Those of you my age and older will remember when Darrell Royal was still active and considered a living legend while patrolling the Texas sideline. Royal had lifted the football program at Texas from stately and tired when he took over in 1957 to the preeminent sports program in the state by the time he left after the 1976 season. Royal's squads won or shared 11 Southwest Conference titles and he was the winningest coach in college football for that 20-year period. His 1962 and 1969 teams won outright national championships and in 1970 they captured the UPI title.
Having been born in 1964 I really do not remember watching the famous 1969 Arkansas game or any other of the great moments of the 1960s. The Royal I remember from the early to mid 70s seemed older than he was (he retired from coaching at age 52) as he carried the weight of a program that was as much a big business as a football team. Royal's teams were not integrated until 1970 and that fact was used by coaches like Oklahoma's Barry Switzer on the recruiting trail. Other recruits were bought away from the Longhorns and Royal struggled to maintain his level of excellence in a new world. Yes the switch to the Wishbone helped but by the early 70s other programs had similar offenses with similar amounts of talent. Finally, after a 5-5-1 season in 1976, Royal was secure enough in his legacy and fed up enough with the b.s. of coaching to leave the sideline despite having a boatload of talent in place for a near national title run by his successor Fred Akers the following season.
Although a star DB/QB (his 18 career INTs is still a Sooner record and he led OU to an 11-0 record in 1949) at Oklahoma, Royal became the face of a Longhorn program that replaced his alma mater as the kings of the southwest. He should be remembered for being an exceptional coach who did his best to win the right way.
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