Is today Mack's last stand?

Today is being touted by some as Mack Brown's last stand. The feeling in some quarters is that anything short of a Texas win at the Cotton Bowl will lead to a coaching change at the end of the season.

With the upcoming retirement of UT Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds, it is very possible that there will be someone other than Mack Brown on the sideline when the Longhorns kick off the 2014 season. But, if you take a closer look at who may or may not be available, the odds may very well favor Mack Brown keeping his gig as the head man at the Forty Acres.

Keep in mind that if you want to show Mack Brown the door, you damn well better have someone in mind to take his place. Mack might not be the best coach in the country, but he's a damn sight better than most. You should also keep in mind where the University of Texas was when Mack Brown took over.

From the last year of Darrell Royal's tenure through the John Mackovic experiment, the Longhorns spent two decades wandering through the desert. Yes, they had the national title in hand in 1977 under Fred Akers - that is, until they were dismantled in the Cotton Bowl by Notre Dame. They had another shot a few years later until they lost to Georgia in the Cotton Bowl as well.

The three most attractive candidates for the job are Art Briles, Gary Patterson and Chris Peterson. But I think we can take Briles and Patterson out of the equation early. Both coach in the Big XII and I think it's extremely doubtful that either one would leave their post for the Texas job. That would leave Chris Peterson from Boise State. He has kept the level of play high despite being at a significant disadvantage in recruiting. Just imagine what he could do with the type of players he'd have in Austin.

But would he want to deal with all the distractions that come with being the coach at Texas? Would he be comfortable schmoozing with big donors? What about hosting two weekly shows on the Longhorn Network and being the star of a weekly behind-the-scenes show? And what about the media glare and the expectations that come with the job?

Once you get past the big three there just aren't that many serious candidates for the job. Maybe James Franklin at Vanderbilt - but would he be ready to step up? There's Charlie Strong at Louisville. He served as defensive coordinator at Florida under Urban Meyer. With his star quarterback graduating he might be willing to listen to offers. But is he ready for Texas? Then there's one more intriguing prospect that someone mentioned to me today - Mark Richt from Georgia.

He's got the experience coaching a major state school. His teams have competed for SEC titles. He is used to coaching in the spotlight and he's been on the hot seat before.  He is, from all appearances, a class act. But would he want to leave Athens to move to Austin?

I don't know who else is out there that Texas would consider. Any new coach has to be able to recruit. He has to be willing to schmooze. He has to be able to deal with the distractions that come via the Longhorn Network. He has to be strong enough to withstand the criticism that he isn't Mack Brown.

And, no, Nick Saban isn't coming to Austin.

So, for those of y'all wanting to shove Mack Brown out the door, who are you going to hire in his place?

Anyone?

Burnt ends

For those barbecue enthusiasts out there, y'all know that the burnt ends refer to the tips of briskets that have been smoked for hours in a smoker. The burnt ends are tasty little meat nuggets that are crispy and charred and full of smoky goodness.

And, so, here are some burnt ends for today...

The Elevator Troll

Last week I tried a DWI case in Harris County. Ordinarily I park along the street a couple blocks away from Minute Maid Park and walk five or six blocks to the criminal courthouse. On trial days, however, I park in the county parking garage and take the tunnel into the courthouse so I don't have to worry about rain.

So there I am, pulling my cart behind me, walking through the tunnel complex until I get to the criminal courthouse. I go in the door and down the hallway toward the elevators. There are two elevators that travel to the basement of the building. One is a normal elevator that goes up to the 10th floor (there are 20 floors in the courthouse). That elevator is accessible to anyone.

The other elevator has a keypad next to the call button that only those with county badges can access. That elevator is special - it goes all the way to the top of the building so you don't have to change elevators on the 10th floor.

On this particular day the regular elevator wasn't working so everyone who entered through the tunnel got to use the "employee" elevator. Inside was the elevator troll, er, attendant. On the ground floor someone with the company that provides courthouse security got on. The fun began when the attorney who got on board with me in the basement stepped out of the car in order for someone in back to get out. When he stepped back in the security person asked if he had a badge.

He said that he was an attorney who got on the elevator in the basement and that he didn't have a courthouse badge. She tried to tell him that this was an employees-only elevator and that he was only given the privilege of riding the elevator because the other one was broken. He told her that the elevators belonged to the county, not the DA's office, and that anyone should be able to ride them. She took offense to the logic of his argument, but couldn't come up with anything intelligent to say.

