The proverbial Texas football throne.
A mythological creation from the minds of Texans and college football fans everywhere.
For many years, the general consensus was whichever program ruled the state of football in Texas would rule college football’s landscape. To some extent, this is accurate but not always.
When the Pony Express of the 1980s at SMU was riding high, they didn’t win a national title but they were the kings of Texas and recruited at a high level (sans the obvious NCAA violations).
When Johnny Football captivated the nation in 2012, Texas A&M was riding the wave of endorsement and fandom, even selling more T-shirts than the Longhorns.
Don’t get me started on that irony.
And who could forget what 4th and 5 did for the Texas Longhorns? Mack had recruiting classes filled up with future All-Pros 11 months before signing day.
Everyone expects to see the Longhorns at the top, and when they fall from grace everyone likes to take their shots. Goliath is feared when he is standing tall but not when he is wounded.
The 2016 season is just around the corner and with it comes opportunity for the program. Texas is older, more experienced and has a chip on its shoulder. It’s time for Strong and company to make the move to reclaim the state’s top spot.
And it’s ripe for the picking too.
Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin is on the hot seat and in all likelihood needs to knock it out of the park this year to keep his job. Easier said than done. Late night Twitter rants from coaches resulting in a loss of recruits doesn’t help Sumlin’s or the program’s cause. The aggies have a new starting quarterback and a new offensive coordinator. While both are experienced, there will be a new product on the field in Aggieland. Whether this is a good thing or disastrous remains to be seen.
Baylor is reeling from the rape scandal with a fired head coach, 6 signees from the last recruiting class gone (most to Texas) and players defecting from the program.
TCU is hoping to reload with Kenny Hill at quarterback but with only 10 starters returning, it might be a rebuilding year in Fort Worth.
Kliff Kingsbury is doing what people expect in Lubbock: keeping the Red Raiders competitive and making it to bowl games. Anything beyond that is unforeseen at this point.
The Longhorns have survived another insane off-season by going about their business, not talking greatness or wins, but working on improving the product on the field. No real off-the-field issues and no team drama. Everyone is focused on their studies and on their preparation for the upcoming season. This is precisely what Charlie Strong had at Louisville. No drama, no frills… just going about the work at-hand with intentionality and in a manner that yields results in the long run.
Does that mean the ‘Horns will go 11-1 and win the Big 12?
No.
Does it mean they will beat every Big 12 team in the state?
No.
What it does mean is Charlie Strong’s players must start to methodically take back the throne by taking care of business. Winning games that they are supposed to win (Iowa State), closing out close games (Cal) and not allowing referees to decide games (Oklahoma State).
If the Longhorns can do those 3 things consistently, they can be an 8-win team in 2016 positioned to win big in 2017 and 2018. That will be enough to swing momentum back to the 40 Acres and reestablish the Longhorns as the premier program in the state of Texas.
Who wants the throne?
Only the Longhorns can answer that.
