Texas Football: 10 Best Players in Longhorn History

It's been a tough few years, but Texas football has no shortage of candidates for the top-10 players of its long history.

The Longhorns have come a long way since their first team played four games in 1893. They've won four national championships with 32 conference titles and had two players hoist the Heisman Trophy. 

The road to those accomplishments were paved by a long line of great football players, starting with Bobby Layne in the 1940s, then extending all the way to Vince Young and Colt McCoy in the 2000s.

Some of them won national awards and shattered school records, others displayed amazing consistency in helping their teams achieve greatness as a whole. But they all made their mark on the history of the program and set the standard for every future player who wants to enjoy similar success.

10. QB Bobby Layne (1944-47)

Associated Press

Texas' first great quarterback, Layne did it all for the Longhorns in the mid-'40s.

Doak Walker once famously stated that, "Bobby Layne never lost a game. Time just ran out. Nobody hated to lose more than Bobby."

That characterization defined Layne's career, which was littered with some of the most ridiculous quarterbacking performances the game had ever seen. The original Longhorn dual-threat, Layne once accounted for all 40 points in a Cotton Bowl Classic, running for four touchdowns, throwing for two and kicking four extra points.

Layne did it all and did it well in his four years as a starter, leaving Texas with four all-conference selections, a consensus All-American selection and several school records that stood for over 50 years.

The only reason Layne sits this low on the list is due to the era he played in. 

9. OT Jerry Sisemore (1970-72)

University of Texas Photography Department

Sisemore's tremendous success was limited only by college football's rules against playing freshmen.

Darrell Royal had to chase down Jerry Sisemore's father in an oilfield to secure his future offensive tackle's commitment. It's safe to say that desperate move paid off.

With Sisemore entering the starting lineup as a sophomore, the Longhorns had a three-year run in which they won their second-straight national title and three Southwest Conference titles. During that time, Sisemore was twice named a unanimous All-American and was a Lombardi Award finalist in 1972.

Had freshmen been allowed to play during his time, Sisemore would have been a two-time national champ with four conference titles to boot. In terms of individual and team success, few Longhorns have ever had a resume that could stand up to that of the great offensive tackle.

8. DL Steve McMichael (1976-1979)

With a nickname like "Mongo," Steve McMichael seemed destined to be an all-time great college football player.

More than just a name, McMichael was the most unstoppable lineman to ever don the burnt orange. In his four years at Texas, McMichael piled up 28.5 sacks and a record 369 tackles, which is simply ridiculous for a lineman in any era.

McMichael turned in his greatest season as a senior in 1979, in which he was unanimously named an All-American, was a finalist for both the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award and earned MVP honors at the Hula Bowl. He was a force, in every sense of the term.

To this day, Mongo has top-10 numbers in various single, season-long and career-long records at Texas, and it took someone 27 years to break his single-game mark for tackles for loss. No matter how you slice it, he was an awesome talent.

7. CB Jerry Gray (1981-1984)

Texas isn't known as DBU just because of Michael Huff, Aaron Williams and Earl Thomas. It all started with guys like Jerry Gray, the portrait of a complete cornerback.

Gray's all-around skills could be summed up by his two showings against Auburn. In 1983, he made the play of the game with a one-handed interception that defined Texas' defensive dominance in the 20-7 victory. The next time around, Gray ran down and walloped Bo Jackson, separating the star running back's shoulder in the process.

Those two plays showed the two-time All-American's complete skill set as a shutdown corner who could make plays on the ball just as well as he could bury a physical guy like Jackson. 

Gray set the standard for every defensive back who has since taken the field for the Longhorns.

6. LB Derrick Johnson (2001-2004)

The ultimate spread linebacker, Derrick Johnson could tackle, cover and create turnovers with the best of them during his time at Texas.

Johnson's list of accomplishments is downright exhaustive. A two-time All-American, Johnson won the first Butkus Award and Nagurski Trophy in the program's history as a senior, recording 130 tackles (19 for loss) and forcing a school-record nine fumbles.

What's amazing about Johnson is that this great season wasn't that much better than what he did as a sophomore and junior. During each of his final three years, he posted at least 120 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception and eight pass breakups. 

Aside from that insane number of fumbles, Johnson was the same stifling linebacker for three-straight seasons. As a result, he holds the school record for career tackles for loss and interceptions by a non-defensive back.

In terms of year-to-year consistency and the ability to play the pass, Texas may never see another linebacker like Johnson.

5. QB Colt McCoy (2006-2009)

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A truly unexpected star, McCoy became an all-time star during his four years at Texas.

Were it not for one ill-timed, perfectly placed hit, Colt McCoy would have a great argument as Texas' greatest quarterback. Instead, we're left with what could have been.

