football

Happy Thanksgiving

November 24, 2014 By Bill Powers

In this week of Thanksgiving, I’d like to thank each of you for what you do — day in and day out — to make this a life-changing institution. To our students, thank you for your Longhorn spirit and for making this campus a place I want to be every day. To our faculty, thank you for dedicating your lives to our students’ futures and for pushing the boundaries of our knowledge of the world. To our staff, thank you for your dedication and creativity — you make this place run. And to our alumni and friends, thank you for your pride in UT Austin and for your critical support. Here is a great compilation of reasons to be thankful.

Speaking of support, I know you all join me in cheering on Coach Strong and the Longhorns as they take on No. 5 TCU this Thursday at 6:30 at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium. It’s been exciting to watch the team grow this season, and we’re looking forward to a bowl game. (And if you are coming to the stadium, don’t miss our great new exhibit in the North End Zone featuring memorabilia donated to UT by Willie Nelson.)

I also want to congratulate Coach Jerritt Elliott and our volleyball team for winning their fourth straight Big 12 Conference regular season title, their fifth in six years, and eighth overall. What a dynasty.

I hope that you have much to be thankful for this year, and that your time with family and friends will be relaxing and enjoyable.

Hook ’em Horns!

Coach Strong doing a tough job well

July 31, 2014 By Bill Powers

In recent days, criminal charges and violations of team rules have led Coach Charlie Strong to dismiss and suspend multiple students from our football team. These are unfortunate losses, but I fully support Coach Strong and the hard line on discipline he takes. Indeed, this trait is among the reasons he was hired.

There’s no more demanding job in college sports than coach of the Texas Longhorns football team. In Charlie Strong, we have the right person for the job. Young players across Texas and beyond know that when they come to UT Austin, they’ll live by Coach Strong’s rules or they won’t play football. This will attract the best young men, and they will make all of us proud on the field and off.

Coach Brown has my full support

December 6, 2012 By Bill Powers

Now that the Longhorn football team has finished its regular season, there has been an increase in media speculation about Coach Mack Brown’s future. I’d like to state unequivocally that Coach Brown has my full support as well as the support of Men’s Athletics Director DeLoss Dodds. Put succinctly, Mack Brown is and will remain the Longhorns’ head football coach.

Coach Brown restored Texas’ winning tradition. He embodies the Texas character, is a superb ambassador for The University of Texas, and runs a program that is both winning and clean, a program that all alumni and fans can and should be proud of. Mack cares about the young men on the team as people, as students, and as players, in that order, and he models the kind of leadership that will serve our players for the rest of their lives.

I look forward to watching this young team win the Alamo Bowl and continue to grow in seasons to come.

Hook ’em Horns!

Giving Thanks for Coach Royal

November 7, 2012 By Bill Powers

This morning, we received the sad news of the passing of Coach Darrell K Royal. Coach Royal touched the lives of untold thousands. As a coach he transformed boys into young men and through his successes and leadership, he transformed the University itself.

In the days ahead, there will be much written and said about Coach. Today, I want to simply express thanks for his life, his leadership, and his friendship. And I want to say to Edith and the family that the whole UT family is with you, as we both grieve the loss of this great and decent man and celebrate his remarkable life.

Thank you, Coach, for all you did for us.

Hook ’em Horns.

Those Three Little Words

June 28, 2012 By Bill Powers

Three words that many thought they would never hear outside a hypothetical – “college football playoff” – have now become reality. On Tuesday, I was part of a group of 12 university presidents in Washington, D.C., that voted to move to a four-team playoff – two semifinals and a final – starting in 2014 and continuing at least until 2025. This moves us into a new era of college football — one many have sought for a long time.

Whereas an extensive playoff system, such as we have in basketball, was never tenable for football, this two-game playoff will be not only practical but should eliminate most questions about who deserves the trophy. A committee will be formed to set the criteria for who is invited to the semifinals, criteria that will include a team’s win-loss record, strength of schedule, head-to-head results, and conference championships.

We endorsed a rotation of the semifinal games among six bowl sites and a rotation of the championship game among neutral sites. The semifinals will be played on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, and the final will be played on “Championship Monday,” the first Monday in January that is six or more days after the last semifinal.

There will be three contract bowls — the Champions Bowl (a partnership between the Big 12 and SEC), the Rose Bowl (which traditionally is between the Big 10 and Pac 12), and a bowl to be determined for the ACC, which is likely to continue its partnership with the Orange Bowl. The three other bowls, called “access bowls,” have yet to be determined, but the Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl will become bidders.

I took a keen interest in every detail of the playoff plan because I expect to be attending those games on a very regular basis.

Hook ’em Horns!

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