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ARLINGTON, Texas — The call came from Bill Parcells. The crusty old coach had seen it a million times. A sterling-minted football program expected to win somehow letting that entitled mentality seep into the locker room.
So Parcells, then the Dallas Cowboys head coach, did Mack Brown a favor. He told the Texas coach that’s exactly how the No. 2 Longhorns looked to him in mid-November 2005.
“We beat Kansas 66-14,” Brown recalled this week to CBS Sports. “He said, ‘Man, you’re in trouble.’ I said, ‘Coach, we’re undefeated.’ He said, ‘Yeah, you’re walking around like a rat about to eat some poison cheese.'”
This was years before Nick Saban would coin the term “rat poison” and, in fact, use it as an inspiration to win national championships. Almost 20 years since that conversation the recently retired Brown says Texas’ last championship season is exactly where the term originated.
“Bill knew Nick, too,” Brown said. “I’m sure he got it from him.”
Back then, the point had been made. Parcells saw so much positive in Texas. He also saw so much that could be lost with the Horns headed to Texas A&M for their next game.
“This is their national championship game,” Parcells told Brown regarding the Aggies. “You look like you could care less.”
Texas’ coach paid heed and went to unique lengths. Brown had his staff hang cheese from every locker with a note attached containing Parcells’ warning. Sure enough, the Longhorns fell behind by one early in the third quarter. Quarterback Vince Young was playing arguably his shakiest game of the season.
Reached by phone this week, as his former team prepares to take on Ohio State as a near-touchdown underdog in the College Football Playoff Cotton Bowl semifinal, Brown relayed the anecdote for two…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/in-rare-cotton-bowl-underdog-role-vs-ohio-state-texas-embraces-type-of-edge-mack-brown-once-perfected/
Author : Dennis Dodd
Publish date : 2025-01-09 17:17:00
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