I shared a private booth at a D-2 game on Saturday with a guy who played DB for TCU 5-25 years ago. (And no, D-2 private booths aren’t the envy of the richer FCS schools). Of course, we had to talk about old Gary. Here are a few of his thoughts:
1) The guys who played for Gary would run through brick walls for the guy, but most of them recognized that he had lost his HC touch at TCU. (This guy was a GA for another successful FBS coach, but he said the level of dedication to that coach just wasn’t there compared to GP). He said GP should stick to DC, but the Auburn job would convince him otherwise. AU was the only school he mentioned, and he did so multiple times.
2) He only went through 2 towels per game. One each half.
3) GP is extremely superstitious. He tugs on his shoelaces (or completely reties one… pointing at his right foot) before crucial 3rd downs. He hikes up his pants and leans forward every time he calls a blitz.
4) The only time he has lived in Texas were his TCU days, yet he called aggy a cult.
5) He thought Charlie Strong was about to do something special at Texas, but we fired him too soon. I laughed in his face.
6) He came “this close” to saying Texas has 5 star players, but 1 star culture. One of his best friends is a UT grad, so they go to the Texas vs TCU games together (family reasons had him at a D-2 game this year).
7) We both thought the first pic of GP wearing Texas gear was photoshopped
9) He takes his guitar to recruits’ homes for official in-home visits. The moms dig it.
One of these may not be true.