Inside a college coaching career that lasted nearly 50 years, Dick Tomey spent only a single season in Austin back in 2004 as UT's defensive ends coach and assistant head coach.
His Wikipedia page dedicates a single sentence to his time in Austin, which symbolizes how that season is remembered inside the larger scope of his entire career.
Yet, as someone who chronicled the program back then, I'd contend that there's a very real chance that nothing that happened between 2004-09 inside the Texas football program would have been possible without the short amount of time that the former Arizona head coach spent with Mack Brown before becoming the San Jose State head coach in 2005.
Before we discuss the impact for which Tomey should be given credit, let's paint a picture of the atmosphere into which he walked. A month before his hire, the Longhorns were coming off an embarrassing loss to Washington State in the Holiday Bowl, a game that featured a near mutiny from the parents inside the stands over the dysfunctional mess that went through the motions on the field that night. That night capped off a season that featured what might have been the worst butt-kicking the Sooners had ever delivered to the Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl back in October, the fourth straight loss to OU for Mack Brown's Longhorns.
The perception of the Texas program on the national level was it was the sport's version of Glass Joe and when Brown was looking to "put the toughness back in Texas," he turned to his friend Tomey, who had been a more accomplished head coach than Brown at the time of his arrival.
Tomey was 66 years old the day that he was hired and the moment he walked on to the 40 Acres, he became the hardest son of a gun on campus. All you ever heard about with Tomey was how hard he worked out, how hard he challenged himself and how much he lived every breath like a man that had the keys to the fountain of youth.
So, when that 2003 football team turned the page to 2004, it was Tomey who awaited it in the wee morning hours for that 2004 Texas off-season. It was Tomey who stripped the team down and built it back up over the course of the off-season. It was Tomey that created the "Not Our Standard" system of grading players that came to redefine effort and execution within the Texas program.
Former Texas defensive coordinator Greg Robinson gets a lot of credit for the work done with that 2004 defense, which included a brutal 12-0 loss to the Sooners, but Tomey deserves as much credit as anyone for that newfound toughness that the Longhorns suddenly possessed.
What I'm telling you is that without the 11 months that Tomey spent on Mack Brown's staff, history might have looked a lot different.
Over the weekend, Tomey passed away at the age of 80, losing his battle with cancer, but winning in the sense that he leaves this earth with 80 of the most-lived years that any 80-year old on the planet has ever lived.
Along the way, he left an impact everywhere he went.
Austin was one of those places.
Let's not ever forget it.
No. 2 - We're all not talking enough about ...
Technically, incoming member of the 2019 class Tyler Owens can't be labeled.
After all, he finished as the No. 62-ranked player in the nation in the final Rivals100 and I personally ranked him as a five-star prospect in the Lone Star Recruiting Top 100.
Yet, when the 6-2, 200-pound freak of nature finished second behind the alien that is Matthew Boling of Houston Strake Jesuit in the Class 6A state final in the 100 meters on Saturday night, it dawned on me that it's pretty wild that there's not a daily thread on Orangebloods about Owens.
Guy, I'm not saying that he's the best young defensive back prospect that the Texas program has ever signed, but I'm not sure there's ever been anyone that has arrived on the 40 Acres as a defensive back that has freakier physical tools. Maybe Edorian McCulloch in 2002, but Owens arrives without the kind of baggage that watched McCulloch last about 15 minutes in the Texas program.
I know the Longhorns are loaded at safety ... I know Caden Sterns is a bad dude ... I know BJ Foster is one as well ... I know Brandon Jones is going to play on Sundays ... I'm just saying Owens has the kind of raw physical ability that has a way of getting on the field by any means that the coaches can make it happen.
No. 3 - On a related note ...
This dude deserves his own section this week.
Not only did the future Georgia star outlast Tyler Owens for the 6A 100-meters title, while also winning the state championship in the long jump, but he did this.
No. 4 - Sharing the track and field love...
