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Full-Court Press
WAILUKU, Maui -- The first time our paths crossed was nearly 20 years ago in one of those places in West Texas that requires you to exit the main road. Talking story,
Texas-style, with TeaffDivision II Angelo State was hosting a football clinic/barbecue that attracts coaches from near and far, professional through junior high.
By day, they share and swap information about how they attack this defense and what you might do to counter that. By night, the blend of roasted cattle, ranch-style beans and potato salad, complete with a cold Lone Star beer, has everybody whooping and hollering like it's Texas Independence Day.
For Grant Teaff, it was coming home to a place where people had paid witness to his early days. Before he became the executive director of the AFCA that helped save the Hula Bowl, before he led the Baylor Bears to the Miracle on the Brazos and their first SWC title in 50 years, Teaff coached the Rams of Angelo State, one of the powers of the talent-laden Lone Star Conference.
That day, the guest of honor was shaking hands with so many old friends, he barely had time for me, a 20-something reporter wondering what he could write about this Texas legend that hadn't been written before.
Strangely enough, our conversation centered on the sprawling community of San Angelo, born of ranch and military blood, and how it was a special gathering place for football. True, Bum Phillips helped put it on the map after bringing the Oilers 450 miles west of Houston for training camp.
The reason, he said, was to limit the distractions. Close friends knew Phillips loved to eat steak at the old Zentner's Daughter and spend time with the Gatlin Brothers from Odessa. But he was a Johnny-Come-Lately compared to Teaff, who coached Angelo State from 1969-71. A few years prior to his arrival, Emory Bellard designed the wishbone offense while a high school coach at San Angelo Central.
The story goes he used the neighbor's kids to design one of the more revolutionary offenses in college football. University of Texas head coach Darrel Royal gets the credit, but it was Bellard's design. The Longhorns used it faithfully in 1969, the last time they won a national title.
But don't stop there. Jack Pardee is from nearby Christoval, where he played six-man high school football like a West Texas dirt devil. Something of a controversial figure, Pardee was another innovative player and coach from this area, who helped popularize Mouse Davis' run-and-shoot offense during his days in Houston.
THERE were other nights in San Angelo Teaff and I talked about. That previous spring, a world-class sprinter from Texas A&I, known as Darrell Green, brought track and field fans to their feet after he ran a 10.13 100 meters.
The first-round draft pick of the Washington Redskins still remembers that run in San Angelo, and said as much at his last Pro Bowl appearance a few years back. He wasn't the only star of the show. Abilene Christian pole vaulter Billy Olson just missed breaking his own world record. At the time, he was one of only a few to clear 18 feet.
"Did I hear you talking about San Angelo?'' Spike Dykes asked Teaff and me during a Hula Bowl practice on Tuesday. The former Texas Tech head coach recently joined the selection committee for the Hula Bowl.
""Me and Emory (Bellard) went up there to see an old friend just last week,'' Dykes said. "Emory's retired now and lives in Round Rock. But he still likes to get out to San Angelo whenever he can.''
That thought brought a brief smile to Teaff's face as he grew quiet for a moment or two. He shook my hand, said it was good to see me again and left thinking about San Angelo and all those days gone by.
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.
Email Paul: parnett@starbulletin.com.