How Texas' Most Famous Fan Is Still Inspiring the Longhorns

Matthew McConaughey is almost as important to the Texas program as the program is to him.  He has addressed the team almost every year in recent memory, and who can forget his presence on the sidelines of the 2006 Rose Bowl? Mack Brown even went so far as to call McConaughey a "younger brother" to him at a Mack, Jack & McConaughey (MJ&M) charity event for Lincoln earlier this spring. 

Credit: Kyle Harvey, Dropbox

Second-year coach Charlie Strong can use all the help he can get to build the next chapter of Longhorns Football. Throughout the building process, he has been smart to understand the importance of McConaughey's link to the glory days, and he invited him to speak to the team after a tough loss to UCLA.  One of Strong's challenges in Year 2 will be to keep Texas tradition alive while establishing his own culture.  McConaughey's continued involvement is a perfect bridge between the past and present.  

Another challenge will be to get the Longhorns comfortable enough in his system to play loose, free and instinctually, like McConaughey is on set: 

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You don't want to go to the field thinking, so I don't go to work thinking. I do my work 3 months before then I show up. I never jot down lines, I just try to understand what they mean and the intention. I never want to be on the field thinking, if I'm thinking I'm a half step slow where I don't get that pick or tip off a pass on the football field. I don't sleep well if I know I didn't leave it all out there every day at work.

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Certainly, the Longhorns defense left everything on the field in 2014, finishing atop the Big 12 in pass defense and near the top in points per game allowed. That was the primary reason Texas went to a bowl game at all. With so many starters gone from that defense, however, it'll be up to several new faces to pick up where those departed players left off.  

On the other side of the ball, the offense has to take a huge step forward in 2015. The first year in a new scheme was undoubtedly an adjustment. Quarterback Tyrone Swoopes was thrust into action because of a career-ending concussion to David Ash and took snaps behind a decimated offensive line. 

Texas' improvement in Year 2 of the Strong era will have a lot do with whether players are buying in and understanding the concepts to the point where they can process things quickly. Then, it's a matter of one question: Are players giving it everything they have?

"I was raised to be embarrassed," McConaughey said. "I don't think people today are embarrassed. I don't have bad days where I didn't hit it 100 percent, but it's the thought of maybe I tried too hard. I'm learning to recalibrate my approach. If I just give 80 percent then I will regret that for a long time." 

"Embarrassment" is a word Strong has used before to describe his team's performance. Of the Longhorns' seven losses last year, five came by at least 21 points. Will the Longhorns be better in '15? Perhaps; a big step forward would be to eliminate the blowout losses, though. 

There will be more losses under Strong at Texas. That's unavoidable. What Strong has to fix is Texas' routine of being outclassed by opponents. 

All McConaughey can do is reaffirm what Strong undoubtedly preaches to players every day. Whether it's for a role or a football game, both McConaughey and Strong know preparation is the only route. Certainly, it's the only way Texas gets better in Year 2. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes courtesy of B/R's Kyle Harvey unless noted otherwise. Stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.