2007 Texas Longhorns football team

Before the 2007 season

Mack Brown became the head coach of the Texas Longhorns for the 1998 season. Through 2006, he had a win/loss record of 93–22 and the best winning percentage (80.9%) of any football coach in Longhorn history. The 2004 team had the first Bowl Championship Series win for any Texas team and the 2005 team won the National Championship (the fourth for the UT football program).

The 2006 team had 9 wins and 1 loss through November 4, 2006 but starting quarterback Colt McCoy was injured in the 11th game and Texas lost the final two regular season games in 2006, including a 12–7 home loss to division rivals Texas A&M. This took the team out of contention for the conference championship, as well as the national championship.

Between the 2006 regular season and the bowl season, back-up quarterback Jevan Snead transferred to another school, and Longhorn defensive coordinator Gene Chizik accepted the head-coaching job at Iowa State University. The Longhorns ended up accepting a bowl invitation to the Alamo Bowl against the unranked University of Iowa Hawkeyes, who had finished in eighth place in the Big Ten Conference. Colt McCoy was cleared to play for the Horns and led Texas through a back-and-forth affair to a 26–24 win. The Longhorns finished the season with a record of 10 wins and 3 losses and received a final ranking of 13th in the nation by both the Associated Press AP Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll

Texas entered the 2007 season ranked third in the all-time list of both total wins and winning percentage. They were ranked in the Top 10 by numerous pre-season polls. For instance, a pre-season ranking by ESPN writer Mark Schlabach had the Longhorns ranked eighth; Rivals.com ranked them ninth; College Football News and Real Football 365 both ranked Texas third. The Longhorns came into the season ranked fourth in both the Coaches Poll and AP Poll.

Facilities and equipment

Following the final home game of 2006, construction workers demolished the north end of Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. This section was rebuilt to make the lowest seats closer to the field while planning for luxury boxes and an upper-deck. The lower deck was ready for 2007, while the upper deck and luxury boxes are planned to be ready for 2008. The modifications put the north end zone seats thirty yards closer to the field of play. This results in several game day changes, such as Smokey the Cannon moving to the south end-zone near Bevo.

Each 2007 Longhorn football helmet featured a Texas bluebonnet decal. The decal was chosen to honor President Lyndon B. Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson and the Johnson family. Brown said President Johnson used to enjoy discussing football with former UT coach Darrell K. Royal, while the first lady was known for her conservation efforts, particularly the spread of native wildflowers.

For the second straight year, UT merchandise products were the top-selling products among clients of Collegiate Licensing Company. UT entered into a marketing arrangement with Bluetooth SIG to deploy Bluetooth kiosks throughout the stadium. These kiosks broadcast free game-day information to Bluetooth-enabled cell-phones in the stands.

Practices and preseason injuries

The Longhorns played their 2007 Spring Jamboree Scrimmage on March 31, 2007 and reported for fall practice on August 5, 2007. A public scrimmage scheduled for August 18, 2007 was canceled due to safety concerns related to the weather and to ongoing stadium construction. With rain expected over the weekend and no working pumps to help remove water from the field, Brown held a closed practice indoors instead.

During fall practice, receivers Limas Sweed, Billy Pittman, and Jordan Shipley were injured. Sweed suffered a sprain to his left wrist on August 15. Pittman sprained his left shoulder during practice on August 17. Head UT athletic trainer Kenny Boyd said, "We will continue to evaluate [Pittman] and monitor his progress in hopes of getting him back in time for the season opener." Jordan Shipley had to limit his practice due to a strained hamstring. The receiver position was considered one of the deepest positions on the team; coaches said veteran players Quan Cosby (Texas' second-leading receiver) and Nate Jones performed well in training camp. Coach Brown said he expected to be able to play three freshman receivers in 2007: Brandon Collins, Malcolm Williams and James Kirkendoll. On August 29, 2006 Brown announced that Sweed was "probable" for the season opening game, but that Shipley was "doubtful".

Coaches

Prior to the first game of the season, the University of Texas Board of Regents voted unanimously to raise Brown's salary by $300,000, bringing his annual compensation to $2.81 million and keeping him among the five highest-paid coaches in college football. The package also includes up to $3 million in bonuses, including "$100,000 if he wins the Big 12 Championship and $450,000 for a national championship, as well as bonuses based on the percent of players who graduate." At the time, Brown's contract extended through the 2016 season and included buy-out clauses should another school attempt to hire Brown.

Greg Davis, who entered his 10th season with Texas, was the team's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Duane Akina was the defensive coordinator, and took the position vacated by Gene Chizik when he left the program. During the 2007 season, Akina performed his job on the sidelines while Larry Mac Duff provided input from the press box. UT running backs coach Ken Rucker announced in August that he had prostate cancer and that he would have surgery on August 27. He coached practices until just prior to surgery and returned to the team before the end of the season. Rucker's health concern coincided with player incidents that created Brown's most tumultuous off-season since arriving at Texas.

