12th Man Magazine

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Homer Jacobs

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Rusty Burson
Jim Molony

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Kevin Bartram
Glen Johnson

What about Bob? | Plum from Orange | Back in the Game

Inside the Aggies.

What about Bob?

By Homer Jacobs

If I were Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz preparing for the Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl, I would start pulling some serious videotape from the files on when UCLA Bob Toledo once graced the maroon sidelines.

I would start assembling a scout team that could run the swinging gate, the blast pass and the throwback to the quarterback. I would prepare my defense for anything.

Because Toledo, no matter how much he and R.C. Slocum claim they are friends, will pull everything out of his playbook when the Aggies and his No. 5 Bruins hook up at Fair Park Jan. 1.

Whether it’s for revenge for being fired just two days after one of his offense’s best performances in the 1994 Cotton Bowl (see Aggie Flashback on page 30) or for having three weeks to prepare for A&M in a bowl game, you can bet Toledo won’t hold back much.

In the 1990 Holiday Bowl, Toledo perhaps was at his craftiest. Just ask BYU coach LaVell Edwards who uttered more than just "Nice game, Bob" at midfield after the Aggies had humbled the Cougars, 65-14.

In that game, the Aggies scored touchdowns in every possible manner. But three stick out: On a pass from Darren Lewis to Bucky Richardson swinging out of the backfield; on a handoff to Richardson, who lined up in a running back position behind inserted quarterback Lance Pavlas; and finally on an option left, with fullback Robert Wilson on the lead block.

The significance of all three? Besides being timed and executed perfectly, all three plays were Toledo’s choices to run on the two-point conversion a month earlier that season as the Aggies trailed Texas, 28-27. But Slocum decided to go with option right on the play — and assuming CBS cameras didn’t tip off the Longhorn defense — the Texas defenders guessed right and snuffed the play.

Toledo didn’t want to run the plays in the bowl game just to spite his head coach, but he made his point nevertheless.

Toledo, you see, just loves offensive football. So much, in fact, that he once was quoted as saying he was upset that the Aggie offense was blamed when A&M lost, while mainly the Wrecking Crew was lauded when the Aggies won.

Slocum would later refer to that quote as one of the underlying reasons for Toledo’s departure.

 Maybe Toledo wasn’t the true team player in that sense, but I’ve always thought he was a hell of a coach. He did more with an option quarterback name Bucky Richardson than any of us could imagine.

Toledo’s background was in the passing game at Oregon, yet he had to shelve that strategy to rely on the option game when he arrived in Aggieland in 1989.

And what he did with the A&M offense — at least through 1991 — was help turn out eye-catching numbers, not to mention nine- and 10-win seasons.

In 1990 and 1991, A&M ranked eighth and seventh nationally in terms of scoring offense, averaging 36.7 and 36.5 points a game. In both of those seasons, the Aggies were ranked in the top 10 in rushing. His ’91 offensive crew, led by Richardson, Lewis and Wilson, rushed for an average of 319.1 yards per game, good enough for a ranking of fourth nationally.

Finally, the Aggies of 1990 hold the school record for most yards in a game, piling up 774 yards on 76 plays in a 63-14 rout of Southwestern Louisiana.

Not bad for a passing coach from the West Coast.

And while Corey Pullig was expected to be the passing threat Toledo had hoped for, I remember sitting in a film room watching Pullig miss a read in the 44-14 loss at Oklahoma in Pullig’s sophomore year and, ultimately, Toledo’s last season in College Station.

Pullig didn’t see a wide-open fullback on the play and instead threw an interception deep in OU territory. The Aggies never recovered, and Toledo seemed frustrated about his young quarterback.

The Aggies won 10 games in 1993, including nine straight to close out the regular season. During the winning streak, A&M beat Missouri, 73-0, and scored more than 30 points in eight straight games.

Yet, at the end of the year, Slocum made the change he thought was the right one to make at the time. You can’t fault a head coach for any move he makes on his staff.

He knows what works well and where he wants to go with his program. As Slocum and the Aggies looked to move out from the 10-2 range and into the more rarefied air of 11-1 or better, the Aggie coach decided to tweak his program a little bit.

And although Bob Davie would leave weeks later to take a position as defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, Slocum could foresee only one change in his staff just after the ’94 loss to Notre Dame. He envisioned a more balanced and effective offense, an offense with a new direction... and coordinator.

Much has been and will be made of the parting of ways between Slocum and Toledo that season. Heading into bowl week, both call it media overplay.

"I’ve been away from A&M for four years, and there’s a lot of water under the bridge," Toledo said. "Texas A&M was very good to me and my family. I have a lot of good memories of the time I spent there, of the school, the team and the people.

"R.C. and I are friendly. There’s no animosity between us. He gave me the chance to go to a great university, and I’ll always be thankful for that."

And Toledo’s feelings toward A&M are legitimate. His daughter still lives in the Bryan-College Station area, as do some of his closest friends.

Toledo admits to cheering for A&M every week, except of course, for this bowl game coming up Jan. 1.

Slocum’s response to the matchup is similar to Toledo’s.

"He did a good job and made a tremendous contribution to Texas A&M," Slocum said. "We have remained friends, and the differences between Bob Toledo and I have been tremendously overblown by the media.

"He’s done a great job at UCLA and is a good football coach."

I’ve always liked Bob Toledo and am happy to see him find some success as the head coach at UCLA. But I also know how creative he can be with a talented offensive football team.

And the Bruins have more talent, especially at quarterback and running back , than most teams in the country.

Those facts and the idea that Toledo is only human could mean for a combination of wild plays and dizzying scoring drives against the Texas Aggies.

He would only be doing what he once did just a few years ago as the offensive coordinator at Texas A&M.

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