Odd Man Out: A loyal Aggie in a world of mercenaries

Last week Ohio State won the college football national championship under coach Urban Meyer. Ohio State is the fourth college football team he’s coached.

Two years ago Alabama won the championship under Nick Saban. He’s coached four college teams and in the NFL.

Here’s a jolt of reality for some of you: in many cases the coaches and players you idolize don’t share the awesome love you have for your university.

Some do, but many don’t. Players often view the program as merely a stepping stone to the NFL. Coaches often profess their love to a school — as long lucrative paychecks are cashed.

Yet, some coaches will use your love for them as leverage to get huge raises. That is, if they don’t just move on to another job like Bobby Petrino or Todd Graham or Tommy Tuberville or Saban and Meyer.

That’s why I’ve always admired former Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum. He was a coach who loved A&M as much as the students and alumni did. His sons went to A&M. Nieces, nephews, grandchildren and a stepson did, too.

When Kevin Sumlin hired Defensive Coordinator John Chavis, Slocum was as excited as you are. When A&M opens next season against Arizona State he will live and die with every play just like you do.

We can debate whether Slocum should’ve been fired back in 2002. That’s not what this column is about. Rather, this column is meant to show that Slocum was and remains every bit the Aggie that A&M’s most ardent supporters are.

In fact, Slocum began his love affair with A&M in much the same way many of you did.

“When I was a youngster in Orange, I was a poor kid,” Slocum recalled recently. “A guy I knew brought me up to a Bonfire game and I just fell in love with A&M then.

“I always felt that if you grow up in this state you can’t help but grow up kind of pulling for the Aggies or the Longhorns. I was one of those kids who grew up pulling for A&M a long time ago. When I got a chance to coach at A&M there wasn’t any place in the world I’d rather have been coaching than here.”

That’s not rhetoric. When Slocum’s A&M teams were dominating the Southwest Conference in the early '90s, other programs took notice. LSU Athletic Director Joe Dean pursued Slocum. So, did USC’s Mike Garrett. The Arizona Cardinals approached Slocum, too.

Slocum told all thanks, but no thanks.

“I believed in A&M,” Slocum said. “It’s a conservative kind of place. It’s not a big city. College Station is not known for night life or whatever, but it’s known for good people and a place that turned out good people. There were just a lot of friendships. If I had a little time in the offseason and went hunting or played golf, I did it with Aggies. It just became a part of me.”

Slocum recalled a hunting trip to Brady, Texas the day after Thanksgiving in the ‘90s. The Aggies had defeated Texas in Austin the day before. Slocum decided to take a couple of days off before recruiting got hot and heavy.

Slocum, his brother and some Aggie friends left Austin that morning for Brady. They stopped in Llano for an early lunch at the famous Cooper’s barbecue, which was crowded as always.

“When we walked in, half the room started applauding,” Slocum said. “The other half was Texas fans and even they were nice. How much more meaningful can it possibly be to be in Texas, walk into a barbecue place in Llano where the whole place is packed and be greeted like that? That’s an experience I’ll never forget.

“To make a living coaching football in this great state at this great school … I never took that for granted.”

However, A&M took winning football teams for granted. So even though Slocum never had a losing season and was at a recruiting disadvantage because A&M let its facilities and budget for assistant coach salaries dip below those at Texas, Oklahoma and LSU, Slocum was fired after a 6-6 season in ’02.

Baylor called to offer him a job the next day. Other programs called soon afterward. A couple of years later, Norv Turner offered Slocum a spot on this staff with the Oakland Raiders.

Slocum didn’t brag about those opportunities. He didn’t let an agent float the news to the media. He chose not to publicly reject those that courted him. He was classier than that. He was an Aggie.

“They told me they could pay me more than I was making,” he said. “I told them, 'I can’t switch caps and change colors that fast.'”

Slocum was emotionally tied to Texas A&M. He wanted to be synonymous with Texas A&M like many of his contemporaries once were to their schools.

“Early in my career when I looked at Frank Broyles I thought about Arkansas,” Slocum said. “I think Vince Dooley and I think Georgia. Pat Dye, Auburn. Darrell Royal, Texas. That was very attractive to me.”

Bigger paychecks are even more attractive to some, though.

“I’m not a mercenary,” Slocum said. “I have deeper roots than that.”