Royal was true champion of his era

DALLAS — I was 21 and working for The Daily Texan, the student newspaper. Darrell Royal was what seemed at the time like a very old 52.

He was in his final season at the University of Texas. The Wishbone offense he had popularized was dying, and he had had enough of battling a certain element that was taking over college coaching.

To paraphrase the late Joe Paterno, Darrell Royal was preparing to leave college football to the Barry Switzers of the world.

The announcement of Royal’s death Wednesday morning was surprising, but we should feel blessed that he was around for 36 more years after walking away from the game and the program he built into a national powerhouse in Austin.

I was not assigned to do an extensive interview with him that day back in 1976. Royal had agreed to be the guest selector in our weekly football prediction box which, frankly, was the main reason I was working at the Texan.

I don’t remember much about our visit beyond a couple of things. One is that his office was dark, and his desk was massive. I felt very small and out of place and quite probably underdressed sitting across from him. The other is that, while he wasn’t friendly, he was pleasant enough. He also advised me that I ought to call ahead next time to see when he was available.

Apparently, having been told that Royal had agreed to do the picks, I just walked over to his Belmont Hall office after class one day and expected him to hand them to me.

Given the changes in how the media is allowed access to college sports today, I can only imagine the student reporter at Alabama who approaches the secretary’s desk and shows up unannounced to speak with Nick Saban.

An interview later in life went much better. Royal and Arkansas’ Frank Broyles met with three of us at The Dallas Morning News offices in 1999 on the 30th anniversary of The Big Shootout. It’s still the game I think of when I am asked about the biggest sporting events of my life — not something I covered but the battle of unbeaten Texas and Arkansas teams at the conclusion of the 1969 season when I was 14 years old.

We watched highlights and discussed aspects of the game. Even though I knew the basic elements of Texas’ rally from two touchdowns down to win 15-14, I was shocked to see how thoroughly Arkansas had dominated that game, how the Razorbacks’ lead should have been greater and probably insurmountable by the fourth quarter.

It wasn’t shocking to Royal. He had lived it and survived it and been thrilled to accept the postgame congratulations from President Nixon.

That game wasn’t the end for Royal by any means. The Longhorns would beat Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl and would capture a third regular-season national title a year later before faltering against Notre Dame in a Cotton Bowl rematch. But the victory over Arkansas was the pinnacle for sure, and it only happened because the coach who disdained the forward pass went deep on fourth-and-3 with the national championship at stake.

Texas leads the college football world in collecting money these days. In 20 years under Royal, the Longhorns were simply about winning. Along with the national title run, Royal was 120 games over .500 for his 20 seasons.

That famous James Street-to-Randy Peschel pass aside, Royal famously said that three things can happen when you throw the football and two of them are bad. He was a man of another era. But he was a true champion in that era, and, unlike most, he did not overstay his welcome on the field. He created memories for his family, his friends and Texas fans that will last far beyond one lifetime.

The Wishbone offense that led to his second and third national titles was eventually adapted and improved upon by the Longhorns’ rivals from across the Red River. Royal regretted helping his alma mater master what for a time was a nearly unstoppable ground game.

Royal, suffering from Alzheimer’s, left us Wednesday morning. But his trophies and his name on the stadium and the sometimes grainy footage of his greatest coaching victories in a game he forever changed will endure.