Earl Campbell thinks it's time for Mack Brown to go

Texas football coach Mack Brown has had plenty of detractors the past few seasons. With the talent the Longhorns have on the team there are some that say the team is underachieving and that maybe a change is needed on the sidelines.

Former Longhorns legend and 1977 Heisman trophy winner Earl Campbell is amongst the critics and thinks it's time for Brown to be replaced.

Campbell told Fox 26 in Houston that it's about time for Brown and Texas to part ways.

"Nobody likes to get fired or leave a job, but things happen," Campbell said. "I'd go on record and say 'yes I think it's time.'

"I'd just say this, I take my hat off for USC for what they've done. They didn't mess around with it. They just said 'let's do it now.'  I think at some point our university's people are going to have make a decision."

"Some people get too old," Campbell said. "If players get too old to play a game, why can't a coach get too old to coach it."

"If we're going to make a change I would like to say that we got one in the house, Jerry Gray, who's getting in the College Football Hall of Fame," Cambell said. "I think that would be a good place to start."

"Very hard because Coach Brown is a very good man," Campbell said. "I just hope he doesn't stay...he's done some great things. The program, he brought it back, and we don't need it to get run down where somebody has to start all over again, maybe Jerry Gray."

"I was part of a class in 1974 and I played for Coach Darrell Royal," Campbell said. "We had the same players, but our junior year, I don't know, we just couldn't do anything right. Then he left our football team and retired.

"Coach Fred Akers came in, who coached me as a freshman at running back. We had the same players, I'm telling you. Coach Royal leaves. Coach Akers comes in. We win the Heisman and we lost to Notre Dame for the National Championship.

"So sometimes a change is good. I think this is what we're up against at the university. Nobody wants to say that, but somebody has to break the ice and say 'yes it's time.' "

Campbell wasn't saying it to be malicious. But coming from someone like Campbell and the ties he still has to the school, it has to sting a little.  

I don't think Texas would pull a USC and fire Brown before the midway point of the season but if he suffers another blowout loss to Oklahoma the wheels might start turning. Especially seeing what their longtime rival Texas A&M has done since moving to the SEC.

I think the Texas brass will see how things play out before making a move. If Texas somehow wins the Big 12, it'll be hard to get rid of Brown unless he decides to walk away on his own. The only way an in-season fring happens is if the Longhorns suffer a debilitating loss to the Sooners.  

Utah basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak foils bike thief

The college basketball season hasn't tipped off but Utah Utes basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak scored a victory off the court. Krystokwiak channeled his inner Encyclopedia Brown and caught a bike thief.

Krystkowiak was on the way to his office at the Huntsman Center and ended up detaining a suspicious middle-age man who caught his attention by riding a bicycle and pulling another one near the arena around 7:30 a.m.

"He started telling me all kinds of stories," Krystkowiak said. "I guess it was a good way to start the day."

“He could have just probably dropped one of the bikes and outrun me on his bike, but he was dumb enough to stop,” Krystkowiak said. “Then I began my questioning and I kind of smelled a rat.”

The 6-9 Krystowiak was a former NBA player so I suppose that the thief had no idea what he was up against.

Krystokwiak approached the man and told him to sit down while he called campus police. The police discovered five stolen phones in the thief's possession.

"The guy asked me if I was going to chase him if he attempted to run," Krystkowiak said Saturday night. "I told him that if he tried to run, I was going to chase him and tackle him. Honestly, I was hoping that he’d run. I guess a good thief would’ve run before I caught up to him."

“I don’t know how smart it was,” Krystkowiak said. “You never know what a guy has got in his pocket or up his sleeve.”

“I’ve always been a little eager to catch somebody so it was good,” he said.

Krystkowiak is in his third season at Utah and it looks like the Utes are improving. Hopefully for the fans he'll be able to score some wins on the court.

"It Girl" of the week: Bea Taylor

This week's "It Girl" is Bea Taylor

Bears think Israel Idonije gave their line calls to Lions

Some Chicago Bears players told a Chicago ESPN reporter on Sunday that they thought former Bears defensive end Israel Idonije, who now plays for the Lions, had tipped the Lions off to their stunts because every time they ran a power stunt, Reggie Bush saw it and made the most of it.

“I really think that’s ridiculous, I think it takes away from the players on the field.’’ Lions coach Jim Schwartz said. “We rushed for a lot of yards because we blocked them and Reggie Bush broke tackles. To say Reggie Bush is 8 yards behind the quarterback and he can hear what a line call is I think that’s ridiculous.’’

Bush ran for 139 yards including a 37-yard touchdown scamper.

“I’d also like to point out they signed Landon Cohen last week,’’ Schwartz said. “Landon had been here a long time and we haven’t changed our scheme since Landon was here I didn’t see that being a big difference in the game. Stuff like that comes up, it’s just the nature of the NFL.’’

"I like to concentrate on the players on the field and what happens on the field and stuff like that."

"I like to say that our guys did a good job of being in position and blocking and ran the ball well," Schwartz said. "We ran the ball for a lot of yards and it wasn't for any reason other than we blocked well and had a good scheme. Our running backs did a good job when we gave it to 'em."

Even if Idonije did tip the Lions off about the Bears' schemes it's up to the coaching staff to mix things up so whatever knowledge a former player might have is nullified. If they didn’t change the calls, knowing Idonije was on that line for 10 years, it’s just bad coaching.