Remember Fred Akers?

[Run Pincher]

Fred was a great coach. As Barry said at his memorial service, the only coach that beat Barry more times than he lost to him.

Our University treated him like **** and was so classless before and after his firing.

Dave, can you imagine sitting in a Blue Chips home with his family when a BMD calls and tells them (on speaker) to not let their son go to Texas because "we" are going fire Akers and you don't know who your son's coach will be.

Fred wasn't perfect, but he was a damn good coach, loyal to Texas until his passing, and deserved better treatment than he was given. Even Deloss acknowledged that, but his hands were tied. Again, it was disgraceful the way he was treated.

WINNER! He was a lot better coach than he will ever get credit for being.

 

[SabreHorn]

For those too young to have lived it, during Fred's tenure, SMU became the first school to give a mother a new home and get her a job making three times what she earned at her old job. Kid cried on the phone when he said he had to go to SMU. FWIW, he didn't complete his first semester there. I went to Dallas to meet with Meyer and deliver the message that if "mom" lost her home or her job, it would be on the front page of the DMN, Washington Post, & NY Times.

Couple things like that with BMDs calling kids telling them not to go to Texas, it's a wonder we ever got recruits.

Phil, if the government had taped some of the conversation Diane and I or Danny and I had, we might all have been ont he "watch list". That said, Danny would call me to ask how my daughter was doing when she was battling cancer while he had his own problems. Great human being

 

[Chop]

I remember several interviews with Akers. Was he a coach in a minor pro league or something? For some reason I think there was an interview out of somewhere in Lousiana.
He always spoke of Texas with great respect. I am sorry he was treated so badly.

He coached at Wyoming for a while.

 

[Chop]

Fred was a great coach. As Barry said at his memorial service, the only coach that beat Barry more times than he lost to him.

Our University treated him like **** and was so classless before and after his firing.

Dave, can you imagine sitting in a Blue Chips home with his family when a BMD calls and tells them (on speaker) to not let their son go to Texas because "we" are going fire Akers and you don't know who your son's coach will be.

Fred wasn't perfect, but he was a damn good coach, loyal to Texas until his passing, and deserved better treatment than he was given. Even Deloss acknowledged that, but his hands were tied. Again, it was disgraceful the way he was treated.

Who were the ringleaders of the anti-Fred Akers group back then?

 

[Chop]

I think if Field Goal Freddie had gone out and got a top-notch Offensive Coordinator and given him plenty of space, we'd have another 2-3 National Championships.

 

[Chop]

I think if Field Goal Freddie had gone out and got a top-notch Offensive Coordinator and given him plenty of space, we'd have another 2-3 National Championships.

Generalizations from the Akers era:

Defense - very good to excellent
Running game - good to very good
Passing game - occasionally good, but mostly not
Kicking game - best in the country

 

[Chop]

It was the rise of the MIamis and other wide-open passing games that left us behind...

That, and rampant Sooner, aggie, Ark, UH, and SMU cheating.

 

[Chop]

It was the rise of the MIamis and other wide-open passing games that left us behind...

That, and rampant Sooner, aggie, Ark, UH, and SMU cheating.

We were also too caught up in maintaining the image of the "good kid" / "true scholar" off the field back in that era. We lost out on a lot of top recruits, who weren't bad guys, but had a different style and demeanor to them.

 

[X Misn Tx]

We were also too caught up in maintaining the image of the "good kid" / "true scholar" off the field back in that era. We lost out on a lot of top recruits, who weren't bad guys, but had a different style and demeanor to them.

i can't tell if you're arguing with yourself or agreeing. lol

 

[Horn6721]

Fred coached at Wyoming before he came to Texas. He coached the Shreveport Knights in 1999
I guess that is when I heard the interview I mentioned earlier where he was so respectful of Texas.I must have been driving through Shreveport on way back to Dallas at the time. I remember being impressed with how classy he was

 

[horninchicago]

i can't tell if you're arguing with yourself or agreeing. lol

I agree and disagree.

