http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/1668493.html
Mr. Nice Guy stands up to softness claims
BLAIR KERKHOFF - COLLEGES
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. | First he delivered an icy glare, then Mack Brown lit into the inquisitor like a typhoon.
Not really, of course. In public persona, Brown brings the bite of a puppy dog. The problem, he says, is his reputation rubs off on his football players. They’re squeezably soft Longhorns, not only in college but in the NFL.
The subject came up in an odd way Wednesday as Brown spoke about tonight’s BCS national-championship game. He was asked to compare himself with Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, who conducts a more business-like approach.
“It’s funny,” Brown’s response started innocently enough. “I’ve been asked all week if I’m really nice.”
He is. And it doesn’t make him a bad football coach. Nice guys can finish first.
Brown then peeled back the layers of his niceness.
“I mean, I was taught in a small town in Cooksville, Tenn., to say ‘yes, sir’ and ‘no, sir,’ and ‘yes ma’am’ and ‘no, ma’am.’ I was taught to open doors. I was taught to allow ladies to walk through and gentleman older than I to walk through the door before I did. And if I didn’t do that I got whipped. … So I still feel dad standing there when you walk up and shake my hand. I’m going to shake yours. And I’m going to be nice or I’m not going to have anything to say.”
The autopsy of Mr. Nice Guy had a purpose. He hates how his players past and present are portrayed.
“It’s always interesting to me,” Brown said. “I think we have 47 active players in the NFL. We have three guys that have gained 1,000 yards as running backs, and people say our NFL guys are soft. Well, some fools keep drafting them, so I can’t figure out why. And they’re all still playing, and they’re playing very well.
“This football team has won 26 of 27, and they’re soft. I do think it’s perception. I smile, I shake hands. I like for the kids to have fun. These kids are tough.”
Brown went down the soft road later on, again with a direction question about his team’s toughness, this time referring to Texas’ 2005 national-championship game victory over Southern California.
“We sat here in 2005, and SC was an unbelievable team, and I can remember Texas was soft. Our NFL guys were soft. I can remember we don’t have a chance, and our guys played great that night,” Brown said.
Having covered the Big 12 since its inception, Texas softness isn’t an imagined concept, especially early in Brown’s tenure.
In the first few years of their tenures, Bob Stoops’ Oklahoma teams would hit Brown’s clubs in the mouth early and the Longhorns seemingly couldn’t wait to get out of there.
The luxuries afforded players of the conference’s and perhaps the nation’s wealthiest program bred a country-club atmosphere. Selective recruiting — Brown wanted only nice kids and not those from the mean streets — were all part of the speculation.
Who knows? A reporter friend shared an interesting theory, suggesting Texas lands prospects so physically superior than those at most schools they’re not used to competing with players on their level. Some learn how, others never do.
Somebody who would know about the program’s reputation, at least on the pro level, said the soft blanket may cover a certain position.
“That reputation comes maybe from some of their linemen, some of their offensive linemen of the last 10, 12 years,” said former NFL head coach Jon Gruden, part of the national radio broadcast team for tonight’s game.
But there have been others.
“Cedric Benson was a strange bird coming in, Roy Williams, there have been some guys who have not exploded onto the scene like we’d have expected them too,” Gruden said. “But I just saw Brian Orakpo last week. He’s not soft. Jamaal Charles, he’s not soft.
“There have been some disappointments, but everywhere you go you see Longhorns on rosters. Not everybody is going to hit, but I’m a little reserved when I hear that statement.”
What can’t be argued is Texas’ success over the last half-dozen or so years. The Longhorns are bidding for their sixth straight bowl victory. They’ve topped Stoops and the Sooners three of the last four.
Others would like to be so soft.
Now they’ll take on an Alabama team that is being portrayed as, well, tougher than Texas.
Brown disagrees, respectfully.
