Texas Football

By Dennis Hall / Texas Football

When Texas opens the season against Rice on Saturday, the game will pit Rice coach David Bailiff against one of his mentors, UT’s Mack Brown.

The Houston Chronicle’s Richard Justice wrote a touching column today detailing how Bailiff and Brown first came into contact and how important their relationship has been to Bailiff’s growth as a head coach.

Bailiff never worked for Brown, but a simple letter forged a friendship that has endured over time. Bailiff will get his chance to outduel his mentor on Saturday, but win or lose, these two will remain good friends.

You see stories like this about Mack Brown from time to time and you wonder if it could really be true. Is he really that nice of a guy to everybody he meets? After awhile, you realize that it must be true or so many people wouldn’t be telling the same type of stories.

Of course, what makes Brown special is his ability to win football games. His job security is tied much more closely to his W-L record than it is to his skills as a UT ambassador.

But in a profession where the saying began that “nice guys finish last,” it’s nice to see Brown buck that trend. We teach our kids to win with class, and it’s nice to see a coach who embodies that sentiment.

It's also worth noting that BYU, which had been flirting with the concept of moving to independent status in football, appears to have made the leap. This is major news for the Mountain West — without BYU and Utah, who fled to the Pac-10, the Mountain West Conference is now that much farther away from gaining the automatic qualifier status it so desperately seeks. Utah, which had played in two BCS bowls, and BYU, a consistent contender, offered some serious clout in that argument. Without them, TCU and soon-to-be conference rival Boise State have just themselves to offer as evidence of the conference's true worth in football.

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