I can't remember how we got ticket's to this game but I remember being a HUGE Charlie Strong fan and living just down the road seemed like a great chance to see the Texas Longhorns in action when they took on #24 ranked West Virginia in Austin, TX. My friend Dusty (pictured) and I drove up and after the game visited with another friend who has seats in the end zone (great view and right on top of the action).
There was a buzz around the time and for the first time in a while, a head coach was unabashed to go on record with his thoughts on discipline at its place in athletics:
"You know what happens sometimes is when you talk about discipline, and I think that a lot of coaches try to use it against you, but once you get with the families, that's what they want. Even the players, the players deep down really want you to be an example for them and what happens is that we have allowed so many of our high-profile players, or whatever we want to call them, to do whatever they want to do. Everything you're going to be taught is how to go be successful in life."
To reinforce his commitment to discipline, order, structure, and accountability, Coach Strong laid out his 11 rules and expectations for the Texas Longhorns Football Program:
Players will attend all of their classes and sit in the front two rows of all of their classes. GAs, academic folks, position coaches will be checking constantly now.
No headphones in class. No texting in class. Sit up and take notes.
If a player misses a class, he runs until it hurts. If he misses two classes, his entire position unit runs. If he misses three, the position coach runs. The position coaches don't want to run.
No earrings in the football building. No drugs. No stealing. No guns. Treat women with respect.
Players may not live off campus anymore, unless they're a senior who hits certain academic standards. The University will buy out the leases for every player currently living off campus and put them in the athletic dorm.
The team will all live together, eat together, suffer together, and hang out together. They will become a true team and learn to impose accountability on each other. The cliques are over.
There's no time for a rebuild. "I don't have time for that." The expectation is that Texas wins now.
Players will learn that they would rather practice than milk a minor injury.
The focus is on winning and graduating. Anything extraneous to that is a distraction and will be stamped out or removed.
Strong met individually with seniors and key leaders and re-emphasized that the plan is to win now. They can lead the new culture or be run over by it.
"I don't want to talk about things. I'd rather do things. We just talked. Now it's time to do."
I remember it being a great day for football, we arrived early, had access to two of the many, many clubs and pre-game experiences that UT offers. We also went to, I think it was called the "Corral Club" at half-time and had a drink with the guys who take care of Bevo (not my picture below). The atmosphere was electric, the game was high energy from beginning to end at the Texas fans were a riot! One of the best football, no, sporting events I've ever been to by far, and of course UT got the W. The high would be short-lived, as in the cutthroat business of Power-5 football, Coach Strong couldn't pull together enough victories to keep his job and keep building the program. It seemed, however, that UT wasn't sure what direction it was gong to go as the Athletics Director would soon be out as well, and you couldn't help but wonder what could have been!
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