Todd Smith (1987-1990)

Todd Smith walked on at Texas as a Defensive end but started at offensive center. He had some offers to other schools, but he wanted to be a Longhorns.

Reggie Grob was my cousin.  

Todd Smith belongs to an exclusive club of Longhorn football players. He was a walk-on who started for Texas. A contemporary of Todd's, Jerry Seade, summed up the description of a walk-on as "the low men on the totem pole... The term suggested that a player was of less value than the others...." As Todd Smith says, "all walk-ons are used as "cannon fodder" Jerry says to make the team a walk-on has to try harder and play twice as good to catch the eye of a coach. Stan Mauldin was a walk-on in 1967 and a captain of the 1971 team, and he says, "I was 8th string and issued a blue jersey assigned to the so-called “attack squad,” comprised of surplus humans, used as blocking dummies and tackling targets – raw meat for the starters to sharpen their fangs. Better to be the back end of a shooting gallery than to be on the attack squad.

Abe Lemons said of recruiting a "mistake " “Doctors Bury Their Mistakes, But Mine Are Still On Scholarship "Walk-ons become starters by exploiting these scholarship "mistakes" and start their climb toward daylight by showing the coaches they will hit anything that moves at practice.

Todd Smith was this type of person. A young man who worked hard, long, and smart to fulfill his dream of starting for the Longhorns.

Tony Degrate

Editor's Note: Can you imagine a 6-3,255 lb. pitcher throwing a baseball 96 MPH; I think I'd get out of the way! Tony is a Commercial Art Major and maintains a 2.6 G.P.A. Tony will graduate and feels very strongly about his painting.

He has had offers to go to Europe to continue his art career. Tony loves to work with oil, pastel, and color Prisma. However, Tony plans on exploring a pro football career and paint in the off-season. Then after football, he can pursue a full-time art career. I asked Tony about one set of 8-12 reps and what if your pro strength coach had you do it. Tony responded diplomatically, "I've got a philosophy that the team comes before me, so I would do it. I would follow orders. I'd try to talk to the coach in private, so maybe we could compromise and say maybe we could do it this way. What about Nautilus, Tony? "For me, at my defensive tackle position, I can't rate it very high. I don't pay much attention to that system," responded DeGrate. "With my program, I feel very confident about my strength. I feel I can handle anyone one on one. I don't think I'll ever feel that I have enough strength. I've got to keep pushing forward," DeGrate concluded.

Tony DeGrate does keep things in proper perspective. "I've never done drugs. I don't misuse my body, and I never will. I'm really choosy about my friends. I'd rather be called a square than being on drugs. I think a lot of kids are misled and look at the short term. I don't use steroids. I believe hard work is a lot better way to go, and I'd never recommended steroids. I really don't know about uppers or speed. I guess some players take them, but as for me, I believe a real competitor doesn't need a pill to get Up." And then, Tony DeGrate became even more serious. ''I'd like to talk about the importance of God in my life. The most important things in my life are My God, my family, my education, and my career. In that order. I know a lot of young athletes will read this article, and so I'd urge them to get a proper perspective of life. Get to know your spiritual self and develop a personal relationship with God."

TONY DEGRATE

By Greg Shepard -  Images added to the article by Billy Dale
Lombardi Trophy Winner: Tony DeGrate
DeGrate goes all out every play!

Tony DeGrate is one of the most outstanding people in football today. He has outstanding credentials. Tony was the 1984 Lombardi Trophy Winner. The Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the best defensive lineman in college football. He is an All-American in every respect! Tony DeGrate has kept his life in proper perspective. Dana LeDuc, the strength coach at the University of Texas, has the highest praise for Tony. "He is a good hard worker, who has developed his talents," states Coach LeDuc. "Tony is gifted, but he's worked awfully hard also. As for leadership qualities, I can tell you that he commands a lot of respect in his own quiet way," LeDuc continued. "Tony DeGrate is the thickest athlete I've ever seen. He has phenomenal layers of thickness and could have squatted 800 pounds, but we don’t

