-inch height advantage, Sampleton won the struggle and eased into the end zone for the go-ahead score.

Arkansas took the kickoff and, with 54 seconds left, Quarterback Ron Calcagni threw on first down from the Hogs’ 20. Johnnie Johnson intercepted, and four plays later McEachern hit Lam Jones with a five-yarder in the corner of the end zone. Texas led 20-7 at the half, and Sampleton’s score looked pivotal.

But who, everyone wondered, who is this guy? “Super kid,” said Bill Ellington, the Texas assistant athletic director. “We’ve been looking at him since his sophomore year in high school.” For that matter, Texas has been looking for an all-conference tight end to call its own since 1968. (Luck follows those who try the hardest) In the third quarter Arkansas put thoughts of Sampleton far out of mind…… and the Hogs took a 21-20 lead. If an interception of a pass intended for Sampleton following Arkansas’ last TD hadn’t been negated by a roughing-the-passer call, the Hogs might well have been home free. Instead, on the last play of the third quarter, McEachern again found Sampleton, hitting him for 14 yards and setting up a 47-yard field-goal attempt by another Seguin native, Russell Erxleben. It was wide. No matter. With 8:02 left, McEachern threw to Sampleton for the last time, 32 yards to the Arkansas 10. Another corner-of-the-end-zone pass to Lam Jones and the Long-horns were ahead for good.

Last year Texas handed Arkansas its only defeat. And now, a freshman in his first varsity start has just about wiped out the Hogs’ national championship hopes.

Randy McEachern has a dream

Randy McEachern’s Dream

The 6 years prior to 1977 Texas record against OU was 0-5-1. In 1977 Randy McEachern’s dream leads the way to a victory over O.U.

In the book “Oklahoma vs. Texas” the author Robert Heard chronicles the OU and Texas game in 1977. Before the 1977 season started quarterback Ted Constanzo underwent knee surgery for a racquetball injury so Akers decided to move Randy from defense to 3rd team quarterback.

“A month before the OU game, Randy tells his parents about “ his crazy dream”. Randy says “ I dreamt the quarterback got hurt, and we were behind, and I went in and won the game.” Robert Heard continues his story about Randy. He says Randy’s parents were listening to the OU game and when McBath went down his mother and father looked at each other. “When Aune went down” Randy’s father got a sheet of paper and wrote in big letters “Randy’s dream.” When the Horns won the game Randy’s father took that piece of paper and completed the sentence “Randy’s dream comes true.”

 Steve Ross says about this game “it was my first game I ever broadcast live on TV. It was a "local exception" telecast where if the game was on a neutral site and sold out the two home markets could telecast it. I was at KVUE and worked with Chris Lincoln and Jerry Parks from KTUL in Tulsa. Like I said it was my first telecast and I studied the depth chart backwards and forwards. I knew the two-deep -- their hometowns, their parents names and their pets name. Then Texas first two QB's go down. Chris turns to me and says, "so who comes in to play QB for Texas?" I have no idea.  

Texas won this game even though they lost 2 quarterbacks; crossed the 40 only once; converted only 1 of 12 third downs; and had only 9 first downs in the game. Randy’s dream of being the winning quarterback continued through the whole 1977 season. Randy, Earl Campbell and the Texas defense took the undefeated Horns to the Cotton Bowl to play once defeated Notre Dame. The Horns were #1 team in the nation but lost to the Irish.

Excluding this one nightmare game against Notre Dame, Randy’s dream season set the tone for Longhorn recruiting for the next 5 years. Longhorn fans for the first time in a long time were howling to the The Burnt Orange moon arising.

Randy is in the Hall of Honor.

JAY ARNOLD AND HIS TEAMMATES IMPACT ON LONGHORN FOOTBALL HISTORY

Bill Little writes an article in 2013 that deals with the repercussions of OU hiring Coach Jim Helms away from Texas. Following is part of the article.

 Bill Little says:

The worst, however, was yet to come. Just before the season had started, archrival Oklahoma had raided Royal’s coaching staff with the hiring of Jim Helms, a former Longhorn running back who had just spent the last several years as a coach at Texas. The last minute hiring fueled the resentment at UT toward Sooner coach Barry Switzer, since Helms had been a part of all of the spring and fall preparations for the season.

Whether or not Helms’ knowledge of Texas’ plans made a difference quickly became a point of contention, particularly after Oklahoma hammered the Longhorns, 52-13, and Helms was presented the game ball in the Sooner dressing room after the contest.

What followed, however, is one of the untold stories of a remarkable turnaround — and a lesson that would play itself out years later in another place and time. Texas was 2-2 as an angry Royal came into a team meeting the following Sunday.

Royal began by questioning the team’s desire and commitment, but before he had gone far into the speech, Arnold, who would become an all-SWC defensive back that year, interrupted him.

“That’s not right, coach,” Arnold said from the back of the room. “They changed everything we had prepared for — stuff they had done last year and this year. We played as hard as we could. We were going full-speed to the wrong places.”

The uneasy silence in the room was broken when defensive guru Mike Campbell spoke up. The 52 points OU had scored were by far the most ever against a Campbell-coached Texas defense.

“He’s right, Darrell,” he said. “They seemed to know everything we were doing before we did it.”

Royal knew that this loss belonged to him and not changing the game plan to compensate for OU hiring Coach Helms was a mistake.

The 1973 OU game also changed weight lifting forever at Texas. Jay Arnold says “We were part of the ‘old school’ when it came to physical and strength training.” “We would lift and condition in the spring and off-season, but put the weights away during the season. Oklahoma did it differently. They were working on weights all year long. We changed after that game, and never looked back. We were in an era of enlightened transition as far as that was concerned.”

