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Tuesday
February 9, 2010 Since 1922 |
Coach part of ’05 UT champs
By Nathan Hague
The Baytown Sun Published November 26, 2009 Every football fan in Texas remembers how the Longhorns won the 2005 national championship at the Rose Bowl.
Everyone remembers how USC was the heavy favorite to win and Texas pulled out a miraculous last-minute victory thanks to the legs of Vince Young. Even four years later, it’s a game hard to forget even four years later, but not many people remember as well Sterling offensive line coach Mike Garcia.
He was there.
“The coolest thing was the fact that, leading up to that week, all we heard was that USC was the best team in the nation, and we came out on top that week,” Garcia said.
Garcia said Longhorns’ head coach Mack Brown did a good job of keeping his team from getting caught up with what the media said.
“One of biggest things about Coach Brown was he did everything to try to keep the media out of his players’ ears as much as possible,” Garcia said. “He told his players not to turn on Sports Center and don’t listen to talk shows.
“Coach Brown, every game, was all about business, regardless of what team we were facing,” he said. “He always prepares team same way, no different.”
Along with all the food and football on Thanksgiving, Texas and Texas A&M will continue their rivalry. This is the second consecutive year for the game to be played on Thanksgiving and Garcia reflected on what the week leading up to the game was like.
“One of the things they do is have past players and coaches come by and have pre-game meal and they talk about what it means to everybody to come on top,” he said. “It’s all about bragging rights to say you’re the best football team in the state of Texas.”
In practice leading up to the rivalry game, crowd noises were pumped into the practice facility to prepare the Longhorns for the loud fans at Kyle Field.
“It prepared us mentally for the game,” he said. “The fans cheered the whole time. It was pretty cool at first but it got annoying after a while. It was a great place to play but a hard place to win.”
When it came to playing the Aggies, Garcia said it was great to come out on top not only for the bragging rights of Texas but to quiet A&M fans and players.
“They had a defensive tackle I used to match up against named Johnny Jolly who plays for the Green Bay Packers now,” Garcia said. “He was on of their best players but was a big trash talker so of course, it was great to beat his team.”
During his time at UT, Garcia got grief for the color of his truck.
“My pickup was maroon so the guys gave me a lot of crap about that,” he said.
One thing that made beating A&M so satisfying was the fact he knew a lot of the players.
“A&M was a top 10 program when came out of high school,” he said. “The fact you met a lot of them (Aggie players) and talked to them after the games, and in summer, made it even better because I got to say ‘I beat you.’”
Garcia said his time at UT was a great experience and he is glad to have had the opportunity to play with guys who are now playing on Sundays, particularly Vince Young.
“ He was a great guy, a team guy,” Garcia said. “He was always wanting to do the best. He was a leader.
“If you do your job, you don’t have worry about him getting in your face. That was one of best things about him. He’ll let you know if you mess up because he wants to win to be successful.”
Garcia said he loved blocking for Young, knowing he was good at avoiding the sack.
“It made a difference,” Garcia said. “It helps linemen protection knowing he can escape on the run as opposed to a pocket passer who can’t scramble and will get sacked. There are perks to everything but I think it’s better for linemen to have a quarterback who can scramble.”
How did Garcia end up in Baytown?
“My O-line coach in high school (Galena Park) knew I wanted to coach after college and he made some calls,” Garcia said. “They (Sterling) told me they were looking to hire and an O-line coach.”
The Baytown Sun Published November 26, 2009 Every football fan in Texas remembers how the Longhorns won the 2005 national championship at the Rose Bowl.
Everyone remembers how USC was the heavy favorite to win and Texas pulled out a miraculous last-minute victory thanks to the legs of Vince Young. Even four years later, it’s a game hard to forget even four years later, but not many people remember as well Sterling offensive line coach Mike Garcia.
He was there.
“The coolest thing was the fact that, leading up to that week, all we heard was that USC was the best team in the nation, and we came out on top that week,” Garcia said.
Garcia said Longhorns’ head coach Mack Brown did a good job of keeping his team from getting caught up with what the media said.
“One of biggest things about Coach Brown was he did everything to try to keep the media out of his players’ ears as much as possible,” Garcia said. “He told his players not to turn on Sports Center and don’t listen to talk shows.
“Coach Brown, every game, was all about business, regardless of what team we were facing,” he said. “He always prepares team same way, no different.”
Along with all the food and football on Thanksgiving, Texas and Texas A&M will continue their rivalry. This is the second consecutive year for the game to be played on Thanksgiving and Garcia reflected on what the week leading up to the game was like.
“One of the things they do is have past players and coaches come by and have pre-game meal and they talk about what it means to everybody to come on top,” he said. “It’s all about bragging rights to say you’re the best football team in the state of Texas.”
In practice leading up to the rivalry game, crowd noises were pumped into the practice facility to prepare the Longhorns for the loud fans at Kyle Field.
“It prepared us mentally for the game,” he said. “The fans cheered the whole time. It was pretty cool at first but it got annoying after a while. It was a great place to play but a hard place to win.”
When it came to playing the Aggies, Garcia said it was great to come out on top not only for the bragging rights of Texas but to quiet A&M fans and players.
“They had a defensive tackle I used to match up against named Johnny Jolly who plays for the Green Bay Packers now,” Garcia said. “He was on of their best players but was a big trash talker so of course, it was great to beat his team.”
During his time at UT, Garcia got grief for the color of his truck.
“My pickup was maroon so the guys gave me a lot of crap about that,” he said.
One thing that made beating A&M so satisfying was the fact he knew a lot of the players.
“A&M was a top 10 program when came out of high school,” he said. “The fact you met a lot of them (Aggie players) and talked to them after the games, and in summer, made it even better because I got to say ‘I beat you.’”
Garcia said his time at UT was a great experience and he is glad to have had the opportunity to play with guys who are now playing on Sundays, particularly Vince Young.
“ He was a great guy, a team guy,” Garcia said. “He was always wanting to do the best. He was a leader.
“If you do your job, you don’t have worry about him getting in your face. That was one of best things about him. He’ll let you know if you mess up because he wants to win to be successful.”
Garcia said he loved blocking for Young, knowing he was good at avoiding the sack.
“It made a difference,” Garcia said. “It helps linemen protection knowing he can escape on the run as opposed to a pocket passer who can’t scramble and will get sacked. There are perks to everything but I think it’s better for linemen to have a quarterback who can scramble.”
How did Garcia end up in Baytown?
“My O-line coach in high school (Galena Park) knew I wanted to coach after college and he made some calls,” Garcia said. “They (Sterling) told me they were looking to hire and an O-line coach.”