THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 29, 1995 TAG: 9512290675
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
Rebuilding jobs are nothing new to Texas football coach John Mackovic. But in 1995, he rebuilt something more than just a football team.
He fashioned a new image.
Brickbats were flying at Mackovic from every direction last season, one in which Mackovic's relationship with the alumni, press and fans was frosty and his tenure at Texas appeared shaky. But in the offseason, the Longhorns athletic department began what associate athletic director Chris Plonsky calls ``a reformation'' of Mackovic's public persona.
In his fourth season in Austin, Mackovic would be more accessible. Often criticized for being aloof and condescending, he would now listen more and be outgoing in an attempt to build bridges to alumni groups and his players. He received a beefed-up public relations team through the university's sports information office, and even enlisted a Dallas-based consultant for tips on dealing with the media.
The goal of all this: stem the tide of negativity surrounding the program and Mackovic, and to take a pro-active approach to disseminating the information the Longhorns wanted to share.
``Kind of change and manipulate the thinking that was out there,'' Plonsky said. ``It's not rocket science. It was sitting down and saying `Here's the monster, here's how we beat it.' ''
That ``monster,'' the insatiable appetite Texans have for success from and access to their football team, came close to gobbling up Mackovic a year ago despite an 8-4 season and a Sun Bowl berth.
Texas is Lone Star beer and Cowboy boots. Mackovic is wine and cheese and wing-tips. Columnists, radio personalities and callers began to question whether they fit together.
It didn't help when the NCAA investigated the use of a rental car by two players, or when Mackovic suspended seven players for breaking curfew, which polarized the team because others who broke curfew were not suspended.
The calls for his head have subsided now. A 10-1-1 season and a Sugar Bowl date with Virginia Tech on Sunday will do that. But the reinventing of Mackovic, 52, played a role as well.
``A lot of people unfortunately see the victories and how you play on Saturday and judge the entire program by that,'' Mackovic said after Texas worked out in the Superdome on Thursday. ``This year, they're able to look behind the scenes and see us.
``I made up my mind eight or nine months ago that I was going to do whatever I had to do to help the Texas football program. Everyone who seemed to have a better idea, I was willing to listen to them. That's not something that's easy to do all the time.''
The players notice the difference.
``It's hard when you reach his age to change, but he's done it,'' junior offensive guard Dan Neil said.
``I'm not sure what his life is like off the field, but it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out if you go 10-1-1, life is a lot easier,'' offensive tackle John Elmore said.
On the field, Mackovic has No. 9 Texas in its first major bowl game since the 1991 Cotton Bowl and first back-to-back bowl trips since 1984-85. That Cotton Bowl berth was the only major bowl bid for the Longhorns in the previous 11 seasons, and the only season during that span in which they finished in the top 18.
``My history is I've always taken programs that are way down and had to rebuild them,'' Mackovic said. ``When you're in a rebuilding process, people don't always understand everything right off the bat and don't see progress as quickly as they would want. Because of that, they tend to be critical.''
Whether Texas was ``way down'' or not is debatable - following the Cotton Bowl berth came a 5-6 season, which was David McWilliams' last as the Longhorns' coach. But Mackovic may be on the cusp of bringing the Longhorns back to the national prominence they haven't seen since the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Texas tradition rivals any in college football. The Longhorns won three national titles under Darrell Royal and will play Sunday in their 36th bowl game, which ties Tennessee for third-most in college football. Only Alabama (47) and Southern Cal (38) have played in more.
Tradition aside, Texas had slipped a notch when Mackovic arrived from Illinois in 1992.
``When I first got here, I was expecting a little more from Texas football,'' junior tight end Pat Fitzgerald said. ``The program was a little bit down.''
Mackovic has built it back up, just like he did as the head coach at Illinois, with the Kansas City Chiefs and at Wake Forest, his alma mater. He is 103-85-3 in 15 seasons as a head coach, always taking over a program that was losing when he arrived and building it into a bowl or playoff team eventually.
And at Texas, he's rebuilt an image in the process.
``I think people are hearing my message better,'' Mackovic said. ``I think that's important.'' by CNB