A MAN REMEMBERED

CRAIG WAY, BUCKY GODBOLT AND ROD BABERS SHARE A FEW OF THEIR FAVORITE DARRELL K ROYAL MEMORIES

CRAIG WAY:

When I first got down here, the radio network folks introduced me to him. He seemed like a regular guy. Growing up in North Carolina, my first memory of the Longhorns was the famous “Shootout” game against Arkansas, and I remember my uncle — a native Texan — saying, “That’s the great Darrell Royal.” After Texas won, I became a Longhorn fan and watched them play Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl.

When I was 12 they beat Alabama in the Cotton Bowl (1973). Before the game my dad said, “Texas will win this game,” and I said “Alabama is favored.” My dad said “Texas will win this game because Darrell Royal has never lost to Bear Bryant and he will not …

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lose to him today.” I reminded Coach Royal of that when I saw him, and he laughed and said, “We were good friends. I had the upper hand in some games, but it just worked out.”

He was always very kind to me. I asked him to tell me if he ever heard me say anything that was out of line or incorrect. He said, “I never worry about you, you’re fine.” It felt good hearing that. My old broadcast partner Keith Moreland had him as a coach. He played football for two years before becoming an All-American in baseball and then playing 13 years in the major leagues. Keith said one of the toughest decisions he ever had to make was walking into Coach Royal’s office and say “I may have to stick with baseball because I have a future there.”

He said Coach Royal couldn’t have been more understanding, saying, “Keith, you got to do what’s right for you and your family in the future, and not only that, I think that’s where you might have a chance to carve out a real career. You might have that chance in pro football, but I know you’ll have that chance in major league baseball.” Keith said he was always easy to talk to about life’s toughest decisions. You wouldn’t think that about such a hard-nosed coach on the field.

My favorite quote of his is “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” I said that quote back to him once. I said, “I’ve always kind of considered myself lucky to do all the things I have gotten to do.” He said, “There ain’t no luck involved in it. You were good enough, and your preparation was ready. When the opportunity came you were ready to go.”

ROD BABERS:

During my senior year I traveled to places like Colorado and New York, and I told him everywhere I went I met people who went to Texas or were affiliated with it. He was like, “That’s because we’re everywhere. We’re all over the place.”

To me he’s the reason the brand is so huge. He put the Longhorn silhouette on the helmet. He changed the orange back to the burnt orange. Everything that is characteristic and associated with the brand so strongly— which makes it the most popular and most marketable brand — he did that.

BUCKY GODBOLT:

When I played at Boston College we played against Texas three times, losing two and then winning one in 1976, 14-13. When I came to Texas, I remember when Coach Royal told me, “My coaches lost that game at Boston College.” He reminded me every single time I saw him that his coaches blew the game.

When I coached here, my first encounter  encounter was a golf outing with coach Bobby Jack Wright. We were at Barton Creek on a long par five on the front side. I hadn’t seen anybody in sight for the first four or five holes, and the next thing I know a guy is standing up on the hill with his hands on his hips. I said, “Now who the hell is this?” Bobby said, “Shut up, and play fast. That’s Coach Royal.” I’m like, “That’s him, that’s THE Coach Royal,” and he said, “Yes, and he doesn’t have time for you messing around. That’s why he’s got his hands on his hips.

He wants to play golf, and he wants to play fast.” That remains my favorite memory. It was like looking back and there was Jesus. I looked back and it looked like there was a halo over this dude. The guy didn’t show up for five holes, and then he was there, like Easter Sunday coming out of the tomb. He always had time to talk to me. I lived out in Oak Hill, and I would see him at gyms. Coach Royal always remembered my name. He’d go, “Hey Bucky!” and I’d sit and talk to him and Mrs. Edith.

Then, as the time passed you could see him slowly fading. He didn’t remember me. It made me really sad because I know when he looked at me he wanted to say those words. I’ll miss seeing him at gyms, whether he remembered me or not. He was one of the greatest coaches ever when it came to college football, and those guys are starting to pass away.

When people scream for the heads of Frank Beamer and Mack Brown, be careful what you wish for. There aren’t a lot of guys like that. Not only do they win football games, they create an atmosphere for young men to become real men who end up being good family men, good fathers and good to the community. You’ll never know how wonderful the things that Darrell and his wife have done for this community really are.

Some of those things don’t get advertised. Edith does so much with people in rehab and with addictions, and I know it well. They make the community better and we’ll be short-changed with him gone.

 

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