WHICH LONGHORNS GOT NOMINATED FOR THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME?

Defensive staff mixes quiet leadership with vocal personalities.

Texas coach Charlie Strong is known for his stoic, evenkeeled persona. Defensive coordinator Vance Bedford, who played for the Longhorns during the 1970s, is quite the opposite.

“I’m kind of like that roll- er coaster,” Bedford said Thursday. “I walk out there, who knows? I might have just

stepped on a nail and jumped sky high.”

“If you want some excitement,” linebackers coach Brian JeanMary said, “that’s the guy you want to go to right there.”

Roller coasters slow down occasionally. Not Bedford, according to defensive line coach Chris Rumph.

“Ain’t no roller coaster,” Rumph said. “That thing is going down and you’re screaming the whole time.”

If teams become mirror images of their coaches, the Longhorns could become a rock-‘em, sock‘em bunch that plays with infectious enthusiasm and energizes Royal-Memorial Stadium. That’s their hope, anyway.

And these defensive coaches believe you should always tell it like it is. There might be some who can’t handle this new reality.

“(Defensive tackle) Malcom Brown is a CEP — he’s a Contract Extension Player,” Rumph said. “Some guys that you won’t see out there on Saturdays, they are PSPs — Pink Slip Players. So I want me some CEPs.”

Energetic, confident truth-tellers. That was the vibe emanating from the room Thursday where the defensive coaches met reporters for the first time since being hired in January. The media met the new offensive coaching staff on Wednesday.

When asked how Strong and Bedford get along, Rumph said it’s a perfect match.

“I’m 6-foot-4, 255 pounds. Steel. Put that in there. Steel,” Rumph said. “My wife is 5-9. It takes a lot to get me upset. But my wife, if the wind just glances, she’s on fire. But we make a perfect combination. I think its the same way with Vance and coach Strong. It’s funny to see them bounce ideas and see their relationship.

“You can respect somebody for the position,” Rumph continued, “but when you can respect them as a man for who they are and what they stand for, it just goes further.”

Once the jokes subside, therein lies the substance. Strong, Bedford and the other defensive coaches want to treat their players like men, not kids or “student-athletes.” They talk about the players like men and want to relate in similar fashion.

Defensive backs coach Chris Vaughn said respect is reflective. That’s part of Strong’s beliefs.

“Respect for yourself, respect for women, respect for your coach and you have respect for authority,” Vaughn said. “If we teach these young men how to maneuver in that mindset in terms of respect, when you kind of focus on that and teach kids that, it kind of takes care of everything else.”

Part of that includes showing respect for your predecessors.

“If Mack Brown would have had certain guys not get injured this past year, he probably would still be here. Let’s be for real,” Bedford said. “I think he’s done a tremendous job. My hat’s off to him. He left this program, in my opinion, in good shape. Now, we’ve just got to continue to take it to the next step in the new millennium.”

Rumph said they’re going to spend the spring learning about their players and determining what they can and can’t do. But Strong believes firmly in his role as a teacher, and his assistants share that philosophy.

“At the end of the day, we want educated men,” Rumph said. “Like I tell my guys, if they come play under me and all they learn is how to block and tackle and play the 3-technique, then I failed them. I want them to be great husbands, great fathers, great friends, great citizens. If we can do that, then we really truly blessed them.”