On the latest episode of the Saturday Roundtable on the Inside Texas Football YouTube channel, Joe Cook, Justin Wells, and Paul Wadlington discuss ESPN labeling the 1968 Texas Longhorns the most influential college football team of all time.
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ESPN’s Bill Connelly, the caretaker of SP+ who has written extensively about the history of college football, described Darrell Royal’s 1968 Longhorns as the most influential college football team of all time due to its introduction of the wishbone offense. That scheme propelled a number of teams, primarily Texas but also the Oklahoma Sooners and Alabama Crimson Tide, to national championships throughout the 1970s.
Paul, Joe, and Justin explain some of the other teams that made the list, including teams from the 1890s plus more recent examples like Michael Vick’s Virginia Tech and even a team like 2019 LSU. Some rivals, like 2008 Texas Tech, are also included.
They then dive into what made 1968 Texas so important in the grand scheme of college football. Darrell Royal and offensive coordinator Emory Bellard introduced the Wishbone offense, the scheme that boosted Texas to 30 straight wins and two national titles. Critical players, including quarterback James Street, are talked about as parts of making the system go.
They talk about the decision from Royal to have Bellard teach other coaches, including heated rivals, how to run the system. Royal thought it was his responsibility to the coaching fraternity to instruct others, even if it meant teaching Barry Switzer how to run his offense. They go over how this lead to a change in culture among college coaches and how secrecy began to rule the industry.
After going over why the Longhorns started using the system, they go over other candidates for most influential Longhorn teams. 2004 Texas with Vince Young, 1977’s team with Earl Campbell, and even 2023’s team are the chief topics.
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The post ITYT: What makes 1968 Texas the most influential college football team of all time appeared first on On3.