Texas Longhorns head coach Mack Brown celebrates with his team after a victory against the Oklahoma Sooners. Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images

Ex Longhorns Coach Mack Brown Recalls Strange Bill Parcells Pep Talk

Originally posted on Texas Longhorns on SI
By Jon Alfano | Last updated Jun 21, 2025 8:01 PM ET

The 2005 Texas Longhorns were one of the most dominant teams of the decade, and for a while, it was almost a foregone conclusion that they would face USC in the national championship game.

However, they still couldn't look too far ahead.

While the Longhorns rolled over most of their oppponents with little resistance, that wasn't going to be the case against the rival Texas A&M Aggies on the road. Even head coach Mack Brown had to be reminded of that by none other than one of his mentors, Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells.

During a recent appearance on the "See Ball Get Ball" podcast, Brown recalled the rather odd pep talk he received from Parcells prior to the Lone Star Showdown.

“I get a call from Bill Parcells,” Brown said. “He coached me at Florida State and said ‘Man, you’re in trouble.’ I said, ‘Coach, we’re undefeated, we just killed Kansas. What’s the deal, man?’ He said ‘Nah, you’re like that fat rat that’s sitting around eating poison cheese.’ And that’s where that came from. Because he said ‘You’re about to get beat. All you’re talking about is USC and you’re not thinking about A&M. They’ve had a tough season. They win this game, it’s their national championship. That’s all they want.’

“So I got off the phone. Got the equipment manager to drop cheese from every locker with his quote about it. ‘Don’t be the fat rat eating the cheese, man.'”

The pep talk ended up working, as the Longhorns went into Kyle Field and came out with a 40-29 win and a perfect regular season. That was their second-closest game of the regular season, but still, a two-score win over an arch rival is impressive.

The Longhorns would then go on to obliterate Colorado 70-3 in the Big 12 Championship Game before defeating USC 41-38 in a thrilling national championship game. Without Parcells' pep talk, though, their season may have ended very differently.

This article first appeared on Texas Longhorns on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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