Undersized from a town called Tuscola, McCoy looked like the least likely candidate to replace all-timer Vince Young. Instead, he eclipsed the Longhorn legend in several respects, setting the NCAA record with 45 career victories and finishing in the top three in two Heisman Trophy races.

More important than his individual accomplishments, McCoy was the driving force for consecutive title runs. 

The first came in 2008, when McCoy led the Horns to a three-way tie for the Big 12 title while doubling as the team's leading rusher. The Longhorns were robbed by the now-defunct BCS system, settling for a comeback win over Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

McCoy's stats dropped off slightly the next season, but he was able to lead the Longhorns to their second Big 12 title in four years and a BCS title matchup with Alabama. In five plays, McCoy led the Longhorns to two first downs before taking a hit directly on his shoulder that ended his night and Texas' title hopes in one fell swoop.

It was a brutal ending for one of college football's greats, but McCoy made his mark as the owner of every major passing record in school history.

4. RB Earl Campbell (1974-1977) 3. RB Ricky Williams (1995-1998)

Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams are not only the best running backs in Longhorn history, they're the storied program's only Heisman Trophy winners. Therefore, it seems only fair to directly compare two of the greatest ball-carriers the college game has ever seen.

On one hand, you have Campbell, the "The Tyler Rose," who was physically a step above everyone else on the field. Campbell could easily blow past you with his speed, but it was his unfathomable power that set the tone when he was on the field.

A torn hamstring in 1976 was the only thing that could slow Campbell, who bounced back from the unfortunate injury to lead the nation in rushing yardage and touchdowns as a senior, highlighted by a 222-yard performance against Texas A&M. Campbell ran away with The Stiffarm that season, becoming the first overall pick in the 1978 NFL draft.

That season would go down as the greatest offensive campaign in program history. That is, until the "Texas Tornado" came around.

As complete as Campbell was as an old-school bruiser, Williams took it to the next level. At 225, he brought a combination of power, agility and pure speed that the game had never seen. And by the time he was done, he made it look unfair.

Unlike Campbell, Williams never had a down year after he exploded for 990 yards as a freshman. Williams never averaged less than 5.9 yards per carry during any season, improving on his yardage and touchdowns in each season while doing plenty of damage as a receiver.

But as a senior, the best running back to ever play for the Longhorns took greatness to a new level. En route to his own Heisman Trophy, Williams led the nation with 2,124 rushing yards, scored 28 touchdowns and set the NCAA record for career rushing yardage.

As awesome as Campbell was, even he can't hold a candle to Williams' consistency and explosiveness from the tailback position.

2. LB/G Tommy Nobis (1963-65)

Both the greatest defensive and two-way player in Longhorn history, Tommy Nobis made his mark on Texas football from the moment he stepped on the field.

Starting as the team's lone sophomore, Nobis emerged as a leader on the 1963 national championship team and never looked back from there. For his career, he averaged 20 tackles per game from the linebacker spot, delivering the decisive hit at the 1-yard line in the 1965 Orange Bowl.

And there's a reason Darrell Royal called Nobis "the finest two-way player I have ever seen." In addition to his All-American selection and Maxwell Award for his defensive endeavors, Nobis was also an All-American guard, winning the 1965 Outland Trophy as the nation's best interior lineman.

That two-way success puts Nobis behind just one player on the list of all-time great Longhorns.

1. Vince Young (2003-05)

Vince Young didn't have the immediate or consistent success of Colt McCoy, he never assaulted the record books like Ricky Williams and he failed to win a Heisman Trophy. 

But when you needed a play, there's nobody else you'd rather have handling the ball.

Simply put, Young is the most unstoppable player in Longhorn history. Defenses could know what he was going to do and how he was going to do it, and it just never seemed to matter as he dashed his way to a 30-2 record as a starter.

Young announced himself as a force to be reckoned with as a redshirt sophomore, leading the Horns to an 11-1 record and a Top 5 ranking. His thrilling Rose Bowl performance against Michigan declared war on the rest of the nation, earning the Horns a preseason No. 2 ranking heading into the 2005 season.

Young responded to the expectations by developing as a passer, turning the offense into an unstoppable machine that churned out 50.2 points per game. On the year, Young set school records for total offense in a game and yards per play in a season to win the Maxwell Award, among many other accolades.

But Young's career will always be defined by one performance—the comeback win over USC in the national championship.

Pitted against the defending champion Trojans and the Heisman duo of Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, Young turned in a night for the ages. Facing a 12-point deficit with less than seven minutes to play, Young put up 15 points in a row, running for the game-winning touchdown and two-point conversion with 19 seconds to play.

In all, the Longhorn quarterback glided for 200 yards and three touchdowns, getting another 267 through the air in one of the most epic championship performances in the history of the college game.

No other player could take control of a moment quite like Young, and that's why he deserves recognition as the greatest player in Longhorn history.