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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 1986)
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CORKJGR ,-rMGRE VJUAS "TM(£> CAR At RR3T 1 TMOU&MT- Former UT coach bitter it COULPM'T & over ‘sacrificial’ firing Associated Press t I Oilers will trim prospect list before naming new coach Associated Press HOUSTON — The Houston Oil ers won’t offer the vacant head coaching job to anyone until the list of prospects has been reduced to three and those applicants re-inter viewed, General Manager Ladd Herzeg said Tuesday. “Everyone we’ve talked to so far, wants the job," Herzeg said. “We’re going to keep talking until the list of everyone we’re interested in has been exhausted.” Herzeg declined to name any of the prospective coaches but the Oil ers reportedly have interviewed for mer Cleveland Coach Sam Rutig- liano, San Francisco assistant coach Paul Hackett and United States Football League coaches Dick Coury of Portland and Jacksonville’s Lindy Infante. Nebraska’s Tom Osborne also has been mentioned in connection with the Oilers. A Houston Chronicle source said Osborne was offered the job last week but that he had decided to re main with the Cornhuskers. Osborne told Houston Radio Sta tion KIKK early Tuesday “It’s not true,” when asked if he’d been of fered the head coachingjob. In a later interview, Osborne said he was happy at Nebraska and planned to be there next season, but added he would neither confirm nor deny rumors concerning the Oilers. “I am the coach at Nebraska and plan to be here next year,” Osborne said. “I have a five-year contract and, God willing, I’ll be here another five years from now. It’s the only job right now that I’m interested in.” Herzeg fired head coach Hugh Campbell with two games remaining in the 1985 season and named de fensive coordinator Jerry Glanville as interim coach. Glanville remains a candidate for the full-time position because he thinks the Oilers have the personnel to have a winning season in 1986. Herzeg started his search looking for a coach who believes the Oilers can win next season. “Basically, all the people I’ve talked to say we’ve done an out standing job of providing the per sonnel here,” Herzeg said. “The re ception has been very good.” Herzeg said he would not rush into naming a coach prior to the Se nior Bowl at Mobile, Ala., Jan. 18. where unemployed coaches often find new jobs. PORT ARTHUR — Former Uni versity of Texas assistant football coach Ronnie Thompson said four years of frustration — of having to bite his tongue, of seeing players misused, of seeing suggestions ig nored — poured out after head coach Fred Akers fired him and three others last week. He said that he was shattered that his loyalty meant nothing and that Akers would use him and the other dismissed coaches as a sacrificial of fering for his own shortcomings. The former head coach of Port Ar thur Jefferson High School decided to fight back. Thompson’s verbal broadside af ter the sackings last Friday probably ranks as the upset of the year in col lege football, bigger than Texas-El Paso beating Brigham Young. Fired coaches who speak out in anger after being fired generally have their comments dismissed as sour grapes. Then they find them selves olackballed. Thompson, who coached the run ning backs at Texas, said he under stands all that. Nonetheless, he has no qualms about saying that Akers lied to him, that Akers made his as sistants the scapegoats for a disap pointing season, and that Akers lim ited the input of his assistants. “Fred can only fire me once,” Thompson said. “And how’s he going to recommend me to anybody now that he’s done that? Besides, A A A ▲ A ▲ Rementar Mrs! Remember December? Loupot’s gave you cash for your used books and a certificate for cash off your spring semester books. Now, for the New Year and semester, Loupot’s resolves to give you: largest selection of used textbooks serving Texas A&M students less hassle because Loupot’s does your book hunting for you shorter lines two weeks to exchange textbooks a free MYSTERY GIFT for wearing your Loupot’s A&M t-shirt when you buy books Ow pak PLENTY OF FREE PARKING BEHIND THE STORE 335 University Drive In Northgate since this has happened, I’ve learned Fred is bitterly disliked by an awful lot of people. So maybe it won’t hurt me. Anyway, I have no regrets.” It is possible in this particular case Thompson’s taken the right ap proach. Many think Fred Akers is neither well liked nor respected by many football people across the state. Akers was in Japan and could not be reached for comment. Ever since former UT football coach Darrell Royal took away Ak ers’ offensive responsibilities and re placed him with a high school coach named Emory Bellard back in 1968, Akers has been obsessed with prov ing Royal made a mistake, Thomp son said. “One of the things that really killed us this year,” Thompson said, “was our inability to score touch downs from inside the 20. We usually settled for field goals. Fred called approximately 82 percent of the plays inside the 20. I know be cause I kept the charts.” Ron Toman, as Texas’ offensive coordinator, was little more than a Figurehead, Thompson said. “Ron and I got to call a lot of plays on third-and-8, but on first and sec ond down it was a real circus,” Thompson said. “We’d be working off the game plan charts and call what had been discussed for down and distance. Fred was always de viating from it. “What we’d wind up with on game day was a grab bag offense that idn’t have any rhyme or reason. di Sometimes I wondered why we even prepared a game plan. We wouldn’t stick with anything in a game long enough for it to be successful.” Before he was officially a member of the Texas coaching staff, Thomp son said, he sat with Toman in the press box during the Longhorns’ 1982 Cotton Bowl game against Ala bama. With Texas trailing late in the game, he heard Toman recommend a quarterback draw. Three plays later Longhorn signal caller Robert Brewer scored the winning touch down on a quarterback draw. Thompson, on his way to the dressing room, bumped into a sportswriter acquaintance, who asked him who made the all. Thompson said it was Toman. Meanwhile, in the dressing room, Akers was taking full credit, Thomp son said. It didn’t sit well with Akers when he learned his new assistant was Quoted as saying Toman sug gested the decisive play, Thompson added. “I was new and just didn’t under stand how things worked,” Thomp son recalls. "Dating back to wha happened with Darrell, Fred has a terrible complex about his offensive knowledge. He’s still trying to prove Darrell made a mistake. Anything that worked needed to come off as Fred’s idea.” The Boot Barn JUSTIN ROPERS $79 00 Largest Selection Lowest Price in The Brazos Valley 2.5 Miles East of Brazos Center on FM 1179 (Briarcest Dr.) Mon.-Sat 9:30-6:00 776-2895 Fried Catfish now at Chicken ’n rolls Naturally our Catfish is great It comes from the finest schools. Picture Catfish, farm raised and grain fed ... dipped in a seasoned batter and commeal breading and fried to perfection. Until you taste it, you can’t imagine how good our new Southern Fried Catfish is. It’s that good! q $ i .00 OFF 1905 Texas Ave. 705 N. 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