Bill Wyman

Bill Little commentary: The quiet man – University of Texas Athletics (texassports.com)

06.22.2013 | Football

Bill Little commentary: The quiet man

When it came to describing Bill Wyman, Darrell Royal would call him the best center he ever coached.

The part of Bill Little’s article concerning Bill  Wyman is quoted below. The pictures were added by Billy Dale to add depth to Bill’s article.       

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and there is one photo of former Longhorn Bill Wyman that shows just that.

Shot in the bench area of a Texas football game in the season of 1973, the picture by the acclaimed sports photographer, the late Linda Kaye, shows the rugged face of an embattled center, his long hair dripping in sweat plastered across his forehead.

That will always be the lasting image of the man who was the lynchpin of the offensive line during part of one of the greatest eras of Texas Longhorns football.

Wyman, who died at 61 early this week due to complications of Parkinson’s disease, was a three-year letterman who earned all-Southwest Conference honors in 1972 and 1973 and was a consensus all-American in 1973.

A freshman in 1970, Wyman was part of the last group of NCAA Division I players who were eligible to play only three seasons with the varsity, and he made the most of it. By the middle of his junior season, he had become one of the best centers in Texas Longhorn football history.

But while Wyman’s presence was felt throughout his career, it was his tough, rugged leadership as a captain during his tumultuous senior season of 1973.

“He never said a lot,” recalls teammate Jay Arnold. “He led by example. Coaches and players alike remember [him] as the best there was.”

As the center in an offense which helped fullback Roosevelt Leaks earn all-American honors and a place in College Football’s National Hall of Fame, Wyman was a part of an offensive line which carried the Wishbone offense into the middle years of its success. From the season of 1968 through Wyman’s senior year of 1973, Texas won six Southwest Conference championships and went to a record six straight Cotton Bowl games. The 1972 team beat Alabama in the New Year’s Day game of 1973, finishing the season with a 10-1 record and a No. 3 national ranking.

When it came to describing Bill Wyman, Royal would call him the best center he ever coached, and he forever linked Wyman and his running buddy Leaks after Roosevelt’s record-setting day against SMU.

“Wyman was more consistent out there Saturday than any player we had. Over a career, I don’t think we’ve had any player who has been more consistent that Wyman. He and Leaks go together like ham and eggs,” Royal said.

Following his playing career, the 6-2, 238-pound Wyman was chosen to play in both the Coaches’ All-America game and the Senior Bowl. He was picked in the sixth round of the NFL draft by the New York Jets, but chose instead to return to his native Houston area roots and entered the construction business.

He battled cancer and won during the 1990s, but he couldn’t defeat the ravages of Parkinson’s.

Centers and other offensive linemen are hard to quantify when it comes to excellence. Running backs, receivers, quarterbacks — and all kickers and defensive players — have some statistics that can be pointed to.

And if that is how you’re remembered, that’s a pretty good deal.

Alan Weddell Bio. from Wikipedia

Alan Weddell was an offensive lineman for the Texas Longhorns under Darrell Royal from 1970-1972. He was part of the 1970 national championship team. Weddell graduated in 1973 from Texas-Austin with a bachelor’s degree in production engineering. He later earned a master’s degree in education and administration from the University of Houston–Victoria. 

Weddell began his coaching career as junior varsity and varsity assistant at Angleton High School from 1973 to 1977. He then went on to coach at Victoria High School in Victoria, Texas for twelve years, first as an assistant, since 1982 as head coach. Weddell guided the Stingarees to a 47-32-1 record, winning district championships in 1986 and in 1989. He was twice named 26-5A Coach of the Year and won 35 of his last 40 regular season games.

In 1990, he started coaching at La Marque High School, where he turned the Cougar program into one of the perennial powerhouses in Texas high school football. From 1990 until 1997, Weddell coached the Cougars to three straight state championships (1995–97) and five consecutive appearances in the state title game. La Marque lost both the 1993 and the ’94 title game against Stephenville High School, which was then coached by Art Briles.

Weddell was a six-time District Coach of the Year and a Galveston County Coach of the Year on three different occasions. Weddell compiled a 103-13 record at La Marque. Eleven coaches who worked with Weddell during his time at La Marque moved on to acquire head coaching jobs of their own and seven of them are still high school head coaches.[2]

College coaching

Entering the collegiate ranks in 1998, Weddell was hired by Texas A&M head coach R. C. Slocum to assist defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz as middle linebackers coach. Staying in College Station until Slocum’s retirement in 2002, Weddell was a part of four bowl teams (1998 Sugar Bowl, 1999 Alamo Bowl, 2000 Independence Bowl and 2001 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl) and the 1998 Big 12 championship team.

After a short stint as defensive coordinator at Brazoswood High School in Clute, Texas, Weddell joined Art Briles’ staff at the University of Houston in 2005. Originally hired as linebackers coach, Weddell was promoted to defensive coordinator in April 2006, after Ron Harris stepped down. With Weddell at the helm, the Cougar defense allowed just 21.9 points and 339.1 yards per game during the 2006 season.

After coaching staff changes when Kevin Sumlin replaced Art Briles as head coach, Weddell left Houston.

Mike Baab – Longhorn 1978-1981

It was the early ’70s and he was a seventh-grader living in Euless, a small town situated between Dallas and Fort Worth.

Football tryouts were there.  “It seemed every single boy tried out for football back then,” Baab said. “Unless you couldn’t walk or were blind, you were out there on that field.”

There were tests performed on each budding athlete. There were the typical throwing, running and tackling drills and the more intricate sessions of tire pulls and navigating through several series of ropes. Baab, who will be inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame May 7, remembers that day like it was yesterday.

“There were maybe 120 of us in the worst fitting uniforms in the world trying to learn how to play football,” he said. “I didn’t do that great, I can tell you that, because I was cut and sent home.”

