‘It’s been everything I could’ve asked for’
UT seniors say highs and lows only made the memories better
AUSTIN — Year after year, the memories will grow a bit fuzzier. Parts will be inadvertently rewritten or vanish entirely. Eventually there will be only scattershot remnants of all the games and practices and team meetings.
What will endure for Malcolm Roach are the relationships. Some date back to move-in day in 2016, as the freshman defensive end from Baton Rouge, La., prepared to plant down in the San Jacinto dorms.
“A lot of those guys aren’t here right now, but I still have good relationships with them,” the Texas senior said Tuesday. “Just that first day we moved to San Jac, met guys, formed relationships that last forever.
“I told some guys, ‘I want you to be in my kids’ lives.’ That’s the kind of relationships we’ve built here.”
This hasn’t been the farewell season Roach envisioned. It hasn’t really been the college career he and his fellow seniors envisioned, either — for better and worse.
It began with a losing season under coach Charlie Strong, fired that year after losing seven games, including one to Kansas that redefined the term “rock bottom” for Longhorns fans. Roach rebelled for a time against the new staff and battled through injury, only to grow into a Sugar Bowl champion and team captain.
“The highs and lows, that only makes the memories better,” Roach said. “I could sit back and call (former Texas nose tackle) Chris Nelson up, say, ‘Bruh, remember when we lost to Kansas?’
“Then I could say, ‘Remember when we won the Sugar Bowl, something no one thought we could do.’ I think we broke Vegas.”
What senior center Zach Shackelford remembers most is his first game, that incredible doubleovertime marathon with 10thranked Notre Dame at Darrell K Royal-Memorial Stadium.
He didn’t expect to start, but he did. Few expected the Longhorns to win, but they did, 50-47, on quarterback Tyrone Swoopes’ game-winning touchdown plunge.
“The Notre Dame game was just kind of a crazy experience because I was injured for most of fall camp, came back the week before, played,” Shackelford said. “After the first drive when we scored, I was just sitting on the sideline thinking, wow, six months ago I was in high school — unfathomable. And we won, so it was just a super-cool experience and one I’ll never forget.”
To this day, senior safety Brandon Jones believes that night was the loudest he’s ever heard DKR. He also believed, like so many others, that upset victory that sparked a million “Texas is back” memes would be the start of a grand rebirth for the program.
“I think that’s what everybody thought on the team,” Jones said.
That, obviously, wasn’t how the story unfolded. Four years and one very public “We’re back!” later, and the Longhorns still haven’t entered into a new golden age.
Jones has accepted his role in a strange era of Texas football, one rife with uncertainty and change, monumental wins and befuddling losses.
But for Jones, like Roach, the most meaningful part of life as a Longhorn has been the relationships forged, and not only those inside the locker room or dorms.
During a summer visit to Dell Children’s Medical Center, Jones met Jayden Morton. They formed an immediate bond, and Jayden found some happiness in the hours before he was to have his leg amputated to prevent the spread of cancer.
When Jones learned of the coming procedure, he resolved to remain connected to the Mortons.
“I decided to reach out, told him I’d like to get his number, his mom’s number, let him know I’m thinking about him and he’s on my mind,” Jones said. “We have a really good relationship. I think I talk to him about every other day,
just keep him going, keep him positive. I see him as a little brother.”
Senior receiver Devin Duvernay doesn’t know how he’ll react Friday morning when he suits up for the final time at DKR. He’s tried to stay focused on Texas Tech, though the nation’s leader in receptions admits it’ll be difficult not to indulge in some reminiscing that day.
“Hasn’t really hit me yet,” Duvernay said. “It’ll probably be a weird game day being out there, just kind of reflecting on everything I’ve been through from freshman year to now. It’s been everything I could’ve asked for.”
Roach, Shackelford, Jones, Duvernay and the rest of the seniors will leave behind a complicated legacy regardless of what happens in the regular-season finale and coming bowl game.
They’ll leave Texas in a better spot than when they arrived, though this campaign has cast real doubt over the direction of the program and effectiveness of coach Tom Herman and his staff.
But at the end of the day, Roach said, what matters is that they extracted as much from this unforgiving sport as possible.
“My dad always told me football is a means to an end, so you better get everything you can out of football, because it’s going to get everything out of you,” Roach said. “I’ll be able to say I’ll be graduating soon; who would’ve thought I’d be graduating from a school with such prestige?
“I’ve met great friends, people like Devin who I can call my friend for life. Without football I wouldn’t have that.”