As I was leaving the Dome after the 1987 (?) Nebraska Sugar Bowl whuppin' of LSU I jokingly said to a couple of Nebraska fans that if they had the papers admitting that the Huskers were better than the Tigers, I would sign them provided we never had to play Nebraska again. My how things have changed.
I would think that the UT job would be very attractive to Spurrier if it somehow became vacant. Nebraska is a different story though!
The Cornhusker's actions once again reinforce just what the "N" on the side of their helmet stands for... Nowledge.
So far Reese is on his way out. They expect a few more to be as well. Here is the article on Reese. UT's def. coordinator to resign Tuesday 07:54 PM CST on Monday, January 5, 2004 By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News AUSTIN — Texas defensive coordinator Carl Reese, whose defense was ranked No. 1 in the nation as recently as 2001, will announce Tuesday at a news conference that he has decided to resign after six years on Mack Brown’s staff, according to three university sources. Reese, 60, hasn’t decided if he will retire to a vacation house he has in Missouri or continue coaching somewhere else, the sources said. Former Texas Longhorn defensive back and former Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Jerry Gray is considered a leading candidate to replace Reese. Gray, a native of Lubbock and a two-time All-American at Texas as a safety in 1983 and 1984, was scheduled to interview for the Buffalo Bills head coaching job on Monday, according to one source. The Bills’ defense was second to the Dallas Cowboys this season, giving up 269.6 yards per game. Carl Reese Gray is considered a natural fit to replace Reese because he is a former Longhorn and is friends with Duane Akina, UT’s secondary coach, whom Brown promoted to assistant head coach last year. Reese couldn’t be reached for comment Monday. The Texas defense, which has enjoyed a top-10 ranking three of the past four years and a top 15 ranking five of Reese’s six years at UT, finished this season 25th, allowing 329.9 yards per game. Brown’s top priorities on defense coming into the season were to play better run defense, play better zone pass coverage and get more pressure on the quarterback. While Texas had 42 sacks this season, it finished 58th nationally in run defense, giving up 152.5 yards per game on the ground, and struggled with zone pass coverage, especially in losses to Arkansas and Oklahoma. In those games, Texas gave up a third-and-30 on a 54-yard pass (against Arkansas) and allowed Oklahoma to convert first-and-30. The defense was blamed publicly by Brown after the Arkansas and Oklahoma losses, and Brown said the defense didn’t handle the pass well against Texas Tech’s prolific aerial attack in a 43-40 victory. Following the 65-13 loss to Oklahoma, in which the defense was saddled with terrible field position after six turnovers by the offense, Reese’s defense was ranked 99th nationally against the run, giving up 189 yards rushing per game. Reese was asked about his job security at that time and responded by saying Brown had told him that Brown had a $3.5 million buyout in his contract and that his assistant coaches needed to please him. Reese said he got the message and that if it meant getting fired at the end of the season, he could handle it. “I’ll go coach somewhere else,” Reese said. “That’s part of coaching.” The Texas defense made a turnaround at mid-season, after Reese decided he would no longer go with players who couldn’t practice all week because of nagging injuries. Safety Dakarai Pearson (shoulders) was replaced by safety Phillip Geiggar, and defensive end Brian Pickryl (shoulder) was replaced by sophomore Mike Williams. Sophomore linebacker Aaron Harris of North Mesquite was also inserted into the lineup. All helped stop the run, decreasing the yards given up on the ground to 121 yards per game over the final seven games.