But a phone call to his house soon after he turned in his uniform changed Baab’s life forever.

“The coach called and told my mom that some kid had broken his ankle or knee and asked if I would be willing to play center,” he said. “Basically, he was telling my mom that all I had to do was snap the ball. Who knew that if that didn’t happen to that poor kid, I would have never played football.”

The series of unfortunate events that led Baab to be the anchor of the offensive line proved to be that of fate. Baab racked up the awards as the center for Euless Trinity High School as a teenager, grabbing All-America and first-team all-state honors as a senior in 1977 despite playing for 4-5-1 Trinity squad. Even as a junior the year before, the Trojans enjoyed an undefeated regular season before losing to Midland Lee in the first round of the playoffs.

“We hadn’t been that good my sophomore year, so I really didn’t start getting recruited until that undefeated year and I started getting some honors and stuff like that,” Baab said. “But after that year and into my senior year, I got a letter from about every college in the United States.”

There was a college just over 200 miles south of Euless that had rarely crossed Baab’s mind. The University of Texas had a new coach in Fred Akers, a former assistant of recently retired Darrell Royal who previously served as the head coach of Wyoming.

“I will tell you the truth,” Baab said. “It was just as much Earl Campbell as it was Fred Akers that got me interested in Texas. The year before I went to Texas, Fred Akers did the smartest thing and handed the ball to Earl Campbell as much as he possibly could.

“All of a sudden, Texas exploded onto my screen,” he said. “So I decided that my parents had spent a lot of money taking care of me and feeding me that I needed to stay in Texas where they could come watch me and play in the Southwest Conference.”

Though a center by trade, Baab played guard for the Longhorns for two years before moving back to snapper. He had his best season as a senior, as Baab was voted first-team all-SWC, second-team all-American and guided his team to an upset of No. 3 Alabama in the Cotton Bowl, leading Texas to a No. 2 final ranking. The Longhorns posted a 35-12-1 mark in his four seasons in Austin.

“I think sometimes my parents had more fun those four years than I did,” Baab said. “They would come down and watch me play and we all would go eat steaks after. They were good weekends.”

Baab left the state after being drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 1982. He played 11 successful seasons in the NFL that included two trips to the AFC Championship Game in 1986 and 1987. After retiring in 1993, Baab served as a motivational speaker, a successful car dealership manager and is currently a personal trainer. But the native Texan looks back on his days in the Lone Star State with a sense of endearment.

“You know, I love my life because I get to help high school football players all the way up to 80-year-old ladies get better mentally and physically, so it’s rewarding,” Baab said. “But thinking back on my days in Euless, it was a town of just big, open fields that gave a small town feel right smack in the middle of DFW. I was fortunate enough to get on a great football team where everyone in the town loved and went crazy on Friday nights. How can you beat that?”

Todd Smith walked on at Texas as a Defensive end but started at offensive center. He had some offers to other schools, but he wanted to be a Longhorns.

Reggie Grob was my cousin.  

Todd Smith belongs to an exclusive club of Longhorn football players. He was a walk-on who started for Texas. A contemporary of Todd’s, Jerry Seade, summed up the description of a walk-on as “the low men on the totem pole… The term suggested that a player was of less value than the others….” As Todd Smith says, “all walk-ons are used as “cannon fodder” Jerry says to make the team a walk-on has to try harder and play twice as good to catch the eye of a coach. Stan Mauldin was a walk-on in 1967 and a captain of the 1971 team, and he says, “I was 8th string and issued a blue jersey assigned to the so-called “attack squad,” comprised of surplus humans, used as blocking dummies and tackling targets – raw meat for the starters to sharpen their fangs. Better to be the back end of a shooting gallery than to be on the attack squad.

Abe Lemons said of recruiting a “mistake ” “Doctors Bury Their Mistakes, But Mine Are Still On Scholarship “Walk-ons become starters by exploiting these scholarship “mistakes” and start their climb toward daylight by showing the coaches they will hit anything that moves at practice.

Todd Smith was this type of person. A young man who worked hard, long, and smart to fulfill his dream of starting for the Longhorns.

Tony Degrate

Editor’s Note: Can you imagine a 6-3,255 lb. pitcher throwing a baseball 96 MPH; I think I’d get out of the way! Tony is a Commercial Art Major and maintains a 2.6 G.P.A. Tony will graduate and feels very strongly about his painting.

He has had offers to go to Europe to continue his art career. Tony loves to work with oil, pastel, and color Prisma. However, Tony plans on exploring a pro football career and paint in the off-season. Then after football, he can pursue a full-time art career. I asked Tony about one set of 8-12 reps and what if your pro strength coach had you do it. Tony responded diplomatically, “I’ve got a philosophy that the team comes before me, so I would do it. I would follow orders. I’d try to talk to the coach in private, so maybe we could compromise and say maybe we could do it this way. What about Nautilus, Tony? “For me, at my defensive tackle position, I can’t rate it very high. I don’t pay much attention to that system,” responded DeGrate. “With my program, I feel very confident about my strength. I feel I can handle anyone one on one. I don’t think I’ll ever feel that I have enough strength. I’ve got to keep pushing forward,” DeGrate concluded.

Tony DeGrate does keep things in proper perspective. “I’ve never done drugs. I don’t misuse my body, and I never will. I’m really choosy about my friends. I’d rather be called a square than being on drugs. I think a lot of kids are misled and look at the short term. I don’t use steroids. I believe hard work is a lot better way to go, and I’d never recommended steroids. I really don’t know about uppers or speed. I guess some players take them, but as for me, I believe a real competitor doesn’t need a pill to get Up.” And then, Tony DeGrate became even more serious. ”I’d like to talk about the importance of God in my life. The most important things in my life are My God, my family, my education, and my career. In that order. I know a lot of young athletes will read this article, and so I’d urge them to get a proper perspective of life. Get to know your spiritual self and develop a personal relationship with God.”

