The Open Letter

Dear Coaches Brown, Harsin & Applewhite:

Last night, I was one of the 100,000 fans watching the Longhorns play football at DKR.

Of all the things that happened yesterday (tailgating, spending time with my family, the lovely 9-11 tribute from the band, the win over BYU, the superb play of our team, and yes, even the two hour ordeal of being crammed into the cab of the tow truck with the driver and my two girlfriends while having our car towed from Hillsboro to Dallas), there's only one thing on my mind:

You should be ashamed of yourselves.

It was absolutely apparent from the moment the game started that your Longhorn fans were not going to react well if Garrett Gilbert did not perform consistently. After the first three possessions, I began bracing myself for an inevitable & ugly crowd reaction. I expected the boos to begin when he came in on the fourth offensive drive.

Though the fans doing the booing should also be ashamed of themselves, I'll give them a smidgeon of credit - they gave you a lot more leniency than I expected. It wasn't until after you had played Ash, who got our first 1st down of the game and put Gilbert back in twice, even after the first attempt resulted in an interception, that the fans booed.

And just in case you weren't aware, I'll break it down: The crowd was really booing at you.

Shame on you for allowing 100,000 people to become so tired and frustrated with your decision making that they booed a kid - who's out there trying his best - in order to get your attention. For creating a situation that caused an entire fan base to take out their frustrations with you on Garrett Gilbert, simply because you were too stubborn to take him out of the game in a timely fashion.

You can't convince me that you didn't know this was going to happen.

I know for a fact that two of you have seen this before in this very program. Coaches Brown and Applewhite: you were there in 2001 when fans booed Chris Simms off the field in Dallas. I was there too. Shame on you for not remembering what that was like and stopping it from happening to another member of your family. They booed you because, once again, you weren't willing to admit that the QB wasn't the right guy for right now.

Coach Harsin, when you came to Texas, it was to replace an OC who frustrated our fans so severely that they hired planes to fly overhead and plead for his removal. They were frustrated in his inability to be flexible on the field and his refusal to replace players that weren't getting the job done. They were believing in you to be different, and you accepted that challenge. They booed you because you didn't live up to that promise to be flexible and decisive.

I don't pretend to know what it's like to be a college football coach. I don't pretend to know what it's like to have a career where millions of people judge my decisions. I know that is unimaginably difficult and that you don't need a 31 year old girl who's never played football telling you what to do. I'm not presuming I can do your job - this has nothing to do with the technical parts of the game. This is a plea to stop putting our players in positions where they reap the repercussions of your decision making in such a hurtful and personal way.

It's true that fans shouldn't dictate the coaching. But game play should. It is clear by the numbers that the offense couldn't make it work for Gilbert. It is clear from the stats that Gilbert couldn't make it work for the offense. You've known this for long enough.

Shame on you for letting Gilbert be booed on his home field because you weren't willing to admit that your plans weren't working out.

Garrett Gilbert trusted all three of you to show him how to get the job done. He trusted you to give him the tools he needed to do so. He did not expect you to let it get to the point where he would be booed on and off the field. That should have never happened.

And still we hear you talking about having leaders on the field:  Why would you expect them to be leaders? Who are they supposed to learn leadership from?  Who will teach them how to foster trust?  You? 

Seems to me it's the three of you who need to work to prove that you're leaders worthy of trust. Otherwise, you've not only broken the confidence of Garrett Gilbert, but you stand to lose even more: Case McCoy, David Ash and the entire team must silently wonder if you'll let the fans boo at them too. And why wouldn't they?  They just saw it happen to a player who was trying his best with the tools you provided him.

I hope you can earn back their trust and ours. Otherwise it's going to be a long season.

Hook 'Em,
Beth