RESURRECTION

THE LONGHORNS’ 2011-12 athletics season was a blip on the NCAA radar — notably unexceptional and short. With the majority of teams failing to meet preseason expectations, three head coaches departed from the 40 Acres — soccer coach Chris Petrucelli, women’s basketball coach Gail Goestenkors and women’s swimming coach Kim Brackin — either on their own accord or after the university chose not to renew their contracts.

For a program as powerful across the board as Texas, the lack of titles seemed abnormal. The baseball team missed the NCAA playoffs….

[s2If current_user_is(s2member_level2)] for the first time since 1998, and the men’s and women’s basketball teams, as well as the soccer team, lost in he first round of the NCAA tournament. The Longhorns’ football team, though improved, finished sixth in the Big 12 Conference with a losing league record. Volleyball, rowing, women’s tennis, women’s track & field and the men’s swimming team captured league titles, but couldn’t hold on to that momentum going into the national competitions. Only the men’s golf team, which came from behind in the final match against Alabama to win its first NCAA championship since 1972, lived up to the media hype. Texas bases athletic success on the performance of its student- athletes and the coaches — clear and simple. Every setback, loss and failure to reach preseason expectations turns into a kick in the teeth, especially now since the Longhorn Network broadcasts every notable sporting event.

Buoyed by the success of the men’s golf team, the halcyon days for Texas sports are on the horizon — and not a moment too soon. Texas football, volleyball and soccer teams welcome the expectations to perform to their full potential in 2012. Several pundits selected the Longhorns as the surprise team of the 2012 season, with or without a proven quarterback. The team looks to pick up where they left off after a win in the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl last December. Coach Jerritt Elliott’s volleyball team, which lost in the regional semifinals to eventual national champion UCLA, signed the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation, meshing the new talent with his nine top players already in the fold.

Soccer hired former Tennessee coach Angela Kelley, who’s now set to employ a new, never-say-die attitude on the pitch at Mike Myers Stadium. With the glare of the Longhorn Network spotlight revealing more information about Texas’ teams than ever before, the demand for success will continue to increase. Last year the Longhorns missed the mark. Going into the fall season, they’re ready for a change. If the teams of the fall play as well as anticipated, expect a sports renaissance on the 40 Acres. “Come early; be loud; stay late” will serve as a slogan once again. [/s2If]
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