With the reintroduction of Schreiner University’s football program after a nearly 70 year hiatus, the university hosted a star-studded array of speakers last week for the “TexS Talk: Football in Texas” program.
Modeled after the famous TEd Talk format, Schreiner University brought together prominent players in the football sphere for an insightful deep dive into all things “Texas Football.” Featured guests included college football coach and analyst Hal Mumme, ESPN reporter Dave Wilson, Author S.C. Gwynne, and University of Texas legend and NFL veteran Colt McCoy.
The event was free to attend and open to the public. Football fans flocked to Schreiner’s Event Center decked in Longhorn memorabilia for a meet-and-greet with Colt McCoy before the event. Fans of all ages brought merchandise to be autographed and posed for photos with the former UT quarterback.
Opening the speeches after introductions was Schreiner University’s newly-named head football coach, Keith Allen. Allen brings years of collegiate coaching experience, at notable institutions such as the University of Oklahoma, Northeast Louisiana University, Texas Christian University, Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., and others.
“ The biggest reason I chose this job is because of the community. Everybody I met – from the administration of Schreiner all the way to everybody I met in Kerrville – loves football. They’re supportive, happy, very open and kind. That’s the kind of community I want to live in,” Allen said.
Tasked with recruiting talent and staff for Schreiner’s reemerging football program, Allen also brings his experience with constructing programs from the ground up.
“ As a coach of 28 years, I’m a builder of programs. I’ve taken over three different programs in my time and made them win. From coaching high school to collegiate levels to being an All-Time Winningest Coach,” Allen said.
Next to take the main stage was S.C. Gwynne, author of “The Perfect Pass,” which details how football coach Hal Mumme reinvented football offenses from the high school level up to the NFL. Gwynne, an award-winning historian, recounts how influential Texas football programs are to the rest of the industry.
“ Some great things in football have humble beginnings. The Air Raid offense was deployed by Mumme at the University of Texas at El Paso – the graveyard of coaches – which was at the absolute bottom of college rankings at the time,” Gwynne said.
Mumme’s offense style implemented at Copperas Cove High School as head coach is what Gwynne focuses on throughout the book, noting its significance to changing the game entirely.
“The Air Raid was invented in the hills of Central Texas at Copperas Cove High School. In a 48-minute game, they threw the ball 40 times. That was unheard of. They beat the powerhouse Westlake High, 53 to 10,” said Gwynne.
Gwynne’s speech highlighted the influence Texas Football has on the sport as a whole, but also emphasized how important coaches are in transforming a program at any level.
“Copperas Cove had a sensational season by their standards. The ideas worked. They scored more points in their first game under Hal than they had in the entire preceding season,” said Gwynne.
Mumme was also in attendance and commented on his and his colleagues’ impact on the game of football as a whole.
“ I think we changed the game and I think we’re changing for the better. It’s a safer game now than it was in 1986,” said Mumme.
Following Gwynne on stage was ESPN writer Dave Wilson who shared his experience writing about Texas football culture.
“ Texas has always been an incubator for great offenses. In the rest of the country, football is influenced from the NFL down, or the collegiate level down. In Texas, it’s from the high school level up. What goes on in our scope literally changes football,” Wilson said.
Wilson emphasized how football culture in Texas has left an everlasting mark on how the sport is played everywhere.
“ To me, football in Texas is going out on a Sunday and seeing everybody in their colors and talking about the game the day before. It’s about the Wishbone offense being started in Texas. It’s about the Run and Shoot that was really perfected in Houston. It’s about how the Air Raid started in Texas. To me, this is history. This is Texas history,” said Wilson.
Closing out the presentation of all things Texas Football was Colt McCoy. McCoy is known as UT’s star quarterback from 2006-2009, earning himself the title of “Winningest College Quarterback” at the time of his graduation. Following his stint in Austin, McCoy joined the NFL and played for multiple teams over his 13-year career. Including the San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins, New York Giants, Arizona Cardinals and Cleveland Browns.
Before McCoy was scoring record-breaking points at the collegiate and professional levels, he spent his childhood being coached by his father in small Texas towns.
“I grew up in Buffalo Gap, a town with only 600 people, but when we would go to our games on Friday night, there would be like 7,000 people in the bleachers. Everybody loves Texas high school football, as do I. It gave me the opportunity to go play football at UT, which changed my life,” McCoy said.
After excelling in a track meet his junior year of high school, McCoy was invited to attend the UT summer football camp, where he aspired to get an offer.
“They separated us into two fields, one for big guys, big names, big schools and the other for people that were probably not going to play college football… I was put on that field. But by the end of the day, I had worked my way over to the other field,” McCoy said.
As McCoy was giving a good impression with the recruiters at UT, the college was doing the same to McCoy as well.
“After camp was over, I told my dad that if I ever got a chance to play at UT, that’s where I was going to play. He looked at me and he goes, ‘So does every other kid in this state.’ We drove home on a Saturday night and when we woke up Sunday morning to go to church, we went out the front door and there was a FedEx overnighted from Coach Brown. Handwritten on it was ‘Here’s your scholarship, come play football at the University of Texas’ … and I guess the rest is history,” McCoy said.
Following the speakers, and concluding the event, the featured guests sat on a panel and answered questions from those in attendance.
For more information about Schreiner’s TexS Talks, visit their website at: https://schreiner.edu/campus-life/student-activities/texs-talk.