push it and normally keep it around 650 pounds." Such high praise coming from Dana LeDuc is impressive. Coach LeDuc, in his prime at the University of Texas, was a world-class shotputter. During his competition, he had opportunities to see the world's best weight men in track, and of course Coach, LeDuc has seen many great athletes during his 8-year tenure at the University of Texas. Therefore, when Dana LeDuc says, Tony DeGrate is the thickest athlete he's seen: I listen! Tony DeGrate must be something special. Coach LeDuc also states that Tony DeGrate is one of the most outstanding men he's been around. He takes his weight training seriously. He takes his education seriously and takes the spiritual side of life seriously. Tony DeGrate reciprocates that feeling towards Coach LeDuc as Tony made sure his strength coach was one of the two men with him at the Lombardi Trophy Awards Banquet. Mike Parker, Tony's defensive line coach, was the other man invited to be with him. Coach Parker shouts his praises, "Tony DeGrate is the most physical player ever at Texas." Now, when you consider all the great players that have come through the University of Texas, that's really saying something.

Tony relates this to his high school career. "I wasn't a big name in high school. I was benched several times, and a lot of people said I wouldn't make it. Even after I was headed for the University of Texas, people said I'd be back soon pumping gas. However, I always set my goals high and always keep striving. I tried to let negative things people said turn into something positive. When somebody says, I can't do something, that makes me all the more determined to succeed. I've got two rules: never settle for the second-best and never become complacent. I'm very hard on myself. A lot of my attitude has been developed through inspiration and example from Coach LeDuc and Coach Parker.

From Tony's Progression Chart, you can see that the only thing he really worked on in high school was the bench press. He barely got more than his body weight. Hewent to Snyder High School, a 4-A school in Snyder, Texas. In December of 1984, Coach Greg Shepard did a Bigger Faster Stronger clinic at Snyder. Football Coach Dennis Tomlin, a new coach, remarked, 'Til guarantee you, we don't have anyone like Tony DeGrate now.

We need to have a strength program. From now on, we will have to develop greatness." It was really evident that a strength program was desperately needed in Snyder. They decided to set a team goal of breaking 16,000 personal records before next football season after their BFS clinic. The BFS set-rep system was instituted and at this writing the team has averaged 1000 broken records a week. Progress is monitored by a United Fund Thermometer. As it's turning out, their goal should have been 25,000 records.

Bryan Millard - 1980 “It’s not what we did, it’s what been done before us” that makes Texas Heritage great.

To Bryan deciding on Texas was an easy decision. He said,” back then a school could only be on TV a handful of times each year (excluding bowl games) .” “ Well, Texas was always going to go to bowl games.” Everybody knew what a Texas Longhorn was, everybody knew what that helmet looked like, and everybody wanted to go to The University of Texas.” As a side note, he also said, “the more you win, the prettier the girls are.”

Http://Www.Si.Com/Vault/1988/11/21/118930/Full-Speed-Ahead-Seattle-Guard-Bryan-Millard-Pursues-Bass-And-Opposing-Linebackers-With-Equal-Fervor

When Bryan was in the sixth grade, the family moved to Dumas, a farming and ranching community 45 miles north of Amarillo, in the heart of the Texas panhandle. The town was mad for football. More than 3,000 fans would pack the local stadium on Friday nights to watch Dumas High play. Swept up by that spirit, Bryan joined the Hillcrest Hawks elementary school team, and by high school, he had made himself into an all-district offensive tackle and an all-state defensive lineman. He had even more success in track and field: Millard won the state class AAA shot put championship as a senior with a throw of 61'7".

Every Division I football school in the state recruited Millard. He chose Texas because he had so much fun on his recruiting visit. "John Mize, an assistant coach, brought a twin-engine plane to pick me up," says Millard. "That was a big deal. Why the Dumas Airport only has a windsock. Because of fog, we got to Austin late. When we finally arrived at the stadium, Steve Massey, a defensive tackle who was my escort for the weekend, screamed, 'Mize, where the hell have you been? My liver's on fire. I need a beer.' I thought This guy is a player?

