Applewhite, Muschamp stars of 'Horns' spring
Posted: Saturday, February 23, 2008 6:57 PM
On Thursday night at the University of Texas, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton shared the spotlight, lashing out at each other in their latest Democratic debate.
Less than 24 hours later, new assistant coaches Will Muschamp and Major Applewhite took over the spotlight, and there was nothing but love as Austin turned its attention back to Longhorn football.
Yep, college football is back already. On Friday afternoon, a day after giving Obama a tour of his Texas-sized football facilities, Mack Brown was the first coach in the nation to get started with his allotment of 15 spring practice sessions.
That’s when Brown and junior quarterback Colt McCoy, the usual focal points, took a backseat to Muschamp and Applewhite, who are the rock stars of the spring.
Muschamp, the Longhorns’ new defensive coordinator, is already getting rave reviews after working with the Texas players for the first time.
Similarly, the return of Applewhite to the Longhorn program comes with a sky-high approval rating. After going 22-8 as Texas’ starting quarterback (1998-2001) and weaving his way back to Austin through the coaching profession, Applewhite is enjoying increased popularity as an assistant head coach and running backs coach.
Young coaches -- Muschamp is 36 and Applewhite is 29 -- already possessing impressive credentials, they are both involved with areas of the team that are of the utmost concern for Longhorn fans this spring.
When the actual season kicks off in 187 days (Texas host Florida Atlantic), Muschamp will have to turn promise into production … or in this case, limiting production. Last season, Texas wasn’t especially good at that, allowing 371.2 yards of total offense and 25.3 points per game. That yardage number reflects the seventh-worst showing in Longhorn history. It’s the kind of statistic that got one co-defensive coordinator fired and the other one demoted.
Getting better at defending the pass will be the primary objective for Muschamp, who has established himself as one of the most successful defensive coordinators in the nation, most recently during the past two seasons while at Auburn.
Prior to that stint, Muschamp spent the 2005 season with the Miami Dolphins and was part of the Nick Saban era there. Muschamp uses that experience to bring effective NFL defensive philosophies to the college game in a simplified form.
Applewhite also has a little bit of Saban in his past. He spent last season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Alabama before taking what appears on the surface to be no better than a lateral move to return to his alma mater to work with the running backs.
Applewhite is happy to be home, but his job would have been a lot easier if Jamaal Charles didn’t take his un-average averages -- 124.5 yards per game and 6.3 yards per carry -- to the NFL Draft a year early. However, there’s no shortage of talent at running back with veterans Vondrell McGee and Chris Ogbonnaya, redshirt freshman Foswhitt Whittaker and highly touted newcomers Jeremy Hills and Tre’ Newton, who both enrolled in school last month.
Aside from the ones that Muschamp and Applewhite will be dealing with, there are plenty of other challenges for the Longhorns, who return only 10 starters (six on offense, four on defense) and have the Oklahoma Sooners to think about. Texas does, however, have momentum on its side, having polished off a 10-3 season with a 52-34 victory over Arizona State in the Holiday Bowl.
That win gave the Longhorns the distinction of being the only team in the country to reach double-digit victories in each of the last seven seasons. And in Austin there’s no debate needed to know that nothing short of extending that streak will be accepted.
