Title battle
Seniors close long SWC
Don Long
By ROBERT CESSNA
Staff Sports Writer
Four years ago a certain group of
Aggie football players joined a team
and program that resembled a ship.
The ship had been sinking and
was taking on water fast. It appeared
they had made a bad choice.
Now four years later the ship has
changed drastically. One more voy-
Al Thurmond
age and they can lay claim to the
best damn ship in the fleet.
Bill Cazalas, Rusty Cook, Mike
Farrell, Mike Keese, Randy Had-
dox, Dennis Henderson, Jerry
Honore, Paul Hulin, Doug Jordan,
Ted Lamp, Don Long, Gary Pless,
John Pumphrey, Ricky Seeker, Ken
Stratton, Al Thurmond and Warren
Trahan will have been aboard that
ship for four years. James Daniels,
Tim Gray and John McCrumbly
joined the crew last year when they
were still developing. On Friday
they will play their last Southwest
Conference game.
If A&M defeats Texas these men
will graduate with the coveted title
of SWC champs. Many football
players have graduated from the
SWC without that. But to get this
far they have seen a lot.
They have been at A&M for the
change of coaches from Gene Stal
lings to Emory Bellard. They have
seen A&M go from the laughing
stock of the SWC to one of the most
respected teams. They have also
seen all the changes on the campus.
But mainly they have seen a losing
football team converted into a win
ner.
The changes occurring in football
during their tenure are seen differ
ently by various athletes. “Instead
of doing a lot of talking this year we
are doing a lot of doing,” Hulin said.
“Not that the talk wasn’t sincere be
fore, but this year we are coming
around the way we knew we could, ”
he said. The 8-2 record A&M takes
into the Texas game tends to back
his theory.
Lamp supported Hulin when he
said, “We could always play well in
other years hut this year, we are
winning. Confidence and en
thusiasm are other reasons cited by
Keese. “Before when we got behind
we expected to lose. Now we have
the poise and confidence needed to
win,” he said.
Another change touched on be
fore was that of head coaches. All
coaches have their theories and new
ways. Bellard was no exception.
“Coach Bellard has brought in more
quality athletes than Stallings and
Warren Trahan John Pumphrey Randy Haddox John McCrumbly
career in
the program is more organized,”
Pless said.
Some voiced the fact that Bellard
is less a disciplinary than Stallings.
They have noticed the openness be
tween the upper classmen and the
lower classmen. When Stallings was
here, seniority was recognized.
With Coach Bellard, “Everybody is
treated equally, Jordan said.
“Teams have lost some of the old
army that was here under Stallings,
not saying that it is good or bad, just
that it’s lost,” Cazalas said.
Probably one of the main ingre
dients needed for a winning team is
the five letter word, pride. “We al
ways had pride in ourselves, but
now we take pride in winning,”
Trahan said. “We won’t settle for
anything but winning,” he said.
The other change they have
noticed in four years besides the
football program is the campus it
self. The most voiced change they
all mentioned is the larger number
of co-eds.
With the changes has come the
breaking down of the conservatism.
Paul Hulin
James Daniels
THE BATTALION Page 5
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1974
Austin
“A&M is getting away from the con
servatism,” Hulin said. “I believe in
all the traditions at A&M, that’s one
of the reasons I cam here. Even if
the Corps is diminishing, tradition
is still here,” he said.
“The school has loosened up a lot.
It’s still conservative but not as con-
(See 1974 Page 6)
Ted Lamp
Tim Gray Doug Jordan ^
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