After the attorney got off the elevator, someone looked toward the elevator troll, er, attendant, and tried to apologize for the lawyer's behavior. The consensus seemed to be that he was a jerk to insist that since the elevator was built with county funds that the residents of Harris County were entitled to use it. As I stepped out on my floor I turned around and told the elevator troll, er, attendant, that the other lawyer was right.

This notion that someone employees of the courts and the DA's office are entitled to special privileges because they work for the county is absurd. We all pay their salaries. We all pay the bills to keep the lights on and the elevators functioning. There is already a vast gulf between those who prosecute crimes and the folks who come in and out of the courthouse on a daily basis. Walling them off further by allowing them to use a special elevator while defendants and defenders wait around in a crowded lobby for the rest of the elevators distorts their perspective even more.

No 163rd Game in Fantasy Baseball

This past weekend was final weekend of the Criminal Defense Lawyers Invitational Fantasy Baseball League. This year's champion - who led it from start to finish - is former Galveston County prosecutor Vik Vij. Mr. Vij left the DA's office during the course of the season to open a criminal defense practice. I think it was because he was afraid he'd be disqualified if he stayed with the DA's office.

Congratulations, Vik.

Death of a Legend



In 1969 college football celebrated its centennial year. The final weekend of the college football season say two undefeated teams square off in The Game of the Century. President Richard Nixon was on hand in Fayetteville as the top-ranked Texas Longhorns squared off with the second-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks.

For three quarters it looked as though the home team would prevail. As the fourth quarter began the Razorbacks had a 14-0 lead and things were bleak for the visitors.

On the first play of the fourth quarter Texas quarterback James Street scrambled for a touchdown. Darrell Royal then sent the offense back on the field to attempt a two-point conversion. The decision had been made long before Street found the end zone. Coach Royal's gamble paid off and the lead was cut to 14-8.

After intercepting a Razorback pass in the end zone the Horns drove down the field but got bogged down near midfield with a fourth-and-three. Coach Royal called for a long pass to the tight end Randy Peschel. Street delivered the ball, Peschel hauled it in and two plays later Texas scored what would prove to be the winning points.

James Street died yesterday of a heart attack. Rest in pace, James, you will forever be a Texas legend.

Is this the end of the Mack Brown era?

Ah, yes, the 2013 Longhorn football season is going up in flames.

After the blow-out loss to BYU, Mack Brown sacrificed Manny Diaz to the football gods. It didn't work. The Horns looked every bit as lost in the second half against Ole Miss as they looked up in Provo the week before.

Why Manny Diaz still had a job when Texas kicked off the 2013 is a mystery to me. Last year's defense was the worst defense in program history. There were analysts that predicted good things for Texas this season. They based this prediction on the 19 returning starters the Horns would have coming back. They would be the most experienced team in the Big XII this season.

They pointed out key defensive players who would be back after having their 2012 season cut short by injury. But how did that square with the fact that the Longhorn defense was better at the end of the season - after losing those players to injury - than it was earlier in the season?

Greg Robinson was given an impossible job when Mack Brown named him defensive coordinator the day after the beat down in Provo. How on earth was he supposed to come in and rescue a defense that couldn't tackle and was every bit as bad as last year's monstrosity?

The University of Texas gets to cherry pick its recruiting class. Texas doesn't recruit, the saying goes, Texas selects. And that's where there's a disconnect. Year and after year Texas pulls in one of the best recruiting classes - but what happens to that talent? Why isn't Texas competing for the national championship (or even the Big XII title) every year?

Either the talent isn't as good as advertised - or the coaching isn't up to par. Maybe the coach as CEO model used by Mack Brown isn't good enough to make Texas a top tier team year after year. Maybe it's the quality of the assistant coaches. Whichever it is, it all falls on Mack Brown's shoulders.

I don't know if it's time for Mack Brown to step aside. We are now in the midst of four years of mediocrity following the excellence of the Vince Young and Colt McCoy years. When Mack Brown came aboard the program had been mediocre for the better part of two decades. Mack Brown reloaded and built the Longhorns into a machine - winning ten or more games every year for a decade. I don't know if he can rebuild it this time.

The passing of a legend

The University of Texas lost an icon yesterday with the death of coaching legend Darrell Royal. Coach Royal led the Longhorns out of the wastelands and into the promised land, winning two national titles, 11 conference titles and 10 Cotton Bowls during his tenure.

He and Emory Bellard (later the head coach at Texas A&M), developed the wishbone offense that took the option to a whole new level. In the wishbone the quarterback was joined in the backfield by a fullback and two tailbacks. The quarterback then had the option to hand it to the fullback, pitch it to a tailback or take the ball up the field himself.