TONY DEGRATE

By Greg Shepard –  Images added to the article by Billy Dale
Lombardi Trophy Winner: Tony DeGrate
DeGrate goes all out every play!

Tony DeGrate is one of the most outstanding people in football today. He has outstanding credentials. Tony was the 1984 Lombardi Trophy Winner. The Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the best defensive lineman in college football. He is an All-American in every respect! Tony DeGrate has kept his life in proper perspective. Dana LeDuc, the strength coach at the University of Texas, has the highest praise for Tony. “He is a good hard worker, who has developed his talents,” states Coach LeDuc. “Tony is gifted, but he’s worked awfully hard also. As for leadership qualities, I can tell you that he commands a lot of respect in his own quiet way,” LeDuc continued. “Tony DeGrate is the thickest athlete I’ve ever seen. He has phenomenal layers of thickness and could have squatted 800 pounds, but we don’t

push it and normally keep it around 650 pounds.” Such high praise coming from Dana LeDuc is impressive. Coach LeDuc, in his prime at the University of Texas, was a world-class shotputter. During his competition, he had opportunities to see the world’s best weight men in track, and of course Coach, LeDuc has seen many great athletes during his 8-year tenure at the University of Texas. Therefore, when Dana LeDuc says, Tony DeGrate is the thickest athlete he’s seen: I listen! Tony DeGrate must be something special. Coach LeDuc also states that Tony DeGrate is one of the most outstanding men he’s been around. He takes his weight training seriously. He takes his education seriously and takes the spiritual side of life seriously. Tony DeGrate reciprocates that feeling towards Coach LeDuc as Tony made sure his strength coach was one of the two men with him at the Lombardi Trophy Awards Banquet. Mike Parker, Tony’s defensive line coach, was the other man invited to be with him. Coach Parker shouts his praises, “Tony DeGrate is the most physical player ever at Texas.” Now, when you consider all the great players that have come through the University of Texas, that’s really saying something.

Tony relates this to his high school career. “I wasn’t a big name in high school. I was benched several times, and a lot of people said I wouldn’t make it. Even after I was headed for the University of Texas, people said I’d be back soon pumping gas. However, I always set my goals high and always keep striving. I tried to let negative things people said turn into something positive. When somebody says, I can’t do something, that makes me all the more determined to succeed. I’ve got two rules: never settle for the second-best and never become complacent. I’m very hard on myself. A lot of my attitude has been developed through inspiration and example from Coach LeDuc and Coach Parker.

From Tony’s Progression Chart, you can see that the only thing he really worked on in high school was the bench press. He barely got more than his body weight. Hewent to Snyder High School, a 4-A school in Snyder, Texas. In December of 1984, Coach Greg Shepard did a Bigger Faster Stronger clinic at Snyder. Football Coach Dennis Tomlin, a new coach, remarked, ‘Til guarantee you, we don’t have anyone like Tony DeGrate now.

We need to have a strength program. From now on, we will have to develop greatness.” It was really evident that a strength program was desperately needed in Snyder. They decided to set a team goal of breaking 16,000 personal records before next football season after their BFS clinic. The BFS set-rep system was instituted and at this writing the team has averaged 1000 broken records a week. Progress is monitored by a United Fund Thermometer. As it’s turning out, their goal should have been 25,000 records.

Bryan Millard – 1980 “It’s not what we did, it’s what been done before us” that makes Texas Heritage great.

To Bryan deciding on Texas was an easy decision. He said,” back then a school could only be on TV a handful of times each year (excluding bowl games) .” “ Well, Texas was always going to go to bowl games.” Everybody knew what a Texas Longhorn was, everybody knew what that helmet looked like, and everybody wanted to go to The University of Texas.” As a side note, he also said, “the more you win, the prettier the girls are.”

Http://Www.Si.Com/Vault/1988/11/21/118930/Full-Speed-Ahead-Seattle-Guard-Bryan-Millard-Pursues-Bass-And-Opposing-Linebackers-With-Equal-Fervor

When Bryan was in the sixth grade, the family moved to Dumas, a farming and ranching community 45 miles north of Amarillo, in the heart of the Texas panhandle. The town was mad for football. More than 3,000 fans would pack the local stadium on Friday nights to watch Dumas High play. Swept up by that spirit, Bryan joined the Hillcrest Hawks elementary school team, and by high school, he had made himself into an all-district offensive tackle and an all-state defensive lineman. He had even more success in track and field: Millard won the state class AAA shot put championship as a senior with a throw of 61’7″.

Every Division I football school in the state recruited Millard. He chose Texas because he had so much fun on his recruiting visit. “John Mize, an assistant coach, brought a twin-engine plane to pick me up,” says Millard. “That was a big deal. Why the Dumas Airport only has a windsock. Because of fog, we got to Austin late. When we finally arrived at the stadium, Steve Massey, a defensive tackle who was my escort for the weekend, screamed, ‘Mize, where the hell have you been? My liver’s on fire. I need a beer.’ I thought This guy is a player?

“After a few beers, we went to a Jerry Jeff Walker concert. I ate more chili peppers than I’d ever seen in my life. After that, we went to a game preserve and shot a pronghorn antelope. We took it over to the football dorm and hung it in the shower. It was the wildest night ever.”

Millard became a starter in his junior season, and the next year he made first-team All-Southwest Conference. In January 1983, the New Jersey Generals of the then-brand-new USFL made Millard their 12th-round pick in the draft. “Chuck Fairbanks, the Generals’ coach, called,” says Millard. “I asked, ‘Where’s New Jersey?’ He said, ‘It’s next to New York.’ I said, ‘Do they have country music up there?’ 

