Before There Was Will Muschamp, There Was Blair Cherry

Many are asking the question right now:  When was the last time The University of Texas hired a head football coach who had no prior head coaching experience at the collegiate level?

The answer to that question is:  Ed Price.

So why does the name Blair Cherry appear in the title to this post?  Because the circumstance of his elevation to the job was remarkably similar to what the circumstance will be when Will Muschamp ulitimately takes over the head spot upon Mack Brown’s retirement at some point in the future.

But back to Ed Price.  Price took over the job in 1951 when Cherry suddenly resigned, citing the hyper-critical nature of the Texas media and UT fans as reasons for his early retirement.  Price was the natural choice to fill the sudden void, given his long assocation with UT, having been a three sport standout at Texas, and later an assistant to both Jack Chevigny and D.X. Bible before becoming Cherry’s defensive coach.

Dana X. Bible, UT’s first legendary coach.

Price became a sort of Fred Akers-type of figure, starting off strong with a 9-2 record and a #10 ranking with his 1952 team, but then seeing his program begin to tail off when rampant player purchasing efforts by Oklahoma, LSU, Texas A&M and other programs hampered his ability to effectively recruit (sound familiar?).  His career ended ignominiously when his 1956 squad posted the worst record in Texas history at 1-9.

So, Price is technically the correct answer to the question being posed in Longhornland this evening.   But Cherry is the more instructive analogy to the Muschamp scenario.

Blair Cherry was a life-long Texan, although he played his college ball at TCU.  He compiled an extraordinary record as head coach at Amarillo High School in the early 1930s, winning back-to-back-to-back state championships there, and was actually UT’s second choice in 1937 when D.X. Bible came back to Texas from Nebraska for the then-unheard-of salary of $10,000 per year.

Bible hired Cherry to become an assistant at Texas, and Cherry quickly became the head coach’s right-hand man, proving himself to be an extraordinary tactician and student of the game.  When Bible retired to move into the job of Athletics Director in 1947, he hand-picked Cherry to become his successor in the job.

Blair Cherry

Cherry’s brief career in the head job at Texas was outstanding.  His first team, led by legend Bobby Layne, came within a point of winning the national championship, suffering its only loss by the score of 14-13 to Doak Walker’s SMU team.  Cherry’s 1948 team went 7-3-1, but finished the year with a big win over a very good Georgia team in the Orange Bowl.  After a mediocre 6-4 year in 1949, Cherry’s 1950 team went 9-2 and finished ranked #3 nationally. 

Having had three straight outstanding recruiting classes, the expectations for the 1951 team were very high.  But Cherry was a very sensitive man, and did not have the ability to divorce himself from the constant complaints and often unreasonable expectations every Texas coach has received from the Longhorn fan base and media covering the program.  He developed stomach ulcers and other health problems, and aged very noticeably in his short tenure in the job.  He actually announced his resignation midway through the 1950 season after accepting a job managing an oil company.

So there you have it:  Not since 1951 has The University of Texas elevated a coach with no collegiate head coaching experience to the Head job at Texas.  But 1947 is the real analogy to what we have seen develop on this historic day in Austin.

Hook ‘em!!!