Once Coach Royal was asked why his teams didn't pass the ball more. He told the reporter that when you pass the ball only three things can happen and two of them, interception and incompletion, were bad. But the play he is remembered most for is the long pass on fourth down in the "Game of the Century" in 1969 against Arkansas in which Texas rallied to win 15-14 and was awarded the national championship.

Coach Royal did not care for his players celebrating after scoring touchdowns. He felt you should act like you've been there before and plan on being back in the future. If you've ever seen video of Earl Campbell in college or in the NFL he never spiked the ball and he never carried on after scoring. He just tossed the ball to the referee after he crossed the goal line.

The phrase he's most well-known for was his reply when a reporter asked why he wouldn't change things up when the Longhorns were in the midst of a losing streak. Coach Royal's answer was that you've got to dance with the one who brung ya'.

For almost two decades Texas coaches were compared to Darrell Royal. After his retirement, the University hired former assistant Fred Akers to take over the program. No matter what Akers did during his time in Austin, it was never good enough. It was never good enough because Fred Akers wasn't Darrell Royal.

And neither were David McWilliams or John Mackovic. It wasn't until Mack Brown came along that the shadow of Darrell Royal receded.

Rest in peace, Coach, and hook 'em!

Don't mess with Texas

There is ugly. And then there's ugly.

But the uniforms that Texas Tech will be wearing today when they host the University of Texas are absolutely atrocious. It's one thing, as Paul Lukas would say, to desecrate Old Glory - but it's an entirely different thing to desecrate the Texas flag.

Meanwhile the Longhorns will be wearing their classic road uniforms - white helmets, white jerseys and white pants. The Longhorns don't go for the special one-off uniforms. As Coach Darrell Royal used to say, the uniforms are work clothes - and work clothes don't need to be fancy.

The 'Horns may not be on the same plateau as they were during the Vince Young and Colt McCoy days, but one fact remains. When you're good and you have a reputation, there's no need to monkey around with your uniforms.

Problems on the Forty Acres

36 points and 576 yards against Oklahoma State.

48 points and 460 yards against West Virginia.

63 points and 677 yards against Oklahoma.

50 points and 607 yards against Baylor.

That's what the Texas defense has given up the last four weeks. Somehow the Longhorns came out of it with two wins (one aided by what looked to be a bad call).

At its core, defense in football is very simple. You contain the ball carrier. You hit the ball carrier. You wrap your arms around the ball carrier. You take the ball carrier to the ground. Forget about schemes and blitz packages and nickels and dimes and every other variant of defense that's out there. It all starts and ends with tackling.

Phil Steele, the college football guru, had the Texas defense ranked high at the beginning of the season. According to Mr. Steele, the UT defensive line was ranked 4th. Their linebacker corps was ranked 20th. The defensive backfield came in as his number 1 ranked unit.

How wrong could one person be.

The Texas defense, and I'm not certain defense is the right word, has been downright horrible this season. Not one game has passed without someone gashing the Texas defense for a long touchdown run - well, except for New Mexico (but their main goal seemed to be to keep Texas under 100 points).

Mack Brown brought in Manny Diaz from Mississippi State two years ago to replace Will Muschamp who took the head coaching gig at Florida. Mr. Diaz was supposed to be the next big thing among defensive coordinators. Lots of pressure and exotic blitz packages were supposed to take Texas to the tops of the polls. Not quite.

The Longhorns lost a number of defensive starters this past season - but, as Texas fans know, the Longhorns just go out and reload every year. The saying is that Texas doesn't recruit, Texas picks who it wants. The recruiting classes under Mack Brown have been in the top 5 nationally most years.

And that raises an important question. Are the recruiting classes not as good as we've been led to believe, or do they just not receive the coaching they need to succeed? Judging by the missed tackles I'm seeing week in and week out, I have a feeling that it's the latter. And, if it is the latter, then Mr. Diaz is the one holding the bag.

But even though the  Longhorns gave up more points on Saturday than they did in either of those shootouts, Diaz said he's take the outcome anyway. 

"There are a lot of things we need to fix," Diaz said. "But there are a lot of things that are encouraging."

Those comments from Manny Diaz were taken from an article in the Houston Chronicle (the mobile edition) that has since been edited. Those comments tell you all you need to know about Mr. Diaz and the reason he should not be working at the defensive coordinator at the University of Texas. There was nothing encouraging about what the defense did on Saturday night.

If Mr. Diaz had any self respect he'd hand Mack Brown his resignation letter first thing Monday morning so the Longhorn Nation can put this nightmare behind it. I don't care how aggressive his defenses are supposed to be. I don't care how often they come on crazy blitz packages. I want to see them tackle people and keep them out of the end zone.

