Based on his performances at media sessions as seen on the Longhorn Network and through other broadcast media outlets, Vance Bedford may be the biggest breakout star on the Texas roster.
Sure, Bedford won’t make any tackles or pick off any passes as the Longhorns’ defensive coordinator, but the former defensive back has been a breath of fresh air while speaking his mind on any number of topics. Since his return to campus, Bedford’s spoken his mind on topics ranging from how certain high-profile college quarterbacks might do in the NFL, the perception of his defense and, most recently, selling tickets to Saturday’s opener.
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Bedford’s been so entertaining sitting in front of the media, in fact, that LHN programmers ought to consider giving Bedford his own show, or at the very least including a “Mic’ed up with Vance Bedford” segment on the nightly recap shows.
By Twitter standards, @CoachBedfordUT is a veritable newcomer. He joined in 2012 and has sent only 247 tweets, many of which are pictures of Longhorn legends from the walls of the football facility. But he has nearly 13,000 followers, and he set many of them on their ears with what he thought was a simple tweet in May about Johnny Manziel’s NFL prospects.
“Manziel is a top 10 pick by the scouts. I wish him the best. He played backyard ball for 3 years. Now he will have to learn how to be a Qb,” Bedford wrote on May 4. The tweet has since been deleted, but profootballtalk.com was just one of the outlets who saw it and ran with it prior to the draft.
In the Austin American-Statesman, Brian Davis outlined some of the responses to the initial tweet, which included some of Bedford’s interactions with others who came to Johnny Football’s support. Maybe Bedford will be right over the long haul about Manziel’s prospects. Drafted 22nd by the Browns, Manziel has yet to unseat Brian Hoyer for the starting job.
While Bedford has stuck with posting pictures of Longhorn greats on Twitter since that exchange, he’s been gold in front of the media, whether the topic’s been how the defense he employed at Louisville would translate into the Big 12, the local media’s thoughts on how this Longhorns team would fare or the apparent apathy in the fanbase for not selling out DKR prior to kickoff.
While Bedford is brutally honest, he also understands humor and tone. While that doesn’t always come out in the written word, hearing him answer questions leads you to believe that if coaching doesn’t work out, there’s always open mic night at the comedy club.
Exhibit A: Bedford responding to the premise that the defense he and head coach Charlie Strong employed at Louisville wouldn’t work in the Big 12. The Cardinals ranked first in total defense last year, but many feel it won’t translate to the more talented Big 12 teams. ESPN’s Max Olson reported Bedford’s comments in is blog this week.
“People are gonna know what we’re gonna do,” Bedford said. “Coach Strong came back from a Big 12 Conference thing (this summer) and they said, ‘What you guys did at Louisville, you can’t do that here.”
Are the cameras on?
“They’re exactly right,” Bedford continued. “I totally agree with what they’re saying.” Olson then wrote, “and then Bedford grinned and kept going, each line more facetious than the last.”
“So what we’re going to do: We’re going to rush three, drop eight. Rush two, drop nine. … I’m not full of it. I’m telling the truth. Listen to me, all of you out there,” he said, turning his gaze to a bank of TV cameras. “We’re going to play it safe. No pressure. We don’t want any quarterbacks hurt.”
Bedford took a similar approach when asked if he read newspapers. As Statesman columnists Kirk Bohls and Cedric Golden found and discussed, Bedford brushed aside their predictions that the Longhorns could finish 7-5 this year.
“I saw two of our local columnists had us 7-5, and I have nothing to worry about,” he said Wednesday.
Bedford’s comments, tounge-in-cheek mostly, show his confidence that the plan he’s implementing will indeed succeed, no matter what outsiders think.
He closed a big week at the mic by helping out the ticket sales office. A reporter asked what he felt about the 9,000 or so tickets that remained on Wednesday. Bedford feigned incredulity, then made an impassioned plea – if not order – for fans to buy those tickets, as Brian Davis reported on statesman.com.
“I hear the state of Texas is all about what? Football, Friday night lights and the University of Texas. What do you mean we have 8,000 or 9,000 tickets left? People out there, get off your duff and go buy these tickets….It should be standing room only. There should be 105,000 [people there] with fire marshals standing outside saying get out. Thank you.”
No, coach. Thank you.
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