 

[TEXAS1983]

For those too young to have lived it, during Fred's tenure, SMU became the first school to give a mother a new home and get her a job making three times what she earned at her old job. Kid cried on the phone when he said he had to go to SMU. FWIW, he didn't complete his first semester there. I went to Dallas to meet with Meyer and deliver the message that if "mom" lost her home or her job, it would be on the front page of the DMN, Washington Post, & NY Times.

Couple things like that with BMDs calling kids telling them not to go to Texas, it's a wonder we ever got recruits.

Phil, if the government had taped some of the conversation Diane and I or Danny and I had, we might all have been ont he "watch list". That said, Danny would call me to ask how my daughter was doing when she was battling cancer while he had his own problems. Great human being

As someone who was an undergrad during that period, I can say that Fred Akers always seemed a class guy who was operating in a totally classless conference.

The SMU backfield of Dickerson and James most likely took a pay cut when they went to the NFL. Jackie and the fedex envelopes, Barry with the cocaine and uzis at the athletic dorms, even TCU was paying their players, and God only knows what Baylor was doing.

Fred's defenses were brutal. Unfortunately, so were some of his offenses. I sometimes thought that if Texas could run only fullback dives and counters all game and win 14-0, Fred would have considered it the ideal game.

 

[Phil Elliott]

Didn't he go to Purdue after Texas?

 

[Horn6721]

Yes Akers coached at Purdue after he left Texas

 

[SabreHorn]

Fred hired Ronnie Thompson from Port Arthur as OC. RT trained and developed Todd Dodge, Craig Stump, & half a dozen other HS QBs that played various D-1 positions. Everyone thought it was a homerun hire, but there were problems which WILL NOT be discussed on this board, and no, it wasn't drugs.

Todd & Southlake & Westlake, as well as dozens of other HS used Ronnie's offense or variations thereof.

There were also coaches Fred wanted to hire but DKR stopped their hiring.

 

[TEXAS1983]

I did not know at the time how much institutional resistance there was to Akers within the athletic department and booster community.

That's a real shame. Fred had us real close a couple times.

 

[SabreHorn]

83,

I have forgotten which year it was, but Ty Alert was out LB, and we played Baylor at home. Game came down to Baylor having the ball on our goal line late in 4th quarter, going for it on 4th down (South end of Memorial Stadium). Fred called timeout and started screaming for Ty to come to sideline. SJ was the dentist from El Dorado, Ark that I wanted blackballed, but Fred refused. He sent Allert down there to tell the guy, "Grant's gonna run a pick on this side and I want it called".

Sure enough, Baylor ran a pick on the goal line, and to my amazement, the dentist called it, Baylor didn't score.

 

[Horns11]

Fred hired Ronnie Thompson from Port Arthur as OC. RT trained and developed Todd Dodge, Craig Stump, & half a dozen other HS QBs that played various D-1 positions. Everyone thought it was a homerun hire, but there were problems which WILL NOT be discussed on this board, and no, it wasn't drugs.

Todd & Southlake & Westlake, as well as dozens of other HS used Ronnie's offense or variations thereof.

There were also coaches Fred wanted to hire but DKR stopped their hiring.

I mean... let's just say he fit in better at A&M. And knowing the mascot of South Garland HS until they changed it. That was the perception of him in Austin from my time there. He's still a legend in Port Arthur.

 

[SabreHorn]

Ronnie worked at A&M?

Only two places I knew he ever worked were Port Arthur and Austin. After Austin he went back to Port Arthur, first as a coach, then in administration.

 

[Horns11]

Ronnie worked at A&M?

Only two places I knew he ever worked were Port Arthur and Austin. After Austin he went back to Port Arthur, first as a coach, then in administration.

Yeah he was under Lynn Amedee as the same position coach for Kevin Murray. Then at South Garland forever... he was kind of a DFW "living legend" for something like 15 years there. Finally, he went back to PA for Memorial this time.