Player suspensions

The school suspended a total of seven players for at least a portion of the season. Six were suspended for alleged illegal activities, and one was suspended for a violation of National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) rules. Defensive end Henry Melton and linebacker Sergio Kindle were both arrested during the summer on charges of driving while intoxicated. Freshman defensive tackle Andre (Dre) Jones (who had not yet played for Texas but did join spring practices) and former UT player Robert Joseph were charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. Jones was one of the team's most highly touted recruits; his high school football career honors included Prep All-American, three-time all-state selection, first-team All-American by Parade Magazine, and Texas 4A Defensive Player of the Year by the Texas Sports Writers Association The university suspended Tyrell Gatewood indefinitely after he was arrested on two drug possession charges. James Henry was arrested on third-degree felony charges of "obstruction or retaliation and tampering or fabricating physical evidence."

The University of Texas suspended Billy Pittman for three games because he violated NCAA rules when he accepted the use of a friend's car over the summer. Coach Brown and University of Texas President William Charles Powers Jr. issued statements concerning the important of team discipline and zero tolerance policy for infractions.

Watch lists

Longhorns listed on preseason All-American or “All-Conference” teams or on award watch lists:

Recruiting

Texas’ 2007 recruiting class was rated by Scout.com as third-best in the nation, behind Florida and USC. Of their picks for the top 100 incoming freshman, Texas signed #8 Tray Allan (offensive lineman), #14 Curtis Brown (cornerback), #30 Andre (Dre) Jones (defensive tackle), #31 John Chiles (wide receiver), and #81 Russell Carter (defensive end). Carter made the preseason roster as a defensive end while Chiles was listed as a quarterback. Jones was suspended from the team due to legal trouble.

After the season

Two Longhorns were named to postseason All-American lists. Marcus Griffin was selected to the ESPN list and Tony Hills was selected by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

Towards the end of the season, speculation intensified about which players might enter professional football though the 2008 NFL Draft. In November, Jamaal Charles said he would return for his senior season rather than enter professional football in the NFL. In December, sources reported Charles and Jermichael Finley had filed paperwork with the NFL to evaluate their draft potential if they decided to enter professional football in the NFL Draft instead of returning for their senior season. Quan Cosby, who spent three years in professional baseball, was reported to be still deciding whether to file the paperwork. Defensive tackle Roy Miller said he would definitely be back for his senior season. Mack Brown did not comment about specific players but said, "We always try to help our guys get as much information as possible when it comes to the NFL. We encourage and help them go through the process ... All of our underclassmen have told us they will be coming back, but if you're playing well enough to be considered an NFL prospect, going through the process can only help you better understand it and realize what you need to work on to improve your status." Charles said he would not go pro unless he was predicted to be chosen in the first round of the draft. After the Holiday Bowl Charles said, "Right now, I’m probably coming back. I didn’t think I did that good in the game. Next year maybe I’ll be up for the Heisman. I will come back." From 2000–2007, the Longhorns have had seven players taken in the first 10 picks of the NFL draft, more than any other school.

On January 2, 2008, Charles announced that he was rescinding his earlier decision and would leave Texas for the NFL. Despite skipping his senior year, Charles ranks fourth on the list of total rushing yards by a UT player, behind Ricky Williams, Cedric Benson, and Earl Campbell, with 3,328 yards. Williams and Campbell each won the Heisman Trophy in their senior seasons. With Charles' departure, quarterback Colt McCoy becomes the leading returning rusher for the Longhorns. Tight end Jermichael Finley also declared he would forgo his senior season to enter the NFL.

The draft concluded with five Longhorns selected: Limas Sweed (53rd pick), Jamaal Charles (73rd), Jermichael Finley (91st), Tony Hills (130th), and Frank Okam (151st). In addition, Brandon Foster, Marcus Griffin, Nate Jones and Derek Lokey agreed to sign free-agent contracts with NFL teams.

On January 2, 2008, the Longhorns announced that defensive co-coordinator Larry MacDuff would not return for the 2008 season and Duane Akina was demoted to "Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Backs". The Longhorns hired Will Muschamp as defensive coordinator; he will also coach UT's linebackers. Muschamp was defensive coordinator at Auburn University and will earn a $425,000 salary at Texas. Running backs coach Ken Rucker transferred to a newly created position with the athletic department where he will act as a liaison to high school athletic programs. On January 16, 2008 Texas replaced Rucker by hiring former UT quarterback Major Applewhite.