Texas DC Vance Bedford says leaving OSU was best thing for career
Texas defensive coordinator Vance Bedford used to hold the same position at Oklahoma State, though as the Longhorns play in Stillwater on Saturday night, Bedford may not get a warm reception.
Bedford was fired by Oklahoma State following the 2006 season. After a loss to Houston that year, the quotable coach made comments about bandwagoning Oklahoma State fans, using the terms "roaches" and "fence-straddlers."
Yes, seven years is a long time, but college football fans have long memories. After leaving OSU, Bedford went to Michigan, Florida and Louisville before coming to Texas with Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong. Bedford said Wednesday that his departure from OSU was the best thing that could have happened to him.
"So what happens is anytime you have some adversity in your life, it teaches you to grow, to change, and to adjust," Bedford said. "That was something that for me personally probably was a good thing to happen to me. It gave me the opportunity to go back to the University of Michigan I was Lloyd Carr's first hire when he got the job in 1995. Believe it or not, I was his last hire in 2007. It was a great opportunity for me to see him go out a winner as a head football coach. I have a lot of love and respect for Lloyd Carr. I worked with Urban Meyer when he was at Colorado State and it gave me the chance to go there. Coach Strong and I have known each other for a while through recruiting and when he got the job at Louisville, it was a no brainer."
"A lot of good things have happened and the best thing that probably happened, was for Gundy to let me go. It put me in a situation to develop more as a man, to make me a better person, to make me a better coach. So what happened was it put me in a position to be where I am today."
In case you were wondering, no, this game hasn't been scheduled on Bedford's calendar since he arrived at Texas. Or if it has, he's not saying it is.
"Whoever is the next week that game is circled for me," Bedford said. "To me, every game is that important. I have friends back in Stillwater and it's going to be a lot of fun going back to see them and having a chance to play against Oklahoma State. But going against Baylor I had that same feeling, going against Oklahoma I had that same feeling. I don't put any special emphasis on any particular game. They all are special to me. Every game is a championship game no matter if we are 5-0 or 0-5."
The Longhorns' trip to OSU is the marquee game of a three-matchup Big 12 weekend. While the winner of the game won't vault up the standings, the loser is staring at a seventh place finish in the conference. Especially Oklahoma State. The 5-4 Cowboys probably need the win against Texas to be bowl eligible; OSU ends the season with trips to Baylor and Oklahoma.
“We go into every game knowing that it's important," OSU LB Seth Jacobs said when asked about bowl eligibility. "These last couple of games, we haven’t been as successful and executed as well as we wanted to. Each game is very important, and that’s been stressed throughout the year.”
For more Oklahoma State news, visit O-StateIllustrated.com
For more Texas news, visit Orangebloods.com
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
