www.statesman.com COMMENTARY: CEDRIC GOLDEN Mack needs to act Tough discipline, changes in recruiting needed after rash of Longhorn arrests. Click-2-Listen Friday, August 03, 2007 The Texas Longhorns are no longer the fair-haired boys of college football. "We are Texas"? How about: "Which Texas is this"? Not the Texas that coach Mack Brown molded into a national power with high-character recruits who rarely ran afoul of the law. Not the Texas that steered clear of serious off-the-field offenses. The second arrest of former UT safety Robert Joseph, this time on aggravated robbery charges, was a head shaker. For the Longhorn Nation, the allegation that freshman defensive tackle Dre Jones participated in the robbery, too, was like running headfirst into a tackling dummy. Without a helmet. We can't keep saying "another black eye for the program" because the eyes of Texas are rapidly becoming slits. No amount of makeup can cover up these scars. Hook 'em is fast becoming Book 'em. Since Mack and Vince Young led the program to a fourth national championship on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006, there have been 10 — count 'em, 10 — arrests of players involved with the Texas program. Five have come in the last two months. What is going on here? Accountability is everything, and Mack must take the hit here. He won a national title and returned this program to top-five prominence. Now he must re-evaluate his recruiting practices before his program disintegrates into something ugly, or uglier. Brown has a problem in his football family, and he must face that fact. Instead of taking responsibility, he chided the media this week when he said, "It's very interesting that when you have 130 kids, and 128 of them do everything right, if one gets in trouble, you stir it up about one or two." I like Mack. He's a good, family man who could charm the rattles off a Texas rattlesnake, but the time has come to take another approach in determining what type of kids he's bringing in here. I know there are background checks conducted on recruits every year. Incoming freshmen in orientation are cautioned to avoid drinking, late nights and to pick their friends wisely. It's worked for the most part, but changes are obviously needed. What changes are up to Mack. That's why he makes over $2 million a year, to make those tough decisions. If eight current and/or former players are arrested within an 18-month period, it puts a damper on the clean standing of the other 78 players. Bad news travels fast. This is not the time for coaches or fans to make excuses. Be angry, not apathetic. One or two arrests a year? Happens in most every major football program in America. But 10 in a year and a half? Now you're venturing into the seedy era of the camouflage-wearing Miami Hurricanes of yesteryear. We saw what Joe Paterno did when six of his Penn State players were arrested for a fight on campus. In addition to any legal punishment the offenders must face, he ordered the entire team to clean the football stadium after each home game. Like it or not, it's called accountability. Accountability not only as a football player but as a football program. Brown can't be everywhere his players go. But they hang out with one another. If a team member knew about guns or robberies, they should have intervened. In the Texas football media guide, Jones is described as a Parade high school All-American, an honor roll student who graduated from Andress High School in El Paso early so he could join his future college teammates for spring football. Jones grew up dreaming of being in the UT starting lineup one day, not the photo lineup in which he was identified. Now he will join Joseph in jail, in a different shade of orange uniform. Which brings us to the easiest decision Mack Brown has faced since he offered Vince Young a scholarship. The lawbreakers must go. Haven't these kids learned anything from Michael Vick? This dude was a $100 million industry unto himself and now there are sewer rats who wouldn't trade places with him. The lesson is you're only as good as your associations. If you lie down with dogs, you will soon wake up with fleas. So If you want to follow your buddy to the penitentiary, go ahead. But you shouldn't be allowed to do it under the guise of being a law-abiding student-athlete for a college reputed to recruit solid citizens. How many times have we heard coach Brown say: "He's a good kid from a good family."? Well, it's time to find some better kids. More Kelsons and McCoys. Fewer thugs. cgolden@statesman.com; 912-5944
can't disagree with anything stated here, but it's not as if mack is letting these guys hang around too long.
Maybe we're all being too PC, IMHO...I personally don't think it is as its just a phrase that has been around, but when I read or hear it, I don't think about racism... Fair haired is similar to golden child...
Not trying to move this to D&D, but in fairness to the black author, are any of the 20+ arrests surrounding UT football since 2002 non-black players?
Anyone know when student tickets can be picked up? I ordered mine in late June. Hoping to get Section 27.