Eric Metcalf

Metcalf attended and played college football at the University of Texas at Austin where he was an All-Southwest Conference selection three times. He was the 1987 Southwest Conference player of the year and a second-team All-American. He is the only player in Texas history to lead the team in all-purpose yards all four years. He holds every school receiving record for a running back. Metcalf also had a distinguished career in track and field. In high school, he was a standout long jumper

During his time with the Longhorns, he tallied 4,051 yards and 30 touchdowns on 710 touches. He is often remembered best for his returns. In Austin, Metcalf returned 108 punts for 1,076 yards. He returned only one kick for a touchdown. In 1987, Metcalf threw two passes. Both of those went for touchdowns.

 Sport: multi 
Position: multi 
Inducted: 2002 
Hometown: Washington, D.C.

FOOTBALL (1986-87, Running Back) 
TRACK & FIELD (1986-87, Long Jumper)

• Three-time All-SWC running back

• Two-time National Champion in the long jump (1986 & 1987)

• Holds UT school records in pass receptions in a game (12), career punt return yards (1,076), season pass receptions by a running back (42), and career receptions by a running back (125)

• Won the SWC long jump titles in 1986 and 1987

• He was named to the NFL Pro Bowl three times in his 13-year professional career

• Holds the NFL record for kick returns for TDs (12)

Jeff Leiding 

Teammates Recall Former UT All-American Leiding

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

By Ryan Autullo – American-Statesman Staff

Posted: 7:24 p.m. Thursday, July 17, 2014

Jeff Leiding’s debut as a Texas football player was symbolic of the hard-charging life he lived.

On the first play of the 1980 season opener against sixth-ranked Arkansas, Leiding — a strapping 6-3, 230-pound freshman linebacker — leaped two blockers aiming for his legs and speared the kickoff returner in mid-air, jump-starting a 23-17 win for 10th-ranked Texas.

Leiding separated his shoulder on the play.

“It’s one of those (plays) you hope as a player you get a chance to get, but you’re not always willing to pay the price,” recalled former Texas coach David McWilliams, who was Leiding’s linebackers coach at the time. “It did knock him a little cuckoo.”

Leiding, a 1983 All-American who was beloved by Longhorns fans for his knee-buckling hits and colorful personality, died Sunday in St. Louis from a heart attack. He was 52.

His raucous college introduction convinced McWilliams that Leiding should wear No. 60, an honor for Texas linebackers bestowed first on Johnny Treadwell and made famous later by Tommy Nobis. Leiding wore the number beginning his sophomore season when he made 107 tackles and 8.5 sacks. That team went 10-1-1 in 1981 and finished second in the Associated Press poll. The Longhorns followed with nine wins in 1982 and captured the 1983 Southwest Conference title with an 11-1 overall mark his senior season.

“One hell of a college linebacker … 60 fit him well,” said offensive lineman Bryan Millard, Leiding’s teammate.

The St. Louis Cardinals selected Leiding in the fifth round of the 1984 NFL draft, which yielded a record 17 Longhorns. He played his final snap four years later, succumbing to injuries as a member of the Indianapolis Colts.

“Great teammate, great player, everyone liked him and respected him,” said Kiki DeAyala, a linebacker who played with Leiding for three seasons at Texas.

Leiding was a rare recruit, an Oklahoma product who eschewed Oklahoma for rival Texas. Asked why, Leiding, who had moved to Tulsa from Kansas City before his senior year of high school, said simply that he liked Texas more. OU fans never forgave him. A few years ago, a sports talk radio station in Oklahoma City named Leiding the second-most hated athlete in the state, said his sister, Susan Nixon.

“He was proud to play for the University of Texas,” Nixon said. “He left his mark on this world. He was well thought of by a lot of people.”

Leiding ruffled feathers in 1986, revealing that he had received cash payments from alumni and boosters throughout college. He also charged that Fred Akers, Texas’ head coach, knew about players selling their complimentary game tickets for up to $600. Akers denied the charge.

Texas was sentenced to two years probation — which later was reduced to one — and lost scholarships and recruiting visits.

Leiding, who was working in roofing until his death, is survived by his fiancee, Christy Smith, and his adult children, Kelcy and Jeffrey, as well as four granddaughters. He will be buried Saturday in St. Louis.

John Hagy  1983

Bill Little commentary: The fifth brick

Oct. 14, 2011

By Bill Little, Texas Media Relations

When it comes to bricks and football, there is likely no greater authority than John Hagy. As one of the leading home builders in Austin and a former Longhorn and NFL star who played in a Super Bowl, he knows a lot about both.

So given the Longhorns’ 2011 reconstruction philosophy of “brick by brick,” I asked John what you do when something goes wrong after you have played pretty well for four games and start feeling pretty good about yourselves after four successful layers of bricks have been put in place.

 “That’s exactly how the home building business goes too,” he said with a chuckle. “I always joke around and say, `things feel a little too good right now.’ Every time I start to think things are going well, and everything’s scheduled on time, and things are hitting and firing correctly; you had better put your head on a swivel and see what you are missing because it’s coming.”

 And when it does, he says, you go back to brick four and build from there.

So, what’s the philosophy when you hit a snag on brick No. 5?

“You take it back down. You gotta pull it apart, and you gotta put it back together correctly. It takes time and effort, just like it does in football. You put in the necessary extra work. You take it back to brick No. 4, where it has all been done correctly. When five is a little out of level, then it’s time to take five down and put thing’s back up together. The scary thing is, you don’t want to put five and then get to 25 and realize it has to come down because it doesn’t line upright. You want to constantly keep checking so that if it gets to seven or eight and doesn’t look right, you have to fix it.

