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Bible was a
proven winner. He came from Nebraska where he led the Cornhuskers
to a record of 50 -15-7 and six Big Six Championships in eight years,
but he was no stranger to the state of Texas or the Southwest Conference.
He coached the Texas Aggies from 1917 to 1928 where his teams won
five Southwest Conference titles.
D. X. Bible was one of the best known football coaches in the country,
and to get him the Longhorns would have to pay top dollar and then
some. After several days of negotiations, the University of Texas
and Coach Bible agreed to a 10-year deal for $15,000 a year.
The details of Coach Bible's contract did not sit well with everyone,
especially in the middle of the Great Depression. The astronomical
salary caused protests on campus and a controversy that reached
all the way to the state capital.
One of the
loudest critics was State Senator L. J. Sulak of LaGrange,
a former member of the UT Board of Regents. Senator Sulak called
the salary "outrageous" and a slap-in-the-face to the academic program
that was supposed to be the first order of business at a great university.
Sulak pointed out that Dr. H. Y. Benedict, the president of the
university, only made $8,000 a year, and top-tier professors maxed
out at $5,000. But the regents had their way, and in the spring
of 1937 Coach Bible came to Austin to lead the Longhorns out of
the wilderness and into the Promised Land.
From the beginning
the pressure to win was brutal. "Playing well" was not good enough
- not at these prices. Miracles were expected.
But a renaissance takes time. Victories didn't happen just because
D. X. Bible showed up on campus, and by game six of the 1937 season
the Longhorns had won 1, lost 3, and tied 1. The wolves were howling
at the door.
A large number of UT faithful believed the University was not getting
its money's worth. Senator Sulak even threatened state action to
stop payment on Coach Bible's paycheck until Senator Olan Van Zandt
reminded the senator from La
Grange that money to pay the coach's salary did not come from
state funds but from athletic department proceeds.
Coach Bible suffered through three rough seasons before taking the
Longhorns to an 8-2 record in 1940. The next year the Longhorns
were national champions. In 10 years in Austin,
Coach Bible's teams had a record of 63-31-3 and won three Southwest
Conference Championships.
By then $15,000 a year looked like a bargain.
© Michael Barr
"Hindsights" February
2 , 2016 Column
Sources:
New York Times, January 20, 1937, January 21, 1937, January
22, 1937, October 27, 1937.
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