COACH ROYAL: Conversations with a Texas Football Legend Hardcover - 2005

University of Texas Press, 2005. 1st Edition Assumed 1st. Hardcover. As New/New. B&W era photos throughout. CONDITION: What makes this book "As New" - one small bump to the top board corner. That's it. UNREAD 2005 UT Press (Austin) hardcover (orange & white boards with embossed Longhorn) and dust jacket (in mylar cover), first edition, assumed first printing but I won't swear to it. Introduction by Cactus Pryor and Pat Culpepper. B&W era photos throughout. Decorated end pages. Voices & Memories series. CONTENT: [NOTE: There's an old story that the UT Math department complained that the football program got too much money and the Math department too little. Supposedly Royal said: "We'll rent out the stadium to you one Saturday and you sit at the 50 yard line solving math problems and see how many tickets you sell." I spoke with one of the great brains of that math department and he did not recall this tale. "Print the legend."] Many legendary men have been associated with University of Texas football, but for most fans one man will always be "Coach"-Darrell K Royal. One of the most successful coaches in college football, Royal led the Longhorns to three national championships and eleven Southwest Conference titles during his twenty years (1956-1976) as UT's head coach. He coached some of the Horns' best players, including future Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell, and was named NCAA Coach of the Year three times. In 1969, an ABC-TV poll of sportswriters called Royal the Coach of the Decade. In 1996 UT recognized his unrivalled contribution to Longhorn football when it designated Memorial Stadium the Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in his honor. Now, for the first time, Darrell Royal tells his life story in his own words. He remembers growing up poor in Hollis, Oklahoma, during the Great Depression, and describes playing college football for the University of Oklahoma and then coaching a succession of college teams and one pro team before settling in at UT for the rest of his career. He gives a fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at Longhorn football during his time-recruiting strategies, coaching techniques, the famous wishbone offense, unforgettable wins and losses, and his impressions of rival teams and coaches, including Bear Bryant of Texas A&M and Alabama and Frank Broyles of Arkansas. Proving that he's still the same straight shooter as always, Darrell Royal even discusses some of the controversies he's dealt with, including early charges of racism in the UT football program, the impact of Title IX on college athletics, his association with Jim Bob Moffett and the Freeport-MacMoRan Corporation, his longtime friendship with Willie Nelson, and his decision to retire from coaching.