Ken Hackemack

In response to the video, Ken in April of 2019 said “ there were a few factors that came into play. The biggest was the embarrassment of being one of those athletes that used up their eligibility with no degree to fall back on. The other was that I was the only person in two generations without a degree.

After football, I took the vocational route and got my associate’s yet after so many years, I still felt empty, that I was missing something. It wasn’t till my daughter was graduating from Mississippi State with honors that I finally told myself I need to finish college and get my degree. I’m whole now and in a good place. It was that inner drive fueled by embarrassment that made it happen”.

Oscar Giles 1987

Giles had just finished his professional career in the Canadian Football League when, at age 30, he decided it was finally time to “go out and get a real job.” He immediately gravitated toward a coaching career, remembering how his former coaches influenced his life.

 “I needed to give back,” said Giles, in his second stint as defensive line coach at the University of Houston. “They gave me that role model. Because of them, I was able to learn how to grow up and be a man.”

Only one problem for Giles: He had no coaching experience.

His former college coach at Texas, David McWilliams, recommended he write down every coach he knew, then told him to call them.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/cougars/article/Giles-coaching-road-leads-to-UH-6522680.php

From Todd Dodge On Recruiting

Todd Dodge-1982

“I tell players all the time, … back in 1980, 81 when I was getting recruited, literally, the recruiting process started around January 1, and it lasted about one month,” Dodge said. “There were no games that you went to; there were no camps, there were no junior days. You found out basically when your coach told you at the end of the season, saying, “Oh, by the way, these guys like you.’ He probably already set up your visits for you, and here’s your four, five visits. So it was only about a one-month process.”

“One of the things we try to tell our players is don’t let anybody take your joy away during the process. I was visiting with a great friend of mine who’s got a very high-profile son in our state, and I just told him, ‘Just remind him, don’t let anybody take your joy away the last two weeks of the process.’”

http://kxan.com/2015/01/27/todd-dodge-has-unique-perspective-on-recruiting/

More than half-a-century after the fact, it’s still the look in his father’s eyes that John Langerhans remembers. It was a look that led Langerhans to a lifetime of playing and coaching baseball, including 19 years at Round Rock High School and a state championship along the way.

Watching his dad coach — first in Marble Falls and later in San Antonio — Langerhans knew he would follow in the footsteps of the man for whom he was named.

“He’s the reason I became a coach,” Langerhans said, easing into a fall morning among the breakfast crowd at Tio Dan’s on Round Rock Avenue. “I got to hang out with him and follow him around. I just saw the look in my dad’s eyes, when I was 5-, 6-, 7-years old. Seeing the enjoyment in his eyes, just working with kids, making them better. I told him at 5-, 6-, 7-years old, that’s what I wanted to do.”

And so he did. Wearing a blue Texas High School Baseball Association windbreaker and an orange UT baseball cap, Langerhans’ chosen wardrobe on this particular day reflects the biggest chunk of his life and arguably its best years.

This is a big state, but a small world, and an even smaller circle in the mentor-and-apprentice lives of athletes and their coaches. For when young John Langerhans started playing high school baseball at South San Antonio, the man filling out the Bobcats’ lineup card was none other than Cliff Gustafson, who would go on to coach the Texas Longhorns from 1968-96.

“I’m one of the few guys that had the privilege of playing for coach Gus in high school and college,” Langerhans said. “I played for him (at South San Antonio) in ’67 and joined him at Texas in ’68.”

Langerhans doesn’t mention it — he’s not one to thump his own chest — but as reported in a 2007 Round Rock Leader profile, he pitched a no-hitter in South San’s 1967 3A title game victory over Dumas.

At Clark Field (the forerunner to Disch-Falk), Langerhans and Gustafson teamed up for success again.

According to TexasSports.com: “As a first baseman … Langerhans led the Longhorns to three College World Series appearances and four Southwest Conference titles … He and Jeff Ontiveros (a 1997 RRHS graduate) are the only two players in school history to lead the team in home runs for three or more seasons.”

Langerhans graduated from UT with a degree in coaching, but continued his playing career when the Cleveland Indians drafted the second-team All-America selection.

He rose as high as Double-A ball, playing for the San Antonio Brewers, but after four years injuries cut short his playing career.

Fearing it was too late in the year to land a high school coaching job, Langerhans considered returning to his old off-season occupation – in the Texas State Capitol’s mailroom.

But then — as fate and fortune would have it — a few choice words from UT Assistant Athletic Director Bill Ellington changed his mind.

“He said: ‘John, what in the hell did you get your degree in coaching for? To work in the mail room?”

Langerhans began his coaching career at Lamar Consolidated High School (in the Houston area). He then coached at San Antonio Madison and Uvalde, before landing in Round Rock in 1984. In addition to coaching baseball, Langerhans also taught history. As did his wife, Sharon, whom he met while both were enrolled at UT.

Included in his 613-200 coaching record, over a 28-year career (the final 19 in Round Rock) is the 1997 season when the Dragons won the Class 5A state championship. It was a special year for Langerhans and his team, one capped with a 7-1 win over the defending state champs from Lubbock Monterey.

The coach’s son, Ryan – a pitcher and centerfielder – went the distance on the mound against Monterey and got the win.

“That’s the only father-son that ever pitched a state championship game in Texas history,” said Butch Hart, whose own sons, Jason (1987-90) and Joey (1993-96), played for Langerhans.

Former Leader sports editor Clay Coppedge covered that game, from the unique perspective of one who had written about the Dragons and also played at Monterey for coach Bobby Moegle. He remembers Langerhans fondly.

“He knew baseball like few people I have ever known, and he was a stickler for details,” Coppedge said. “Honest. Well-meaning. He was a hell of a nice guy to me and he definitely had his softer side, especially in regards to his kids.”

