VANCE BEDFORD ADDRESSES LONGHORNS’ DEFENSIVE WOES
Despite unit’s bad start, coordinator ‘not surprised’ he hasn’t been demoted: ‘We’re sitting here 2-1.’
No, Vance Bedford does not believe that he deserves a demotion.
Bedford met with the media Wednesday and was quickly given a chance to defend his status as Texas’ defensive coordinator; the Longhorns have allowed 104 points in the first three games.
The first question Bedford got Wednesday: Was he surprised that he wasn’t demoted after the 50-43 loss to Cal on Sept. 17?
“I’m not surprised about (not being) demoted,” Bedford said. “We haven’t started conference play yet. We’re sitting here 2-1. We’ve got an opportunity to go out to Stillwater and play a lot better.”
Since he doesn’t meet with the media after games or during bye weeks, this was Bedford’s first public comment since Sept. 14, the Wednesday prior to the Cal game. Bedford defended his policy of not appearing at postgame press conferences and pointed out that only one reporter had contacted him in the 11 days since the Cal game.
Bedford spoke for nearly 22 minutes. By comparison, head coach Charlie Strong’s press conference Monday lasted for 25 minutes and offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert’s was only nine minutes long Tuesday night. Bedford talked about the need to force more turnovers and took the blame for the defensive performance against Cal. Other questions: Are he and Strong on the same page? Bedford said yes.
“We know we’ve just got to get some things cleaned up. We’ve got to play smarter. Again, we’ve got to go back to just communicating. If we get those things done, we’ll be just fine,” he said.
What does Bedford himself