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The last paragraph reminded me of the importance of Jerry Bennetts "high school relations" duties.


Thursday, January 22, 2004
From ESPN

Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas defensive ends coach and recruiting coordinator Hardee McCrary resigned Wednesday after six years with the Longhorns.

His departure creates a second vacancy on head coach Mack Brown's staff. Defensive coordinator Carl Reese resigned Jan. 6.

In a statement released by the school, McCrary said he wanted to spend more time with his family. He and his wife, Susan, have two young children. He has been a coach at the high school and college levels for 30 years.

"I've been on the road quite a bit and had to miss a lot of important times with them," McCrary said. He did not say what he would do next.

With McCrary as recruiting coordinator, Texas signed some of the most-heralded high school talent in the country. In 1999 and 2002, recruiting analysts rated the Longhorns' classes as the best in the nation.

"When we came here, one of the biggest challenges we faced was rebuilding the relationship with Texas high school coaches, and no one could have helped us more than Hardee," Brown said.

<small>[ 01-22-2004, 04:20 AM: Message edited by: Cheesesteak ]</small>

Was anyone else surprised by this? I gather McCrary and Carl Reese are pretty tight, so maybe the speculation that Reese's decision to step down was one made under serious pressure, and so McCrary is then getting out as a matter of loyalty to Reese. What I do know is that McCrary is viewed as a recruiting god. High school coaches treat him like Vince Lombardi. The "spend more time with family" line is a pretty standard go-to line when a coach leaves, and if it's genuine, then it's admirable. But somehow I get the sense that it was a face-saving explanation, and that he'll re-surface elsewhere. (I have no way of knowing this -- just a hunch.)

It is hard to imagine McCrary as a recruiting god. He made wallflowers look like extraverts when he was at SMU.

One wonders if it was Hardee's abilities of the UT lore that was so successful.

I imagine after a year of selling tennis rackets and Nike shoes at Sports Authority, Hardee will get back into coaching.