Through his career, Langerhans coached a long list of talented players.

John Carter – who in 2004 succeeded Langerhans as Round Rock’s skipper – is on the long list of those who played under him.

Carter also coached for Langerhans. He had this to say, just before Langerhans’ 2007 induction into the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame: “I consider him a mentor to me. He emphasizes the fundamentals. A lot of people don’t concentrate as much on the fundamentals. They think they can do it on pure athleticism and talent. Coach took the everyday kid that doesn’t go off to play at Division I-type schools and made the players the best they can be, to make the team the best it can be.”

Carter’s description of Langerhans doesn’t sound too far different from Langerhans’ description of his own father. Although the elder Langerhans died in 1980, for several seasons he did get to see his son follow in high school-coaching footsteps.

“He’d sit in a lawn chair, right next to the dugout,” Langerhans recalled. “He’d sit right next to the kids walking up to the on-deck circle. He was always talking to them. I wanted to say, ‘Dad, don’t distract them.’ But I also knew he was giving them good advice. And he also had a knack for talking to the kids that didn’t have a lot of self-confidence.”

These days, Langerhans – who was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 2011 – relishes the time he and his wife of 42 years can spend with family. Between son Ryan and daughter Kelly (a former assistant volleyball and soccer coach at Pflugerville Hendrickson), they’re grandparents four times over.

Yet to those who know him, it’s no surprise Langerhans has kept a hand in the game. He coaches for the Austin Wings select-baseball program, but his pride and joy is found in the camps he runs with former players such as Brian Gordon, Jordan Danks and, of course, his own son.

They’ve sponsored baseball camps the past three years in Franklin, a small town near Rockdale, with enrollment growing from 60 to 120 to 240 during that time.

“They have one heck of a complex they’ve built,” Langerhans said. “Next year, about when high school baseball season cranks up, will be season four. Here, everybody and his dog puts on a camp. Out there, the kids are hungry for attention.”

As he says this, Langerhans gets that look in his eyes. It’s the same look he remembers seeing in his father’s eyes, more than half-a-century ago.

And he remembers words his father spoke, describing the life of a coach: “He said there’s no money in it. You have to work hard for very little pay. But what you get out of it is the thrill of seeing your kids grow up and become successful people in society. That’s the reward in it – it’s not the money.

“If I had to do it all over again … that’s all I ever wanted to do, be a coach.”

PULL QUOTE: : “I think all my players saw how I put my heart and soul into it, and they gave me their all.” — John Langerhans

Rich Wortham

On Richard Wortham’s recruiting trip to Texas, Gus wrote on a blackboard in his office the words “Cadillac” and “Ford.”

“I thought, ‘He’s going to give me a Cadillac,’ ” Wortham said. “Gus asked me which one I’d pick. I’m trying to figure out which car I’m going to get. So Gus said, ‘If you come to Texas, it’s a Cadillac program.’ ” Wortham didn’t get a Cadillac, but he got an NCAA-record 50 wins.

Richard Wortham has one of the best pitching records in the history of College baseball. His college baseball records confirm these accolades.

• He is the first 50-game winner in NCAA history;

• Wortham holds the career record for most innings pitched (456) while compiling 50-7 record;

• He recording 12 career shutouts and 481 strikeouts;

• In 1975 he was selected to the CWS All-Tournament team;

• Wortham makes the All-SWC team in 1973 and All-American in 1976;

• He is the catalyst for four SWC titles and one national championship;

• Wortham earned enough respect to receive team MVP in 1975; and

• In 2010 he was elected to the College Baseball Hall of fame joining pitchers Brooks Kieschnick, Burt Hooten, Greg Swindell, and Kirk Dressedorfer.

“I was drafted out of high school, but my dad made it very clear to me that I wasn’t going to sign,” Wortham said. “Any 18-year-old — he may be physically mature, but it takes some time for the mental game to catch up. Coming out of high school you can get influenced in bad ways. The University of Texas was the best for me, and I wouldn’t do anything different.”

Wortham credited former Texas head baseball coach Cliff Gustafson with helping him get mentally adjusted.

What speaks volumes about the character and resolve of Richard is a serious injury he had to overcome to pitch for Texas.  Working on a project in Gregory Gym the elevator broke and he incurred an injury that would have  ended the career of most individuals. His injury was so severe that the doctors questioned whether he would ever walk again.  He did more than walk again. In 1975  he completed the season with a 14-1 record and he pitched a 4 hitter to win the CWS National Champion for the Horns.  

Bobby Layne

Doak Walker, who roomed with Bobby at one point, said that even when he went to the grocery store, he had to be the best shopper. A teammate of Bobby’s in Detroit commented that when Lane said block, you blocked, and when he said drink, you drank. Bobby Layne, on December 1st, 1986, died of cardiac arrest. He was only 59 years old. 

Flashback 

 Bobby Lane was the star pitcher for the Texas Longhorns. Coach Falk said he was the best pitcher he ever coached, but he was “crazy as hell.” In 1946 Bobby pitched a no-hitter against Texas A&M, but Falk said, “he was liable to have been out playing 18 holes of golf that morning,” Coach Falk said. Layne likes to pitch games on his terms, and that was ok with Coach Falk. Bobby never lost a southwest Conference baseball game in 4 years.   

Myths, Folklore, truth, or EXAGGERATIONs – who knows -but the stories have survived the test of time.

According to the book, Bibb Falk by William A. Cook during games, Coach Falk would sit on one end of the bench. Rooster Andrews, Bobby Layne’s roommate, who was a part-time player usually sat on the bench the whole game. So Bobby Lane asked Rooster Andrews one game to occupy the other end of the bench. Lane gave Rooster some money and told him to buy a six-pack of beer. Rooster did as instructed, and between each inning, Lane would slip behind the bench out of Coach Falk’s sight and chug a bottle of beer. At the start of the seventh inning, Bobby gave Rooster some more money to buy some more beer. Bobby Lane pitched a no-hitter that day. 

