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'Ill
The Battalion
SPORTS
Tuesday, January 23,1990
7
Sports Editor Richard Tijerina 845-2688
Photo by Jay Janner
John Thornton speaks to the media Monday night shortly after being named A&M interim coach by Athletic
Director John David Crow. Former coach Shelby Metcalf was relieved of the job and will be reassigned shortly.
Changing the guard:
Thornton takes over
‘This is the most awkward position
I’ve been put in in my life,’ coach says
By CLAY RASMUSSEN
Of The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M assistant coach John Thorn
ton was named interim head coach of the
A&M basketball team Monday after Ath
letic Director John David Crow relieved
Shelby Metcalf of his duties as head coach.
In a brief statement Monday, Thornton
expressed his respect for Metcalf but said
that it was now his responsibility to see that
the Aggies were prepared for their remain
ing games and the Southwest Conference
Tournament in March.
“This is the most awkward position I
have been put in in my life,” Thornton said.
“There is no one I respect more in the
coaching profession than Shelby Metcalf.
“I regret things ended up this way, but
the foremost thing in my mind right now is
the obligation to the players to prepare
them for the next 11 games, plus the South
west Conference Tournament.”
Although players visibly were shaken by
the announcement, they said if anyone had
to replace Metcalf, they were pleased it was
Thornton.
“Nobody was ready for this,” junior
guard Freddie Ricks said, “if anyone had to
take his place though, I was glad it was
Thornton.”
Junior guard Lynn Suber said team
members would support Thornton in his
new role.
“Everyone is behind him ... 100 percent,”
Suber said.
Other members of Metcalfs coaching
staff said they also are behind Thornton,
and that they believe he can keep the team
from suffering from the distractions of
Metcalfs reassignment.
“It’s a good, positive thing for the team ,”
graduate assistant coach Jimmie Gilbert
said. “He’ll keep them motivated and hope
fully they can move forward from here.”
Metcalf had groomed Thornton, an as
sistant coach for the past nine years, to be
his eventual successor after the head coach
retired, and had his full support.
In his press conference Saturday after
A&M’s 100-84 loss to Arkansas, Metcalf
said he felt sorry for Thornton because if
he was forced out, Thornton and his entire
staff also would be left out in the cold.
Instead, Crow decided that Metcalf no
longer could coach A&M effectivly after his
statements to the media, and decided to
name Thornton as interim coach.
Thornton’s new role as the Aggies’ head
coach will be a difficult one. A&M is 9-10, 2-
3 in the SWC and has dropped its last three
consecutive games to Southern Methodist,
Texas and Arkansas.
The Aggies are in fifth place and will
face a resurgent Rice team this Wednesday
night at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
See Thornton/Page 8
lirecto! Hatfield out, Crowe in
■ n M ^
in Df- r
S Former assistant at Clemson
if named as Hogs’ replacement
Cm I
ien lit 1 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) —Jack
tic di * Crowe, named Monday to replace Ken Hat-
‘ Mei field as head football coach at the Univer-
direc sity of Arkansas, thanked Hatfield for
|! bringing him to Arkansas and admitted
thal that he had his bags packed for Clemson
eceni h when a call came from UA officials.
‘icalt i Crowe, hired away from Clemson a year
I ago to become offensive coordinator at Ar-
ever kansas, said he “wasn’t fired up” about re-
»the i turning to Clemson but was prepared to
e the j follow Hatfield. Only 24 hours earlier, Hat-
at no; field left Arkansas to replace Danny Ford at
iifthe i Clemson.
Cron j Crowe, 41, has been assistant coach
| throughout his career except for a couple
on i | of years as head coach at Livingston, Ala.,
ufteC j more than 10 years ago.
luraa-I “I always knew I would be a head coach,”
JCA.tI she said. “It was a big surprise how it hap-
Sj pened; where it happened.”
hkl UA Athletic Director Frank Broyles said
ed iok the search committee, formed hastily Satur-
orhf day night after Chancellor Dan Ferritor was
i. H(@ notified of Hatfield’s decision, had several
sophfl options. But, he said, he told the committee
that Crowe was the man he would hire if he
had three months to conduct a search.
Broyles called Crowe a “great signal
caller.”
He noted that Crowe called the plays as
the Razorbacks produced a school record
4,926 yards during the recently completed
10-2 season.
“I always thought that Lou Holtz was the
No. 1 signal caller in the college game to
day,” Broyles said, but, added that he now
believes Crowe “is his equal.”
Crowe said he had “not quite had time to
grasp what has happened.”
He said the UA program is bigger than
one person. “There are a lot of people w ho
know this is their program,” he said.
Integrity will always be No. 1, he said,
followed by academic excellence among
athletes and then winning.
He said any of Hatfield’s assistants who
wanted to stay were welcome to do so, but it
appeared that only offensive line coach J.B.
Grimes would accept the offer. Fie said he
would attempt to bring in the best coaches
in the country.
The Metcalf Legacy ...
Photo by Jay Janner
Shelby Metcalf leaves a long list of
Aggie accomplishments.
By RICHARD TIJERINA
Of The Battalion Staff
For the first time in 27 years, Texas
A&M will have a new head basketball
coach stalking the sidelines. Shelby Met
calf, the winningest coach in the South
west Conference, leaves more behind
than his head coaching job.
He leaves his coaching legacy.
Considered the “dean of SWC coa
ches,” Metcalf guided the Aggies
through both good times and bad. He’s
stood on the sidelines while other con
ference coaches have come and gone.
Until Monday.
Metcalf, a media darling because of
his straight-forward way of answering
questions, could be reassigned. He was
planning on calling University President
William H. Mobley Tuesday morning to
discuss it.
Whatever his new position, Metcalf
leaves behind some impressive; numbers
in his 27 years as the Aggies’ coach.
• 438-306 overall record.
• 239-158 SWC record.
• Six SWC titles: 1964, 1969, 1975,
1976, 1980, 1986.
• Five NCAA Tournament appear
ances: 1964, 1969, 1975, 1980, 1986.
• Four NIT appearances: 1979,
1982, 1985, 1986.
• 23 First-team All-SWC citations (17
players).
• Most SWC coaching seasons (27).
• Most SWC coaching games (730).
• Most coaching victories (431).
• Most SWC coaching victories (239).
• Second most SWC Championships
(6).
Metcalf ranks as No. 16 in career vic
tories among active NCAA Division I
coaches, and No. 1 in SWC history. Un
der his leadership, the Aggies had 23
winning seasons in his previous 26 years.
“A&M basketball isn’t a job for (me
and my family), it’s a way of life,” Met
calf said Saturday after A&M’s 100-84
loss to Arkansas. “I love the game. I love
A&M. ... Friends come and go. Enemies
accumulate.
“I don’t think I have to look over my
shoulder.
“I’m proud of the job I’ve done here.”
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