With No. 1 Texas set to face No. 3 Ohio State in the biggest game of the year — and with the showdown airing on FOX — we asked Joel Klatt to do something special: build his all-time Texas Longhorns football team.
From legends like Tommy Nobis and Vince Young to modern stars, Klatt had tough choices to make as he pieced together an all-time team from one of college football’s most tradition-rich programs.
Joel Klatt’s All-Time Texas Team
Head coach: Mack Brown
Klatt’s case: “He’s one of the classiest guys ever. He won a national championship and had sustained success for a decade — winning 10 games every single year.”
Brown set a high standard at Texas throughout his 16-year tenure from 1998-2013. He finished with the second most wins of any Longhorns coach (158), only behind Darrell Royal. He developed Longhorn greats such as Colt McCoy and Vince Young.
Mack Brown won 158 games during his 16 years as the Texas head coach. (Photo by: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Quarterback: Vince Young
Klatt’s Case: “Vince Young was the single greatest college football player I played against.”
Klatt, who was a former quarterback at the University of Colorado, played his final college game against Young and the Longhorns. Young was consistent across all three seasons he played at Texas, but his senior year was one of the best individual college seasons of all time. He completed 65.2% of his passes for 3,036 yards and 26 touchdowns, adding 1,050 yards and 12 TDs on the ground. He led the NCAA in yards per completion while earning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors. Young led the Longhorns past the USC Trojans in the 2005 national championship game.
Vince Young led Texas to its latest National Championship victory, in 2005. (Photo by Karl Wright /Icon SMI/Icon Sport Media via Getty Images)
Running back: Ricky Williams
Klatt’s Case: “In that Heisman year, [Williams] was spectacular. Ricky Williams was so productive at Texas.”
Williams is the pure alternative as he is Texas’ all-time chief in dashing yards, racking up 6,279 yards in his profession. He dominated throughout his junior yr, main the NCAA in dashing yards (1,893) and dashing touchdowns (25). He topped that season as a senior, main the nation once more with 2,124 dashing yards and 27 touchdowns on his option to successful the Heisman Trophy.
Ricky Williams led the NCAA in dashing yards twice, as a junior and senior. (Photograph by Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle through Getty Pictures)
Defender: Tommy Nobis
Klatt’s Case: “Tommy Nobis was excellent … He is received his quantity retired. He is a Faculty Soccer Corridor of Famer.”
Nobis was a bodily imposing linebacker. In 1963, he was the one sophomore starter on a Longhorns workforce that gained the Nationwide Championship. Through the 1965 season, he gained the Maxwell Award.
Tommy Noobis gained a nationwide championship with Texas in 1963. (Photograph by Sporting Information through Getty Pictures)
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