"After a few beers, we went to a Jerry Jeff Walker concert. I ate more chili peppers than I'd ever seen in my life. After that, we went to a game preserve and shot a pronghorn antelope. We took it over to the football dorm and hung it in the shower. It was the wildest night ever."

Millard became a starter in his junior season, and the next year he made first-team All-Southwest Conference. In January 1983, the New Jersey Generals of the then-brand-new USFL made Millard their 12th-round pick in the draft. "Chuck Fairbanks, the Generals' coach, called," says Millard. "I asked, 'Where's New Jersey?' He said, 'It's next to New York.' I said, 'Do they have country music up there?' 

Eric Metcalf

Metcalf attended and played college football at the University of Texas at Austin where he was an All-Southwest Conference selection three times. He was the 1987 Southwest Conference player of the year and a second-team All-American. He is the only player in Texas history to lead the team in all-purpose yards all four years. He holds every school receiving record for a running back. Metcalf also had a distinguished career in track and field. In high school, he was a standout long jumper

During his time with the Longhorns, he tallied 4,051 yards and 30 touchdowns on 710 touches. He is often remembered best for his returns. In Austin, Metcalf returned 108 punts for 1,076 yards. He returned only one kick for a touchdown. In 1987, Metcalf threw two passes. Both of those went for touchdowns.

 Sport: multi 
Position: multi 
Inducted: 2002 
Hometown: Washington, D.C.

FOOTBALL (1986-87, Running Back) 
TRACK & FIELD (1986-87, Long Jumper)

• Three-time All-SWC running back

• Two-time National Champion in the long jump (1986 & 1987)

• Holds UT school records in pass receptions in a game (12), career punt return yards (1,076), season pass receptions by a running back (42), and career receptions by a running back (125)

• Won the SWC long jump titles in 1986 and 1987

• He was named to the NFL Pro Bowl three times in his 13-year professional career

• Holds the NFL record for kick returns for TDs (12)

Jeff Leiding 

Teammates Recall Former UT All-American Leiding

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

By Ryan Autullo - American-Statesman Staff

Posted: 7:24 p.m. Thursday, July 17, 2014

Jeff Leiding’s debut as a Texas football player was symbolic of the hard-charging life he lived.

On the first play of the 1980 season opener against sixth-ranked Arkansas, Leiding — a strapping 6-3, 230-pound freshman linebacker — leaped two blockers aiming for his legs and speared the kickoff returner in mid-air, jump-starting a 23-17 win for 10th-ranked Texas.

Leiding separated his shoulder on the play.

“It’s one of those (plays) you hope as a player you get a chance to get, but you’re not always willing to pay the price,” recalled former Texas coach David McWilliams, who was Leiding’s linebackers coach at the time. “It did knock him a little cuckoo.”

Leiding, a 1983 All-American who was beloved by Longhorns fans for his knee-buckling hits and colorful personality, died Sunday in St. Louis from a heart attack. He was 52.

His raucous college introduction convinced McWilliams that Leiding should wear No. 60, an honor for Texas linebackers bestowed first on Johnny Treadwell and made famous later by Tommy Nobis. Leiding wore the number beginning his sophomore season when he made 107 tackles and 8.5 sacks. That team went 10-1-1 in 1981 and finished second in the Associated Press poll. The Longhorns followed with nine wins in 1982 and captured the 1983 Southwest Conference title with an 11-1 overall mark his senior season.

“One hell of a college linebacker … 60 fit him well,” said offensive lineman Bryan Millard, Leiding’s teammate.

The St. Louis Cardinals selected Leiding in the fifth round of the 1984 NFL draft, which yielded a record 17 Longhorns. He played his final snap four years later, succumbing to injuries as a member of the Indianapolis Colts.

“Great teammate, great player, everyone liked him and respected him,” said Kiki DeAyala, a linebacker who played with Leiding for three seasons at Texas.

Leiding was a rare recruit, an Oklahoma product who eschewed Oklahoma for rival Texas. Asked why, Leiding, who had moved to Tulsa from Kansas City before his senior year of high school, said simply that he liked Texas more. OU fans never forgave him. A few years ago, a sports talk radio station in Oklahoma City named Leiding the second-most hated athlete in the state, said his sister, Susan Nixon.