I've never mentioned Teahna Daniels' name one during her career at Texas, but after winning her third straight outdoor title and likely securing her future inclusion into the Longhorns Hall of Honor, it's time to give her some damn respect.
Oh, she also took home a first-place medal as a member of the Texas 4X100 relay team, a second-place medal in the 200 meters and was the backbone of a conference-winning team performance.
It might be time to bow down to the new Queen of Texas Track and Field.
No. 5 - Apologies to KD ...
I just wanted to take a moment to apologize to Kevin Durant for jinxing him following my comments in last week's column regarding his potential NBA legacy.
Far too often, I forget (perhaps I live in denial) about my sorcery skills as it relates to jinxing a player or team in the world of sports.
Just this week, I had this doozy.
And then I did this to the Rockets two days later.
To this day, I cringe when I think about the column I wrote back in November of 2013 when I championed Aaron Rodgers as the future greatest quarterback in the history of the sport. Chicago broke him in half less than 24 hours later on Monday Night football, costing the Packers the rest of the season and derailing my Sexual Chocolate fantasy football team, which had made a trade for Shady McCoy hours before the Rodgers injury. The best fantasy team I'd ever built started to crumble that night.
All because of my sorcery.
So, sorry about that, KD. I'll be careful from here on out.
No. 6 – BUY or SELL …
BUY or SELL: Tim Beck is a good offensive coordinator and a good complement to Herman and this offense in general?
(Buy) I wrote earlier this spring that you could make a case that Beck's internal make-up could make him a perfect complement to an offense that is ultimately directed by Tom Herman . If this was a Charlie Strong-led program and you needed Beck to be a rock star, I'm not sure he'd be able to handle the task, but in this current form, the Longhorns seem to have a very good arrangement.
BUY or SELL: Juwan Mitchell commits to Texas?
(Buy) It would be a surprise if it went the other way after his comments to @Suchomel yesterday.
BUY or SELL: There is at least one true freshman that makes the freshman all American team this season?
(Buy) I'll take Things I think Jordan Whittington Accomplishes in 2019 for $500, Alex.
BUY or SELL: Parker Braun does not redshirt upcoming season?
(Buy) The world will stop making sense to me if the team's best (or second-best) lineman sits out the year ... on purpose.
BUY or SELL: Jake Smith play four games or less this year and redshirts?
(Sell) I think he's going to get on the field all season.
BUY or SELL: Devin Duvernay has 800 plus receiving yards this season?
(Buy) A season ago, Duvernay averaged 39 yards per game, finishing with 546 yards on the season. In order to surpass 800 yards in 2019, Duvernay would need to average just over 57 yards per game. It'll be close, but I think he pulls that off. Good question.
BUY or SELL: With the advent of the transfer, portal hitting on the skill position recruits are not as important as hitting on linemen?
(Sell) There's not nearly enough activity in the portal to warrant adjusting any basic themes with regards to the importance of development at this level at any position.
BUY or SELL: Are you buying all the off-season hype about the LSU Tiger offense taking the next step?
(Sell) Nope. Not even a little. I'll believe it when I see it.
BUY or SELL: Texas is very much in the market for a graduate transfer at RB and Tavien Feaster visits Texas before making a decision? No way we’re rolling with a freshman with zero experience and a guy most of us aren’t even sure if he exists in Kirk Johnson. For what it’s worth, I believe in JWhitt and I think Kirk contributes this fall. But, Tom can’t gamble or prepare like that, right?
(Buy) You absolutely take Feaster if he wants to come for all of the reasons you've outlined. I'm not sure he'd be a difference-maker for the Longhorns without something unforeseen (which is certainly possible) and I'm not sure the depth chart situation is one that he'd by dying to join, but hell yeah, you'd take him.
BUY or SELL: We keep Todd Orlando after winning a conference championship, assuming it’s within the next 2 years?
