Greatest Longhorn Football Teams of All Time

The looming question coming into this one-of-a-kind season was who would fill the shoes of legendary head coach, Darrell Royal. The new leader of the team would enjoy having some spectacular talent on both sides of the ball, most notably, Heisman candidate, Earl Campbell.

The top candidate, Mike Campbell, had over 20 years of experience as Royal’s assistant. Campbell is known as the greatest defensive mind in Texas history, playing a big part in the 30 game winning streak in the late 1960s.

The other dark-horse candidate worked with Emory Bellard to produce one of the best offensive schemes in football history and went by the name of Fred Akers. Texas had two outstanding choices to lead the future.

At last, Texas surprised everyone and hired Fred Akres. Earl Campbell continued to dominate college football, rushing for 1,767 yards and 18 touchdowns over 11 games.

It was a dream start for the rookie head coach, winning his first three games with a 184-15 differential. The horns followed the hot start with huge wins over No.2 Oklahoma and No. 8 Arkansas.

With Randy McEachern at quarterback, throwing for 906 yards and eight touchdowns, Texas was able to complete a perfect 11-0 season heading into the cotton bowl. Notre Dame took away any hope of Texas winning its fourth national title, beating the horns 38-10.

Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be for the Longhorns. Texas still managed to win its eighth Southwest Conference title. Earl Campbell also became the first Longhorn taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft since Tommy Nobis.

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