HICKS: Longhorns may be in need of some new Orangeblood

Published 11:20 pm Thursday, September 19, 2013

For Longhorn fans, it must feel like the ship is sinking.

The flagship university of the state is going through some tough times on the athletic field and courts as well as academic areas (president Bill Powers vs. essentially Gov. Rick Perry).

It doesn’t help matters that the Heisman Trophy winner is leading their rivals at Texas A&M. And doubly tough is that Johnny Manziel wanted to be a Longhorn.

The volleyball team may be the defending national champions, but in the big three — football, basketball and baseball — things are not looking so good.

There is about to be an upheaval at The University of Texas — changes are coming from athletic director to baseball coach.

AD DeLoss Dodds is 74. Football coach Mack Brown is 62. Rick Barnes is 59. Augie Garrido is 74.

Each has done a tremendous job not only for UT, but the state of Texas. It has nothing to do with age; it’s just we live in a society of “what have you done for me lately.”

Maybe it is time for new blood.

Since we are in football season, let’s stick with Brown.

When some booed him during a PSA on the godzillatron Saturday it made me think of the time at Reunion Arena when Troy Aikman was booed when he was shown. It wasn’t like Philadelphia — the whole stadium or the whole arena did not chime in, but the boo birds were there.

Obviously, there have been some mistakes in the past few years. Brown left a lot of the evaluating to others and they missed on big-time talent from QBs to offensive linemen.

Maybe they expected the recruits to just show up and relied on recruiting services.

But back to the subject at hand, unless the Longhorns reel off 10-straight wins and correct a defense that looks like the French in World War I and II, Brown will not be Texas’ head coach next season.

So in a few weeks, the two best coaching positions in America will be open — Texas and Southern California.

No disrespect to Alabama, but wouldn’t you rather live in Austin or near the beach in L.A. than Tuscaloosa?

But those two situations should not be compared. Brown has done a great job at UT, while Lane Kiffin — well — not so much.

I know in the future Brown will be revered just like Darrell Royal. It just appears things are going to end ugly.

The Longhorns were in an abyss after Royal retired and until Brown arrived from Chapel Hill.

True, Fred Akers was close to two national championships if not for another poor bowl outing here or a fumble punt there. Still, in 10 seasons at Texas, he was 86-31-2, but his bowl record was 2-7.

He was followed by Longhorn favorite David McWilliams (31-26, 1-1 in bowls) and not so favorite John Mackovic (41-28-2, 1-2 in bowls).

In his 16th season at UT, Brown is 151-45 and 10-4 in bowls. What if Colt McCoy had not been hurt against Alabama, or if Blake Gideon had snagged an interception against Tech, Brown may have match Royal with three national championships.

Who knows? No one knows.

As the season progresses, just remember what Brown brought to UT, the Lone Star State and college football.