Texas Longhorns Legend Mike Cotten Passes Away at 84

AUSTIN - The Texas Longhorns family lost a legend on Saturday after former star quarterback Mike Cotten passed away after a battle with an undisclosed illness. He was 84.

Whether it was Bobby Layne, James Street Peter Gardere, Marty Akins, Major Applewhite, James Brown, Colt McCoy or Vince Young, Texas has always had a rich history of quarterbacks throughout their time in both the Southwest Conference and the Big 12. And Cotten belongs right up there with the rest of those names, as one of the best to ever do it in Austin.

Cotten was a two year starter for the Longhorns at QB, helping to impliment Darrell K. Royal's famous flip-flop offense into the program - an offense that would go on to change the college football landscape, and help the Horns bring home three national titles in the process.

After taking over as the fulltime starting QB In 1960, Cotten would go 17-4-1 in his two seasons, going undefeated against both Texas A&M and Oklahoma.

In his final season in 1961, he led the Southwest Conference in passing touchdowns with seven, and guided the Longhorns to a 10-1 record and a Cotton Bowl win over Ole Miss. The Horns finished that year with the No. 3 overall ranking.

Cotten was eventually inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Fame in 1981, and became one of the founding members of the Stadium Veterans Committee in 1996.

He is survived by his survived by his daughters, Ashley Putman and Lesley Childress.