KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mack Brown thinks the term "legend” is tossed around too loosely in reference to college football players these days.
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But the Texas coach doesn't hesitate to label his former quarterback, Vince Young, as a legend. Of course, it's rightfully earned from Brown's perspective; his only national championship came with Young at the helm in 2005.
Now Brown must prove he can get his team back among the nation's elite — or even back to the Big 12 title game — without Young.
"Vince was an unbelievable football player,” Texas Tech senior defensive back Daniel Charbonnet said. "When Texas had Vince, there was a different feeling about that team. You knew they were special and he was special.”
Outside of the 2004 and 2005 seasons, Young's sophomore and junior seasons, Brown's Texas teams won between nine and 11 games every year. But they never won a Big 12 title or went to a BCS game, instead making regular trips to the Cotton and Holiday Bowls.
And this season doesn't look to be set up for Texas' return to the top.
"It's tough to get there, but we have those expectations for ourselves,” Longhorn quarterback Colt McCoy said. "We have a ridiculously hard schedule.”
And that's accurate. The ‘Horns host Arkansas and visit upstart Colorado before facing Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl the second Saturday in October.
The Red River Rivalry is followed by a visit from Big 12 North favorite Missouri, then road trips to face Texas Tech and Kansas. That makes several tough tests for the Longhorns' young, inexperienced secondary.
Offensively, McCoy has limited experience around him at the skill positions, where Limas Sweed and Jamaal Charles have moved on to the NFL, and an offensive line that was battered by injuries and opponents last year.
But Brown still doesn't feel his team is too far off.
"I think in modern-day college football, the good teams are really close, always,” the coach said. "The really good teams are never far away and we want to stay in that mix. You have to be consistently good to be great, so when it bounces right and you stay healthy, things work out.
"(In 2005), we had one guy that missed a game. The last two years, I bet we had 27 miss games. You've got to be fortunate and at the same time be really good.”
Opponents still put Texas in that class of really good teams. But until one of Brown's teams does something to change it, Young was the X-factor.
"When you look at Vince Young, you're looking at one of the greatest playmakers to play the quarterback position in collegiate football,” said Texas A&M defensive back Devin Gregg.
"Losing a player like that will set back any program. I wouldn't say they've struggled. They've had 10-win seasons the past several years. They've had their ups and downs, but overall, they've been a great football team.”
McCoy knows he'll never be the gifted athlete Young was, so he and his teammates are relying on their work ethic to have them in position for a conference or national title — if not this year, then next.
"Our guys understand the importance of hard work now,” McCoy said. "We've been through two seasons of just winning 10 games. We know how good we can be. We just have to do it.”
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Wow, the writer of this article fails to really remember that Texas never left. There's no football program in the nation that will be the same after a season and player like that. I would say they are the elite, and just like every other team that wins is trying to gain rarified air that is the ultimate in their sport.
Mack's a terrifiic coach, just not quite as good as Stoops. But it's a narrow enough gap that I'm nervous every year in early October. Except for 2003. I knew we had them that year.
You may not like Texas, but if you are a Big 12 fan you know that the Big 12 South is the TOUGHEST division in college football! With the Big 12 north getting back to strength, the Big 12 will overtake the SEC as the best Conference in football in 2008. Go Big 12!
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Texas coach Mack Brown has to prove he can make it back to a BCS championship game without an athletic superstar like former quarterback Vince Young. by JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN
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