Please, Mack, fire Manny Diaz now.

A couple of Saturday morning thoughts

Remembering George McGovern

George McGovern, the Democratic nominee foe the Presidency in 1972, who ran on an anti-war platform is near death. One can only wonder how much better a place this world would have been had he won the White House instead of Richard Nixon.

On Friday, Democracy Now! ran excerpts from Steve Vittoria's documentary One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern. And, to honor the memory of Sen. McGovern, here it is...



Rest in peace, Senator.

Big Tex burns

Yesterday Big Tex, the iconic 60-foot cowboy at the State Fair of Texas burned. All that was left was the metal frame.

I happen to think it was an act of self-immolation because Tex couldn't take any more of the incompetence that is Manny Diaz running the defense (or what passes off as the defense) for the University of Texas. It would have seemed a bit more appropriate had the fire occurred last Saturday as the boys in orange trudged off the field after being humiliated by that band of dirt thieves and traitors from north of the Red River.

$o much for tradition

So tomorrow marks the end of an era. Tomorrow is the last time the Longhorns and Aggies will play in the foreseeable future.

You see, Texas A&M, that university that prides itself on "tradition," decided to walk away from the Big 12 and join the SEC beginning in 2012. For those of y'all like me, who grew up watching the old Southwest Conference, it's hard to comprehend. The Aggies are walking away from tradition for a few dollars more. The joke will be on them when the bills for sending the women's soccer team to South Carolina or the baseball team to Florida on a regular basis.

The SEC sold the Ags a bill of goods. Let's be real, there aren't any kids from Georgia or Tennessee or Alabama who are clamoring to move to College Station to play football. What the SEC wanted was unfettered access to Texas recruits. Currently the only SEC school that does much recruiting in Texas is LSU - but they're practically family.

When the Big 12 damn near imploded a year ago, A&M was one of the schools that benefited the most as the exit fees paid by Colorado and Nebraska found their way into the coffers in Austin, College Station, Norman and Stillwater. A&M signed off on that deal knowing full well that UT was going to launch the Longhorn Network. So, using the LHN as an excuse for leaving for the SEC is a canard the A&M administration figured their loyal followers wouldn't question.

And now the nation's third longest rivalry is coming to an end. And it sucks. I grew up with this game. Often times Thanksgiving dinner was scheduled around it. Before my oldest daughter was born I took my wife up to Austin to watch the game. My oldest daughter's been to Kyle Field twice to watch the 'Horns beat the Ags.

Here's hoping the 'Horns send the Ags running off with their tails between their legs.

Hook 'em!

Giving up the fight

If you want to win, you have to play like it. You have to make bold decisions when the game is on the line. Handling criminal matters is the same. If you want your client to walk away without a blemish, you have to be willing to push a case to trial.

On Saturday at the Cotton Bowl, Texas coach Mack Brown waved the white flag with two minutes left in the 105th installment of the Red River Shootout. The Longhorns spent the day chasing after Oklahoma with little success but still found themselves down by 11 with two minutes remaining and the ball at the three yard-line. It was fourth and goal. Texas needed two scores - a touchdown (with a two-point conversion) and a field goal to tie it up.

I was in a state of disbelief when the offense walked off the field and the kicking unit ran out. Sure, the field goal was a pretty sure bet and then it would only take a onside kick, a recovery and a touchdown drive to tie it up. But Mack Brown got it wrong. The odds favored going for the touchdown. It's a much safer bet to score a touchdown from the three than to have to recover an onside kick and drive the ball (and don't forget how putrid the Longhorn offense has been this year).

When Mack Brown sent out the kicking unit he was giving up on the game. Instead of fighting, he was pleading out.

For the most part, if a client pleads to a case, that client will walk out of the courthouse with a conviction (the exception being those who plead to deferred adjudication). That's not to say that there are many times when a plea is the appropriate resolution to a case. We may consider such a result to be a victory because the charge was reduced or the penalty was lowered; but the fact remains that the client was convicted.

The only way your client will hear a jury return a not guilty verdict is to try the case. The only way to get the case dismissed is to investigate it and push the prosecutor. Waving the white flag when things get tough won't get you anywhere.

Horns and Tide square off for all the roses

Tonight the Texas Longhorns and the Alabama Crimson Tide square off at the Rose Bowl to decide who is the BCS National Champion for 2009. If the 'Horns can keep Mark Ingram in check and if the Texas offensive line can give Colt McCoy enough time to find his receivers, I think they'll be lighting the Tower orange in Austin tonight.

Hook 'em!