(Buy) I've kind of stopped thinking of Orlando as a head coaching candidate in the making, not for a major program any way.
No. 7 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
... Soooooo, my Sixers lost a game seven on a buzzer-beating shot that bounced on the rim four damn times. FOUR. I mean...
... Kawhi Leonard is awesome and was the best player in that series. Make no mistake about, Scott Brooks 2.0.
... Steph Curry has a chance in the next couple of weeks to kind of restore his already very high status in the history of basketball. With Kevin Durant out for at least part of this series, Curry can reestablish himself as one of the giants of the sport, not just in all-time rankings, but in the current discussion of the best in the sport.
... I don't know what to tell the Rockets other than to sit tight and let the Warriors break up this summer.
... CJ McCollum just eliminated the Denver Nuggets with a flurry of mid-range jump shots. What a player.
... Am I allowed to suggest that the commercial that projects Kyler Murray as some sort of underdog story that features nothing but people doubting him is very stupid? How can you claim everyone doubts you when you are drafted No. 1 overall? Murray is a Heisman winner, a high-level national recruit and one of the greatest high school players in history. I mean ... come on.
... Kinda hard-core
... I don't know what to say about the end of the Premier League season that hasn't already been said. Congrats to Man City, who can legitimately claim to be the best team in the history of English soccer. Whatever Liverpool is this season, it was a single-point behind potentially the greatest team of all-time. Oh well, screw it. Let's just go be the champions of Europe in three weeks.
... My man.
No. 8 - Game of Thrones... Season Eight, Episode Five (One to go)
You guys know the drill. I'm prepared for anything. If Jamie eats Cersei's face with a nice glass of Chianti, I'm ready for all of it.
***** SPOILER ALERT ******
***** SPOILER ALERT ******
***** SPOILER ALERT ******
***** SPOILER ALERT ******
***** SPOILER ALERT ******
Wow, there's been a lot to process in every episode of this season, regardless of the high-end, medium-end or low-end direction of the story.
Tonight was no different.
1. Episode MVP: Drogon
Oh, so this is what a single dragon can do in a game of war when it's in the Jordan-zone? It was like watching Bruce Leroy get the glow, only this glow came with the elimination of.... millions?
Gulp.
2. That didn't really pan out at all like Cersei thought it would. My goodness.
3. I hated the Jamie/Euron fight. On a night that had some questionable story delivery, Jamie killing Euron after taking what should have been a fatal blow and then still having the strength to make several climbs of the Red Keep without getting nuked was a bit much.
4. The Clegane Bowl was even more hard-core than I expected. That's all I have to say about that.
5. I bet no one rings a damn bell in King's Landing ever again.
6. Varys' big final move has not yet been revealed, but next week sets up to be all kinds of hard-core. Either all of the Starks are going to die or Dany is. It's hard to see a middle ground.
***** END OF SPOILER ALERT ******
***** END OF SPOILER ALERT ******
***** END OF SPOILER ALERT ******
***** END OF SPOILER ALERT ******
***** END OF SPOILER ALERT ******
No. 9 - The List: Top 10 Musicals ...
Thanks to some last-minute gifting from an Orangebloods family member, I was able to take in Hamilton in San Antonio on Saturday night.
While I don't want to give into the moment too much, I have to confess that I came away from my seat at The Majestic Theater thinking that Lin Manuel-Miranda is every bit the genius that he's been positioned as in recent years.
Honestly, it's a production that has everything and it'll definitely be something I see again down the road.
With those comments out of the way, here are my personal Top 10 musicals that I have seen in person.
10. The King and I
9. Newsies
8. The Phantom of the Opera
7. Chicago
6. Mary Poppins
5. West Side Story
4. Beauty and the Beast
3. Peter Pan
2. Hamilton
1. Les Misérables
No. 10 – And Finally ...
This might be my favorite thing from the Internet this weekend. Imagine being single and going back to your 20-year reunion as freaking Captain America.