Bobby Layne and Rooster Andrews have a car accident and Bobby hurts himself. Bobby Layne throws a no-hitter against Southwestern. The next week horsing around Bobby Layne sticks his foot through a window that requires stitches. The next day Bobby throws another no-hitter against the Aggies. Bobby was 19 years old.  

Bobby’s overall record at Texas was 39 wins and seven losses, including 27 consecutive wins in Southwest conference play. In 1946 Bobby Lane pitched two no-hitters and had 84 strikeouts. A Southwest conference record that stood for 39 years. The most compelling story about Bobby Lane is that as a Texas Longhorn pitcher, he was never taken out of a game with his team behind.   

Bobby Layne said that if I had been a good hitter, he might have chosen to professionally play baseball instead of football. “For me, pitching was too much work,” Layne said.

George Halas, the owner of the Chicago Bears, drafted Bobby Layne but then decided to trade Bobby him. George said “Bobby, I can’t afford to keep three quarterbacks, and I can’t make Sid retire. He is Jewish, which means more season tickets.” Also, “Johnny Lujack attended Notre Dame that also means more season tickets in Chicago than having a quarterback in Texas.” 

Another Story about Bobby Layne in the late 1960s is from Barbara Wainscott whose husband, Loyd Wainscott, was a Longhorn All American during his participation in the Houston Oilers training camp in Kerrville, Texas.

Barbara shares one night the guys were all at a bar. Can’t remember if Rob Layne (Bobby’s son) was there or not. But Bobby came in and told the rookies sitting at the table to “build him a castle”. Layne bought beer all night and they stacked the cans up in layers all around the corner booth like five or six beer can floors high. Bobby took it all in stride but the rookies were hammered. Loyd called me later that night to tell me they were celebrating the first girl they’d seen in Kerrville without a scar on her face and he’d just danced with a girl they called “headlights.” Bobby stayed around to laugh at them the next day during the practice from hell.

Charlie Crenshaw

Many of you may not know that the great golfer Ben Crenshaw has a brother that is part of Longhorn sports history .

Charlie Crenshaw V is the brother of the great golfer Ben Crenshaw. Crenshaw played CF and RF for the Longhorn baseball team from ’70-‘73.

During a game with Baylor their fans starting screaming at Crenshaw “Hey!!! How come you’re not caddying for your brother Ben?!?!?!” Even worse Crenshaw’s dad, a Baylor graduate, was at this game. His dad bet him a $100.00 he I could not hit a home run against “his” Baylor Bears.

On this fateful day in 1973, Crenshaw had the last laugh. He hit a home run and as he ran the bases “saluting” the Bear fans with a profound universal gesture and after the game shook his dad’s hand that had a $100 bill tucked into the handclasp.

Charlie said years later that I guess that $100 “made me a pro for a day.

Charles Munson played on the first National Champion team in any Longhorn Sport

Charlie Munson, 95, is as much a fixture at Disch-Falk Field as bitter cold and oppressive heat (sometimes on the same day), as deeply identified with the University of Texas as success and Smokey.

Munson started the baseball season as the 1943 Longhorns’ varsity left fielder, but that didn’t last long … one game, in fact, before he was called up as a cadet in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He reached lieutenant in rank, serving among other places in Deming, N.M., and Austin’s Bergstrom Field while training as a pilot; while in Austin, he played city-league basketball and semi-pro baseball.

He returned to UT for the 1946-47 school year, joining the Longhorns “B” team in basketball and stepping right into the starting lineup as an outfielder on the baseball team. Munson’s best varsity season turned out to be his first full one, 1947, when he batted .333 in the regular season, then went 5 for 7 in two NCAA tournament games in Denver. In 1948, he batted .275 in SWC games and remained an outfield starter. Relegated to part-time starter and pinch-hitter roles as a senior, he still contributed six doubles among his nine hits.

And, rather unwittingly, he became a sort of poster child for Bibb Falk’s anti-NCAA tournament argument. In his May 27, 1949, “Sideline Slants” column on the topic, Paul Tracy of the Austin Statesman used Munson as an example of a player who would be harmed by reforming the team a month after school ended:

“Many (players) start semi-pro ball on June 1, and must take time out from wage-earning to participate. It’s hard, for example, for Charley Munson, who is expecting an addition to the family soon, to leave his $10-a-day camp counselor job for 10 days.”

That addition, born Aug. 27, turned out to be Charles Jr., known as Chuck, who went on to create his own UT legacy, joining Ben Crenshaw and McCallum High teammate Tom Kite on back-to-back NCAA champion Longhorns golf teams. As for his summer job, missing it for a few days turned out to be well worth it.

“Back then, when we won it, we didn’t really realize what we were a part of,” Munson told the UT sports-information department in November 2008 upon his induction into the Longhorn Hall of Honor. “But it is a real honor to be on the first team, because since then the baseball team has won five other championships.

“Back in the early days of the Southwest Conference, the main school you wanted to play baseball at was Texas. That is still often the case. Athletics have always been a strong suit at Texas. The program has a lot of players playing professionally and they are very balanced in all the different sports.”

In retirement, Munson began volunteering as an usher at Longhorns football, basketball and baseball games. And despite the death of his wife of 70 years, Dorothy, last April, expect to see Charlie Munson in the Disch-Falk stands again this spring.

“Seeing all these athletes that have come through the … years that I have been volunteering makes me feel very honored to be a part of Texas athletics,” he said in 2008. “I have so many good memories of my time here at Texas, it’s hard to explain all of them.”