Dat Nyugen to retire

[smudad]

Yes, they were. He was Dat's position coach. I think I read somewhere that Dat was close to his wife and kids as well, even before he left Manhattan.

[PonyPride]

I've interviewed Dat a few times. Once was before his senior year at A&M (for an Aggie magazine I used to edit), and then I've done a few since then for a Cowboys website and magazine for which I do some writing now. When he was in school, we sat down for about an hour, and you can't help but be impressed by him as a person, regardless of what you think of him as a player. What really struck me, though, was that the next time I saw him -- maybe five years later -- he remembered me, and little things about me that the Cowboys' PR wonk couldn't possibly have known or told him. I was floored -- he was a rock star in College Station, and I wasn't ESPN or Sports Illustrated, but he remembered me. When I thought about it, he does this all the time. During the course of that first interview (after he joined the Cowboys), he would tell some story about a teammate who did something in a game, and he'd throw in the most minute details. ("He'd cut himself shaving that morning and then came out and made 14 tackles," or something.)

None of that makes him a great coach, and I have no idea if he could coach or not. But considering everything he went through just to get a scholarship to A&M, and considering his youth and celebrity status in Texas as an Aggie and a Cowboy, and considering the way he interacts with people, I would think he could be a monster on the recruiting trail, if nothing else.

There you go, that's my two cents. Don't spend it all in one place.

[SMUstang]

PonyPride - thanks for sharing that.

[ponyplayer]

Don`t sell yourself short ponypride, that is worth more than 2 cents..........

[smudad]

Absolutely. Well said. I wonder, as a parent, how you'd feel about SMU if it was Dat sitting in your living room? (My biggest worry about him coaching our LB's would be making sure he didn't hurt someone during demo's.) I would like to think SMU tradition would be important to him as well. It would appear our team connects with the students who bother to show up at games - band, Varsity, etc. That part of SMU football needs to grow. Those guys are the key (not just in their play) in getting students to games.

[PonyPride]

For what it's worth, when I interviewed Flower Mound HS head coach Cody Vanderford about Patrick Strodtman, who is expected to sign tomorrow, the name he kept bringing up was Dat Nguyen, in terms of character, work ethic, toughness, speed and passion for playing the game.