1973 Billy Schott remembers the Miami game and the SMU game
Schott Describes The Setting For The Miami Game.
Schott: That trip to Miami was like going to a bowl game. The game was on a Friday night, so we were already a bit out of sync with regard to our usual Saturday mindset. Our hotel was a pretty swanky South Beach place, and there were some things scheduled that we werenāt used to doing on our usual regular-season road trips. We normally had a walk-through practice on Fridays, but due to another event at the Orange Bowl on Thursday, we had to do that session at the hotel.
Billyās comments are part of a longer article about the 1973 team at link
With the Miami kickoff being on Friday night, we had a lot of downtime and at some point after lunch, we were treated to a movie in our meeting room. Some older gentleman set up a huge projector and for some reason unknown to us, we watched (or slept through) āCactus Flowerā with Goldie Hawn and Walter Matthau. Iām of the opinion it was orchestrated by the Miami folks to literally put us to sleep as thatās how we wound up playing later that evening.
For everyone, our first impressions of the venerable old Orange Bowl Stadium were basically, āWowā¦what a piece of crapā¦ā when we were anticipating a palatial arena with first-class trappings.
The area itself was pretty seedy and as we wound our way through the streets leading to the stadium, we were rather taken aback by the sight of such an impoverished neighborhood with an iconic and storied football venue smack dab in the middle.
The stadium was so rusty, sitting out in the salty, humid South Florida air, we were amazed that it hadnāt collapsed under the weight of full stands. Being that only 30,000 folks showed up, a catastrophic event was less likely that night.
Our locker room was primitive at best. We were in the same room that the New York Jets had occupied when they won Super Bowl III and I remember thinking, āI wonder what Joe Willie Namath thought of this little box?ā
The artificial turf was hard and slick, like a marble floor painted green. We slipped and slid all over the place on a hot, humid night and never got into a solid groove.
Our buses were held up going back to the airport because a vehicle was burning on a street outside the stadium. I was sitting toward the front and heard one of our coaches remarking to the driver, āI guess theyāre really excited about beating us tonight.ā
The driver just shrugged and replied, āNoā¦itās just Friday night in Miami.ā
SCHOTT: All in all, it was a trip to and from Hell and we were glad to get out of there and back home alive.
Not a fun plane ride homeā¦
1973 SMU by Billy Schott
Billyās comments are part of a longer interview conducted by Professor Larry Carlson at 1973 INTERVIEW WITH (squarespace.com).
Instead, we found ourselves in a hole, trailing 14-0 heading into halftime. As we trudged up the tunnel to our locker room, I fell in step with Rosey Leaks, who had maybe 50 yards at best after 2 quarters. He was clearly down and frustrated after taking some solid shots from the Mustang defenders, some of which appeared a bit beyond the echo of the whistle.
I asked, āHowās it goinā, Rosey? Way to run tough out there.ā
He quietly replied, āTheyāre killingā me out there, Billy. I donāt think I can go any moreā¦ā
I gave him a pat on the back and an obligatory āHang in there, man, youāve got this.. and as we walked in the door, Rosey plopped down in the first folding chair he found near the door where the trainers had their taping tables set up and the managers stowed our extra gear, head in hands, obviously gassed and visibly frustrated. I was changing out a shoelace in my kicking shoe when I heard Coach Royal asking, āWhereās Junior? Anyone seen Junior?ā (referring to Rosey). One of the student managers pointed back to where Rosey and I were seated.
Coach asked Rosey how he was doing and Roseyās response was the same as he said to me walking up the tunnel. āTheyāre killinā me, Coachā¦I donāt know if I can go much moreā¦ā, shaking his head and looking at the floor.
Coach leaned in close to Rosey and with his cheekbones and ears flaring red, he said in a quiet, yet firm voice, āIāll tell you what, your ass is going back on that field, and it aināt coming off until it gets drug offā¦or I say it comes off. Either that or a one-way bus ticket back to Chapel Hill, Texasā¦got it?ā
Rosey nodded and gave Coach a solemn āYes, sir.ā
And Coach then strode toward the main room.
Rosey looked over to me and said, āWhat should I do, Schottā¦I got nothinā left?ā
āIād listen to the man, Roseā¦youāve got more left than you think. Weāll get it goingā¦ā and so on.
Now comes the best halftime speech Iāve ever heardā¦
There was quite a bit of āanimated conversationā going on in the locker room with a bit of finger pointing and some terse dialogue between offense and defense.
When Coach Royal would enter a room and stand on a bench or chair, we would automatically cease all conversation or whatever we were doing, take a knee and give our total attention to Coach, as we knew he had something to sayā¦and weād better pay attention.
He looked out at us as he scanned the room, actually cracked a bit of a smile and simply said,
āMenā¦there is one HELL of a fight going on out thereā¦ā¦..(looking around at us)
Why donāt yāall get in on it?
Coachesā¦ā, nodding toward the exit as the assistant coaches followed him out to the top of the tunnel.
Mayhem ensued briefly as there may or may not have been a chair tossed into a window above the locker stalls and guys like Gaspard and English began exhorting everyone to get it together and go kick some ass.
Long story short, Rosey DID get his ass out there and 342 yards later, Coach let him off the field. One of the most unbelievable rushing performances I have ever seen and a truly gutsy example put forth by #46.
Final score: Texas 42
SMU: 14
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Professor Carlson and Billy Schott discuss DKRās legacy
BILLY: I'LL USE SOME OF THE FOLLOWING FOR A SEPARATE PIECE ON DKR'S LEGACY AND NOW BEING UNDERRATED BY MEDIA.
12. DKR was known to be pretty much "all business" with his players at Texas but then befriended many former players after graduation. I've heard a lot of guys say they learned life lessons from Royal and playing for him and his staff. What in particular sticks with you?
Since I had known Coach since I was five years old, I had an interesting relationship with him. He had literally watched me grow up and along with my Dad, Coach Royal was someone that I never wanted to disappoint in any way. Fortunately, I never got called into his office for anything bad or embarrassingā¦and Iām thankful for that.
At 70 years old, I still think before doing something I may have misgivings about, āWhat would Dad and Coach Royal think?ā
13. Speaking of Royal, I recently saw an ESPN ranking of the top college football coaches of all time. DKR was 38th? Has he been underrated now, 47 years after retiring? And perhaps because he left the game when he was only 52 years old? Thoughts?
Definitely underrated. I think in another day and age, he would have gone at least another ten years or maybe more. But, as he had said many times before, when it stopped being fun, it was time to set his bucket down.
14. Any other thoughts or recollections about having played for those Longhorn championship teams?
Just honored to have had the privilege of playing with the best teammates and learning from such great coaches while fulfilling a dream of wearing a Texas Longhorns uniform.