As Texans prepare for the long-awaited Rose Bowl matchup tonight between the Texas Longhorns and the USC Trojans, this Ray Buck/Ft. Worth Star Telegram article does a good job of telling how Longhorn coach Mack Brown’s relationship with legendary former Texas coach Darrell Royal has been an important part of Brown’s success in bringing UT back to the top tier of major college football.
As noted in this earlier post, Texas won two undisputed national championships under Coach Royal, one in 1963 and the other in 1969. But after Royal retired in 1975, the Longhorns got close in 1977 and 1983 and then gradually faded from the top tier of big-time college football. By the time Brown was hired seven seasons ago, the Horns were not even a national championship contender. The article contains a number of interesting observations from Coach Royal, not the least of which is the following:

When asked if his presence might be a source of motivation for the Longhorns, Royal had one more answer for everyone:

“If they need any kind of motivation,” Royal said, “they’re in the wrong game.”

Meanwhile, this interesting Alex Barra/W$J article on the development of big-time college football players over the past 20 years includes the following observation from Clear Thinkers favorites, Dan Jenkins:

“Comparing the best college teams of the past five or so years to legendary champions of the past is like comparing supersonic jet fighters to propeller-driven World War II planes. The game has really changed that quickly. Most of the players I see on top teams today look like they were manufactured in laboratories.”

By the way, the best line that I’ve heard in the run-up to the Rose Bowl was the following:

When [former USC wide receiver] Mike Williams lost his court challenge to the NFL underclassman rule and was not allowed to return to college football, did he still count against USC’s salary cap?