“He was proud to play for the University of Texas,” Nixon said. “He left his mark on this world. He was well thought of by a lot of people.”

Leiding ruffled feathers in 1986, revealing that he had received cash payments from alumni and boosters throughout college. He also charged that Fred Akers, Texas’ head coach, knew about players selling their complimentary game tickets for up to $600. Akers denied the charge.

Texas was sentenced to two years probation — which later was reduced to one — and lost scholarships and recruiting visits.

Leiding, who was working in roofing until his death, is survived by his fiancee, Christy Smith, and his adult children, Kelcy and Jeffrey, as well as four granddaughters. He will be buried Saturday in St. Louis.

John Hagy  1983

Bill Little commentary: The fifth brick

Oct. 14, 2011

By Bill Little, Texas Media Relations

When it comes to bricks and football, there is likely no greater authority than John Hagy. As one of the leading home builders in Austin and a former Longhorn and NFL star who played in a Super Bowl, he knows a lot about both.

So given the Longhorns' 2011 reconstruction philosophy of "brick by brick," I asked John what you do when something goes wrong after you have played pretty well for four games and start feeling pretty good about yourselves after four successful layers of bricks have been put in place.

 "That's exactly how the home building business goes too," he said with a chuckle. "I always joke around and say, `things feel a little too good right now.' Every time I start to think things are going well, and everything's scheduled on time, and things are hitting and firing correctly; you had better put your head on a swivel and see what you are missing because it's coming."

 And when it does, he says, you go back to brick four and build from there.

So, what's the philosophy when you hit a snag on brick No. 5?

"You take it back down. You gotta pull it apart, and you gotta put it back together correctly. It takes time and effort, just like it does in football. You put in the necessary extra work. You take it back to brick No. 4, where it has all been done correctly. When five is a little out of level, then it's time to take five down and put thing’s back up together. The scary thing is, you don't want to put five and then get to 25 and realize it has to come down because it doesn't line upright. You want to constantly keep checking so that if it gets to seven or eight and doesn't look right, you have to fix it.

Ken Hackemack

In response to the video, Ken in April of 2019 said “ there were a few factors that came into play. The biggest was the embarrassment of being one of those athletes that used up their eligibility with no degree to fall back on. The other was that I was the only person in two generations without a degree.

After football, I took the vocational route and got my associate’s yet after so many years, I still felt empty, that I was missing something. It wasn’t till my daughter was graduating from Mississippi State with honors that I finally told myself I need to finish college and get my degree. I’m whole now and in a good place. It was that inner drive fueled by embarrassment that made it happen”.

Oscar Giles 1987

Giles had just finished his professional career in the Canadian Football League when, at age 30, he decided it was finally time to "go out and get a real job." He immediately gravitated toward a coaching career, remembering how his former coaches influenced his life.

 "I needed to give back," said Giles, in his second stint as defensive line coach at the University of Houston. "They gave me that role model. Because of them, I was able to learn how to grow up and be a man."

Only one problem for Giles: He had no coaching experience.

His former college coach at Texas, David McWilliams, recommended he write down every coach he knew, then told him to call them.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/cougars/article/Giles-coaching-road-leads-to-UH-6522680.php

From Todd Dodge On Recruiting

Todd Dodge-1982

“I tell players all the time, … back in 1980, 81 when I was getting recruited, literally, the recruiting process started around January 1, and it lasted about one month,” Dodge said. “There were no games that you went to; there were no camps, there were no junior days. You found out basically when your coach told you at the end of the season, saying, “Oh, by the way, these guys like you.’ He probably already set up your visits for you, and here’s your four, five visits. So it was only about a one-month process.”

“One of the things we try to tell our players is don’t let anybody take your joy away during the process. I was visiting with a great friend of mine who’s got a very high-profile son in our state, and I just told him, ‘Just remind him, don’t let anybody take your joy away the last two weeks of the process.'”

http://kxan.com/2015/01/27/todd-dodge-has-unique-perspective-on-recruiting/