ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 28, 1995 TAG: 9512280068
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
In the preseason, one coach picked Texas to win the Southwest Conference title. That was John Mackovic.
It isn't just a case of a coach believing in his own team. Mackovic is known for going solo. Some say he's an insular figure in a storied program he's still rebuilding.
Insular, maybe. Insulated, he's not.
The former Wake Forest quarterback has been nothing but successful in his 15 years as a college and NFL head coach. However, in getting the ninth-ranked Longhorns to a Sugar Bowl date against Virginia Tech, he hasn't been Darrell Royal.
He's been labeled a corporate coach. Mackovic isn't a cowboy hat and boots man. He appeared for Wednesday's bowl news conference in a dark suit and tie.
He doesn't apologize for what he is or how he's accomplished what he has. Nor should he. Mackovic, 52, has spent a lot of time explaining himself, especially this year.
Before the start of the season, Mackovic stood before reporters and somewhat sheepishly said the reason he is sometimes short with the public during the season is he's concentrating on his job.
``Coach [Tom] Landry did that,'' Mackovic said then, ``and everybody said he was a deep thinker, lost in thought. They tell me I'm stuck up.''
The Texas program he took over in 1992 wasn't the one that seemed to own a perennial Cotton Bowl berth. His first two Longhorn teams were 6-5 and 5-5-1. Last year, the 'Horns went 8-4, beating North Carolina in the Sun Bowl. Sunday night's Superdome date against the Hokies gives Texas its first back-to-back bowl trips in a decade.
``I certainly think I understood what people wanted immediately,'' Mackovic said Wednesday. ``Texas people want to win. I understood what it was all about, understood it completely.
``It's one of the grand programs in the history of college football. And they expect to win. They expect champions at the highest level. They've had great teams, and that's why you go there.
``I don't believe that many people understood the condition of the football program. If there was a misconception, it wasn't from the inside, it was from the outside ... that we needed to do a number of things to build the stability and continuity you need.
``We've steadily improved and moved forward in that, in the face of a lot of criticism from folks who didn't understand, or didn't care to understand. We just have to work our way through that all of the time.''
Mackovic did it his way on the sidelines first at his alma mater, taking the Demon Deacons from 1-10 in 1978 to 8-4 and a Tangerine Bowl bid the following year.
After two years as the Dallas Cowboys' quarterbacks coach, Mackovic reversed the fortunes of the Kansas City Chiefs, getting a 10-6 club to the NFL playoffs in 1986 - before being fired five days later.
Then, he returned to campus and guided Illinois to bowls in four straight seasons. When he left the Big Ten school, he also gave up an athletic director's job.
He thought Texas was a great challenge. He probably didn't realize that winning fans could be tougher than winning games.
``Every coach has his own style, and they're all a little different,'' Mackovic said. ``Who's to say one coach is superior to another, or one way is better than another?
``Over a period of time, you have consistency, continuity, and people get to know who you are and what you're doing. That will continue to make a difference for us.''
It had better. The Longhorns are headed for the Big 12 Conference, with three of their SWC brethren adding to the Big Eight. That group, which kicks off next season, has seven bowl slots this week and Baylor was a deserving 7-4, too.
Next season, in addition to eight conference games, the Longhorns visit Virginia and entertain Notre Dame in two of their three non-league dates.
``Coaching in the NFL helped, yes,'' Mackovic said when asked if his Kansas City years prepared him for the aura in a program that's aptly reflected in Bevo, the huge mascot. ``My hide is no thicker though.
``Someone would think if you've spent four years in the NFL in one of those jobs ... Uh, if you're not dead, you don't know it. It was a good experience.
``All my experiences have been good experiences, but I haven't always enjoyed them during the journey. There are times when the journey has been a little bit rocky, but we've tried to make the most of them.''
Mackovic, who has one year left on his original Texas contract, is looking for an extension through ``at least'' 2000.
If the Longhorns are looking for a coach to take them into the next century, they already have him.
If they're worried that the occasional longneck Mackovic may pour is wine and not beer, then they would seem to have a Texas-sized problem.
``It's been a difficult four years,'' he said.
Mackovic may be shy. That doesn't mean he's retiring.
LENGTH: Medium: 91 linesby CNB