It's the oft asked question of football coaches, particularly Longhorn coach Mack Brown: "Guess you have some down time since spring practice is over, right?"
Wrong.
For Brown and his assistant coaches, the spring is about recruiting and evaluating high school juniors, in the never-ending search for talent that will fit The University of Texas.
And for Mack and Sally Brown, the spring is about giving back.
For example, here is a look at the last month's spring calendar of contribution:
April 20 – Former Longhorn Mike Dean is inducted into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame. Brown flies to Dallas for a reception and returns that afternoon.
April 26 – Fifty-two Longhorn football players are honored at the UT Athletics Department's Academic Awards banquet.
April 27 – Brown and Longhorn team members are recognized by the Texas Senate and are presented with a special resolution acknowledging the Rose Bowl win over Michigan.
April 27 – That night, the Houston Touchdown Club honors, as one of its National Football Foundation Scholar Athletes, Trey Bates. Brown is there to speak on Bates' behalf.
May 1 – Brown participates in a golf tournament for the Longhorn Band in the morning, then attends a dinner for the Longhorn Foundation's annual fund-raising golf classic.
May 2 – Brown participates in the Foundation tournament.
May 10 – Brown, his wife Sally, running back Cedric Benson, and equipment manager Chip Robertson are recipients of awards from the All-American Football Foundation at a banquet in Dallas.
May 11 – Brown participates, along with Longhorn basketball coach Rick Barnes, in the Charity Pro-Am for the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament.
May 13 – Brown is the featured speaker at the annual luncheon for the Boys and Girls Club of Austin. The luncheon raised $250,000 for the organization.
May 16 – Brown and former Longhorn James Street co-host a charity golf tournament benefiting Austin's Rise School for special need kids.
May 16 – Later that night, Brown introduces guest speaker Spike Dykes at the scholar-athlete dinner of the Greater Austin Chapter of the National Football Foundation.
May 19 – Brown is on hand as the Waco Texas Exes honor hometown hero Derrick Johnson at their annual dinner.
May 23-26 – Brown attends the Big 12 Meetings in Colorado.
Many times, Brown has told the story of his friend Johnny Majors, who coached at Iowa State, Pittsburgh and Tennessee. Asked to compare the jobs, Majors supposedly said, "When you were the head coach at Iowa State and Pittsburgh, you were the head coach in the fall. When you are the head coach at Tennessee, you are the head coach all year long."
So it is for Mack Brown at Texas, and the fact is, he wouldn't have it any other way. The toughest challenge for the head coach at Texas is managing his time. In the small window that exists from the end of spring training until the start of summer school June 1, Brown's first priority is to meet with his players and coaches and discuss their progress, and the upcoming season. Then, he sprinkles in as many appearances as he can.
When he first came to Texas, Cleve Bryant, who handles Brown's schedule, says he turned down over 600 speaking engagements.
"He would do all of them if he could," Bryant says, "but it is not physically possible. You can't wear yourself out like that."
Darrell Royal gave Brown some advice about that when he came from North Carolina to Texas in 1998.
"After our National Championship in 1963," Royal said, "I took a lot of speaking engagements and didn't pay enough attention to football. You have to be careful not to sit in the shade and celebrate too much."
That's why Brown limits his appearances to the short window of time.
"People have been so nice to us, and it is great to see them so excited," Brown says. "Sally and I believe we need to give back to the community, and that's why we do the charity events. It is our small way of helping those who do so much for other people. And obviously, we want to be there when our players are recognized."
The Big 12 meetings, which head coaches are required to attend, will pretty well wrap up most of the outside activities for the Browns. Now, it is on to summer camps, summer school, and then a brief vacation. The Big 12 Media Day is July 20, the High School Coaches Association meetings are the next week and the team reporting day is August 7.
So if you are the head football coach at Texas, when they ask you what you do in your spare time, the answer is simple:
"What spare time?"
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